The Noton certainly comes well–endowed for gravity action. 203mm rotors aid the Avid Elixir R anchors, Truvativ Boobar and short stem offering stability. A 11–32 rear cassette is partnered with a Hammerschmidt front drive. Great pair of grips, a full Sram X9 gear system and a pair of the incredible Maxxis Ardent 2.4 with EXO casing…the Noton comes 100% ready for action.

SUSPENSION

Normally when presented with a £1800 bike we sigh at the suspension. Not so on this occasion for the Marzocchi Rocco Air TST R drives a well thought out linkage. With lockout and rebound, plus bottom out it gives a good workable range and feels just so plush. I’d go as far as to say probably one of the best rear suspensions I’ve ridden on a 170mm bike this year. Up front the relatively straightforward RockShox Lyric RC Solo Air Tapered offers compression and rebound adjustment.

Riders wanting everything and all that…look you ain’t going to get a 170mm bike for this much money, offering this much performance, weighing as much as a trail bike. At 34.5lb it’s not a lightweight, but not many 160–170mm bikes are. An Orange Alpine 160mm with loads of carbon characters is around the thirty mark, whilst a Transition 250 (slightly different style bike I know), well for a basic spec you’re talking 37–38lb on a good day. The point is that they are quite different 170mm bikes and the YT is very much weighted towards the longer–ride–with–climbs–included type beast.

I actually thought the Noton was a 160mm as I left the house and returned five hours later knowing I’d had a workout on a track I normally do on a carbon 140mm Zesty. It’s not a ‘hill climb hammer bike’ that’s for sure, but ultimately it’s definitely geared to do so, although I spent much of the time in the lower direct drive front chainring. Ardent aide rolling resistance, but overall I’m not a Hammerschmidt lover because the higher drive just gives too much resistance compared to a normal single ring.

SMASHING

This is pretty much where the bike comes alive – steering, riding position and balance are all totally impeccable. More than that, the suspension on this bike certainly feels like something that’s delivered on a more costly offering.

If it’s trail/enduro style riding that you do then you’re probably better off with YT’s Wicked at 150mm travel. However if you need a 170mm bike that you can race Enduro events, hammer some Alpine weekends or work on tick over during your four hour UK rides this could very well be the bike. The spec, the stability and downhill performance are simply brilliant. No (as I say) I’m not a Hammerschmidt fan, but I guess it does offer chain retention and shields the chainring teeth from abuse.

Price:  €2099

www.yt-industries.com

SPEC