FIRST RIDE

THE NEW PIVOT SHUTTLE LT

First Ride by Drew Rohde | Action Photos by Matt Jones
Still Photos by Sourpatch

We were lucky enough to receive a new Pivot Shuttle LT to review for a couple weeks before the launch of this new enduro-ready eBike. Hot on the heels of the recently released Pivot Shuttle SL, the new Shuttle LT boasts 160mm of DW-Link suspension paired to a 170mm fork, a Shimano STEPS EP8 drive unit, and a 756Wh battery. In the short period of time that we’ve had the bike we were able to put together this video review with our initial impressions and have a few takeaways. We look forward to putting a lot more miles in different terrain and conditions on our Pivot Shuttle LT for our long-term review, which we’ll work on ASAP. Until then, here’s our first impression.

Using the Pivot Firebird as inspiration for the capability and intended application of the new LT, Pivot had a big leap to make to bring the Shuttle up to speed from their mid-travel Shuttle AM (OG model). For many riders – ourselves included – this was the Shuttle we wanted to see Pivot deliver. It’s got a slightly slimmer, more appealing aesthetic and has the travel aggressive riders have been waiting for.

Pivot did a nice job taking the good things about their mid-travel Shuttle AM and giving it a healthy dose of growth hormones. They also paid attention to the critical feedback they received on the original model and worked to address and improve these elements and more. Gone is the bloated belly and conservative geometry, in comes a sleek aesthetic and geometry that is ready to rip in combination with the bump up in travel.

The new Pivot Shuttle LT’s long geometry had us debating on whether sizing down to a medium or sticking with the large would be the best fit. At 5’11”-6’1”, our test crew have long been riding larges, but find that our preferred 475-480mm reach is now floating in a “no-fly zone” as larges tend to hover around the 490mm reach area and mediums tend to fall around 465-470mm. We went for the Large in the end, which worked well after some adjustment period. If you’re also wondering which direction to go, Pivot Cycles has a live chat feature on their site where you can ask their team of experts for input based on your height, terrain, and riding style.

Moving beyond the reach we look forward to spending more time fine-tuning the geometry for our trails. In the Low setting, the bike’s 64-degree head tube angle was plenty slack enough for the steepest and fastest trails we found. The 77-degree seat tube angle puts you in a comfortable position while pedaling, without being overly upright and limiting rear wheel traction on the climbs. Something that stood out during our first rides was the 653mm stack height. This puts the stack on Pivot’s Shuttle LT higher than any of the bikes we tested in our 2022 eMTB Shootout several months ago, and will likely have us dropping the stem even further down the steerer tube.

Out back the 439mm chainstays are super short in the eMTB world, giving a fun and playful feel. In some ways it served as a great counterbalance to the long front end, however in our early testing it also gave us a contrasting feeling of two different bikes from the front to the back in certain awkward corners. We started to figure out how to shift our weight appropriately to get the short, snappy back end to come around and compensate for the long front end. This issue is certainly not going to be the same for everyone, as many riders out there seem to be loving the long front ends for their local trails and riding styles. It does have us wondering if a medium may have been the better call, but the large size Shuttle LT had its benefits. The ability to claw its way up steep climbs was impressive, with the short chainstays failing to spoil the ease of keeping the front wheel planted and in control on the way up the hill.

We found the front end to dive a bit on the steep, brake-heavy corners so we will be experimenting with dropping the bars some more (to offset the high stack height) and adding a volume reducer to the fork to have our body weight a little more balanced and stable. We suspect that more time aboard Pivot’s Shuttle LT will remedy the infrequent issue that we experienced in our early rides as we become better acquainted with its weight distribution.

The rest of the bike is an absolute pleasure. When it came time to charge the rough stuff, there was an incredibly well-executed blend of planted yet playful suspension that had us feeling confident right away. Whether we wanted to stay on the ground and pick lines or gap, hop and pump rock gardens, the Shuttle LT was ready to work. It’s hard to find a bike that can feel so at home on smoother flow and jump trails as it does in chunky terrain. Our preliminary testing seems to have this bike ranking high in all-round versatility.

THE WOLF’S FIRST IMPRESSION

Pivot Cycles new Shuttle LT is a pretty badass machine that scrambles up steep climbs and slays descents. We look forward to playing around with the fork’s suspension settings and trying to lower the stack height a bit, and wish the reach was a tiny bit shorter, but we’re finding that the short rear end still keeps the bike playful while the long front end helps with stability at speed. Time aboard the bike will likely have us learning the optimal body position and weight transfers but our initial report on the Shuttle LT is a solid thumbs up. Pivot Cycles have done a really good job creating a more capable, longer travel eBike that will give aggressive enduro eMTB riders an option to seriously consider. Fun, playful, stable and impressively confident rear suspension even on the chunkiest of terrain – nicely done.

FULL PRESS RELEASE BELOW
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PIVOT CYCLES

TOO MUCH IS JUST RIGHT

PIVOT’S HYPER CAPABLE NEW SHUTTLE LT DELIVERS MORE OF EVERYTHING YOU WANT.

Race-ready, ultra-refined, and ambitious, the Shuttle LT inspires endless riding possibilities.

The Shuttle LT completes an e-bike trilogy from Pivot Cycles, one of the earliest U.S.-based adopters of high-end pedal assisted mountain bike technology.  The Shuttle LT deserves a category of its own delivering an intoxicating combination of power, finesse, and travel.   Equipped with Fox E-Tuned 38 170mm forks and 160 mm of rear travel, every Shuttle LT exceeds expectations on race day, or any day.

“When our Engineering team set out to grow the Shuttle family, we used the Firebird as inspiration for the new long travel Shuttle.  The LT is not only an incredibly capable descender, but also a highly versatile all-arounder.  This new bike empowers riders to explore up and down and maintains an extreme advantage in the most technical terrain.  Our proprietary carbon molding, ride tuning, and dw-link suspension allowed us to build phenomenal performance characteristics into our long travel eMTB.” says Chris Cocalis, founder and CEO of Pivot. “You’ll instantly recognize the balanced and planted feel you expect from a Pivot, yet without giving up the ‘pop’ we’ve bred into all our EWS-inspired bikes.  We really pulled out all the stops with the Shuttle LT.  This bike has the heart for enduro racing and is still the bike you’ll want to ride every day.”

The range extending 756Wh battery – developed for Pivot with Shimano’s top battery partner – feeds a Shimano EP8 drive unit and, importantly, has been strategically lowered in the Shuttle LT’s downtube.  Not only does the design ease battery removal, but also adjusts the center of mass to enhance handling, feel, and rider confidence.  No detail was overlooked in the selection of XTR 4-piston brakes, massive 220mm front and 203mm rear rotors, and Maxxis 2.5” Assegai tires mounted on DT Swiss’ unrivaled eMTB specific HX1501 wheels.  The riding possibilities are endless.

Pricing, Specifications, and Availability: The Shuttle LT will be available in Northern Lights and Bass Boat Tri-Tone, in sizes S through XL.  It can be purchased in either Ride (Fox Performance 38 170mm E-Tuned fork and Float X shock) or Team (Fox Factory 38 170mm E-Tuned fork and Float X shock) builds; priced from $9,899/9,999€ to $11,999/11,999€ at key Pivot dealers worldwide. The Shuttle family includes the lightweight SL, the mid-travel AM, and the enduro-inspired LT.  For more information visit: https://global.pivotcycles.com/products/shuttle-lt