[Sandwich]

So Pivot has a new version of the Switchblade, and it's launching with the usual multi-site coordinated ad release.
That's not particularly unusual. But this release has made me realize just how cancerously terrible Vital has gotten recently.

2020 Pivot Switchblade Pro XT/XTR 29

Reviews, ratings, specifications, weight, price and more for the 2020 Pivot Switchblade Pro XT/XTR 29

www.vitalmtb.com

Paid-for press junket over three days. Resulting in a 5-star "possible bike of the year" """review""". To note: the actual review is a goddamn video, which is itself cancer. Lern 2 rite.

Starts with the usual spouting of marketing geo copy, with no discussion of their merits, just superlatives relative to the old model, it's MORE than the last one. No context = no valid. Then we get to the actual riding, annnnndddd.... there's not much. "It climbs well, it descends well; super poppy, yet never gets hung up on square edge hits; THERE'S A SPECIAL CUSTOM SHOCK TUNE GUIZ!; blah blah blah..." wait why the hell is half of the video about touring Pivot's old and new offices? How does this in any way relate to a bike review? Also, they gloss over the fact that the rear end is so fucking wide it rubs not only your shoes, but your calves. "It's a quick adjustment" they say. That's not a quick adjustment, that's called permanently riding the bike pigeon-toed. Perhaps some more coverage is in order?

Oh, the cheapest model is FIVE AND A HALF THOUSAND DOLLARS. The cheapest one. Most expensive? $14,400. Which I believe takes the crown for the most expensive production MTB (and yes, I am aware someone made some berillium hardtail in the 90s that was 20k, but there's like fifteen of those ever, so it doesn't count).

So the combination of Corpo-shill ad copy Vital had the cohones to call a "review", along with the eye-watering price tag, I humbly submit for your consideration as everything wrong with the industry.

I heart this. Can I sign up for your video newsletter?

 

[slyfink]

geez, did I touch a nerve or something

I frankly have found the opposite to be true. Beefy aluminum bikes with 6 plus inches of travel and dual ply tires for derping around on flat trails. I'm sure it goes both ways, and I'm advocating for light, short travel bikes on a DH forum which is pretty stupid in itself, but I still think a shorter travel bike piloted well is superior overall to a big travel bike just hamfisted through techy terrain and forced up the climbs.

hmmm. interesting. over here, most people are on xc bikes because "lighter is better, right?". Even though our terrain is not beginner friendly (I discovered this after trying to bring my kids out riding). I think for our terrain, most people are underbiked. And this fad for downcountry bikes, plus tires, and 29rs is not helping anything.

that said, I'm also a little ticked off that as my buddies get older, they're shying away from the more technical trails. Those trails are why I ride. So yeah... maybe a bit of a nerve! I hate doing the long, mind-numbing rides I could do with a crossduro/tracklocross bike (in fact, there's been a few times I've shown up on my (SS rigid) Kona Humu just for a bit of a challenge. They can wait for me for a change, while I push up the hills and fix my flat tires.

another train of thought... maybe people are coming around to the realization that they are, in general, overbiked. ie the bike they are riding is overkill for 90% of what they're doing.

I'd say that's pretty much the same train of thought as Sammy...

I believe you are correct. With newer riders, I've seen lots of people buy bad ass enduro bikes as first bikes, and then shortly thereafter swap to a lighter, shorter travel trail bike when you figure out that their local loop is nothing like an EWS course. More experienced riders got fooled by the industry into thinking enduro bikes really can climb like an XC bike and descend like a downhill rig, only to find out that they do neither. The pendulum may be swinging too far the other way, thanks to stupid "downcountry" bikes, but the correct bike for most people is a lot closer to an overforked XC bike than a 180mm travel enduro/park bike.

for IMBA'fied trails downcountry bikes are perfect.

true. but are there really that many out your way?

To note: the actual review is a goddamn video, which is itself cancer. Lern 2 rite.

Oh, the cheapest model is FIVE AND A HALF THOUSAND DOLLARS. The cheapest one. Most expensive? $14,400. Which I believe takes the crown for the most expensive production MTB (and yes, I am aware someone made some berillium hardtail in the 90s that was 20k, but there's like fifteen of those ever, so it doesn't count).

So the combination of Corpo-shill ad copy Vital had the cohones to call a "review", along with the eye-watering price tag, I humbly submit for your consideration as everything wrong with the industry.

 

[jonKranked]

true. but are there really that many out your way?

2 buckets: yes, and no - but they were never that gnarly in the first place.

 

[SkaredShtles]

OK, Boomers.

 

[Sandwich]

Kona Humu

nice

 

[jonKranked]

OK, Boomers.

