Mini Review: Pivot Mach 6

[WaistDeepGroomers]

In the interest of maggot education and talking about the things I spend my money on, wanted to follow in the footsteps of the Kona review and get one up of my own rig. Have owned this bike since November, bought with a summer's worth of use from owner of LBS, and have been super impressed with it as an everyday bike and for some light duty downhill. Feels a little light and rear suspension bottoms out on big hits a little too much to be a full duty downhill rig but still gobbles up rocks and loves being in the air.

Being a little shorter than the trending stock of super long enduro bikes, there is some work that needs to be done t keep your position in the most effective spot, but the trade off is you get a ton of energy out of the bike whenever you put some into it and the handling in the corners is insanely snappy and responsive. Cornering is half of what sold me on this bike.

The other half is how damn poppy this thing is. Going down the trail I'm finding so many more gaps and opportunities for airtime as every little root and rock provides the opportunity to load the suspension and get what seems like an impossible amount of pop. If you've got the energy, ripping down the trail can feel like skateboarding. The bike moves so light and is so responsive it's unbelievable. Matching it with a semi slick rear has made for serious fun throwing the tail loose in tight spots and waiting for the bike to regain traction and accelerate. Run the shock in descend mode maximum popiness and response. They say to run it in Trail 1, but I feel like that just makes the bike more boring.

With the relatively short reach, you wont be running a tiny stem on the Mach 6. The stock has a relatively XC cockpit but I've got it wth a 60 mm stem and 780 bars And at 5'10" it's a good fit. Plus were not riding as many steeps here.

Bike was running WTB Vigilantes front and back when I got it, changed to High Roller II front and Spec Slaughter rear, which has really been an awesome combo for how this bike wants to corner.

Drawbacks are cabling, an amount of pivot logos that make Chris cocalis look like he has low self esteem, and more significantly that the 2014 float x bottoms out hard on big airs to flat. Might put a volume reducer in there to increase the ramp up. I would also say that, while the KS Lev is a decent dropper post, it seems to be stuck every time I take the bike out until I cycle it once or twice. Final drawback I would say is that this carbon gets scratched up pretty easy, especially when you're riding the Mexican lowrider blue. I have put some 3M tape in places to protect the frame but feel like I need it all over the bike.

Also, for whatever reason, I feel like the Fox 34 on the front is missing about 10 mm of its travel. It's supposed to be a 160 fork but measuring other friend's 2015 Fox forks that are 160, they have 10 mm longer stanchions than this one does. Gonna take it apart soon and see what's under the hood...

A big thing for me was finding a bike that could get rowdy but still kept some pep for XC rides. The Mach 6 climbs really well and holds speed excellently. You can feel the acceleration as you pump the terrain. Every time I've revisited trails this summer, whether XC stuff or more downhill, I'm getting PRs just riding at the speed the bike very comfortably wants to go. It is a stellar piece of work that loves to really, really fast, get in the air, and is super active. And for what it's worth, the builds you can get are a few grand cheaper than comparable builds from Santa Cruz and Spec, etc. Huzzah!

[creaky fossil]

look, our little dunfee has learned at the foot of stuckie how to sound "pro" while being strictly hackish.

* buzz phrases used

* humblebrag tone/tenor

* imagines he's got insights nobody else would have

* essentially regurgitates marketing fluff with buzzwords altered and a few choice woo-isms to sound "core"

hell yeah bro, you're a real Jacksonite now, just like Upper West Side Wendell. totally lost the flatlander urban yuppie stench. seriously.

maybe you can write for blister after your internship at TGR is over.

[Sutter]

On other message boards Creaky goes by Buc Nasty

[WaistDeepGroomers]

OMG I got the creaky treatment! I'm honored. Calling ma be to tell her the news!

[JeffreyJim]

First, Creaky is awesome and that was some class A hating right there.

I'll throw my $0.02 in the ring in case someone else actually attempts to make a buying decision based of what Dunfee wrote.

I think its cool Ryan is reviewing stuff. He's not pro and not pretending to be pro. Its a cool look at a product. On the contrary there are a few caveats to what Ryan wrote that are worth mentioning - again - in case someone actually makes a decision based off the review...

Few things to point out...

