All About Bikes
A Pivot Cycles podcast delving into the technical, professional, cultural and emotional sides of life inside Pivot and the mountain biking industry.
All About Bikes
Ep #10: The Pivot Shuttle SL, Trail Riding's New Pulse
Lightweight, refined, and crisp handling is what you can expect from the all new Shuttle SL. Pivot Cycles CEO, Chris Cocalis, sits down with Pivot Technical Training Manager, Kalen Boland, to talk all about the Shuttle SL .
Hey welcome to the Pivot all about bikes podcast, I'm really hyped about the bike we will talk about today. It is innovative to a degree that may change your perception of how an electric supported bike looks, how you use it, and how it rides on the trails. It is so versatile, it even ends up in applications we can't even think of right now. Our r&d team used the new motor system and did an amazing job and creating the new benchmark for E-mountain bikes for its weight with beautiful design. My name is Jens Staudt, your host for today. My guest to talk about this bike are, Chris Cocalis, and Kalen Boland. Welcome, Chris, welcome, Kalen. You both are probably just excited as I am to spread the word about this groundbreaking new bike. But before we start, we need to introduce you Kalen. Tell us a little bit about your background. We know Chris Cocalis, but how did you come to Pivot and what is your role now?
Kalen Boland:Yeah, I started as a demo driver, my wife Paz and I spent four years on the road for Pivot, working with dealers working with customers sharing the Pivot love all over the states. And now I've transitioned into a different role more dealing with dealer education, still go to events and support other other departments, but mainly mainly working on education and development.
Chris Cocalis:Yeah, I want to toot Kalen's horn for a second here. He's our Technical Training Manager. And so he's basically been with Pivot from his early demo days. He was one of our first demo drivers and has been with the company since the early years, seen everything that happens on every bike, gone through 1000s and 1000s of demo rides, and really just has an experience level, with consumers and dealers on bike setup, bike performance, that really almost rivals no one else in the company.
Jens Staudt:After this little insight in the history of Pivot and the people working here. We want to talk about not only an addition to our overall Pivot lineup of bikes, it is a completely new member to our Shuttle family. And for those who don't know what shuttled means, these are our electric assisted bikes. Chris, can you give our listeners a bit of history of E-bikes and what led to the first shuttle in 2017?
Chris Cocalis:Well, the name Shuttle obviously, is pretty explanatory. It's the idea was to shuttle yourself up the mountain. But in the US here, we also have the space shuttle. So a little bit of a rocket ship connotation to the bikes. But yeah, we launched the first Shuttle at Euro bike in 2017. But my history with the bikes goes a little bit further back, I started working with BH bikes in 2007. They're a Spanish company, they were an original customer with Panasonic for some of the very first mid motor bikes. During that time, I was part of the product development meetings with Panasonic, we shipped several of the city commuter bikes to the US and started pretty early on riding e-bikes and just kind of taking a look at what they did, what they didn't do, and then I think it was about 2010. Four years later that we started working on the Pivot shuttle project.
Jens Staudt:So thinking of worlds without ebikes right now is pretty much like thinking about a world without smartphones. Some people even starting biking just because of E-bikes now. Then Pivot is known for high performance mountain bikes. And we entered this sector the moment we could ensure to match the high performance also on a bike with a motor. We were pretty much the first company if I remember that right, which were able to push the weight of a full on e-bike of under the 20-kilo mark, which is quite significant.
Chris Cocalis:Yeah, it's, it's funny in 2012, Daniel Limburg at the time, he was our global sales manager and now is in planning and specifications. He and I were walking the Euro bike show, I was looking at just this rapid proliferation of E-bikes in Europe. I was quite critical of the bikes, I told him that I didn't really feel these were developed enough, but someday that I could really see us having an e-bike in our line. He looked at me and and he told me to let him know well in advance so that he could give me his letter of resignation. Because at the time, the feeling was just this is a kind of an impurity to the sport of cycling and something you would want to stay as far away from as possible and well, he's a big shuttle fan now he's he owns a shuttle and but looking at the products in the market back then he was totally justified to be skeptical of the segment and those early emtb's were really poor excuses for mountain bikes. It was really a bad mountain bike with a motor bolted on and when when it came time for us to work on the project. was our goal to really build a world class mountain bike slash enduro bike first, and use power assist to really enhance that bikes performance, instead of just trying to hit a price point or say this is how we need to bolt this product to make this thing work. It was really a ground up design from the beginning. We had to start somewhere, of course. So you know, we had the all the examples of what other people were doing or not doing fortunately for the timing and the technology with working with Shimano, we were the first high end American brand to bring an EMTB to to the market. And I feel it really set a new bar for what an EMTB could be. And then you mentioned being able to push the weight under 20 kg. And that original Shuttle with its original spec, as we launched in 2017, was actually 19.5 kilo with a, it was a really capable handling bike at 19.5 kilo, I believe it's about 37-38 pounds, that combination of lightweight, and the capability in the chassis of our Switchblade, somewhere between our Switchblade and Firebird. And the way it handled was really a game changer and, and what an E mountain bike can be.
