Thanks for the replies guys. I don't want to shell out for a complete wheel set just for the sake of a rear hub as I have a boost dt 240 on the front 942. Will look at a sram 157. The wait is killing me. Every bike I've ridden in the last few years had been too short in the reach department so really looking forward to trying the switch.

 

So, I've managed to tee up a Switchblade demo bike for the weekend here in Aus, pretty stoked to be playing with a new bike Will it replace either of my 429SL or Mojo HD3? Who knows? Or will it slip in between them somewhere

But, question! I'll be demoing the bike in 650+ mode, first time on wider tyres. What kind of pressures are you all running? I'm 70kg without kit, probably about 73kg with kit.

Cheers!

 

Thanks mingloid. I guess the ab ring can't be flipped like the race Face ring to give the correct boost spacing.
Sounds like the sram xo 157dh is the h7b to go for at the minute then. Thanks for the info Dan. About another 3 to 4 weeks to go before I'll have my paws on the bike. Arrgghhhh the wait is killing me.

 

Have a AB 32t on mine,yes tight fit to CS but no issues with with chainline,shifts mint with no adjustment from 30t. Now feel the gearing is proper for a bike of this caliber.

I built up a 27.5 + wheelset and put XT cassette from 29er wheelset on it and have a XTR 11-40 with Oneup 45t on 29er setup like this for more XCish and much lighter to.

 

Please let us know how it goes! i'd like to hear how it compares to the HD3 especially. thanks!

 

I know this has been asked a lot but I am placing my order possibly Monday, the 29er version.
I'm 5'11 but with longer torso and a 31" inseam. the stack height and reach is similar to my Cannondale Jekyll large. on the Jekyll the SH is around 23.5 and the reach is 18"
I like to use shorter stems, I was thinking about 35" stem for it.
anyone on the large around the same height?
also does anyone on here live in FL that owns a Switchblade?

 

I to am 5' 11" with 33" inseam using 65mm stem. I rode a large and felt to long and I like short cockpits. In comparison with my large Mach 6 center of stem to top of seatpost center dead on the same length,with top of saddle to top of pedal with crank arm vertical.

 

I'm going to order the Large SB, kind of nervous because I cant get my hands on one to see about the fitting.
again I'm 5"11 with a longer torso...
the reach on my current bike is just shy of 18" and the stack height is around 23.5

ant 5"11 riders on a large SB and if so what do you think?

 

Per Competitive Cyclist sizing chart (or is that Pivot's?), you would be a medium. My son is 5'10-5'11 and when we went to a Pivot Demo Day, they fitted him on a medium. FWIW.

 

I'm 5'11" and have a longer torso. I felt the medium was a tad small. Although on paper it's bigger than my L Mach 6. Would rather a L SB with short stem.

 

Per the Pivot website;

X-Small: 4'11" – 5'4"
Small: 5'4" – 5'8"
Medium: 5'8" – 5'11"
Large: 5'11" – 6'3'
X-Large: 6'2" +

wilks,what size stem did you go with?

 

Per the Pivot website;

X-Small: 4'11" - 5'4"
Small: 5'4" - 5'8"
Medium: 5'8" - 5'11"
Large: 5'11" - 6'3'
X-Large: 6'2" +

wilks,what size stem did you go with?

I'd likely settle on a 35-40mm stem I think. Not 100% there yet.

 

Any idea why Pivot didn't offer other Fox shock choices for the SB?

 

Fork or Shock? To my knowledge, they have never offered shock choices in their build kits.

 

So, my impressions of the Switchblade after getting lucky enough to play with it for a full weekend. First up, my current rides are:
- XMI Play IP-057 Rigid 29er
- Pivot Mach 429SL Medium w/ 120mm fork, 70mm stem and 710mm bars.
- Ibis HD3 Large w/ Pike 160mm & CC DBAir CS, 50mm stem, 740mm bars.
- Pivot Phoenix DH Aluminium, Medium
- Most recently before those was a Pivot Mach 5.7C that I rode for 4 years before scoring a deal of a lifetime on the HD3 frame. Before that was an original Mach 4.

