Review by Chris Purt

After a season of racing I can say I was very sorry to hand my trusty race bike, a Felt RXC Pro, back to Gareth and Mat and I think after countless Enduros, XC racing and 24hr events - let alone normal XC riding I can give a true account of the bike.

The frame is excellent with a stealth black frame and white graphics made from an exotic mix of an ultra light aluminium main triangle fused to an unpainted carbon fibre rear end. Although I ran an aluminium seat post this season the rear end was very compliant. I cannot think of an occasion of getting back ache which must have been due to the small amount of vibration damping that the carbon fibre rear triangle allows.

The XT-XTR drive train was faultless all season and I will certainly miss the two way release mechanism of the XT shifters which is very intuitive to use. Up front were the mighty Rockshox Reba SLs (in white to match the frame logos) which I ran at 80mm although they can be increased to up to 100mm. These XC forks punch well above their weight taking rocky descents and rutted farm tracks in their stride with not a hint of flex probably due to the 32mm stanchions. The forks also feature a lockout which I only used a handful of times on road section but it does the job when needed.

Now for my favorite piece about the bike - the Mavic Cross Ride wheel set. Although these are the cheapest wheel set in the Mavic's itinerary of MTB wheels they stayed true even after a hammering in the Alps and the bearings are still silky smooth after 6 months of abuce through this year's wet summer. The racey logos on the rims and and aero spokes also help finish the wheels off by making them look very expensive indeed.

The bike is finished off with a Felt branded seat post, bars and stem (although I swapped the stem for one which fitted by strange body geometry better), they all worked perfectly well but I would probably upgrade these to some Easton offerings if this was my own bike. The bike comes fitted with Maxxis tyres as standard but I swapped these for my tyres of choice from Continental so I cannot give an assessment of their performance (I took them off to be replaced by Speed Kings, Edges and Mountain Kings depending on the course and conditions).

In summary for £1500 this is an excellent bike and is at home either riding with your mates in our local woods or blasting XC races.

Thanks Mat and Gareth for the opportunity to ride for  Revolution Bikes this year and use the fantastic Felt RXC Pro .