Age: 22 | Vitals: 5’11”, 155 lbs. | Years mountain biking: 10 | Current Residence: Gunnison, CO
I started mountain biking as a kid and soon built a lot of jump and freeride trails in my parent’s backyard. I started racing XC shortly after, at the age of 12. I continued my racing with NICA throughout high school. When I got to college, I raced both XC and Gravity for my first year, and I enjoyed racing downhill and dual slalom much more than XC.
After that, I sold my XC bike and decided to only race gravity, while also having a whole lot of fun just riding with friends during the same period. Today, I seek out the fastest, most fun, flowy, and technical descents for my rides, and I am (mostly) willing to climb for them. I don’t seek out racing as much as I used to, but I continue to compete in the occasional downhill or enduro race.
Some of my favorite gear: dropper posts, clipless pedals, Specialized SWAT bibs, crank arm booties, and Santa Cruz Reserve carbon wheels.
Hi Dylan,
I’m interested to hear your opinion / comparison between Pivot Switchblade v2 vs Yeti 130LR vs SC Hightower vs. Ripmo V2?
Your, Ben Sims, and Eric Freson’s review of the above bikes are awesome. You’ve compared them a bit to each other but not directly so I thought I’d ask for your opinion in context of my specific riding below. BTW – I’ve posted this question on Ben and Eric’s bio’s too…
Reason is that I’m getting a new bike and looking to demo the above bikes. I’m be interested in getting Ben, Eric and Dylan’s opinions as it’s not the easiest to get demo rides in with Covid…
To put context around me and what I’m looking for: I’m a 6′ / 175 lbs / 55 year old guy who rides 3 to 4x a week (road x2 and mountain x2). I’ve got a 29er hardtail for XC longer days and am looking for a full suspension that gives me a bit more travel to “save my a**” than a Tallboy or Ripley. Typical full suspension ride will be 10 to 25 miles with 2 to 4K climbing. I ride SF Bay Area (Northern CA). Last FS bike was a Gen 1 Hightower. I’ve been a long time Santa Cruz VPP rider but open to other suspension design. Majority of trails I’ll be riding are tight single-track in trees with rock garden sections, but more tight off camber switchbacks and roots. I will prioritize “tires on the ground maneuverable” vs “straight line bash through chunky rock gardens”. I am 55 after all and don’t recover from a good crash as quickly as I used to. Efficient climbing is a big deal. The focus on climbing will be on technical steep rocky / rooty climbs. Smooth fire roads are easy for any bike these days. Based on your review of the the Pivot Swtichblade it seems like it fits my criteria the best based, but interested to hear your opinions as your didn’t compare it to the Yeti 130 (I’m more interested in the 130LR Lunch Ride). Also, since Pivot has updated the Switchblade to use the new Float X (like Yeti does) do you think that will change your opinions for the positive as the DPX2 seemed to have some limitations. Thanks for all your help.
BTW – I did demo a Revel Rascal. I liked it, but do want a bit more travel or in my words “get my a** out of trouble” capability.