Light, Fast, Playful - Pivot Shuttle SL Review | 2023 eMTB SL Roundup

[@billwestervelt2393]

I have a 2018 429 and added this as I am now 62 and the big hills are a drag. Absolutely love it. Longest ride is 37 miles and 4400 ft of climbing on one charge mostly in eco except for one steep climb.

[@tjfretwell1861]

I was lucky enough to find a Shuttle SL early spring and have been riding it all over Northern Utah. My previous mountain bike was a Trail 429 but I got way out of shape over the long depressing winter, and the doc told me I better cautiously ease into getting my legs back. This bike, in gentle breeze mode, is absolutely perfect for long low intensity sustained state workouts. Its been incredible for fitness. Its been a game changer for the past few months. So much more saddle time to build a good cardio base. I'm actually stronger now on my analog bikes then I've been in decades. I've used the higher assist modes to get out of bad weather and it absolutely flies up the climbs if you need it too. I have no idea why anyone would want more power. I've also discovered that the Shuttle SL pedals just fine without e-assist powered on. I've done full 2-3 hour rides without assist. It's much heavier than the 429 of course but it has that same comfort and efficiency in technical climbs. I added beefier tires, like The Loam Wolf reviewers, and also larger ice-tech brake rotors. And the Shuttle SL has been a dream to ride on everything from rocky high elevation climbs to double blue runs at the bike parks. Battery range hasn't been an issue. The extender will be nice when it comes out, but that will only be needed for really long endurance events, or if you want to run full power assist mode all the time. My only gripe is the pedal assist controller, which is a cheap piece of plastic that wouldn't pass a Walmart quality control check. It has seized up a couple times when confronted with dust or mud. Compressed air gets it moving freely again but Pivot really needs to do something about that thing. After riding the wheels off of one all summer I give the Shuttle SL a 9.5. And I'll give it 10 plus - when the controller is recalled.

[@thorcat7769]

I bought one 6 months ago and it is the best bike I ever owned. Very tough bike and very poppy and playful. Great bike for weekend warriors who mainly ride blue or some of the easier black trails. You can pop off every little feature in these types of trails to make the rides always exciting. Great and very accurate review of the bike, guys.

[@isaacortiz7338]

I absolutely agree.

[@estimateparagon]

I put a RS Super Deluxe Ultimate coil shock on mine for South Mountain and Hawes last winter in Arizona. Going to try a 160 fork this year. I was amazed how good the bike is when riding the extreme desert trails.

[@nicholashines7686]

I LOVED my switchblade and this looks even better.

[@elgeffe503]

My favorite series so far! Keep up the good work which you have been for a while now

[@TheLoamWolf]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@topchoice1621]

This In My opinion is the best looking bike thus far

[@TheLoamWolf]

It is a beauty!

[@topchoice1621]

@@TheLoamWolf yes it is if it were based on looks this bike would definitely be the winner 🥇 for sure

[@emtbwulf9215]

Love these reviews!💪🏼

[@TheLoamWolf]

Glad you like them!

[@stephenbarnes5850]

Absolutely loving this super light round up, the pivot sl has to be the best in my opinion just love it.On the orbea rise now but hope it's my next bike.Thaks for all your hard work doing these videos one of my favourite utube channels ❤

[@TheLoamWolf]

Thank you very much for the kind words, we greatly appreciate it!

[@charlesmcelroy2268]

hell yeah chris joyve! that dude rocks

[@glennbroad2543]

This was an impressive bike to test ride, 15 second turbo mode, decent power and most impressively when it’s turned off it pedals like a normal bike

[@IIISentorIII]

Yea *NO* but what do I know, only ride sice 42 Years in the Swiss Mountains 😅

[@HD-on2eg]

What’s your opinion on this vs the Santa Cruz Heckler SL? Which one rides better etc. ?

[@jeffreyfoster7297]

Great video! Do you think switching to aluminum wheels would resolve some of the twitchy-ness, new word roll with it.

