YT CAPRA CORE 2
£3,199 (+ shipping) The German direct-sale brand’s most affordable race-ready enduro bike
This new alloy build takes all the updates made by YT Industries to their carbon-framed Mk III Capra enduro bike and bundles them into a more affordable yet still performance-focused package.
THE FRAME
Constructed from hydroformed aluminium tubing, the Core 2 looks much like the carbon fibre model and has the same single-sided strut spanning the down and seat tubes. This design means that – for the first time on an alloy Capra – there’s enough space within the front triangle for a 630ml water bottle. There’s an accessory mount on the underside of the top tube, and the gear cable and rear brake hose are routed internally through the front triangle. The asymmetric rear end is claimed to have an impressive strength-to-weight ratio. You get chainslap protection on the driveside stays, plus a rock-strike pad underneath the down tube.
This 29er Capra has 165mm of rear-wheel travel, metered out by YT’s ‘V4L’ four-bar linkage. According to the brand’s own suspension graph, the leverage rate is approximately 33 per cent progressive, making it well-suited to both coil- and air-sprung shocks.
The Core 2 has a shock-yoke flipchip that changes the head and seat tube angles by 0.3 degrees, between 64.2 and 64.5 degrees, and 77.6 and 77.9 degrees, respectively. Our large test bike had a 467mm reach, 438mm chainstays and 1,248mm wheelbase.
THE KIT
There are plenty of enduro-ready parts fitted to the Core 2, including Fox’s 170mm-travel 38 fork and Float X shock, both in third-tier ‘Performance’ spec. SRAM provide their NX Eagle drivetrain and Code R brakes. Crankbrothers’ Synthesis Enduro wheels are wrapped in Maxxis rubber – an Assegai up front and a Minion DHR II out back, both with lightweight EXO casings and dual-compound rubber. E*thirteen take care of the cockpit. YT add their Postman dropper.
THE RIDE
Hustling along undulating singletrack, the Core 2 is remarkably efficient, its fast-rolling tyres and minimal suspension bob giving the impression that most of your power is being fed into forward motion. This is backed up by the comfortable and upright seated pedalling position. The seat tube angle places your hips over the BB rather than behind it, which not only makes climbing comfortable, but also helps reduce front-wheel lift in super-steep
sections. Here, the super-progressive rear end reduces rearward weight transfer, too, preventing excessive sagging. We didn’t need to use the climb lever on the shock. Overall, the Capra climbs much better than its travel figure would suggest, broadening its potential beyond just winch-and-plummet riding.
On the descents, the Core 2’s easy-to-ride geometry makes it seriously easy to jump on and ride quickly. The modern but not overly-extended hand-to-feet relationship means you don’t have to recalibrate your weight placement when loading the bike in turns, and the rear suspension can be pushed hard to generate speed or grip without blowing through its travel.
Turning the bike into corners and leaning it over is addictive, as it holds its line with impressive accuracy. There’s less change to its dynamic geometry than on bikes with less progressive suspension, making it massively predictable. Generating speed in turns or through compressions feels repeatable but also intuitive, and doesn’t require any compensatory weight shifts.
Thanks to that progression, you can run the Core 2’s suspension slightly softer than on other bikes, improving traction and comfort over rough terrain. This also reduces the likelihood of the thinner-casing tyres puncturing; because the suspension works so well, you don’t have to rely on carcass deformation for shock absorption.
The Core 2’s spec is impressive, as well. Fox’s GRIP fork damper offers plenty of support up front without choking on trail chatter, while the Code R brakes have immense stopping power. The Crankbrothers wheels could well be a magic ingredient in furthering performance, too, their front- and rear-specific rim construction arguably contributing to grip and delivering a damped feel.
It was only on the steepest, gnarliest trails that the Capra came unstuck. Here, a slacker head angle and longer chainstays would make it even more capable. Swapping out the tyres would be a high-priority post-purchase upgrade for us. This bike deserves grippier-compound, thicker-casing rubber.
Overall, the Core 2 made quite a first impression, especially considering its relatively low retail price. Further testing is required to see just how much YT’s budget enduro rig has to offer, but if our limited time on it is anything to go by, it strikes an almost perfect price-to-performance ratio for the cash-conscious enduro rider. Alex Evans