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The sky’s the limit on race bikes – with each ounce shaved, the cost goes up significantly. A good pro-level XC race bike can be extremely lightweight, coming in sub-20 lbs for a hardtail – but components on a bike this lightweight are more fragile and much, much more expensive than on an everyday trail bike. Generally race bikes are not suited for everyday riding, unless the rider has very deep pockets to replace components as they have “unfortunate encounters” with rocks. Many XC racers and experienced riders still prefer hardtails, for their lighter weight and efficient, direct power-to-pedal transfer. Depending on terrain, a hardtail will either outperform a full suspension bike, or not. Smooth singletrack and fire roads favor the hardtail, where very steep technical terrain favors the full suspension race machine. Carbon is the favored frame material of some racers due to its light weight and stiffness, but although carbon is very strong (some airplanes are made of carbon fiber!), it is quite fragile when impacted – and crashes are very common in mountain biking, and especially in racing. Carbon frames that have deep scratches or gouges must never be ridden as the frame can fail catastrophically. Aluminum frames are nearly as light and stiff as carbon, and can take more abuse than carbon, but there is a tendency for aluminum frames to crack in high stress areas, usually by heavier or particularly rough riders. Race bikes take tremendous abuse, but since they are not intended as everyday training bikes, the emphasis is on light weight rather than durability.
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