[@aggropa]

Dope paint scheme

[@fyiguy1]

New paint option that just came out is called Black Lime the SKU is not in many bike shops computers yet..

[@jimm244]

No problems with the FUZZY drivetrain?

[@IIISentorIII]

This Bike costs almost 10k $ more than my Specialized Stumpjumper Expert (Bio) which I managed to get with a sweet deal here in Switzerland five months ago😅 But I wouldn't mind testing this and the Transition 😁

[@techdeezout9201]

Is the top of the line Marin Rift Zone E in this contest?

[@MrDavecore777]

This is probably my favourite sl bike, it’s the perfect home trail machine. What hand guards are you guys using? Is that for protection mainly?

[@TheLoamWolf]

Hey thanks for watching. These are available in our webstore! They are Loam Wolf SendHit collabs. We run them for protection on overgrown trails, lots of brush and also for colder temp months! Check em out!

[@peterleibrock3434]

Hope you got to ride the bike in the 'low' setting since you reported the geo numbers in the 'high' setting and reported the steering as 'darty'. Most riders ride this bike in the low setting and from what I've seen in shops they ship/build/set up that way. It's a trail bike not an enduro bike. I love it!

[@TheLoamWolf]

Yes we rode it in both modes and it’s definitely a trail bike. As much as we wish it were more.. it’s great bike for certain terrain and riders, just not us as much as we like Pivot bikes and how they ride.

[@carlosaquino2299]

Between this Pivot and Yeti sb160e which one is the best?

[@jroase1658]

Having ridden most of these sl’s I’m thinking the levo sl takes the cake. With 160/150 and adjustable linkage. Fazua is behind also hence no range extender till “maybe” next year. 😢.

[@MrDavecore777]

How would you stack this up to the Heckler SL following testing? Cheers

[@TheLoamWolf]

We'd say they're in a bit different category, even if we are splitting hairs. The Shuttle SL is a bit more XC/trail focused whereas the Heckler SL is a little bit more of an all mountain bike. The weight of the Shuttle is WAY lighter both on scale and in feel on the trail. It's a nicer finish/appearing bike in our opinion. It's a bit faster on pumpy/flowy trails, it genuinely feels like a rocket ship and the rear travel punches over its weight class for sure. We'd likely opt for the Shuttle SL and upfork the bike and put some burly tires on it for our style (DH-biased), but if you're more looking for a do-it-all trail rig, it's plenty capable as is! Good luck and hope we helped there.

[@MrDavecore777]

@@TheLoamWolf thank you very much, seems like a great package for most riding. Would you run 160mm front?

[@TheLoamWolf]

Yes we would!

[@mtb_3930]

​@TheLoamWolf drew, with a 160 fork, is it possible to up the rear travel in some way to 140 or something with a different shock? Because 160 front and 130 rear is a bit of a disparity ?

[@billryan8721]

Does the price come in to play in any of these reviews? This model is bad to the bone.....my buddy rips one but was curios.

[@TheLoamWolf]

We focus on performance above all else, no holds barred. However, as we move into roundtable discussions for the finale, we definitely relate price to performance a bit and try to offer insight as to how important performance is for those who don't have unlimited budgets.

[@troydimsdale2331]

And EXPENSIVE

[@Masemoto]

Shuttle SL or AM as your one "do-it-all" ebike?

[@TheLoamWolf]

We'd likely go AM for range, more travel and all-around capability.... If the SL had 150/160mm of travel out back, that'd be a much tougher call!

[@anawara]

​@@TheLoamWolfwhat about the Shuttle AM vs a Transition Relay or SC Heckler SL? The Relay and Heckler SL have the same Fazua motor as the Shuttle SL but closer geo and travel to the Shuttle AM. The Relay goes up to 170/170mm travel

[@themuellers5384]

Someone has to do it... The brand is pronounced [fazuà] with pronunciation on the "Zua" meaning "Fahr zu" or "drive faster" normally used when someone in front of you is driving too slow.

