FIRST RIDE REVIEW

YT JEFFSY UNCAGED 8

Words by Drew Rohde | Photos by Peter Jamison

YT Industries Jeffsy is a bike that we haven’t ridden for probably five years, and it wasn’t really a bike that clicked with several of our testers. Since then, it seems YT has made quite a few changes to the Jeffsy as the ride experience on the new Jeffsy Uncaged 8 was pretty damn impressive. At the Sedona MTB Festival a few weeks back, I was invited off-site to the YT Industries Airbnb for a little private presentation and ride experience on a couple news bikes, one of which is this new 160/150mm shredder.

YT’s Uncaged bikes offer a unique experience for the consumer and the Uncaged Jeffsy is no exception with Crankbrothers wheels, Industry 9 hubs and SRAM GX Eagle AXS. What set our meeting apart was the opportunity to have the new YT Jeffsy Uncaged set up by a Cane Creek representative, to ensure I’d get the best experience possible on the OE Spec’d Cane Creek Helm Mk II fork and Kitsuma shock. Like the Jeffsy, it had been quite a while since I’d ridden a Cane Creek fork and shock combo and the experience was a real treat.

Despite the less-than-desirable conditions for a desert escape, the Uncaged YT Jeffsy was up to the task and ready to charge. Even on my first ride, chasing YT’s own head of marketing down a trail I’d never ridden, while he was on a Capra, I was blown away at the confidence and capabilities the Jeffsy possessed. I was able to lean back and let the bike plow when I needed it to, but on the sections of trail where fast, serpentine corners linked endlessly, I was howling like a madman as the light, effortless feel of the bike had me pumping and popping as if I was on a rollercoaster ride instead of a rocky, desert trail.

Our shuttle runs didn’t offer much time for climbing, which, after a few days of two-a-day rides, didn’t bother me too much, but it didn’t really give me a ton of time to assess the climbing capabilities of the bike. From the little bit of climbing I did get done, the YT Jeffsy Uncaged seems in line with other 160/150mm 29ers on the market. Geometry was comfortable and not overly low or slack to cause many hang-ups while climbing the desert rocks. Cane Creek’s Kitsuma shock also handled the climbing quite well and we hope to get the bike for a longer test period soon.

THE WOLF’S FIRST IMPRESSION

It seems the YT Jeffsy Uncaged 8 is going to have riders scrambling to pull out their credit cards as it’s got an impressive build, exclusive, limited-edition sort of vibe and some impressive performance! We’ve only got a short bit of time in on this bike, but the time we did put on the Jeffsy Uncaged was a whole lot of fun. We definitely look forward to riding this bike more in the future.

To learn more about this bike, check out the press release or visit YT-industries.com