The brand new Pivot Phoenix from the US manufacturer from Arizona comes with an elaborate high-pivot design including a double chain drive. Pivot calls the concept Mid-High-Pivot DW6. It is designed to achieve the balancing act of fine response behaviour and good support. The Phoenix rolls on mullet tyres (29/27.5 inches).
Bike park or race track?
Even though downhillers are ideal for use in the bike park thanks to their massive travel reserves, the Pivot Phoenix's time has come on the race track. The Phoenix is designed for maximum speed and you can feel it. We rode the bike on the downhill course in Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis and on the UCI World Cup course in Leogang. On the park descents, we checked out the playfulness and manoeuvrability of the Pivot Phoenix.
The Pivot Phoenix rides as precisely as a razor blade. It is fast and develops massive propulsion. At the same time, it gives the rider clear feedback from the ground. That's cool, that's racigbut it is also quite exhausting. - Laurin Lehner, BIKE test editor
The facts: Pivot Phoenix Pro
- Weight: 16.2 kg
- Spring travel: 200/210 mm
- Impellers: 29/27.5" inch
- Price: 9499 Euro
- Material: Carbon
Equipment
- Fork / damper: Fox 40 Float Factory / Fox Float X2
- Circuit: Shimano Saint
- Brakes: Shimano Saint 220/203 mm
- Impellers: DT-Swiss-560-Felgen, DT-Swiss-350-Naben
- Tyres: Continental Kryptotal Fr/Re DH 29/27.5 x 2.4
- Guarantee: 3 years
- Max. system weight: Not specified
- Special features: Flipchip; compatible with adjustable headset shell
From the test lab¹
- Total weight: 16.15 kg
- Weight of wheels: 5681 g
- Impeller inertia: 4490 kg x cm²
¹ BIKE measured values: Wheel inertia: The lower the measured value, the easier it is to accelerate. Weight without pedals. Wheel weight per set with tyres, cassette, brake discs. Frame stiffness: Lateral stiffness in N/mm separately for the front frame triangle including the installed fork (front) and the rear triangle (rear)
Good to know!
The most prominent Pivot racer is the Brit Bernard Kerr. "BK", as he is known in the scene, is regarded as one of the most talented DH racers around. He has been riding the Phoenix prototype for around two years and has competed in World Cups and the Red Bull Hardline. Now the bike is finally available for us amateur racers. The chic carbon frame is definitely an eye-catcher, but the centrepiece is the elaborate rear triangle construction.
In the 6-link system developed by kinematics luminary Dave Weagle, two chains work decoupled from each other in a so-called mid-low pivot point. This is designed to prevent pedal kickback and tickle speed out of the rear triangle. The special chain guide is designed to harmonise with the rear and increase ground clearance. Disadvantage: Many moving parts are generally more maintenance-intensive.
Driving impression: In the footsteps of Bernard Kerr
In the Phoenix, the rider is well integrated into the bike. The front is a little low. Even on the first few metres of our test track, you can tell who this bike was developed for and for which routes: The geometry and suspension are maximised for speed. The rear suspension shone all the more the faster we travelled and provided plenty of traction.
However, the extra lift at the rear (210 mm) was not noticeable. Super fast - yes! Comfortable - rather no. The flat and long Phoenix steered extremely precisely with its stiff front end and cut through nasty gravel like a razor blade. For more comfort, we gradually softened the pivot (front: 71, 65, 61 PSI; rear: 230, 215, 200 PSI). However, this only changed the character slightly.
On tamer sections, the air rear end released little suspension travel and pumped itself up to speed efficiently. In high-speed corners, the Phoenix rolled like it was on rails, delivered a lot of counter-pressure and squirted out of turns with so much oomph that we were happy about the snappy Saint brakes. One tester commented: "Sickly fast, but it takes a lot of energy." The other testers agreed. If you want to ride the Pivot from start to finish on the World Cup course in Leogang, you need to be very fit. As a hobby racer, you need to have a certain skill level to have fun on this bike.
We liked the firm rear end at the beginning of the suspension travel on park tracks. It also had pop. At 444 millimetres, the chainstays are moderate, but we could hardly get the long Phoenix onto the rear wheel. Finally, there was also something to complain about: the two chains rattled and the Saint brakes whistled annoyingly.
BIKE conclusion on the Pivot Phoenix Pro
The Pivot Phoenix is super fast and has an original, but also unnecessarily complicated rear suspension concept. The bike requires a high level of skill and fitness to have a lot of fun for a long time. The range of use is narrow. However, we can guarantee that die-hard downhill racers will love it.
Plus:
- Unique rear triangle
- Race-Geo
- great look
- fast
Minus:
- Special to drive
- high-maintenance rear triangle
- requires a high level of fitness
- rattles loudly
- expensive
² EVALUATION: Spider diagram: Drive, play instinct, downhill refers to the riding behaviour: The larger the deflection, the better the suitability. Equipment: is made up of different points such as quality/workmanship, usability. The BIKE grade is made up of practical impressions from test riders and laboratory measurements. The grade is independent of price. Range of grades: 0.5-5.5, analogue to the school grading system.
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Laurin Lehner
Editor
