Did you think (or others) the 4stoke was/ is too heavy... I love the 4-stroke sleds... "Well, a diesel sled would be interesting" Lol And Congrats on the new sled
@limbandtreeremoval the weight is noticeable but I haven't ridden a xterrain 850 yet so I don't have a good comparison. It doesn't feel like it though at the speed I can push through corners and over woops is awesome. In the powder it is a good chute puller. I have a lot more seat time this season so I'll give a better feed back for boondocking it. Shaping up to be a good year hope it continues.
I don't understand why you think the backcountry isn't a great 50/50 crossover. I feel like the Riot and SBA are way too trail oriented to be considered 50/50. They aren't doing the off trail portion as good as they are doing the trail. The SBA/Riot are more 60/40 or even 70/30, where as the backcountry does both very much equally. All are crossovers.. but when you mention 50/50, I believe the backcountry is closer than the others. Just my opinion. I respect yours. I just think differently on the topic.
i'd say it's because off trail in his area is lake riding and running logging roads. Where i'm at it's side hilling ditch lines and playing in the hills. That's where the BC shines with the narrower front.
You cant have it both ways with the front end. Either its made for trails with a wider stance so there's some actual stability but more cumbersome in powder or its narrower for easier control in powder but less stability on trails. It depends what kind of off trailing you do. You have to tolerate one weakness or the other. If you like long mile touring on trails, while occasionally full sending it through powder go with wider stance. If you ride on trails just to get to your powder location then go with a narrower stance.
The problem is off trail can be anythjng, hydro lines, logging roads, powder in tree lines. I think you need to make the call on what you think off trail is. For me off trail is miles of powder covers logging roads and hydro lines and marshes. Assault is amazing for that and great on trail. If I was more hills and tree lines then I'd want the narrower stance
@@TheLeblancGroup we have both, although last year there was little snow. The assault is a better sled hands down, not by much but it's simply better. Will see how the two hold up after a full winter if use. The assault is just more fun, other than all the recalls haha
For any rider lighter than 200 lbs the XTerrain can be setup to be much more compliance than the BCX and especially the Assault - you just have to get the sag set right and work with the clickers. The calibration window on the XTerrain is very wide but again you need to spend time tweaking it to your liking. Sold my Matryx Assault for this sled and have absolutely no regrets.
Cant have a crossover thats great at both. 70/30 is a good split for trail/offroad crossover. Great on trail, decent in powder. If you made it true 50/50 it'd be horrible on trail and good in powder. If you want to spin around trees on mountain sides then you probably dont want a crossover at all.
Good review, don't forget it also comes with the 900R turbo where the Rave RE only comes in with the 850, and the Xterrain will be in the radian 2 chassis for 2025.
"They lean way far over into the off-trail side of their split personality." Can I report this as offensive content? I wanted to scream "lalala" as you said that so Ski-doo engineers would not hear you say that. Funny enough I bought the Backcountry based on a past Snowtrax video stating that the design of this sled was more geared for off-trail use.
yeah and that's the thing, he's not really wrong but he is saying it as if it's wrong for the sled to be made that way when there's a lot of people who prefer the more 60/40 or 70/30 offtrail feel, myself included. That said, i suppose a "crossover" should be more 50/50 but it's all down to opinion anyways, not everyone will feel the same riding on the same sled, actually i wouldn't be surprised if some people think that the switchback assault is way too trail oriented for example.
Couldn’t disagree more, this is more of a trail sled with a 146” track as is the assault and riot. Have fun riding this off trail. Anything over 38” width is near impossible to truly get on edge without killing yourself all day.
Great review Luke. Going to update soon now this one is at the top. Thanks for the info and opinion.
“There’s a small group of riders out there that want the stiffness valving possible”.
And I hope it stays that way.
Great review. 👍😀
I'm absolutely loving mine. I got the 900r it is an absolute animal. I've got some go pro footage up if you want to take a look.
Did you think (or others) the 4stoke was/ is too heavy...
I love the 4-stroke sleds...
"Well, a diesel sled
would be interesting"
Lol
And Congrats on the new sled
@limbandtreeremoval the weight is noticeable but I haven't ridden a xterrain 850 yet so I don't have a good comparison. It doesn't feel like it though at the speed I can push through corners and over woops is awesome. In the powder it is a good chute puller. I have a lot more seat time this season so I'll give a better feed back for boondocking it. Shaping up to be a good year hope it continues.