1) Your bottoming out problem is very remediable. http://linkagedesign.blogspot.com/20...650b-2014.html The bike is a bit regressive in the latter part of the curve but with a volume reducer in the shock it shouldn't be an issue (especially considering air is naturally progressive as is). The Pivot may not be a legit DH sled but then again there isn't any legit DH this side of Lithium in the Tetons (or most of the US for that matter) anyway. That bike is very DH worthy with today's definition of "DH". Also curious what sag you are running and what tune that shock is.

2) The fact the bike is poppy - this has more to do with suspension setup than it does bike design more times than not.

3) There are many renditions of the 34. Measure the actual travel you are getting, not your friend's forks.

4) No mention of lateral stiffness. Not much mention of pedaling performance. No mention or rider weight and shock setup. No mention as to what else you've ridden (so we can see what you are really comparing it to). All of these things matter if you want to give a review

Nice job otherwise.

[kidwoo]

^^Gonna need a review of that review of a review before I can trust it.

[JeffreyJim]

^^Gonna need a review of that review of a review before I can trust it.

(FWIW, I've also ridden the bike...)

[kidwoo]

PENDING FURTHER REVIEW!

[WaistDeepGroomers]

Man I need some time to review my copious mistakes before enhancing this review.

[tellybele]

Man I need some time to review my copious mistakes before enhancing this review.

This dildo site proves over and over how gay reviews are and the shaka-stupidity that lies beneath the flatbill.

[PNWbrit]

This dildo site proves over and over how gay reviews are and the shaka-stupidity that lies beneath the flatbill.

Near signature worthy.

[WaistDeepGroomers]

This dildo site proves over and over how gay reviews are and the shaka-stupidity that lies beneath the flatbill.

Possibly even mission statement worthy.

[muted]

Ryan, I can't figure out if you don't know or just don't care about the actual reason why people rip on you. People don't give you shit because that's the nature of us users, yes we are known to be assholes, so I hope you are not using that as an excuse every time you are ripped apart here. OwensNeverSleeps was admin here a long time ago, and people loved him.

[PNWbrit]

Ryan can you review a red one next?

[Danno]

Ryan, I can't figure out if you don't know or just don't care about the actual reason why people rip on you. People don't give you shit because that's the nature of us users, yes we are known to be assholes, so I hope you are not using that as an excuse every time you are ripped apart here. OwensNeverSleeps was admin here a long time ago, and people loved him.

who actually ripped on him, other than creaky, who anyone here knows or should know to basically ignore?

FWIW, I think all reviews are good, and anyone with half a clue should know what stock to put in them. And I also agreed with JeffreyJim's point #4. Not that it much matters to me, I'm running a 2008 bike and not much chance of upgrading anytime soon.

[JeffreyJim]

Yeah I didn't mean to sound like a total tool. Maybe a semi-tool For better or for worse gear reviews is something I take overly seriously. Its a sad place to be where the thing you can talk about with most expertise is a bicycle but its the place I call "my life". Ha.

[muted]

who actually ripped on him, other than creaky, who anyone here knows or should know to basically ignore?

FWIW, I think all reviews are good, and anyone with half a clue should know what stock to put in them. And I also agreed with JeffreyJim's point #4. Not that it much matters to me, I'm running a 2008 bike and not much chance of upgrading anytime soon.

He gets ripped on throughout this site, not just this thread by Creaky and tellybelle. I'm referring to the overall feedback he gets here.

Jeff didn't rip on him, he was impressively polite actually pointing out why Ryan's review is worth nothing.
Creaky sucks balls, but that doesn't mean he's always wrong, like in this instance.
PNWbrit response was to me like Creaky's but subtle, in a nutshell, and with humor. Kudos.

[Eluder]

Man this place can suck when it really tries. (not directed at the review)

[toast2266]

Man this place can suck when it really tries. (not directed at the review)

Seriously. The responses in this thread are an awesome example of why I rarely come here anymore.

[skibrd]

Nice review, looks like you found the bike you were looking for all fall.

If you adjust from climb to dh settings on your shocks, do you get the 10mm back? Im having trouble setting up my new shocks and noticed that before I ride I have the full 160mm of play, but after a ride I lose 10mm, until I cycle between climb and dh settings.

[nest]

Dunfee- How would you compare uphill/downhill capabilities of the mach 6 vs your old Slayer. Thanks in advance.

