Mountain Bike World Cup XC bikes ranked: cheapest to most expensive

From the Pinarello Dogma XC to the Canyon Lux, here’s how much pro-level XC mountain bikes cost

08:31, Friday 20th October 2023

Tom Hallam-Gravells

Online Production Editor

Share

High-quality carbon and titanium frames, wireless shifting and suspensions, secret prototypes and 3D-printed components everywhere you look: UCI Mountain Bike XC events are always packed with the best and latest tech available.

That tech usually comes with an eye-watering price to match it, but how much exactly will a pro-level bike set you back? We decided to find out, so we’ve crunched the numbers to rank the bikes from the cheapest to the most expensive.

Arriving at these figures requires some guesswork as most aren’t off-the-shelf bikes. Most are adapted with sponsor equipment and many riders use as-yet unreleased equipment and we’ve factored all of this into to arrive at the below estimates.

So, how do the bikes belonging to riders such as Mathieu van der Poel, Puck Pieterse, Nino Schurter, Tom Pidcock and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot rank? Read on to find out.

Team 31 Ibis Cycles Continental | Ibis XC | £7,800 / €9,034 / $9,519

The team of Jenny Rissveds, Linn Gustafzzon and Kelsey Urban uses the Ibis XC specced with Shimano’s XTR groupset, a Fox suspension, a Race Face cockpit and the popular ESI grips - a complete racing package.

And it’s a package that comes in at a reasonable price, by pro-level standards anyway, at under £8,000 or just over €9,000 / $9,500.

Alpecin-Deceuninck | Canyon Lux World Cup CFR | £8,300 / €9,608 / $10,125

They’re one of the biggest multi-disciplinary cyclings teams in the world, home to some of the best-known riders including Mathieu van der Poel and Puck Pieterse, so it’s surprising that Alpecin-Deceuninck feature so early in this list with their Canyon Lux World Cup CFR.

Puck Pieterse finished on the podium at the World Championships

It’s a bike that helped Pieterse to take the overall World Cup crown in 2023, although the Dutch rider will compete for the women-specific Fenix-Deceuninck team in mountain biking from now on, it’ll still be atop the same bike.

The Fox, Shimano and Duke-specced bike clocks in at around £8,300 / €9,608 / $10,125.

KMC MTB Racing Team | Ridley Raft | £8,600 / €9,953 / $10,488

Judging the price of pro bikes can be tricky as certain teams have seemingly endless sponsors, which leads to highly customised builds which are completely different to off-the-shelf bikes.

KMC MTB Racing Team are a great example of this as their Ridley Raft has been customised in almost every possible way - no points for guessing that KMC provide the chain. Highlighting the point, both SRAM and Shimano components are specced on the same bike.

Lapierre Mavic Unity | Lapierre XRM 75th Edition | £9,100 / €10,530 / $11,098

We’re only four bikes in and the figure is slowly edging towards the five-figure mark in British pounds.

The team, which counts friend of the channel Annie Last within its ranks, uses Lapierre’s XRM 75th Edition. The French brand’s bike is joined by components from many other French manufacturers, including Mavic, Look and Michelin - once upon a time Michelin tyres dominated the World Cup, but now Lapierre Mavic Unity is the only team using them.

BH Coloma | BH Lynx | £9,400 / €10,879 / $11,465

David Valero Serrano finished third at the Paris Olympics in the XCO

Next up is BH Coloma which is home to Olympic bronze medallist David Valero Serrano.

They’re the first team to use Chaoyang tyres atop their BH Lynx mountain bike which falls just short of the £10,000 barrier.

jb Brunex Superior Factory Team | Superior Team XF 29 Factory Racing | £9,500 / €10,993 / $11,585

The Superior Team XF 29 Factory Racing may be in contention for the longest name prize but it’s on the cheaper end of the scale, relative to pro-level bikes anyway.

It has a full SRAM set-up but it’s the Phenum C1 Fibre Pure SL saddle that caught our eye. Weighing a little over 100g, it wouldn’t be out of place on a hill climb bike in the world of road riding and costs £460 alone, enough to bump the bike up a couple of places on this list.

Caloi Henrique Avancini Racing | Caloi Elite Carbon FS | £10,000 / €11,572 / $12,196

You know you’re good when you have a team named after you and Henrique Avancini’s outfit has an equally impressive bike to boot: the Caloi Elite Carbon FS.

This was one of the hardest prices to estimate as it has quite a few differences from the stock bike, including a different carbon lay-up, Gallo Moto suspension tuning, a custom wheelset, a 3D-printed Fizik saddle and an integrated FSA cockpit. All of that adds plenty of numbers to the price, taking it past the five-figure mark.

Thömus Maxon | Thömus Lightrider World Cup | £10,300 / €11,916 / $12,556

Next up is Thömus Maxon which is home to some of the top riders in the world, including Mathias Flückiger and former under-23 world champion Kathrin Stirnemann.

The team races on the Thömus Lightrider World Cup which is completed with the Shimano XTR groupset and Schwalbe tyres. Every bike within the team isn’t the same, with most of the riders using the DT Swiss D 232 One dropper post, while others using different DT Swiss variations.

Canyon CLLCTV | Canyon Lux World Cup CFR | £10,500 / €12,150 / $12,801

Luca Schwarzbauer regularly finishes on World Cup podiums

The second Canyon Lux on this list ranks a fair bit higher due to its differing spec. It’s been ridden to multiple World Cup podiums by Luca Schwarzbauer and smashes the £10,000 barrier.

