Pivot Cycles 2017 Eurobike
Features / Thu 1st Sep, 2016 @ 9:30 pm
You’ll really, really, really want to see this! Pivot have been busy of late, dropping not one but two new bikes this year. Eurobike gave us the chance to get up close and personal with a couple of the hottest bikes of the moment.
The Switchblade is a versatile beast, not just in it’s ability to run either 29 or 27.5+ wheels and tyres, but also in it’s outlook on the trail. With 135mm of DW link suspension and the option of running a fork up to 160mm, it’s encompasses everything from trail to enduro and can turn it’s hand at pretty much anything. Whack a big fork on and be an enduro superstar, or build it light and be trail whippet with a ton of style. It’s ultra modern with a full carbon frame and routing for Di2 if you want to go fully space age. Not content with going Boost, Pivot came up with the awesome sounding; Super Boost Plus at 157mm hub spacing to make sure their wheels are the stiffest they can be. The biggest news with the Switchblade is the geometry, which has taken a huge leap forward into the world of the long front end, bring it right on trend.
So just when we thought the Switchblade would be the only Pivot you would ever need, Bernard Kerr stoppies his way onto the scene aboard the Firebird. With 170mm travel matched to a 170 or 180 fork, this is a serious bike for serious terrain. The Firebird shares plenty of DNA with the Phoenix DH bike, even allowing for a double camp fork if you want to get a bit spicy. Dont go thinking however that this is a bike which only points downhill, with the option for a low profile side-pull front mech, this machine is fully designed to get you to the tops under your own steam. This is the sort of bike that will be a very bad influence and get you into the sort of serious trouble you’ve not seen since a forgotten youth. With a Fox X2 shock as standard, boost ready and press fit BB for maximum stiffness, this is a bike of few compromises. A sub 28lb build is claimed possible on a 170mm bike, the future is here!
The Pivot 429 is not forgotten, and gets a tweak in the back end to bring it in line with boost spacing and allow for better mud clearance.
The Pivot range for 2017 is looking stronger than ever.
By Ewen Turner
Ewen Turner is a self-confessed bike geek from Kendal in the Lake District of England. He runs a coaching and guiding business up there and has a plethora of knowledge about bikes with an analytical approach to testing. His passion for bicycles is infectious, and he’s a ripper on the trails who prefers to fit his working life around his time on the bike.