Jens Staudt:But now diving a little bit of the history of the last couple of years, and the overall trend was especially over here in Germany, that people demand it, bigger range, bigger motors, bigger power. And with all of this, obviously, weight comes on again. So all weight savings that which is a crucial part of a bike really performing well, got lost.
Kalen Boland:Yeah, I mean, I've spent a lot of time on the
Chris Cocalis:I think even a second round of bikes that we were shipping, immediate feedback was that everyone wanted bigger brakes. I mean, we were we were trying to get the bike down in weight, it was a key part of that original bike. So we had maybe not the most aggressive tire casings, and we had two piston XT brakes on the bike with 180mm rotors. And it became immediately evident with about within about three months that people wanted more. So the rotor size went up, the caliper size went up, the tire casings got burlier and heavier. And then the next round of the Shuttle is now on it's kind of third generation of the 140mm travel, Switchblade category, bike and it's really evolved. It's now got a 38 fork on the front 29 inch wheels again, burlier tires, everything's just been even bigger rotors than the second round. And so everything just has continued to go up. And then the biggest thing was with the switch to the new Shimano EP8 motor from the original original Shuttle and Chris has ridden me into the ground on it. 8000. We also went up huge on the battery size. So 726wh is when we launched that update. That was and still is among the biggest batteries you can put in an E-bike it makes for an incredible eMTB experience. But it's far different from the original like, let's make the mountain bike experience. Let's enhance this the regular mountain bike experience when we started out to try and get it to feel closer to a regular Switchblade. Now the focus has turned a lot more towards being like a burly or E version of the Firebird with incredible range. It's an incredible bike, but we have reached a point in the evolution of the shuttle where it's now opened up a gap and room for a different bike and a different application. Our analog bikes are among the lightest frames or lightest bikes and it really plays a huge factor in how the bikes perform overall, we really wanted to explore more, what if we could get back to those roots or even lighter, that original idea of having an E-bike that behaves like a normal mountain bike. And then of course, now that we're used to big power and big battery range, we're not willing to give up too much of that, we There's no range anxiety on the on the current shuttle, riding like that part of it. And I think that everyone would appreciate the feel of something like a Trail 429 or Switchblade or something in between without giving up that amazing power system range that we've all really become accustomed to. some really technical long rides in Phoenix. The first ride I went on with Chris I forgot to pack a lunch and I was, I was bonking and my bike still had plenty of bars left and I should have brought a bar And a jacket if I remember(laughter from Chris and Kalen). And a Jacket (laughter from Kalen). But yeah, we all have different interests in what we ride and how we ride and the current Shuttles this amazing all day adventure bike you can go ride trails you would never have thought of riding on your mountain bike, you wouldn't want to waste the energy and the miles on your own energy. And the Shuttle just expands your range and chance for adventure and you're looking on maps trying to find new trails to take this bike on. But at the same time, it's a different ride feel. Whereas you know what Chris is talking about, that the ride characteristics that everybody loves, with the Trail 429 and the Switchblade to have that, but also some assist to always keep you in the Fun Zone. You know, that's what a lot of people are looking for too.
Jens Staudt:This is opening a gap, and the name is already giving it away as L and we now have to shuttle SL.