 

[slyfink]

nice

It's a surprisingly versatile bike. Mine's a 2015 (I think), so a 29r. I bought it originally as a commuter (it came with slicks) because it was a sturdy frame and I could put fenders and a kids bike seat on it. But as my kids progressed to their own bikes, I now use it to go mountain biking with them. I took off the rack and fenders, and put some knobbies on it. I've done a few early-season rides on it, some rides with the kids, and some late fall slop-fest rides with it. I've even taken it to the pump track with the kids!

I'm thinking of maybe throwing some gears and a fork on it for when we do the aforementioned lame rides (I'm not quite fit enough for SS, and my wrists hate me for weeks after a proper trail ride on a rigid fork...). I could even throw a cushcore in the rear for extra gnar points...

 

[johnbryanpeters]

OK, Boomers.

OK, skier.

 

[schwaaa31]

Most riders I know, event those riding for 20 years +, just aren't descenders. It's sad.

Well that’s just awful

 

[Electric_City]

THE INDUSTRY™

We're not "over biked". Many people did move to 150-160 because they became efficient enough to pedal almost anywhere. And why not have one? What you aren't able to ride, the bike will make up for it! This killed a piece of The Industry™. The Lizards came up with a new category name. "Trail" didn't make sense anymore since a 160mm bike can handle what a trail bike can do. Just like "all mountain" got renamed as enduro, Trail needed a cool name.

Why? Because The Industry™ lost its middle ground. Either you race XC or can Enduro the shit out of it! You know, the whole "quiver killer" thing that was marketed several years back?

The term "down country" was invented to replace "trail" by none other than TI. Slap a pair of knee pads on a guy berm blasting and call it down country! Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!

 

[mykel]

I did the one bike thing for a few years, pretty much 05 - 13 with 165 or 170mm of rear travel. For most of the time I was way overbiked except when I went a downhillin' where I could have used some more. I did however have an absolute blast either way.

I then had the chance to go with a proper 140mm trailbike and a dh bike and things got even more fun locally, but with the big bike, was now riding faster with more confidence. Now that I'm slowing down, do I really need the dh bike, not really, but I"m comfortable on it and I really like the insurance policy it provides. I really don't bounce anymore, just kind of go splat. That shit hurts and takes a long fuckin time to heal and I don't have riding time to spare anymore. It has saved my ass a few times a year when I get carried away and try to ride lines I used to be able and end up in over my head. It sure ain't pretty, and it does leave me with laundry, but I usually come out the other end upright and with skin still attached. I will take being overbiked in this situation.

So for me the best combination I have found so far

135mm 29 TrailBike
215mm 275/26 Mullet DH bike

 

[toodles]

That's a handsome looking motorcycle. I'd still take a BMW 850 for that money though.

I could literally buy a CRF250, ship it to Thailand, ride the Mae Hong Son loop and do the Golden Triangle tour, plus pay for shenanigans snacks AND the money for medical treatment for ailments I'd pick up along the way for that price. Twice.

Git farked.

 

[manhattanprjkt83]

or you could ride a gold foil e-jumper

 

[Bikael Molton]

non-piggy so it can fit a waterbottle?

Because in 2020, not wearing a backpack is more important than a shock that doesn't overheat.

with a non-piggy-back shock, a FIT4 damper fork, Praxis cranks, and moderate-level hubs...

What.... The.... FVCK...

 

[toodles]

non-piggy so it can fit a waterbottle?

Because in 2020, not wearing a backpack is more important than a shock that doesn't overheat.

By the sounds, the overall weight was their key marketing thingy so they cut everything they could to be able to say it weighs something like a normal bike.

 

[StiHacka]

The frame, components, water bottle, geometry or wheel size does not matter to the target audience as long as it is a P.I.V.O.T.!

 

[englertracing]

I could literally buy a CRF250, ship it to Thailand, ride the Mae Hong Son loop and do the Golden Triangle tour, plus pay for shenanigans snacks AND the money for medical treatment for ailments I'd pick up along the way for that price. Twice.

Git farked.

But not enough to buy new valves and have the seats cut when it wont start half way through your journey

 

[Electric_City]

Emails--I just unsubscribed from 2 yesterday.

MTBR and the Loam Wolf. In case you were dead yesterday and didn't read it all over the internet and social media, let me fill you in! There's a sub-40lb electric bike! Literally half of the subject matter in these emails were e-bike related. The Industry™ has Millenialized our sport. Good job Big "S" and "T"... Good job!

 

[4xBoy]

This. A thousand times this. I cannot stand somebody either speaking off his butt or reading some junk off a cardboard placed right by the camera/phone. A well thought, re-read before being published, written review will always beat those 5-minute video abominations. I avoid them like the plague.

On a related note, the millennial syndrome has expanded to education. Instead of properly formatted Ansible manuals or courses I'm being fed 5-8 minute videos with a couple of asshats discussing how wonderful the technology is. Fuck them.

