What's going on? The Forchheim-based mail order company is signing one freeride star after another (most recently Rampage hero Kelly McGarry), conquering the bike markets in America, Australia and New Zealand and is now even building a carbon fibre downhiller! Have the Franconians gone megalomaniac? Next, YT might sign World Cup champion Aaron Gwin! "Nah, don't worry," YT designer Stefan Willared gives the all-clear, "That's a bit too big for us. But with the new 'Tues CF', Gwin would have no problem winning World Cups!"
The YT men are not lacking in self-confidence. Even the geometry data of the carbon fibre bike shows that YT has trimmed the bike for speed: Dimensions of a modern 650B race bike, ample reach (430 millimetres in size M), smooth-running rear end (435 chainstays). A change of attitude? Was freeride yesterday, is racing today? "We are clearly a freeride company," says Markus Flossmann, YT boss and himself an enthusiastic freerider, "but light, fast and safe is not a contradiction to the freeride idea!" Consequently, the carbon 'Tues' should not only be fun on the downhill track, but also on bouncy trails in the bike park. To promote the freeride genes of the bike, scene heroes such as Andreu Lacondeguy and Cam Zink will be competing in the Red Bull Rampage on the carbon bike and attempting extreme stunts, albeit with minor modifications (more on this in the interview below).
The eye travels with you!
Even the global players can take a leaf out of their book: YT has a knack for cool designs. Whether it's the "Capra" enduro bike with its stylish frame shape or now the carbon downhiller - what the Forchheim-based company does looks chic and sexy. As we all know, the eye goes with the bike. But it's not just the look of the "Tues CF" that's right, the Franconian mail order company is also in love with detail when it comes to the equipment and uses tried and tested components and high-quality suspension elements. There will be two equipment variants of the carbon fibre big bike: the "Tues CF Comp" with RockShox suspension for 3499 euros and the "Tues CF Pro" with BOS air suspension elements for 3999 euros. Without pedals, the "Pro" model weighed in at 16.3 kilos. Gram-fetishists can easily get under the 16-kilo mark by switching to tubeless tyres.
Hopp or topp?
So, now to the central question: what can the bike do? To find out, we gave the carbon fibre bike a spin on the gravel trails in sunny Malaga. The downhill elite regularly train here, including Danny Hart, Gee Atherton and overall winner Josh Bryceland. Ideal terrain: rocky, rough, steep, bumpy. You feel comfortable as soon as you mount the bike - a good sign. Although we were already familiar with the aluminium model of the "Tues" (which was one of our favourites) from previous tests, we feared that the carbon version with its 650B wheels was too much geared towards racing. However, the first descent showed that the bike is fast, smooth, yet playful and agile enough to also be fun off the race track. You sit comfortably low on the bike, which gives a compact, direct riding feel. The off-road capability is impressive: the bike bulldozes through nasty rubble and offers enough reserves at all times. However, pulling the bike onto the rear wheel requires more arm pull than the 26er "Tues", but that was to be expected.
In short: the "popometer" gave the green light. The bike seems to be a big hit. "Seems" because we can only really say whether we still like the Specialized "Demo" or Devinci "Wilson" (to name two of our favourites) better in a direct comparison with the competition.
Conclusion: Fast, stylish, light - the "Tues Carbon" has all the desired attributes of a successful big bike. And there's another decisive factor: it's affordable! This means that the carbon fibre bike has what it takes to become a popular racer and will also find many fans among bike park freeriders.
PLUS Smooth running, equipment, appearance, price
MINUS less playful than its predecessor
INTERVIEW WITH YT DESIGNER STEFAN WILLARED
You have freeride written on your banner. Now you're launching a race bike made from carbon fibre. Why
Race bikes are in demand - and demand is set to increase. Gravity bikers want bikes with more load distribution and greater reach. Carbon as a material was the logical consequence.
650B too?
Sure - 26 inches wasn't even up for debate. In my opinion, there is no need to discuss the raison d'être of 650B. The main advantage is quite simply that you can place the bottom bracket under the axle without having a problem with ground clearance. You can also choose a longer reach, which makes the bike "racier". As a result, the rider sits lower on the bike, which is known to give a good, secure feeling.
But your pro riders like Andreu Lacondeguy and Cam Zink used to rely on playful 26-inch bikes for their jumps.
That's right. We've come up with something for these guys: We're going to have a rear triangle made that you can put 26-inch wheels in. The chainstay length will be less than 420 millimetres. On request, this will probably also be possible for our customers. However, this is still at the planning stage at the moment.
Many manufacturers rely on flip chips and variable chainstay lengths to give you the choice: smooth-running downhiller or playful freerider.
Varying the chainstay length can be useful. With our "Tues 2.0", you can even choose between three lengths. 425, 430 and 435 millimetres. In the meantime, however, I have learnt that most people ride with the medium or long chainstay length anyway. So we decided in favour of a fixed length for the "Tues CF". 435 millimetres is perfect for this bike.
Why is your carbon bike cheap and the others are super expensive? Let's take the new Spezialized "Demo" in carbon: Are there any differences in quality between the bikes?
No! It has nothing to do with quality. Our carbon frame is just as high quality as that of Specialized. But we are a mail order company. Direct sales allow us to offer such low prices.
Carbon is considered a capricious material.
Carbon does not like to be clamped. So you should not clamp the frame on the tool stand, but the seat post. Of course, you shouldn't drop your carbon frame on hard edges either.
Rumour has it that you are planning your own World Cup team to give your new downhiller the opportunity to prove itself.
No, there's nothing to the rumour. Unfortunately. Putting together a World Cup team is extremely expensive.
Is there a new trend in downhill racing or something you designers have in the pipeline?
Even more precise set-ups. In other words, special bellcranks that are even better suited to the respective suspension elements. The customer decides which suspension elements they want and gets the right kinematics to go with them.
Laurin Lehner
Editor