[WaistDeepGroomers]

Dunfee- How would you compare uphill/downhill capabilities of the mach 6 vs your old Slayer. Thanks in advance.

I would say the difference is mostly weight and length. The Rocky was super short, by the far the shortest bike I've owned, and somewhat weighty. It rode more like a tank, more planted on the downs and less poppy and snappy. I feel like I spend more time in the air now. Mach is obviously way faster on the ups, but I'd say the most noticeable difference is on rolling XC trails. It accelerates significantly faster, carries speed better through flatter sections and short uphills, and doesn't feel like it's significantly more bike than wants to be pedaled around on flatter stuff.

Still, liking it more on the downs as well. It's not a crazy long bike like a Nomad, but definitely more comfortably long than my Slayer, which helps with some stability. It also just planes out like a dream in the air, which I really appreciate. If you just blast straight through rock gardens, it's got similar stability but also lets you rip tighter and twistier lines more easily since it's stiffer (thanks Jeff, it's got great lateral stability, enhanced by the Stan's rims I am really liking) and snappier.

Nice review, looks like you found the bike you were looking for all fall.

If you adjust from climb to dh settings on your shocks, do you get the 10mm back? Im having trouble setting up my new shocks and noticed that before I ride I have the full 160mm of play, but after a ride I lose 10mm, until I cycle between climb and dh settings.

Not sure, I'll have to mess around with it. I think I'm probably just getting hung up because Fox is saying that fork is a 160, but the full length of the stanchion at rest is only 155.

To Jeff's 4th point:

-Lateral stiffness is great, definitely the stiffest I've ridden and partly why the cornering is so responsive, but I haven't ridden nearly as many carbon bikes as you have.

-Pedaling gets a ton of response and acceleration, with the caveat that the DW Link always stiffens up when you hammer the pedals, so pedaling through rocky bits is not the greatest on this bike. Otherwise, the shock is always working and I leave it wide open anywhere outside of road climbs just since it's more comfortable and I pedal more effectively that way.

-I'm 165ish and 5'10". Riding a large. Went from a Trek Fuel EX to RM Slayer to this, with some older Treks/RM's ridden way back in the day when I was more into riding as a preteen. But have ridden on RM Altitudes quite a bit, Scott Genius, Ibis HD, RM Element, Trek Remedy, probably forgetting one or two others.

-And to Jeff's suspension points, think I mentioned dropping a volume reducer in there, Pivot I think has the second largest one in there already for the Float X so might just drop in the biggest one and see what it does. That made a significant difference in the bottom out resistance on my Slayer (which was way worse). Also, with regards to popiness, can obviously understand how suspension plays a huge role, but I still maintain that this bike gets into the air more willingly than any other bike I've spent time on.

[Lindahl]

I've found linear rates will do that - like airtime and lots of pop. Suspension tuning doesn't really make much of a difference in my experiences - more like little tweaks. Haven't played with volume reducers. Volume reducers don't modify the damping like leverage rates do though? I've had friends with them and the personality didn't change much. Volume reducers may only manipulate the very end of the stroke? Anyway, poppy bikes also feel skittish when shit gets crazy, so I've definitely seen the downside. Tradeoffs and all that.

[Zaeius]

I would say the difference is mostly weight and length. The Rocky was super short, by the far the shortest bike I've owned

It's not a crazy long bike like a Nomad, but definitely more comfortably long than my Slayer, which helps with some stability.

Im not clear on what version/size of the Slayer you were riding, but if it was the most recent (2011-2014) and they were both Large, then the Rocky is is actually the longer bike:

Reach
Slayer - 431mm
Mach 6 - 414mm

Wheelbase
Slayer - 1169mm
Mach 6 - 1154mm

The Mach 6 TT is 12mm longer but this mostly down to the slacker ST angle. Neither of these bikes are particularly long by modern standards but the Pivot is particularly short; the reach on the XL is the same as the medium Slayer.

Curious if you can expand on how you feel the Pivot is more stable with the shorter reach and wheelbase.

[Danno]

Man this place can suck when it really tries. (not directed at the review)

No shit. I can never hope to post a review of anything with the thoroughness of some people here, and the responses in this thread just serve to tell me not to bother at all. We're now at the point of shitting on people because they try to post a non-pro review and don't do it well enough?