Chris Cocalis:Yeah, the shuttle SL is a new addition to the Pivot family. SL obviously stands for super light. And that was a key focus on the development. Of course, we still want it to handle amazing and have great power. And to help us achieve this we worked with Fazua on their new ride 60 motor system, we actually started building prototypes of a Trail 429 EMTB with the fazua ride 50 system in 2018. But that was actually a couple generations of Trail 429 ago. And that ride 50 system is the same system we use on our evault all road and gravel bike today. The new fazua Ride 60 system though does for eMTB's what their ride 50 system did for electric assist road and gravel bikes. It really provides a lightweight yet powerful system that integrates seamlessly into the design of the frame. The system was first and foremost designed for EMTB integration, unlike the ride 50 system, where the battery, the motor and drive unit are all in line with each other. This breaks things up in a more compact way that allows us to build a very, very traditional looking mountain bike frame, I actually think with the way the size of the down to being small, but not too small. And just the shape of the bike. I think this is possibly the nicest looking frame we've ever designed, e-bike or otherwise, it's it's just really, really incredible to look at first and foremost. And then and then the ride certainly back set up that that ride 60 system really gave us the flexibility to design a next level EMTB that I feel can really benefit an even wider range of mountain bike enthusiasts and riders.
Jens Staudt:Before we are actually getting into all the technical finesse of this bike. I'd like to ask Kalen about his experience between the Shuttle and the shuttle SL because I remember a call where you told me that you use those for different kinds of applications. And how many times you've written the Shuttle and the Shuttle SL back to back, how different those feel and who is it for?
Kalen Boland:Oh, that's a tough call, I think. I think they're both for everybody. Just like all of our models, you know, I've been on rides with somebody on a trail Mach 4 SL, Switchblade a Firebire, we're all reading the same trail having a great time. That's the same with our shuttle family as well. One of the things I really noticed riding the SL, I remember on a ride with Chris and one of our athletes Jordi Boggo. They're both on full powered Shuttles and I'm on the SL and I was a little little worried I might not be able to keep up with them on the climbs keep up with them with the range. And as we took off, I noticed I was able to keep up with the group and but still have this light snappy feeling of the bike like a Switchblade on South Mountain. So really great to have this this different feel this different handling, similar to riding a Shadowcat or a trail. But still having that assist and allowing me to go on this ride and not blow myself up trying to keep up with full powered e-bikes. The current shuttle definitely is the traditional sense of an ebike. Having a powerful EP8 motor, large battery and more suspension travel the bike just feels planted when you slam into a corner it just grips that bike just tracks and takes you anywhere you want to go and with that battery, you look at the map and you just pick where you want to go and you're you're not concerned about what you're going to encounter because you know that bikes going to be able to handle it if it's a technical steep climb that might be on a motorized trail is rutted out you'll be able to just rip right up that thing and then same with a technical descent that bikes just gonna stay planted and grip the ground and just damp and everything and make you feel like you can just monster truck over anything but the SL has a little bit different feel to it. It's got that that snappy performance, you still have this amazing assist and power when you need it. But I find I find myself using it using it in the off mode actually not using assist in a lot of rolling terrain that bike just handles and pedal as well, but then when you do get into the technical terrain, you can you can boost it up, you can go into the higher power modes, river rocket and it even has a boost mode that you can use to give yourself that max power when you need it. So it's definitely a great bike that is snappy and light and playful gives you that handling you forget you're on an E-bike. But when you are blown, you get to that steep climb. You can give it as much assist as you want and and keep up with your friends if they're on full powered e-bikes, too.
Jens Staudt:Chris, you being a moto guy, maybe you can draw some comparison out of that segment is like an an SL comparable to a trials moto bike or an enduro hard enduro bike.
Chris Cocalis:Yeah, no, I mean, it's interesting because I do ride moto. And for those of you know, like, ktm, really any dirt bikes, but if you have a bigger bore dirt bike, or really, let's say any modern dirt bike, Honda, Husqvarna KTM gas gas, the most modern bikes have gotten a little shorter in the wheelbase, they've gotten lighter, and they're just more flickable. And it's amazing how the Enduro like Firebird segment of the bicycle market, those bikes have gotten longer and reach in the way your position on the bike. And when you're in the basically body triangle position in the standing attack position on my Firebird versus my Husqvarna are quite similar, and just recently got a 150 Husky two stroke and that bike is super lights right around 200 pounds. But obviously, it's got way more power than any bike. But it's amazing how similar that feels to our current regular shuttle where the SL, like we've mentioned a couple of times feels much more like a Trail 429 Enduro. So this idea of of kind of getting back to the roots of a lively handling mountain bike, I love them both, but one that they just provide vastly different riding experience, there's a big difference if you're switching between an analogue bike and a standard ebike you can be eight to 10 kilograms, or about 20 pounds different between those two bikes, the SL really bridges the gap between those and gets you much closer to that standard analog feel. In fact, you know, when you're on the bike on the trail, it's really indiscernible.
