Predictions for XC mountain biking in 2025: innovations and trends on the horizon

Mountain biking continues to evolve by leaps and bounds, and after an Olympic 2024 in which brands and manufacturers rushed to show off their best innovations in Paris, 2025 promises to follow in its footsteps and be an exciting year in terms of equipment.

What will XC bring us in 2025

Since we don't have a clear way to predict exactly what the near future holds, we can only rely on our knowledge and observation to anticipate what might happen in the coming months. With this in mind, we have put together these predictions that could become reality or not during 2025.

More electronics

The integration of electronics in XC mountain bikes will continue to transform the discipline. If in 2024 we experienced a turning point with the arrival of the intelligent suspension systems Fox Live Valve and RockShox Flight Attendant, it is almost certain that in 2025 we will continue to see innovations in this regard.

It wouldn't be surprising to see some movement from Shimano since in the past season there were many rumors about a possible electronic transmission to compete with SRAM's established Eagle AXS system.

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In 2024, the Cannondale Scalpel of the world champion had manual suspensions and mechanical transmission, but we believe that will change for the next season and this could have been the last year in which a mountain bike 100% free of electronics wins a World Championship.

Short travel models or new hardtails

The 120mm standard for XC full suspension mountain bikes seems to continue being the current paradigm. But we will have to see how it coexists with the new trend of short travel that Trek inaugurated years ago with the Supercaliber and that was joined by Specialized with the Epic WC and recently by BH with its Lynx SL.

These bikes focus on reactivity with a travel of 75-80mm and some brands position them in their catalogs as "new high-end hardtails", but in 2025 we will see if this trend really consolidates or if new competition hardtail models arrive.

It is worth remembering that although rigid XC bikes seem to be banished from competition, Pauline Ferrand-Prevot has won world titles and the Paris Olympics with the new Pinarello Dogma XC HT.

One size larger tires

In recent years, wide tires have gained popularity for their ability to improve traction, absorb impacts, and offer greater stability on technical terrain, contrary to popular belief that wider tires are a hindrance.

It could be said that Nino Schurter was the one who demonstrated that 2.4" tires were a winning option in competition if they have a fast-rolling tread, with little tread, and are at the right pressure (considerably lower than what was established just a few years ago).

In 2024, we already saw American Chris Blevins win the XCO World Cup in Mairipora, Brazil, with a 2.5" prototype (here you can see his bike in detail), which makes us think that next season we could see an increase in size in this component.

Price drop

The global market has been in turmoil since the health crisis of 2020, and although the geopolitical expectations for the future remain turbulent, the economic landscape is stabilizing in a certain way.

In the cycling sector, we have gone from a shortage of bicycles to record prices in the catalogs of all manufacturers in a few years. A situation that the end consumer has been protesting against for some time.

However, recently bicycle prices have started to moderate, marking an encouraging trend change in the models for 2025, and it is expected that this decrease will continue in the coming seasons. In addition, the accumulated overstock in some stores and manufacturers could result in significant discounts for previous year models in the coming months.

We can only move forward in this newly launched 2025 to see if our predictions are on track or if we have completely missed the mark.