LONG TERM RIDES
The latest on our team bikes – where we’ve ridden, the parts we’ve changed, what we’ve broken and what we’re looking forward to
There’s nothing like new bike day to get you out of a slump!
I won’t lie, I was pretty excited when, a few weeks ago, James – YT Industries’ UK manager – turned the corner of my street wheeling my new bike. That excitement grew further when
I saw the bike was matt black, because as anyone who’s ridden with me knows – especially the unlucky photographers tasked with shooting photos of me in dark woods – I’ve got a bit of a soft spot for a stealthy colour scheme!
After lugging a burly enduro bike around my local trails for much of last year, under the ‘no gnar, not far’ remit, I was looking forward to a change. I reckoned YT’s carbonframed, 150mm-travel Jeffsy trail bike, in 29in-wheeled form, would be the perfect antidote to that – lighter and faster up the hills, but still with plenty of guts for getting wild on the descents. As soon as I dropped into the first trail, I knew I’d made a good choice.
Having owned a YT Tues (DH) and Capra (enduro) in the past, the Jeffsy feels like it’s built in the same vein, with its active V4L four-bar suspension, backed up by solid geometry and a low-slung bottom bracket for optimum corner-railing. A flip-clip in the lower shock mount gives +/-8mm of control over the BB height, but I can’t see myself ever running it in anything but the low position.
One thing I do lament is why, on such a capable and aggressive bike, they’ve made the head angle so steep. Even in the low BB position, the head tube sits at a conservative 66 degrees. That’s a full 1.5 degrees steeper than the head angle on the otherwise comparable Commencal Meta TR, which may not sound like a lot, but really is noticeable on steeper, faster terrain. I’ll probably try experimenting with different fork pressures and bar heights to work around this.
Still, even with this quibble, there’s no denying just how fun this bike is to ride straight out of the box! Something I do need to sort out pretty sharpish, though, is some adequate foot protection for the oversized rear stays. Two rides in and my heels have already worn through the paint and down to the bare carbon. www.yt-industries.com