Jens Staudt:So E-bikes, and we covered this a little bit earlier, they get just get heavier with bigger motors and bigger batteries. And this can be fine for some, but some wanted more, like more, more handling more riding performance. So what would be the sweet spot from a power point on an light ebike?
Chris Cocalis:Yeah, I mean, you can strip away power and reduce battery size to make something a lot lighter. Of course handling on the downhill flickability will improve. But you'll get some disadvantages on the climb, especially if you know how full on bike rides, we really imagined a bike that had a much better power to weight ratio. So we aim for something which can still give you that easy and powerful climbing experience, but still be able to throw around in a playful way on to the descents, really, everything we do is, is a balance, and we're making decisions on which way to go. So if you strip the power and battery down to an absolute bare minimum, then you're really left with a heavy bike, that's still not all that motivating to ride, you need to be able to really cover that extra weight. That is inevitable. Having a motor and battery just can't get around adding things to your bike and not adding weight. So we were involved with fazua From the beginning, I should say Fazua, from the beginning of the project and giving feedback on battery size, motor output and packaging to really help achieve that perfect balance with our frame design.
Jens Staudt:Kudos for your Bavarian German.
Chris Cocalis:Doing my best. Yes.
Jens Staudt:So now now we have a bike with all the power, all the battery and still it's such a lightweight package. It has almost an analog bike handling how this was overall possible?
Chris Cocalis:Yeah, that's really the most fun thing about this project. If you get that balance right, you can really start to look at everything else more closely. Frame can be lighter for starters and with our hollow core molding process. We have really tight control over the internal thicknesses and the compaction on the frame. So we were able to really optimize that internal structure to make sure we achieve maximum strength and ride tuning similar to our our analog bikes. The current shuttle Shimano EPA system has 85 newton meters of torque and 726 watt hour battery I can do a four hour plus technical ride mostly in the middle power setting and still have two three bars left. It's not impossible to drain the battery, but it does take a big effort, you really have to be committed to a super long ride yet on most rides, you'll never drain the battery. But you still get to carry all that extra weight. So we we really had some room here to work with to develop and design something completely different.
Jens Staudt:We have now perfect power to weight ratio?
Chris Cocalis:It's hard to achieve perfection but we're I think we're about as close as possible given the our time in history. So yeah, being able to build the frame to normal trail bike weights saves a lot of weight compared to a standard ebike frame, the balance is really in matching the weight suspension travel and feel the chassis with the performance of the drive system. Again, going back to don't just bolt a motor to a bike, make sure the whole system really works this one so working with Fazua, we ended up with 60 newton meters of torque out of the motor, which I believe weighs only 1.9 kilograms, I might be off a little bit on that, but it's approximately it's, for the most part less than half the weight of most traditional motors with almost the full torque and the most powerful class one motors make 85 Newton meters but those bikes are about five to 10 pounds heavier. For the battery, the fazua system uses a 430 watt hour battery with the lighter weight and the more efficient compact motor. This really translates into a similar range capabilities as many of the standard 630 watt hour battery bikes on the market, which is still a four hour ride with maybe one or two bars left. It's It's pretty amazing. On the ability to go the distance.
Jens Staudt:That sounds great. But the original Shuttle we offer a brutal 726 watt hour battery. What if I want to ride longer distances on the Shuttle SL? Are we cutting out people who want to ride the lighter bike on longer distances?
Chris Cocalis:Yeah, there's a great solution coming for this. Fazua is developing a range extender, which should be available first quarter of next year. So not that far away, they'll add another 210 Watt hours, this system is pretty simple connect to your down tube and should give riders the type of range that we have with the more powerful shuttle it also is a neat system. And that when you aren't using the range extender and you snap that battery out of almost like a water bottle type bracket, you actually they'll have a water bottle cage that with the same magnet snaps back into the same place. So there's real ease of use with the system as well.
