Pivot Mach 5.7 Carbon - Pivot Cycles

mba 86“...my ridingbuddy summed it upwell; he described itas a larrikin bike. Yep,this bike turns you intoa hoon!”Shimano XTR for $8,949.While you can’t fault the XT/XTRdrivechain, XT Trail brakes and tubelesscompatible Stan’s wheels, there are a fewnits that can be picked standard build.These days you’d really expect a 710-740mm wide handlebar on a long traveltravel trail/all-mountain bike but thebuild currently offered in Australia uses a700mm FSA SLK carbon bar. We’ve beentold this will change to a 740mm bar inthe future but for now the handlebars area touch on the narrow side. The skinnyFSA stem also looks a bit out of place onsuch a beefy carbon frame. In stock formthe bike comes with an FSA carbon postbut this bike is calling out for a dropperpost as soon as funds permit.Anti-What?Now onto the most important matter;how did it ride? On the trail, the characterof this bike is clearly defined bythe DW-link suspension. It’s a short-linkfour-bar system that utilises drivechainforces to provide ‘anti-squat’. In basicterms, when you load up the pedals, thechain pulls back against the swingarmand stiffens the suspension slightly toresist unwanted bob. Stomp harder when5. While the new CTD Trail Adjustshock is pretty cool, you probablywon’t need the various platformsettings—the 5.7 climbs just fine in‘descent’ mode.6. For such a burly looking carbon allmountainbike, the skinny FSA stemseems decidedly out of place.climbing and the suspension stiffens evenmore. Descend or pedal along the flat andthere’s less anti-squat, so the suspensionis free to move. Virtually every modernsuspension design uses anti-squat to somedegree; it’s just that this force is moreprevalent in the DW-link—it’s even gotmore anti-squat than many other popularshort-link four-bar systems such as theVPP-2 as used by Santa Cruz and Intense.Strong anti-squat characteristics meanthat you are not reliant on platformdamping to filter out unwanted movement,so the suspension can be soft andfree to soak up the terrain.This theory certainly plays out on theMach 5.7. The leverage ratio early in thetravel combines with a really light valvingtune to make the Fox CTD shock incrediblysupple. Once set with the recommended30% sag, it takes next to noeffort to get the shock moving—just pushdown on the saddle with your thumb andthe suspension will compress. With suchsmoothness and so little force requiredto get the suspension moving, the smallbump compliance is unbelievable—it’s asif the 5.7 has the coil sprung back end ofa full-on gravity racer, at least at the startof the travel anyway. This thing virtuallyerases small bumps, ripples and just aboutanything else; a real magic carpet ride.Most trail bikes have more breakawayforce than the Mach 5.7 and they usuallyneed it. Without some initial stiction,they’d suffer when it came to pedalling.In this regard the Pivot seemingly defieslogic; it’s so soft that you can’t helpthinking it will pedal horribly. However,within a few strong pedal strokes yourealise that this simply isn’t the case.Under power this bike feels responsiveand bounds forward like a good 11kgcross-country bike should—and that’swith the CTD shock set in the super supple‘descent’ mode!That’s not to say that the rear enddoesn’t budge when you’re out of thesaddle. Look between your legs andyou’ll see that the shock moves around abit but it really doesn’t feel inefficient orsoggy under foot. As you stomp on thepedal during the downstroke, the chaintension maximises the anti-squat andthe bike drives forward without any feelof mush. As you get to the dead-spot atthe bottom of the pedal revolution (sixo’clock/12 o’clock), your body weightis still travelling downwards but theunevenness in your pedal stroke meansthat the anti-squat drops off; that’s whenthe suspension moves, but as you’re notapplying power to the rear wheel at thispoint, the movement isn’t causing a lossin efficiency.Of course you can always add somepro-pedal damping by using the middle‘trail’ setting on the CTD shock but itreally isn’t necessary—just pedal this bikein ‘descent’ mode and it climbs, sprintsand flat-out goes. Best of all, it achievesthis efficiency without manually activatedtravel adjustments, remote lockouts,platform damping or stiff initial travel tocover up a design that’s inherently inefficient.With the Pivot you’ll always have145mm of supple travel at your disposal;it’ll keep the rear tyre glued to the trail100% of the time, both uphill and down.Now too much of a good thing can bebad, and that’s certainly the case withanti-squat in a suspension design. Antisquatis created through ‘chain-growth’,which means that the chainstays getlonger as the suspension is compressed.Too much chain-growth can becomenoticeable when you pedal over bumpyterrain, as you may feel the chain tuggingback on the pedals as the suspensionmoves. Additionally, by stiffening underpower the suspension becomes less ableto follow the terrain, resulting in compromisedcomfort and traction.The DW-link (and some other shortlinkdesigns) side-step this potential pitfallby using a variable axle-path—somethingthat’s just not possible with a singlepivot design. In the case of the Mach 5.7,the first