My personal specs are that I'm 178cm, 32" riding inseam (wear 30" pants), slightly longer torso than leg proportion, 70kg w/o gear.

Switchblade Setup - Medium frame, Fox 36 150mm fork, 60mm stem, 740mm bars, Reckon 2.8", settled on 16psi rear and 14psi front.

And I should definitely preface by saying that a weekend is not enough to really get a a bike dialled, but that I also was able to ride in enough places that I'm familiar with (5 hours at Stromlo and 4 hours at Majura Pines in Canberra for the Aussies here) to get a very good idea of the pro's & con's of this bike.

I reckon my summary would be that this bike would be a great "one bike to rule them all", if I was ever unlucky enough to have to sell up all my bikes and reduce the stable to one.

The geo is very dialled, the Medium fit me and my style perfectly. I would run a 50mm stem, but the 740mm width was perfect.

Personally, I didn't get on with the Plus tyres. In wide, open and flat corners, the grip was outstanding. But on the berms and fast stuff, I found them quite a bit harder to muscle the inherent momentum through. Especially along fast flowy descents (Skyline at Stromlo is a great example), the bike just wanted to track a more straight line, rather than flick where my hips and shoulders were trying to shift the bike. On fast berm to berm transfers, especially with hip jumps in between, it took a lot more work to make that transfer happen.

The real killer for me was that the bike/tyres seemed to drop momentum on gradient reversals, the snappy "quick pedal" that I'm so familiar with in DW-Link bikes and have grown to love over the last 7 years just wasn't there. Think of coming out of a berm, and facing a gradient reversal and couple of rollers (at Majura Pines, on Barry, just above the split to the DH trail), the bike just slowed majorly, and a quick pedal didn't sort it.

Now, with all of that said, I wish I had a chance to play with this in 29'er mode. It would absolutely slay the type of riding I like to do!

It's a great in between bike, and a great do-it-all bike. I also wouldn't hesitate to recommend it, even in plus mode, to someone who wanted to simply "have fun" and be able to ride anything with confidence. The Plus tyres really do rail and would, I'm sure, with practice let me take some sketchier slow lines due to the width and volume on hand.

Would I grab one? No* Sydney has either XC trails that are perfectly doable on the 429SL, or steep sandstone descent trails that the HD3 loves with aplomb. (*Sure, N always = N+1, but unless the aforementioned poverty ensued, it's too much in the middle for my kind of riding).

my 2c, take it for what it's worth (haha, really not much in the world of the internet!)

 

Someone already tried fitting a 200x57 rear shock into the frame?

 

OP here. Although I've had my SB a couple months I had my first proper ride on it this morning. In the mountains in Park City, UT. Now I get all the fuss about a steeper STA. On trails that go up forever then back down, always climbing or descending like here, the steep STA is great for climbing. Puts you in a good position for LONG climbs w/o having to scooch forward and have the narrower part of the saddle up in your taint. And then when it's time to turn down, drop the saddle. Either a couple inches or all the way; either way the STA doesn't make you feel to far forward. On flat sections, the steep STA does feel like I'm too far forward but for either up or down the whole way it feels great.

I still like the slacker STA of my 429SL and 429Trail for flatter areas or not as sustained climbs as it feels better; feels like I'm in the middle of the bike. These are just my 2 cents, worth about what you paid for them. haha

 

OP here. Although I've had my SB a couple months I had my first proper ride on it this morning. In the mountains in Park City, UT. Now I get all the fuss about a steeper STA. On trails that go up forever then back down, always climbing or descending like here, the steep STA is great for climbing. Puts you in a good position for LONG climbs w/o having to scooch forward and have the narrower part of the saddle up in your taint. And then when it's time to turn down, drop the saddle. Either a couple inches or all the way; either way the STA doesn't make you feel to far forward. On flat sections, the steep STA does feel like I'm too far forward but for either up or down the whole way it feels great.

I still like the slacker STA of my 429SL and 429Trail for flatter areas or not as sustained climbs as it feels better; feels like I'm in the middle of the bike. These are just my 2 cents, worth about what you paid for them. haha

A setback dropper or a saddle with long rails might let you find a sweet spot between the two?