Jens Staudt:I really have to nail you down trees now. How light can a Shuttle SL actually be?
Chris Cocalis:That's the amazing part, our lightest builds come in well under 17 kg, it's about 36.9 pounds, we certainly could take even more weight out of components. But we always like to do reliable, lightweight builds when we do things. So it's a build that'll go the distance and allow you to enjoy the experience and not just shoot for the lightest weight on the scale. Although I do believe this really sets a new bar for lightweight ebike weights.
Jens Staudt:Does this make this bike actually the lightest ebike in regards of the best power to weight ratio? And also considering not going crazy on components?
Chris Cocalis:Yeah, I believe it pretty much does. I hate to make, you know, bold claims where somebody could, you know, basically put balsa wood rims on their bike and say, Oh, mine's lighter. But, you know, we're with the technology and everything where we're at today, we really have an incredible balance with this bike. It's only slightly heavier than our high end enduro bikes like the Switchblade and Firebird and on the trail, it rides very similarly, you have the ability to throw the bike around, it's a really nice and lively experience, even just the process of loading the bike onto your rack or into your car. You really forget that you're picking up an e-bike
Jens Staudt:Kalen you and you and I we were both for some months now I had the opportunity to take over the first prototype from Chris in, February?
Chris Cocalis:Yep.
Jens Staudt:And really collected some miles already in the in the really brutal German winter that tortures Chris so badly with all the snow. And yeah, I really put the system through its paces. And people who know me I'm not the biggest ebike fan, because I was always concerned about the weight because I rather have to performance and agility on the trail. And now I spent a couple of months on this super light system and made me change my mind. I think I can speak also for you Kalen, do I?
Kalen Boland:Yeah, absolutely. For me, I always thought if I was going to have an E bike, I was happy to pay the weight penalty to have a bigger battery, more power. I'm going to do different rides than I would on my regular bike. And a lot of friends talking about man, I really wish I had a lightweight ebike that that I think it'd be great. And for me, I didn't, I didn't see the appeal of that as much until I got a chance to ride the shuttle SL and just having that forgetting you're on an E bike. And I was riding with Chris. And we were going up this climb. And I, I totally forgot I was on the shuttle SL. And I was just thinking to myself, Man, I'm feeling great today. I'm awesome. Like, I could just go wherever I wanted, everything was perfect. And then I realized the bike was what was awesome, and I just happened to be on it. It's, it's a totally different feel, keeps you in the Fun Zone, it makes you not think that you're on an E bike. And when riding this, you can put the bike where you want it, it's really poppy and snappy when you're when you're riding a full powered e bike. With that added weight. Yes, it's planted, but it's planted, when you want to pick it up and move it and throw the bike around, it changes the feel of the bike. So this thing, you're able to ride as if you would on your normal bike and pick the lines you would it's Poppy and playful. You don't have to hurt the front end of the bike up and over the rock. You know, you just give it a little pedal kick and you can get the front end up. So it's just this the snappy, fun, playful bike that also gives you that boost when you want and keeps you in the Fun Zone.
Jens Staudt:One thing that's really important for that is also where it's sitting travel wise, I mean, the regular build is a 150mm up front 132mm in the rear. And if you are an active rider and you're pushing into berms and rollers, you're getting something back it's not like a big bike. And it's it has the progression at the end. So if you push again a pulling and lifting it off the ground, it's just like ghosts.
Kalen Boland:Yeah, just like just like all the bikes that Pivot develops, Chris and Kevin and the team spend a lot of time on setting up the suspension the way they want to in the design of the frame but also in the suspension tuning so they work closely with Fox on this to get this tuned just right with an E bike specific tune for for this bike as well.
Jens Staudt:Chris you were writing this a long time without the battery.