third of the travel is decidedlyrearward to deliver strong anti-squat forbetter pedalling performance. As you godeeper, the wheel arcs in to a more verticalpath in an effort to minimise the negativeeffects when pedalling over rougherground. I could detect a small amount ofkickback on rock-steps whilst pedallinglightly in the small chainring, however Ihad to pay really close attention to noticeit—it certainly wasn’t enough to disruptmy pedalling rhythm.With lots of torque going through thedrivechain on a steep climb, you can reallyfeel the rear suspension firm up—itactually causes the back end to rise andhelps to keep your weight forward whenclimbing. There may be a slight loss inbump compliance (most noticeable onrock-stepped climbs) but for me the5 67. The DW-link suspension system reallyis the key to this bike’s all-roundperformance.8. Post-style rear brake mounts aretidily executed in carbon.9. The XT Pro build gets an XTR upgradeon the rear derailleur, completewith the Shadow Plus clutch.compromise was worth it for the gain inpedalling efficiency. If anything the chaintorque helps to drive the rear tyre intothe ground and gain traction.Some like soft and hyperactive suspensionfor seated climbing up root-riddledtrails. If that sounds like you, the DWlinkmightn’t be your ideal match but Ifeel that Pivot has achieved a great balancebetween efficient pedalling performanceand overall suspension activity.Weagle WorshipOnce the climb has been dispatchedwith DW-link efficiency, the real fun begins.The chain-growth that we’ve just describedcomes about through a more rearwardmovement of the wheel-axle. In additionto assisting on the climb, the distinctlyrearward axle-path makes the suspensionbetter able to absorb square edge bumps.This effect combined with the super supplesuspension ensures that the 145mm travelPivot irons out the trail like a much longertravel bike. Prior to testing this bike, Iwas on the new Santa Cruz Tallboy LTc;a 135mm travel 29er that destroyed rockgardens like few I’ve ridden before. Whilethe big-wheeled Santa Cruz had the edgewhen it came to clambering up rock ledgesat lower speeds, the small-wheeled Pivotploughed through high-speed square-edgerocks with even greater ease. Perhaps it wasthe extra 10mm of travel, the lighter shocktune and the more rearward axle-path allcombined; whatever the case, the Mach 5.7lifted my descending capabilities a notch7 8 9further again.One thing that makes the Pivot feel sogood is the linearity of its travel. Somebikes will only use 75% of their travel unlessyou huck from a cliff. The 5.7 will useall 145mm of travel on any moderatelyrough trail. Whilst this could be a recipefor disaster when you do drop-to-flat ormistime a jump, the Boost-Valve equippedFox shock always seems to mitigate thesituation. I could use all the travel byriding off a gutter, yet I never felt theback end bottom harshly whilst on thetrail—like magic! That said, the Mach 5.7has its limits if you’re taking on really bigjumps and drops. There’s certainly a placefor more progressive bottom-out resistantsuspension; that’s why Pivot employs amore progressive suspension curve ontheir 167mm travel Firebird.Out on the trail, the Mach 5.7 was abarrel of laughs. The suspension turnsrocks and roots into a pitter-patter underthe tyres—you know it’s there but thebike remains poised and calm no matterwhat you throw it at. The new generation150mm travel Fox CTD fork is a surprisinglygood match for the rear end and the67-degree head angle strikes a nice balancebetween descending confidence andmanageability when climbing. As alwaysthe 26-inch wheels give the bike a senseof agility and liveliness that’s often loston a long travel big-wheeler.In one bike-swap session my ridingbuddy summed it up well; he described itas a larrikin bike. Yep, this bike turns youinto a hoon! It makes you want to go fastand push your limits; whenever anopportunity arises it’ll have you hammeringthrough the rocks, popping off lipsand milking the trail for everything it cangive—it’s a lot of fun. On the flipside, italso climbs with the efficiency of a muchshorter travel bike and I wouldn’thesitate at using the Mach 5.7 in XC andmarathon events; it’s a great all-rounderand I feel that this is one test bike thatmightn’t be going back…Article & Photography by John HardwickSpecificationsFrameShockForkMach 5.7 CarbonFox CTD Trail Adj 145mm travelFox Float 32 CTD Trail Adj 150mm travelHeadset Pivot Sealed 1 1/8 - 1 1/2HandlebarsStemShiftersFront DerailleurRear DerailleurCassetteChainFSA SL-K carbon riser 700mmFSA SL-K, 90mmShimano XTShimano XTShimano XTR TrailShimano XT 11/36 10-speedShimano XTCranks Shimano XT 26/38Bottom BracketPedalsBrakesWheelsTyresSaddleSeatpostWeightAvailable SizesPriceDistributorThumbs Up• Awesome suspensionperformance• Efficient to pedal• Light and stiffThumbs Down• No ISCG tabs• Awkward to servicepress-fit bottom bracket• Bars are a bit narrow and thestem looks mismatchedShimano XT Press-FitN/AShimano XT TrailNo-Tubes ZTR Arch EXKenda Slant Six (F) / Nevagal (R)WTB Vigo RaceFSA SL-K carbon11.4kg without pedals(Medium frame 2,530g)S, M (tested), L and XL$6,599 (XT Pro build)JetBlack Products (02) 4560 1200www.jetblackproducts.com.aumba 87