 

I'm with Fadl...can you long shock the Switchblade???

 

Nope,why would you want to,spent all day Sunday at a bike park and had no proplem on jump lines and features,but the shock does heat up quickly and have expressed yo Pivot my feeling it is undershocked and an Float x a minimum would have been a better spec. I did order a X2 and going 160mm RC2 air assembly mostly because I race Enduros.

 

Can the guys using the sram xo 157 dh hub confirm if it is the version that has the endcaps that allow it to be either 150 or 157 compatible or is it a dedicated 157 only version? My lbs could only see the 150/157 version and knew nothing about the wider flanges so I was worried it was the wrong hub.

 

Yes has end caps,and is latest version.

 

Just pulled the trigger!!! ordered a Large XT/XTR 1X build...cant wait to ride it..
has anyone installed the 54 tooth star ratchet in their DT Hubs?

 

has anyone installed the 54 tooth star ratchet in their DT Hubs?

A friend has those in his and likes the upgrade quite a bit. Installation is "trivial" - if you can fix a flat you are over-qualified.

 

Anyone know for certain the affect on antisquat going from a 30t to a 34t chainring?

I looked up the numbers on linkage design and it's right around 100% through the cassette with 30t, but I'm not sure if bumping up chainring sizes always yields less antisquat or if it's frame dependent.

I have the 11-45 shimano/one up cassette, btw.

 

Anyone know for certain the affect on antisquat going from a 30t to a 34t chainring?

I looked up the numbers on linkage design and it's right around 100% through the cassette with 30t, but I'm not sure if bumping up chainring sizes always yields less antisquat or if it's frame dependent.

You should be able to look up an older frame design (but same basic ... like maybe an older Firebird?) on LinkageDesign that has a 2x or 3x ring set, and see how the AS is varies by ring. Won't be precisely the same but should give you an idea.

 

I get the 157 hub engineering and logic it makes sense, but what a bummer for those who just acquired nice boost 148 wheeelsets. Speaking of wheelsets why go 157 for strength and then spec a 28 spoke wheels..A bike like this deserves 32 spokes and a wider 29 rim option, the stock offerings are weaksauce.

 

Agree, as a big dude (195cm 100kg) it makes me sad seeing bikes specced with low spoke count wheels these days. I have not had much luck with stock wheels so usually have to factor in a pair of custom wheels as well. Hope hubs, flow rims and dt comp spokes are cheap and solid.

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My experience with the SB is that it's a very, very stiff bike. I could argue that, even with the stock wheels, the bike as a whole is stiffer than many of its competitors with aftermarket wheels.

Unless, perhaps, you're sensitive enough to uncouple frame flex from wheel flex.

I'm about 190 in gear and ride gnar.

 

So, how is the bike for everyday trail riding?

Too much bike?

 

Thought it would be, but I've been on my 429T while I wait for new driveline components for my SB. I miss the extra travel which offsets the weight gain and small loss of efficiency.

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Well, picked up bike from LBS from having them install 160mm RC2 cartridge, and ironies of ironies they informed me that Pivot now offers rear shock up grades, needless to say that is a pisser,having ordered a X2 which is an option now, jeez, what a bummer. I did in fact write them recently about just that rant.A day late a bizzillion dollars short!!!

 

Aawwww Maan, called my lbs yesterday to get a cost to change the fork cart to 160. Going to have to ring them again about the rear shock now too. That's been on my upgrade list from the moment I ordered the bike. Would be nice if I can get it supplied with the x2 and save some pennies. Thanks for the heads up!

 

Great to hear there are shock options now. :thumbsup:

Look on the bright side you have a back up shock in case the X2 needs servicing.

 

It's no fun being beta tester

 

Anyone surprised the new Firebird didn't get the Super Boost rear end like the SB?

 

I read somewhere that Cocalis said that it was the stiffest bike they've made and that the 27.5 wheels on it don't need the extra hub width.

 

Not really its not a plus bike and no 2x some real estate is not as constrained as the SB