YT DECOY CF PRO

£5,066.80 Top-value carbon bike that eats up the descents

German direct-sales brand YT Industries were one of the first online-only bike companies to blow up big in the UK and are known for selling bikes at amazing value with smart spec lists. Their Decoy e-bike has the most travel on test (165mm, with a 160mm fork), but you wouldn’t necessarily know that from riding it, because it feels easy to chuck about, with progressive suspension that never wallows or sags too much under power.

The frame

The Decoy rocks the only carbon chassis here, which features high modulus fibres in certain zones, and comes in five sizes. A specially designed, semi-integrated battery bolts cleanly into its belly, inside a huge down tube structure. This powers the same Shimano E8000 drive unit found on the Canyon and Vitus, angled for better ground clearance. Interestingly, this was noisier than on the other bikes. The Decoy shares its V4L four-bar linkage design with YT’s ‘analogue’ Capra and Jeffsy. Its rear end feels supple but supportive, and uses a long stroke Fox DPX2 piggyback shock with an EVOL air sleeve for greater sensitivity at the beginning of the stroke. The geometry is reasonably long and slack, and the frame has a flip-chip that changes the head angle by half a degree and the already low bottom bracket height by 7mm. We started off in the slackest and lowest position, and left it there, because the rider position felt perfect.

The kit

We’ve come to except exceptional kit for the money from YT, and the Decoy doesn’t disappoint. The Fox 36 Performance Elite fork may not have the gold Kashima stanchion coating found on the brand’s Factory models, but still packs their top-tier GRIP2 damper. This gives a controlled and stable feel, as well as being super-supple. The short 44mm fork offset helps the bike steer perfectly, in tandem with the 40mm stem and 65-degree head angle (low setting). SRAM’s four-piston Code brakes have superb modulation. The e*thirteen wheels feel stiff and roll smoothly, and use e-specific rims. These differ in width as well as diameter (31mm internal front, 35mm rear), to best suit the 29x2.5in and 27.5x2.8in tyres.

The ride

The Decoy is billed as a downhiller’s e-bike. It totally delivers on this, and not just by packing the most travel on test. In fact, despite the 165mm of rear bounce, the V4L suspension remains taut and efficient. This, combined with the light, stiff carbon

GOOD ANGELS, WELL-DAMPED SUSPENSION AND A LOW RIDER POSITION WORK TOGETHER TO ENCOURAGE ATTACK-HEAVY RIDING

chassis, ensures the YT is very nimble for an e-enduro rig. The DH assurance stems from good angles, well-damped suspension and a low rider position, which work together to encourage attack-heavy riding.

On all three mullet bikes on test, the smaller back wheel cuts a tight arc through corners, which can make the front tyre understeer in the apex of the turn. We dropped one stem spacer to load the YT’s front tyre, and never looked back. The Decoy then has a balanced, ground-hugging feel, where rider weight is always centred and there’s never any danger of being pitched too far forward on steep tech, so you can hammer downhill with maximum confidence.

By ‘bouncing’ off the supportive suspension, you can change direction rapidly, and the Decoy’s ability to dart from side to side on the trail is addictive. One flipside of this tautness is that the bike can feel less comfortable than others here over big hits and root webs. This is likely down to the aggressively damped DPX2 shock, because we’ve ridden the top-tier Decoy with Float X2 shock and it’s exceptional in these situations. Also, we may have been charging harder on the YT than on the other bikes, because it encourages you to go a bit crazy.

Along with its downhill capability, the Decoy climbs admirably too. The saddle and cranks are wellpositioned, and the mid-stroke is supportive. Add the fact that it eats up bendy singletrack without boring you, and it’s a brilliant all-rounder. The downhiller’s e-bike, with attitude for miles and a well-balanced feel, at a great price