Superior XP919

For Starters

Hey everyone, today we’re reviewing an analog XC race bike from the brand Superior. This is a Czech company that is making its U.S. debut. When riding XC style trails, the bike can make or break the experience. The XP919 is a budget friendly ($950), but really solid, XC style bike to either add to your stable of bikes or get you started out on the trails. Let’s get into it!

Geometry and Build

The XP919 has an aluminum frame and traditional XC geometry. That includes a 69° head tube angle and 74° seat tube angle. I noticed that there wasn’t a lot of extra material around where the seat tube, top tube, and seat stay all come together. I felt like this (along with the pretty small diameter seat stay tubes) gave the bike the slightest amount of shock absorption in the rear end on my local XC trail. It’s not going to eat up big bumps, but on smooth dirt I felt like it reduced the vibrations.

Drivetrain

FULL SHIMANO – 12 speed drivetrain. The XP919 has an SLX rear derailleur with built in clutch and a 10-51T Deore cassette. The Shimano chain runs up and around a 34T Shimano crankset. This is all controlled from the cockpit with Deore shifters.

Front Fork

With the XP919 being less than 1,000 USD you might think that the front fork would be a spring suspension – and you’d be wrong. This bike comes with a RockShox Judy air fork with remote lockout and 100mm of travel.

Wheels and Tires

The wheel set is nothing to write home about, but Superior did use quality Shimano hubs with thru-axles and boost spacing with some Scwalbe tires. Now these Racing Ralph tires are not tubeless ready and do have a wire bead. So, a quick and cheap way to drop a couple of pounds off the starting weight of this bike would be to buy some tubeless tires and some sealant. Here’s a video of how to go tubeless!

Brakes

Part of going fast is being able to stop, and Superior didn’t skimp on the brakes either. The XP919 has a Shimano 2-piston hydraulic calipers with 160mm rear and 180mm front rotors. The levers controlling that stopping power are Shimano MT410s.

The Contact Points

The XP919 has 760mm bars with nice lock-on grips all made by One. These attach to the frame via an 80mm stem, also made by One. This stem is longer than you might be used to if you’re used to trail bikes, but is pretty standard for XC. Also connecting you to the bike is a Fizik Terra Aidon X5 saddle setting on a One seat post. Now, I will point out here that this bike is not compatible with an internally routed dropper post.

Conclusion

I really wasn’t expecting the XP919 to be that great straight out of the box because of the price. I thought this would be a good bike to do some upgrades, but I was pleasantly surprised. This really is a great bike right out of the box, and I’m hopeful to get a chance to see one of their higher end bikes in the future.

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