What immediately caught my eye with the XC-704 from KHS was the frame, the flowing lines seemed almost organic and the blue, black, and white paint finish continued to accentuate the gentle curves giving the bike a sleek and fast look – if this bike was a girl I’d want to date her!
Now looking good is one thing but delivering the goods is another so a quick check of the bikes specs resulted in even more boxes being ticked – could this be my new ride?
Review KHS XC 704
Utilising the KHS patented Dual Bearing Linkage the frame is of full carbon construction with a tapered head tube to accommodate a slightly stiffer fork – which for me was where the bike displayed its first weakness. The Recon Gold RL from Rock Shox is an okay fork just a little too plush for me, and given the standard of the rest of the equipment fitted it almost seemed like it was specified to save money.
With an MSRP of US$3499 there was an expectation that this should be a good mid-range 26” full suspension cross country mountain bike, and apart from the softness of the forks and not so great Elixir 1 brakes from Avid it really did not disappoint.
The drive train is all Sram with a 2×10 configuration and supplied with an X9 rear derailleur, X5 front, and S1000 39/26T crankset.
Off the mark I was immediately impressed by the effortless acceleration of the bike, little effort if any felt as though it was lost to the rear suspension, and the exact shifting from the X9 rear derailleur saw me keeping up with riders that previously would have left me dead at the start line.
Riding the bike for the first time on a tight and dusty single track the ease of cornering became immediately apparent, incredibly responsive steering and reasonably positive feedback from the front end. Although to begin with I was apprehensive about the Kenda Small Block 8’s that came with the bike I soon felt safe and confident enough to approach corners faster than I previously had. The smile on my face was getting bigger!
The acid test for me is the hill climb, and being a bit of a softie when it comes to them I was seriously hoping I wouldn’t feel short changed. This is where the clever combination of the super light frame and well specified components really came together. The best way to describe the experience was that it climbed like a mountain goat. I won’t go as far as to say it was totally effortless because it wasn’t, but by comparison to many other full suspension bikes this one really punched well above it’s weight!
Upgrade the KHS XC 704
If you’re looking for a full suspension, all carbon, cross country weapon then you’d be hard pressed to find another bike that offers this much kit for quite a reasonable price. That said though it didn’t end there as the issue of the forks and brakes needed to be attended to so it was upgrade time, and this is how you make a very good bike a great bike.
Removing the Recon Gold’s and replacing them with a pair of top of the line SID XX World Cup forks from Rock Shox lifted the bikes performance to a whole new level, and if more aggressive and faster riding was to be the result then a brake upgrade as well was on the cards with the old Elixir 1’s replaced with Avids Carbon Elixir 7’s.
These upgrades are not essential as overall the originally specified package is rather good, but if you can afford to make them then you will not be disappointed.
As the proud owner of a new KHS XC-704 I now attack trails and obstacles that I would have previously avoided confident in the fact that this bike will look after me.
Grin factor for the XC-704… ear to ear!
Full Specs of the XC 704 (Not including upgrades)
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Frame: Full Carbon Super Lite, Patented Design Dual Bearing Linkage, 100mm Travel, tapered head Tube, Press in BB92
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Rear Shock: X-Fusion EIRL, 100mm
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Fork: Rock Shox Recon Gold RL, Solo Air, 100mm, Motion Control, External rebound + low speed compression to lock
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Headset: 1 – 1/8″ Zero Stack upper, 1.5 Integrated lower
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Rims: WTB SX17 Disc, 26x32H, Double wall
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Hubs (F/R): Alloy disc QR, Cassette, 14Gx32H
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Tyres: Kenda Small Block 8, 26×2.1, Folding, 120TPI
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Spokes: 14G Black with alloy niples, 32X32
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Derailleur, Front: Sram X5, 2X10, Low Clamp, 34.9, Dual Pull
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Derailleur, Rear: Sram X9, Medium Cage, 10-Speed
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Shifters: Sram X5, 2X10
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Chain: Sram PC-1051
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Crankset: Sram GXP, 39/26T, 175mm
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BB: Sram Press-Fit GXP
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Freewheel / Cassette: Sram PG-1050 11/36T, 10-Speed
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Pedals: N/A
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Seatpost: Q2 Light Alloy, 31.6mm x 350mm
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Saddle: WTB Volt Comp, White / Black / Blue
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Handlebar: Kore Riser, 680x20mm, 31.8
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Stem: Kore race, S=80mm, M=90mm, L=100mm
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Grips: Q2 Lock-on
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Brake Levers: Avid Elixir 1
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Brakes: Avid Elixir 1 Disc Hydraulic, 160mm Rotors
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Colour: Ghost White / Team Blue / Infinite Black
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Frame Size: S, M, L
- Weight: 12.5kg (Medium)
