The Transition Spur, by a wide margin. The Carbon XO AXS weighs a claimed 27.1 lb (12.29 kg) in size MD, while comparably specced Following builds typically land around 30 lb or more. On a 30-minute climb, that weight delta is worth roughly a minute for an average rider.

The Spur's 76.2° effective seat tube angle (size MD) also puts you in a more aggressive pedaling position than the Following's geometry, and the GiddyUp suspension is firm enough to resist bob without a lockout. Reviewers consistently describe the Spur as pedaling 'circles around 150 mm trail bikes.'

The Evil Following, for most riders. Its DELTA linkage — a Dave Weagle-designed linkage-driven single pivot — is tuned for dual progression: supple off the top, supportive through the middle, and hard-ramping at the end of the stroke. Reviewers from MBR, Singletracks, and Bicycling all describe it as feeling more like a 140 mm bike than a 120 mm one.

The Spur counters with more aggressive geometry (66° vs 66.6° head angle), but its flex-stay suspension is progressive rather than plush and can get 'hung up' on square-edge ledges. Heavier riders (200+ lb) also report noticeable frame flex on the Spur in high-speed G-outs that the Following's stouter chassis doesn't exhibit.

Transition publishes a claimed 27.1 lb (12.29 kg) for the Spur Carbon XO AXS in size MD. Evil doesn't publish a weight for the X0 build, but reviewers testing similarly specced Followings (X01 AXS tier) have weighed them at around 31.8 lb with pedals.

That's a real 3–4 lb gap between these two X0-tier builds. It's the single biggest reason the Spur feels like a cross-country bike that climbs hard, and the Following feels like a trail bike you can take to the bike park.

The Following runs 430 mm chainstays across all sizes with a 66.6° head tube angle. The Spur runs 435 mm chainstays with a slacker 66° head angle.

That 5 mm of chainstay and 0.6° of head angle add up to real personality differences. The Following is quicker in tight switchbacks and feels snappier cornering, while the Spur is more planted at speed and takes a bit more body English to whip around slow corners. Both are Super Boost 157 rear spacing on the Following and 148 Boost on the Spur — worth knowing if you're swapping wheels later.

The Following uses DELTA, a linkage-driven single pivot where a complex rocker system manipulates the shock — all reviewers call out how un-single-pivot it feels. The Spur uses GiddyUp, a pivot-less flex-stay design where the seat stays themselves flex instead of rotating around a pivot.

Trade-offs are real. DELTA gives the Following its 'bottomless ramp' feel and small-bump sensitivity, but the linkage is complex to clean and service. GiddyUp saves weight (the Spur is lighter partly because of this) and needs less maintenance, but the rear end feels more active and less 'glued' than a pivoted design.

Kind of — but they ask for different approaches. Reviewers note the Following is explicitly set up to be pushed hard: 157 mm Super Boost spacing, a beefed-up carbon swingarm, and enough frame stiffness that one Bicycling reviewer described running it with a 140 mm fork and a coil shock as a 'mini-enduro' setup.

The Spur resists that treatment. Its 120 mm SID-class fork and flex-stay rear end are engineered for lightness, not punishment. Reviewers consistently warn that while the geometry 'encourages enduro lines,' the suspension is the hard limit — you'll hear 'audible screams' from the chassis before the bike stops you.

Both bikes ship on 29 x 2.4 tires front and rear on their carbon builds. The Following uses Schwalbe Nobby Nic Evo SG front / Wicked Will Evo ST rear on the X0 and GX builds, and WTB Ranger Light on the XX SL Flight Attendant for full downcountry weight savings. The Spur Carbon XO AXS uses Maxxis Dissector front / Rekon rear (3C EXO), a more trail-focused combination than the WTB Ranger on the top-tier Following.

Both are well-regarded, but with different profiles. The Spur's pivot-less flex-stay rear end has fewer bearings to wear out, and reviewers report clean ownership experiences. Its main durability caveats: earlier builds had 160 mm rear rotors that cooked on long descents (2024 models now use 180 mm), and the SID fork has seen premature bushing wear reports on aggressive use.

The Following has more pivots and complexity, but Evil offsets this with a replacement bearings for life policy — reviewers single this out as a legitimate ownership-cost advantage. The DELTA linkage can be tedious to clean in gritty conditions, but reports on frame-stiffness longevity and lack of creaks are strongly positive.