NEW BIKES
SWINGING A LEG OVER WHAT’S HOT THIS MONTH
Can Pivot’s enduro e-bike justify its top-end price tag on the trails?
PIVOT SHUT TLE LT 29 TEAM XTR
£12,000 • 29in • saddleback.co.uk
NEED TO KNOW
● Pedal-assist version of Pivot’s popular Firebird enduro bike
● Full carbon frame and 29in wheels make it light and fast
● Shimano EP8 motor is paired with Darfon 756Wh battery to extend range
● Fox Factory suspension delivers 170mm up front with 10mm less on the rear
● Shimano XTR drivetrain and brakes make for a Gucci build
● Four frame sizes, with generous reach measurements and short seat tubes
● Also available with an SLX/XT build option for £10k
Ifind it ironic that my news feed is constantly presenting me with horror stories about the potential dangers of AI. Yet, the feed itself is driven by AI. Maybe it’s trying to tell me that my days as bike test editor at mbr are numbered, and soon all bike reviews will be compiled by ChatGPT. Too late… I think some already are.
But what’s this got to do with the Pivot Cycles Shuttle LT 29 Team XTR? Well, it’s blatantly obvious that the model name has been configured to satisfy a search engine, rather than provoking the desired emotional response in a living, breathing, human being.
On the plus side, it does give you a pretty good snapshot of the bike rather than a fuzzy feeling of wellbeing. Clearly it’s a full 29er, has XTR brakes and drivetrain and it’s long travel. How long? Well, the top-end bike of two uses a 170mm-travel Fox 38 Factory fork combined with a Float X shock to control the DW-Link rear suspension that pumps out 160mm travel on the money. In short, it’s a pedal-assist version of the Firebird.
Assistance comes in the form of a Shimano EP8 motor with its 85Nm of torque. Shimano remains tight lipped about peak power, but it doesn’t feel as punchy as offerings from Bosch or Specialized. In fact it even seems to have been superseded by Shimano’s latest EP801, but what the EP8 lacks in grunt, it makes up for in efficiency, as it’s noticeably less energy-sapping when pushed past the 15.5mph assistance limit.
Shimano’s e-bike batteries tend to deliver less range than equivalent units from third-party suppliers, so Pivot has been smart in speccing a 756Wh battery from Darfon to boost the range of the Shuttle LT. It uses a custom charging port and the battery slides out the bottom of the down tube in a similar fashion to the Specialized Turbo Levo, Canyon Spectral:ON and Whyte E-160. Handy for aspiring racers, charging the battery indoors or simply razzing around in Boost mode with a spare battery in the car for round two. Battery swaps couldn’t be more straightforward either. Simply undo the two bolts in front of the motor and the motor cover swings back to reveal a web of wires.