[@OverTheHillMTB]

wait, is it a whole lot of fun on the trail? pls start out dogging one of these, like literally pan the shit out of it...bc if everything is good, nothing is good, ya know what i mean? life operates on a normal distribution even if the mean shifts a standard deviation or 2, something is always below avg and something is middle and something is above! be the first web reviewers to adopt!

[@thewrx2600]

nice bikes, but too proud of their price point, which will likely lead to never owning a pivot in the future.

[@Tequila628]

I'm a simple man: bike doesn't have a TRP DH-R Evos - bike has bad spec 😜

[@dadventuretv2538]

It costs so much because of those hand guards. 😂

[@TheLoamWolf]

Haha, not quite, but you can go buy yourself a pair in our webstore! Help us out, grab a set. Haha.

[@dadventuretv2538]

@@TheLoamWolf I like the pain! LOL I’ll have to see about picking something else up.

[@Boarischer_Bua]

Seans pronunciation is spot on, it’s Bavarian and means drive off or ride on. Bavarian is very broad in its meaning, so it can also mean drive you moron.

[@TheLoamWolf]

We did not know that tidbit of alternative means for FAZUA! Thanks for sharing.

[@fyiguy1]

It also means “go on”, “get moving” or “get going” it also has “special” local Baiuvarii meanings as well as @Boarischer_Bua mentioned…😂

[@JohnBreezy22]

I’m out on 130mm rear travel. Great bike, motor, battery size. Rear travel? 👎🏼

[@fyiguy1]

If tuned properly it rides a-lot deeper feels like 150mm - it is a trail e-bike if you are wanting a more enduro like ride I would recommend stepping up to a Shuttle AM at 148mm rear / 160mm fork which is more All Mountain with a Bosch CX Race option or Shuttle LT at 160mm rear 170mm front which is like the Firebird with a Shimano EP8 @TheLoamWolf has vids and reviews of both worth checking out 😉

[@JohnBreezy22]

@@fyiguy1 Shuttle AM. Thanks. I’ll check it out. I’m definitely more of an all-mountain/enduro mid powered ebike guy.

[@sheadleeful]

$13k, really????? I would love to know how many of these actually sell at this price.

[@netposerx]

I've seen them sit at nice shops from almost a year. Who is buying a $13K bike?

[@ArmorOfZeus]

You'd be surprised. Companies that sell really high dollar bikes SC, Specialized pivot and so on have been in business a very long time. There's definitely a market for these bikes or they wouldn't make it market.

[@Masemoto]

A week or two after the Shuttle AM came out my LBS offered me 10% off their pro version. Like a car you have to negotiate and not pay MSRP. Not that a discount makes it any more affordable, just saying don't pay sticker.

[@Masemoto]

You can also find lightly used XTR build Shuttle SLs for ~$8.5K on Pinkbike. I don't know that I would ever buy an e-bike without warranty though. Not till they work out all the gremlins.

[@ioannisparaskevopoulos1120]

@@MasemotoWhen a new model comes out, the brands offer discounts only on pre orders

[@petedog9581]

Sounds like about $1K per pound saved from base model to this test model. Could buy a sweet pedal bike too, instead of $13K on one.

[@Mockle07]

People that can afford a $13k bike don’t need to think like that…

[@petedog9581]

@@Mockle07 No. People will finance it for 5 years. It's the American way. I'm waiting for emtb leases to be a thing. Lol.

[@Mockle07]

@@petedog9581 If that’s how someone is buying it, that’s on them. It’s not what I would do but each to their own. You can already lease bikes in the UK! 👀🤦🏼‍♂️

[@fyiguy1]

@@petedog9581 our LBS has 18 mo no interest payments via Synchrony with service plans…

[@petedog9581]

@@Mockle07 If idiots start buying $20K mtbs on the reg, the industry will abide and this will become a snob sport. Exactly what it was never intended to be. How consumers behave affect us all.