Is This The One?
Intro 0:00
A few years back, I made it my goal to find my dream XC race bike. I started with the Polygon Syncline C3, and I upgraded that bike into a legit beast. The next year I moved over to the Marin Team 2. I added carbon wheels from Hunt and a SRAM AXS drivetrain to get to one of the most fun, fastest hardtail XC bikes I’ve been on.
The Idea 0:42
In the midst of training for my annual 50 mile XC style MTB race (The BT Epic), I started getting the urge to upgrade to a short travel, full-suspension XC bike. This year I’ve become familiar with a brand that is new to the USA, but has a solid international reputation – Superior Bikes – which are now being distributed through BikesOnline.com. I’ve ridden the budget friendly hardtail XP919 and the EXF9039B all mountain style eMTB, and I was really surprised by both. Then, I found the Superior Team XF 29 Issue R and my goodness, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
Buying the Bike 1:43
Eventually, I decided to stop dreaming and stop looking, and actually buy this thing. I reached out to my friends at BikesOnline.com and told them I wanted to buy this for my personal use. They asked me if I would make some content, and I said, “Absolutely.” So, over the next 3 months you’re going to see more videos about this bike of me training, potentially doing upgrades, and of course, my race day at BT Epic. During training I’ll also be using my Polygon T9 and the EXF9039B eMTB to gain the skills and strength I’ll need to take on the BT Epic.
Price 2:31
If you’ve seen very much of my content, you know I’ve had a lot of budget friendly bikes, and let’s just get this out of the way… this bike is not cheap. However, if you factor in the quality parts that are coming on this bike, it’s a really good value compared to the bigger brand’s prices for an equivalent bike. Not to mention, right now it’s $1,200 off at BikesOnline.
Specs 3:13
The Issue R is equipped with a load of goodies. Let’s start with the basics. The front suspension is 110 mm DT Swiss F232 and the rear is 100 mm DT Swiss R232. Both are controlled simultaneously with the DT Swiss Two In One remote lockout. The frame is a high modular carbon that offers a stiff but forgiving ride, and there’s room in the main triangle for 2 bottle cages.
Drivetrain 4:31
This is an all mechanical setup a Shimano XTR shifter, cassette, and rear derailleur while the chain is a Shimano XT. The crankset is a Race Face Next SL with carbon crank arms and a 34T chainring. They also went with XTR for the brakes using 160mm rotors on the front and rear with 2-piston XTR calipers. The wheel set is the tubeless ready DT Swiss XRC 1501 29″ carbon, and they are incredibly light – coming in at just over 1200g. These wheels are wrapped with Schwalbe 2.25 Racing Ray in the front and a Schwalbe 2.25 Racing Ralph in the rear.
Cockpit 5:32
The cockpit is helmed by a One Race 760mm carbon handle bar connected to an allow One Race stem. On either end of the bar you’ll find One lock-on grips.
The dropper post is kind of special. It’s a carbon Crank Brothers Highline 11 with 150mm of travel. A carbon dropper has never been on my radar, but it looks amazing and we’ll just have to see about its longevity. Connecting me to that dropper will be Fizik Terra Argo X3 saddle.
Weight 6:33
Right out of the box: I went tubeless, added Shimano’s most basic SPD pedals, added a computer mount, shortened one of the cables, and added some Ride Wrap frame protection. After that, this bike weighed in at just under 24 lbs (10.89 kg).
First Ride 7:26 (loads of POV riding)
After all the time spent dreaming before buying and then the time spent with set-up, I had to wonder, “Did I hype this bike up too much?” I didn’t even throw a leg over this bike until the Ride Wrap was installed. Could it possibly perform the way I’ve built it up in my mind?
I have a local MTB trail system that is perfect for testing XC bikes, and I’ve used it in a bunch of my videos. Fellows Lake, located in Springfield, MO, has smooth, flowy single track, some climbs, some switchbacks, and a few (very little) technical sections. Fellows is built for speed and so is the Superior Issue R. My first ride on this bike was only about 14.5 miles, but I could tell that in the first few feet of trail this bike just wants to accelerate like it’s being shot out of a cannon. It’s snappy but not twitchy. In summary, it rides like a dream.
Final Thoughts
My first ride was so so good, but I want to discuss one last thing. This bike frame is not UDH compatible. It has a regular derailleur hanger, so if you are wanting to go wireless, SRAM Transmission will not be compatible. Not a game changer, just something to be aware of.
If you’re interested in this bike, or anything else on BikesOnline, I’d really appreciate it if you used my links. It won’t cost you anything extra, but it really helps out my channel.
runbikemike.com 