You love a bike that rockets forward when you push the pedals almost as much as you love the gratification that comes from conquering rough terrain with a lot less suspension travel than most would dare. Even though you might sometimes wear Lycra, make no mistake, this is not your dad’s XC.

You ride to explore the boundaries of what you and your bike are capable of. Your bike needs to be light so you can cover the most ground, but it also needs to be capable so you’re ready for whatever the trail ahead may bring. Burning legs and rattled hands be damned, all the pain is worth it for that moment when you know you left no trail unexplored and not a drop of fuel left in the tank.

You power up climbs and rip descents in your quest to maximize the amount of trail you cover on every ride. Your bike needs to be relatively efficient to get you to the top quickly but you’re willing to carry a bit more weight and travel on the way up in exchange for being able to hit every feature and A-line with confidence on the way back down.

The quiver killer. You want your rig to be capable of taking on the bike park and technical enduro tracks, and while you’re not opposed to the occasional shuttle with the crew you prefer to earn most of your turns, so your bike needs to have enough travel to go big but it also needs more pedaling efficiency than a full-on gravity sled.

Nothing gets you more stoked than the feeling of impeccably linking up a series of tricky turns and natural terrain features. You make riding a janky section of trail look like ripping a pumptrack. You value silky smooth suspension with lots of adjustments over lockouts or firm modes.

You don’t ride a bike with less travel because you’re less capable, you do it because you love the feeling of being connected to the terrain and pushing the limits of your body and your gear. Blasting descents and sending hits with speed and power is your number one motivation and your bike needs to be capable of putting up with anything you can throw at it.