Do you know these guys with one and the same lyre? I can think of three. My mate Hans, for example. Every time I mention tyres, he gives me a lecture on why the Schwalbe Magic Mary is the very best tyre. Or my mate Dennis: he's convinced that it's better to buy quality tools once in your life than some cheap crap all the time. And then there's my mate Henri. He proselytises about the benefits of hardtails at every opportunity. It's crazy: these guys know that they are constantly repeating themselves - but they do it anyway.
I felt all the more affected when a colleague told me that I had a similar story. He said he couldn't listen to my talk about trail bikes anymore. He was referring to my thesis: trail bikes are the new all-rounders - enduro bikes are now specialists. And he may be right! But what can I do, the subject has been on my mind, especially since I bought the YT Jeffsy as a long-term test bike. The manufacturer actually declares the bike to be a trail bike, but in fact it is a true enduro bike with 160 millimetres of travel front and rear, fat tyres and 800 mm handlebars. But I wanted a trail bike. So I gave the Jeffsy narrower handlebars, a shorter stem and lighter tyres. That was a while ago, and I've loved the bike ever since.
The Jeffsy is just right for tame laps around the house. It scurries willingly round corners, is easy to pull onto the rear wheel and push off for a bunny hop. On mountain tours in the foothills of the Alps, I found that 27.5 wheels may be easier to handle, but they don't just roll worse over rocky outcrops in theory. The Jeffsy feels most at home on flowing trails like the one in Freiburg. Thanks to the platform function in the shock and the central riding position, it pedals comfortably up the mountain and rewards the rider on the descent with a lot of playfulness and pop on jumps. I would have liked more comfort at the rear on rough descents - such as on the root tracks in Reschen/Nauders. Despite the Fox Factory suspension and 160 millimetres of travel in the front and rear, the Jeffsy allowed less speed than many other bikes in this travel class. But a trail bike is somehow allowed to do that - and that's what my Jeffsy has become.
PLUS Handling, durability, appearance
MINUS Rear triangle, standard specs
CONCLUSION: The Jeffsy is not a specialist, but a generalist. It can do everything at a very high level. The weighting of touring, trail and downhill is almost balanced. Nevertheless, there are livelier trail bikes.
Laurin Lehner was surprised at how easy it is to save weight with tubeless tyres. However, he now sees more disadvantages than advantages. "You're always pumping up the tyres and you still get flats - but with a huge mess," he says.
YT Jeffsy CF Pro Race 27.5
Spring travel: 160 mm / 160 mm
Frame size: M
Reach / Stack: 440 mm / 611 mm
Operating weight: 13.2 kilos (with pedals)
Price: 5299 €
Laurin Lehner
Editor