Chris Cocalis:Yeah, and without a functioning motor. It's It's interesting on this project, we were developing this together at the same time Fazua was developing the ride 60 systems. So we had rideable chassis before the motor and battery were fully developed. So we had some dummies of of a motor the way it plugs into the frame bolts into the frame. But yeah, we probably spent six months riding this as a normal bike with no no battery, no real internals to the to the motor system. And it's not a whole lot different than taking out your Trail 429 or Switchblade in that aspect has the weight was nearly identical. And it's first and foremost an all around great trail bike, the riding experience is awesome not to dive too much into the the nerdy details. But I've mentioned this before with the original shuttles is the DW link suspension design in the patents for anti squat really translate incredibly well over to E bikes, because we're not dealing with a huge range of front chainrings. And anti squat is affected by power significantly. So when you have a four bar link bike, a standard horse link type bike, those tend to squat a lot more and you counteract that with a lot more damping and the suspension. And then if you add the power of a motor system to it, you're really fighting these problems, but with DW link, the kinematics of the bike just work amazing on an e-bike and we can really optimize for that one or two front chainring sizes of 32 or 34 and really perfectly balanced how that suspension and chassis work. So whether there's a motor in the bike or not the pedaling performance, the traction on climbs, how it's able to get into its travel on mid sides bumps and on big hits is just incredible. And it keeps that bike Poppy and lively. It makes the shuttle SL quite a dream bike. It's it's one of those real special events in the timeline of Pivot of yeah, this is something new, unique and next level.
Jens Staudt:Maybe you can draw a comparison 10 years ago from from a bike back then to the shuttle SL. To explain how much of a game changer this bike actually is.
Chris Cocalis:10 years ago hard to search through the timeline. But I mean one of the most significant bikes and in our history was certainly the launch of the first Pivot Switchblade that was the introduction of Superboost and really doing some things to to launch a longer travel 29er that hadn't been done before and being able to optimize that wheel size with long travel performance with tire clearance and chassis feel and when that bike came out it really set a new bar for us similarly, probably more closer to 10 years ago was the original Mach 6, it was the beginning of 27.5 inch wheels and same thing of that achieving that balance. So there's just there's just certain bikes in our history that have not only changed the way things are for Pivot but really the course of where certain categories of bikes in general head and this is one of those those type of products where it's there's there's we're not the first to do super lightweight ebike but we might be the first to get it just really balanced and perfect to where it's like okay, now it has arrived.
Kalen Boland:Chris also always says his favorite bike is the next one and I know he takes a lot a lot of time when he's looking at every single bike and but I've heard him say a number of times that this is his favorite looking bike he just you know, function over form is usually the number one thing making sure the bike handles well but this bike just looks so good.
Chris Cocalis:Yeah, everytime I look at that bike in the garage, I'm like Ooh, baby, I can't wait to show everybody this bike because it's been basically hidden hidden under a blanket for Yeah, a couple years now
Jens Staudt:Besides its beauty and we don't want to distract that right so it has some features for in this goes into the direction of integration. Can you walk us real quick to what the options are on these bike?
Chris Cocalis:Yeah, I mean this this bike also goes to the vertical shock mounting so in many ways very similar details to the Trail 429, Switchblade Shadowcat etc and that we've got a vertical shock design which allows for large water bottle clearance on all sizes Pivot tool dock system and then universal derailleur hanger and everything with the Pivot cable port system and design of the bike we want with our evolution of E bikes including the the current shuttle we're we're working towards you know ease of accessibility and maintenance on the bike get the weight down this battery on on this bike is not removable, I believe Fazua's removable battery is heavier than the non removable battery. So that was a big thing on saving weight and chassis design. And yeah, so it also allows us to keep that down tube slim and light and in really, most people unless they see the light on the top tube showing the power bars, they would not be able to tell this as an e-bike from the side view.
Jens Staudt:They have fun note for you, if you measure the down tube of a Firebird Extra Large which I have in the basement and compare it to the shuttle SL the down tube is just pretty much the same size it's just a couple of millimeters differences so if you put in it have a silhouette of the bike you couldn't tell the difference.
Chris Cocalis:Yeah, it is pretty amazing obviously battery cells and the shape has to change slightly but but surface area is something that we pay attention a lot to and if you add a lot more surface area to to a frame obviously the weight is going to go up you can you can only cheat that so much with different layup schedules and and things of that nature. But yeah, keeping this chassis light and also it gives us that ability to do the ride tuning and make sure that the chassis feel per frame size is on point with what we do on our other models.
Jens Staudt:So if you're interested in buying one of these, you mentioned that we have like a super lightweight team World Cup build but there are different ones.