Ghost Factory Racing | Ghost Lector FS SF World Cup | £10,550 / €12,207 / $12,860

We’re firmly about five figures now but there are still plenty of bikes to go.

Ghost Factory Racing’s bike is one of the most unique on the World Cup circuit thanks to its six-spoke carbon wheels. Aesthetically they’re something you’d expect to see in track cycling but have now been used by the team for over two years.

SRAM, Crankbrothers and Quarq components complete the impressive build.

Wilier Pirelli Factory Team | Wilier Urta SLR | £10,600 / €12,266 / $12,920

Home to Sofie Heby Pedersen who has destroyed many of the under-23 World Cup events this season, Wilier Pirelli Factory Team uses the Wilier Urta SLR. It’s joined by another historic Italian brand, Pirelli, to complete a bike that will set you back £10,600 / €12,266 / $12,920.

Orbea Factory Team | Orbea Oiz | £10,700 / €12,381 / $13,043

Orbea Factory Team is another outfit which takes its bikes from its main sponsors, in this case, the Orbea Oiz. The build the team uses is very close to off-the-shelf models available with a full Shimano XTR groupset. Like virtually every team, they also use ESI foam grips.

Cannondale Factory Racing | Cannondale Scalpel | £11,000 / €12,727 / $13,409

Alan Hatherly on his Cannondale Scalpel at the World Championships

After a group of similarly priced bikes in the £10,000 range, Cannondale Factory Racing’s bike is the first to jump above £11,000. That’s through the Cannondale Scalpel. Like the previous Orbea Oiz, it’s possible to buy a near World Cup-ready build from a shop but the team has customised its bikes in a few unique ways, adding Stages power meters and ceramic bearings.

Primaflor Mondraker Genuins Racing Team | Mondraker F-Podium Carbon DC RR | £11,000 / €12,727 / $13,409

It’s a mouthful to say but the Mondraker F-Podium Carbon DC RR is a fairly simple build. Simple doesn’t make it any less pro-level, it’s simply very similar to what’s available off-the-shelf.

The build is dominated by Shimano and RockShox components and, by our calculations, it costs the same as the Cannondale Scalpel.

Santa Cruz RockShox Pro Team | Santa Cruz Blur | £11,050 / €12,787 / $13,468

Despite the American sponsors, Santa Cruz RockShox is an Italian team which uses the Santa Cruz Blur. The bike uses a full RockShox ecosystem and a SRAM groupset, plus Crank Brother Candy pedals rather than the more popular Egg Beater which most other teams prefer.

RockRider Racing Team | RockRider | £11,500 / €13,309 / $14,018

We’ve reached the most difficult bike to price in this list because so much of it is a prototype, including the RockRider frame. There are multiple other prototype components too which adds significantly to the cost, taking it close to the £12,000 mark.

Team BMC | BMC Fourstroke 01 LTD | £12,000 / €13,888 / $14,629

There are no prizes for guessing which brand supplies Team BMC’s bike. Their BMC Fourstroke 01 LTD is the only bike in the XC World Cup to use an Öhlins suspension, which features a dual air chamber spring. That’s added to BMC’s unique self-dropping post which, combined with the overall package, takes the price to £12,000 / €13,888 / $14,629.

Trek Factory Racing Cross Country | Trek Supercaliber | £12,200 / €14,122 / $14,878

Just missing out on the podium, Trek Factory Racing rides the new Trek Supercaliber with a RockShox suspension which provides 80mm of travel. It’s completed with SRAM’s T-Type drivetrain, Pirelli tyres and, of course, ESI grips.

Specialized Factory Racing | Specialized S-Works Epic | £12,600 / €14,584 / $15,366

Victor Koretzky won the mountain bike test event for the Paris Olympics recently

The latest in the long list of teams with ‘Factory Racing’ in their name is Specialized Factory Racing whose Specialized S-Works Epic is specced with the American brand’s Romin saddle which costs £400 alone.

The team also runs a SRAM groupset plus the jazzy Roval wheels which are also a wallet-burning purchase in themselves, priced at £2,200. All of that combines into a £12,600 / €14,584 / $15,366 package, enough to claim the bottom spot on the podium.

Scott-SRAM MTB Racing Team | Scott Spark | £13,000 / €15,044 / $15,855

Our runners-up are Scott-SRAM MTB Racing Team with their Scott Spark.

The team is home to former World Champions Nino Schurter and Kate Courtney and they get to take advantage of some top components, including the RockShox front and rear suspension, SRAM groupset, plus they’re the only team using Syncros wheels.

Ineos Grenadiers | Pinarello Dogma XC | £14,000 / €16,207 / $17,073

Tom Pidcock won the XCC world title in Glasgow

It’s only fitting that the team which is home to both current world champions, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and Tom Pidcock, also boasts the most expensive bike in the XC World Cup.

The bike in question is the Pinarello Dogma XC which was only released earlier this year to support the British team’s off-road ambitions and it’s done an impressive job so far.

Some of the components including the P1 Race Technologies wheels don’t currently have a retail price, but the rest of the build is so fancy that we reckon it would be enough to bump it to top spot. That includes the Suntour TACT suspension system which is £4,300.

So, how much will a world champion-worthy bike set you back? By our calculations, it’s a cool £14,000 / €16,207 / $17,073, over £1000 more than the second-placed bike.

If we cast our minds back to the beginning of this list, it’s almost double the price of the cheapest model, so it appears winning really does come at a cost.

For more tech features and pro bikes, head over to the tech section on the GCN website, linked here.