Remember the manual you got with a mountain bike 25 years ago?

Completely generic and not even the right picture to the bike.

 

[slimshady]

I still see those warning labels reminding you to properly close the front wheel's QR. Even on 15mm, bolt-on thru axle forks .

 

[sethimus]

Emails--I just unsubscribed from 2 yesterday.

MTBR and the Loam Wolf. In case you were dead yesterday and didn't read it all over the internet and social media, let me fill you in! There's a sub-40lb electric bike! Literally half of the subject matter in these emails were e-bike related. The Industry™ has Millenialized our sport. Good job Big "S" and "T"... Good job!

emails? ok, boomer

 

[jonKranked]

Emails--I just unsubscribed from 2 yesterday.

MTBR and the Loam Wolf. In case you were dead yesterday and didn't read it all over the internet and social media, let me fill you in! There's a sub-40lb electric bike! Literally half of the subject matter in these emails were e-bike related. The Industry™ has Millenialized our sport. Good job Big "S" and "T"... Good job!

somewhere i saw the headline "Specialized pulls out all the stops to give people an e-bike that looks and behaves as close to a regular mountain bike as currently possible. " and all i could think is "except for the astronomical price tag"

 

[Fool]

I saw a insta post from pinkbike today for some new bike from someone er other that posed the question, "Did someone say downcountry?"

No. No the fuck one did. Just you and the marketing hee haws who can't come to grips that the term "trailbike" is the best way to describe a god damn trail bike.

 

[chris_f]

and all i could think is "except for the astronomical price tag"

If the new top tier Pivot Switchblade is anything to go by, Specialized didn't miss that mark by much either.

 

[jonKranked]

If the new top tier Pivot Switchblade is anything to go by, Specialized didn't miss that mark by much either.

i remained unconvinced there's not an arms race in the bike industry to make the most expensive bike.

 

[Sandwich]

"Specialized pulls out all the stops to give people an e-bike that looks and behaves as close to a regular mountain bike as currently possible. "

yeah so why not just build/buy a mountain bike?

 

[Toshi]

Where's the Yeti e-bike? Are they still playing coy?

 

[toodles]

But not enough to buy new valves and have the seats cut when it wont start half way through your journey

Meh, they worked fine for me and the crew last time.

 

[toodles]

To swap a Fox shock between bearing mounts in the eyelets and normal hardware you need these.

Rockshox - you need this and a damper rebuild.

Godfuckendammit

 

[StiHacka]

To swap a Fox shock between bearing mounts in the eyelets and normal hardware you need these.

View attachment 140684

Rockshox - you need this and a damper rebuild.

View attachment 140685

Godfuckendammit

You have sinned.

 

[slimshady]

To swap a Fox shock between bearing mounts in the eyelets and normal hardware you need these.

View attachment 140684

Rockshox - you need this and a damper rebuild.

View attachment 140685

Godfuckendammit

Amachete in Spain and several other aftermarket shops make bearing kits for imperial shocks.

 

[toodles]

Amachete in Spain and several other aftermarket shops make bearing kits for imperial shocks.

I need to convert the other way though. Secondhand shock came with the bearing mount - was hoping to put the older hardware in to fit my trail bike but no luck.

 

[SylentK]

What i've learned:

Pick a travel size and be a dick about it.

Really expensive bikes offend people. But what about the cheaper model that came from the really expensive model? Its gotta start somewhere. Dentist bikes FTW!

 

[slimshady]

... and we're back to 1995:

Cirrus Cycles smooths bumps, reduces chatter w/ new Kinekt Suspension Stem

Cirrus Cycles announced a new addition to their bump-absorbing product line - the Kinekt Suspension Stem. The adjustable, multi-pivot design has 20mm of parallel travel, to reduce shock that would otherwise cause wrist, hand, neck, and shoulder pain.

bikerumor.com

 

[StiHacka]

... and we're back to 1995:

Cirrus Cycles smooths bumps, reduces chatter w/ new Kinekt Suspension Stem

Cirrus Cycles announced a new addition to their bump-absorbing product line - the Kinekt Suspension Stem. The adjustable, multi-pivot design has 20mm of parallel travel, to reduce shock that would otherwise cause wrist, hand, neck, and shoulder pain.

bikerumor.com

Boy, I am suffering from blurred vision just by looking at that miraculous product!

 

[rideit]

I’m gonna re-market a 200mm travel hite-right. No hydraulics!

 

[xy9ine]

i've still got an old hite rite in the junk bin. really wanted one of these IRD remote releases:

 

[jonKranked]

TIL:

 

[slimshady]

Dafuq?

 

[jonKranked]

Dafuq?

Ellsworth sunglasses.