Chris Cocalis:Yeah, so the the lightest Team World Cup build. It's nice to have that shining bike on the scale and this one achieves that while still having a nice ride quality. It's a fox 34 Fork DPS rear shock slightly lighter tires, just little bits here and there that are designed to still perform but shave weight and that's the team world cup build and then the majority of the build is this the regular team build pro build and our ride level build which is an XTR and X01 and XT/SLX mix respectively. Those all go to a fox 36 fork with a Float X shock a little bit burlier tires and that's that's what most people will ride that's what I ride because just the bike is so capable having a little bit larger stanchions a little bit of the reservoir on the shock just allows you to push it harder. Again, it's all about balance and both bikes whether it be the lightest one, or the Team Pro or Ride level builds, they, they all achieve a different type of balance.
Jens Staudt:I have one question I like to ask for every bike. Why should you buy one in why will make you happy?
Chris Cocalis:Well, I'm a little close to this so I'm gonna let Kalen answer that one.
Kalen Boland:This bike, you should buy it because it's the lightest snappiest ebike, there is on the market right now, it'll make you happy, because you'll be riding a bike. And this thing allows you to kind of push it, push it a little harder, push a little farther, you know, if you've got a busy day, you're working hard to get home and you want to just sit on the couch, you're gonna grab this bike and go out and just have a blast. And it's one of those that's not only is it an equalizer, but it allows you to ride with anyone, this bikes gonna be fun to ride with your friends on full powered e bikes, it's going to be fun to ride with anybody on on an analogue bike, it's also the system is actually incredibly quiet as well. So you don't have anything going on that might distract you or your friends, when they're riding with you. It's it's just a great bike that you can go out and have fun on, on any trail, keep your legs feeling fresh, if you want to use this as a training tool, great training tool, but also if you just want to want to go out and ride and have a good time with anybody this this bikes gonna get and keep you out there longer, having a great time, and still allow you to explore and push your limits.
Chris Cocalis:Yeah, I can add to that a little bit. You know, if you want to see if you're a strong expert or pro rider, then you already know that feeling of just having the legs and the stamina to push harder and go farther when you need to. That's really the shuttle SL experience for every everyone. 95 plus percent of us do not have any World Cup XC aspirations, or even the ability to win a local xc or endurance race, I think we can all appreciate that feeling of fresh legs, and maybe that ability to even push hard up the first couple of climbs, and then it's just gone and you're tired. Riding the shuttle SL really maintains that awesome feeling throughout the ride, you're still working hard, but you can just enjoy the ride for a lot longer. Of course, if you want to suffer, you certainly still have that ability. But you can hold that threshold longer without totally bogging or blowing up. It's really just something you need to experience the bikes, really special in a mind blowing sort of way. And it can change anyone's writing experience. And again, Kailen mentioned the ability to ride with other people with other groups. If you're with a group of stronger analog riders, you're not going to be running up on them, the way this system works and feels is a much more natural feeling. Again, you can't even hear that the system is on. And then if you're in the higher modes on the bike, if you are with riders that are on, you know, full 85 Newton meter torque, big battery bikes, you're right there as well. And the ability to just to do things in a in a more dynamic and lively way on the bike is there and it's just a it's just a different experience. But yeah, I kind of think everybody needs to own both of them. The more shuttles, the better. Add it to your collection.
Kalen Boland:Agree.
Jens Staudt:This is a great closing quote, I would say. But let me add on the riding experience as well, because I really think this bike is very balanced. It sounds kind of boring to say, but we have slightly growing chainstays we're using the same system. We explained already on the Firebird podcast. So it's depending on the size, the chainstay grow slightly, and the overall chassis behavior of the bike. This is really nerdy now, but it how it flexes under you. Like how stiff are the big frames. It's just on point. It's on point and the motor is not like you don't have like this motorbike feeling on it. It's just there when it helps you and keeps your legs fresher for the next day.
Chris Cocalis:Can't wait to get this out in the world and have people experienced the shuttle SL.
Jens Staudt:So that's a wrap I would say. Thank you both.
Chris Cocalis:Thank you, Jens.
Jens Staudt:And really looking forward to have this bike out in the field and the people get on it and experience the bike on our demo. Thank you, Kalen. Thank you, Chris.
