DIRT ISSUE 145 – MARCH 2014
Words by Steve Jones. Photos by Steve Jones, Johan Hord and Daniel Roos.
In a short space of time YT Industries have arrived and conquered the mountainbike world by producing bikes of a high standard. There are many sides to this, but most notable are the ride characteristics, design quality and component specification (plus the fact that they sell direct from Germany keeping prices very keen). Their new bike, the Capra takes them to the next level… it is exceptional.
Before leaving for Israel to the launch of their new bike I was pondering the fact that 160mm travel bikes are still a lot of bike, possibly too much for day–to–day riding. When they revealed the new enduro bike was to be 170mm I was almost certain they had overcooked it.
The Scott Genius LT is similarly suspended. And it’s a great bike. However it is troubled with poor damping, not allowing it to go about its business in the manner that it should. The Capra has no such issues, available in both BOS and RockShox’s offerings, it delivers on tune and performance. Many riders will love the simplicity of the Pike/Monarch combination but others will be keen to get the most out of the Idylle/Kirk dampers from the French specialists. The BOS units are sensitive, but are not shy of the full throttle approach.
The YT team are flawless in their choice of numbers for the Capra, around 65.5º on the head angle, the bottom bracket drop allows for balanced charging and crisp cornering, whilst the steep’ish seat tube makes the bike ridiculously easy to spin all day on climbs – a four hour trip from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea was effortless.
Frame wise the front end and seat stays are carbon but they’ve opted for a aluminium chainstay, this makes sense as we’ve holed a few of these this year. Excellent frame protection, internal cable routing and a superb graphic, the Capra still looked good after a week’s wear and tear, its paintwork sharp.
A feature of YT bikes is the componentry and the top model continues in this tradition: Mavic wheels, SRAM kit that includes Reverb Stealth, X01, X0 Trail braking, the Renthal bar and stem combination and my favourite Race Face grips. It comes with a custom seat, an Acros headset and finished with an E13 guide just in case. Whether it is BOS or RockShox the bike has no signs of weakness.>>