I don't understand why you think the backcountry isn't a great 50/50 crossover. I feel like the Riot and SBA are way too trail oriented to be considered 50/50. They aren't doing the off trail portion as good as they are doing the trail. The SBA/Riot are more 60/40 or even 70/30, where as the backcountry does both very much equally. All are crossovers.. but when you mention 50/50, I believe the backcountry is closer than the others. Just my opinion. I respect yours. I just think differently on the topic.
Agree totally.
i'd say it's because off trail in his area is lake riding and running logging roads. Where i'm at it's side hilling ditch lines and playing in the hills. That's where the BC shines with the narrower front.
You cant have it both ways with the front end. Either its made for trails with a wider stance so there's some actual stability but more cumbersome in powder or its narrower for easier control in powder but less stability on trails. It depends what kind of off trailing you do. You have to tolerate one weakness or the other. If you like long mile touring on trails, while occasionally full sending it through powder go with wider stance. If you ride on trails just to get to your powder location then go with a narrower stance.
The problem is off trail can be anythjng, hydro lines, logging roads, powder in tree lines. I think you need to make the call on what you think off trail is. For me off trail is miles of powder covers logging roads and hydro lines and marshes. Assault is amazing for that and great on trail. If I was more hills and tree lines then I'd want the narrower stance
I came from an Matrix assault to this Xterrain and it’s 10x the sled of the assult
@@TheLeblancGroup we have both, although last year there was little snow. The assault is a better sled hands down, not by much but it's simply better. Will see how the two hold up after a full winter if use. The assault is just more fun, other than all the recalls haha
I had sno checked a 24 bcxrs but switched because of this review.
Smart move
Would love to get your opinion on the Xterrain With the 900 turbo R
i would too, i have the xterrain 900 turbo r, love it 7000 km this season. i find snotrax (luke) likes polaris more , and 2 strokes more!! most often!
@@rodneyscott302Do you still like the Xterrain 900? Any issues?
For any rider lighter than 200 lbs the XTerrain can be setup to be much more compliance than the BCX and especially the Assault - you just have to get the sag set right and work with the clickers. The calibration window on the XTerrain is very wide but again you need to spend time tweaking it to your liking. Sold my Matryx Assault for this sled and have absolutely no regrets.
Same I sold my assault and I would never look back
As much as you love it. It didn’t make the top 3 for sled of the year?
This is a 70/30 on trail sled, but a bad ass one at that. It's like a snow cross sled and an Expedition extreme had a baby.
Cant have a crossover thats great at both. 70/30 is a good split for trail/offroad crossover. Great on trail, decent in powder. If you made it true 50/50 it'd be horrible on trail and good in powder. If you want to spin around trees on mountain sides then you probably dont want a crossover at all.
Sed it before, shock need 1500-2000km brake in, then they feel great
If you guys get a 25 Xterrian 900r please do a review
ok now do the lynx brutal for us crossover folk that lean more off trail please 8)
Good review, don't forget it also comes with the 900R turbo where the Rave RE only comes in with the 850, and the Xterrain will be in the radian 2 chassis for 2025.
So only Rave is Radian2?
2024 Xterrain 850 is in Radian 2, 2024 900R is in the radian chassis, same as last yr.
When should Snowtrax test Xterrain 900 Turbo?
can't you just set the shocks to soft if they feel too stiff?
Think the point is that soft isn't soft enough.
20grand and I can have x2 cross over used sleds. The prices are out of control for little winter riding.
I have to agree
"They lean way far over into the off-trail side of their split personality." Can I report this as offensive content? I wanted to scream "lalala" as you said that so Ski-doo engineers would not hear you say that. Funny enough I bought the Backcountry based on a past Snowtrax video stating that the design of this sled was more geared for off-trail use.
yeah and that's the thing, he's not really wrong but he is saying it as if it's wrong for the sled to be made that way when there's a lot of people who prefer the more 60/40 or 70/30 offtrail feel, myself included. That said, i suppose a "crossover" should be more 50/50 but it's all down to opinion anyways, not everyone will feel the same riding on the same sled, actually i wouldn't be surprised if some people think that the switchback assault is way too trail oriented for example.
Couldn’t disagree more, this is more of a trail sled with a 146” track as is the assault and riot. Have fun riding this off trail. Anything over 38” width is near impossible to truly get on edge without killing yourself all day.
Nailed it. That’s why I bought a SKS over an assault.
Depends on what kind of off trail you do really
@@ChaseLandMgmt now wer're talking. I would say the backcountry models are in the same category as the SKS.
@@mactetreault 110% agree with you.
Boo hoo