YT TUES CORE 4 29 REVIEW

TUES TO SEND IT

Words by Robert Johnston  |  Photos by Finlay Anderson

The YT Tues surely needs no introduction, as a bike that has featured heavily at the fast end of the Downhill World Cup race scene under the likes of Aaron Gwin, Vali Höll and recently Oisin O’Callaghan. The YT Tues 29 has been on the market for a few years at this point, first released in 29er form with the same frame in 2019. In 2019 the Tues was ahead of its time, and so it still sits well in the downhill bike market and has avoided looking dated. How does its performance stack up though? We’ve been having an excellent time finding out between the UK uplift services and some bike park laps in the Alps, so check it out and find out if it’s the bike for you as we approach bike park season in the Northern Hemisphere.

ABOUT THE YT TUES CORE 4 29

The YT Industries Tues 29 is the Downhill World Cup race winning bike from the German brand. With 200mm travel in the rear and a 203mm fork suspending a pair of 29” wheels, the Tues is a bike capable of taking some serious hits and eating up chunky terrain. But in classic YT style, it’s not a bike that excels exclusively on the racetrack, with an injection of their freeride DNA to retain fun factor for big hits and bike park jump tracks.

BUILD SPECS | The Tues 29 is available in one spec level – the $/£/€ 5,999 Core 4 – and exclusively with a carbon frame with their Ultra-Modulus carbon fiber. Riders looking for a 27.5” wheel on both ends can choose between the same Core 4 spec; or an aluminum-framed Core 2 spec as standard. Currently there’s a Uncaged 11 spec with the alloy frame and a boutique build kit with Ohlins suspension.

In the Core 4 guise tested, YT has given the Tues a purposeful build kit cherry picked from the best downhill componentry out there, without any excessively flashy bits of kit, allowing the pricing to remain fairly reasonable. The suspension is Fox’s Factory level 40 fork with 200mm travel and four-way damper adjustability, paired to the similarly adjustable Float X2 Factory air rear shock. There’s a SRAM X01 DH 7-speed drivetrain; with the Carbon Fiber X01 DH cranks. The rear cassette is a close-ratio (9-21T) e*thirteen unit, which is integrated into the hub of the e*thirteen LG1 Race DH Carbon wheels to provide the lightest setup and a stronger wheel. These 32H wheels use a burly 30mm inner width carbon fiber rim which is built to take a beating, and are wrapped in a pair of full-DH spec Maxxis Assegai MaxxGrip tires. Braking duties are handled by the SRAM Code RSC brakes with a pair of 203mm rotors. Rounding out the specs are an alloy Renthal Fatbar 35 and Integra cockpit; and an SDG carbon I-Beam seatpost topped with their I-Fly 2.0 saddle. This complete build tipped the scales at 15.6kg or 34.3lbs.

FRAME AND FEATURES | The Ultra Modulus frame features a super sleek design with low-slung shock nestled close to the downtube. The single-sided pivot hardware accessed from the non-drive side gives an ultra-clean look to the drive side. There’s internal cable routing with clamped ports at the front triangle exit to keep things quiet and secure. A generous bolt-on downtube protects the frame from abuse. The frame bearings are protected with an extra layer of sealing, helping to keep them spinning smooth through a long season in the bikepark. The headset bearings sit directly on integrated cups within the carbon fiber headtube, offering the lightest and stiffest interface.

SUSPENSION | YT continues to use their V4L Horst Link suspension system for the Tues. This system gives the Tues what YT claims to be a sensitive response off-the-top; good mid-stroke support, and enough end-stroke progression to prevent harsh bottom outs. The key numbers are 45% progression over the stroke, of which roughly 20% is accounted for before sag, giving around 25% progression from sag to bottom out. Pedaling support is high on the Tues, with anti squat numbers around the 160-180% mark at sag point, helping to prevent wasted energy on the finish line sprints. Anti Rise is around 65% at sag, giving a good balance between geometry preservation and suspension freedom when braking.

GEOMETRY | The YT Tues 29 has numbers that still look very relevant in the downhill space. Available in Regular, Long and X-Long sizes, reach number options go from 460mm to 505mm and stack heights from 629mm to 643mm. If you’re a shorter rider, the 27.5” wheeled version of the Tues has smaller sizing available. Across the size range, the head tube angle is 63.5 degrees; the rear end is 440mm long, and there’s 25mm static bottom bracket drop. The size Long tested with a 480mm reach and 636mm stack amounts to a 1290mm wheelbase.

THE DIRT

SETUP | YT has a very handy suspension setup guide on their website, which made initial setup a breeze and instantly got me close to the right setup. With right on 30% sag in the rear and the fork inflated to 90psi – 4 more than recommended – I dropped into my first run at Dyfi Bikepark during the initial setup ride and immediately felt comfortable. Throughout this setup ride, I made a few minor tweaks to obtain some improved balance in the bike. I ended up increasing rear shock pressure and reducing the fork pressure a touch, but I didn’t have to stray too far from the recommended settings.

Something that was less comfortable though was the saddle to tire interaction – with a fairly short rear end for its travel and a big 29” wheel, saddle clearance needs to be considered. Pushing the saddle forward in its rails and raising the post an inch further out of the frame helped, and I accepted the compromise of a small amount of buzz on the hardest compressions in favor of the improved clearance for the steepest terrain that I’d intend on throwing myself down on the Tues.

RIDE QUALITY AND CHARACTER | A combination of the relatively low pivot and a fairly stiff frame and wheelset mean there’s a little more feedback through the YT Tues than the most plow-friendly of them. By no means is it a slouch in rough terrain – the World Cup results prove that – however it can begin to fatigue the rider more than the most comfortable machines out there. If you’re looking for a true Cadillac-style DH bike to completely erase the terrain below, you may be better served by others.

On the flip side, the Tues Core 4 29er is an absolute blast in slightly mellower terrain or in the groomed jumps and turns. It’s also a solid pedaling bike in this space, meaning the pedal to the lift line is that little bit less painful and the finish line sprints that bit more spritely. This makes the YT a more versatile and usable bike, not demanding only the steepest and chunkiest terrain before it comes alive. Make no mistake though, in true DH-bike fashion, the Tues can still make you feel like a superhero when things get rowdy. With nearly endless reserves and well controlled suspension on both ends, the YT eats up the big hits and begs the rider to send it higher and deeper.

Another very strong suit of the YT Tues is its razor-sharp precision. Where less stiff and more plow-minded bikes can isolate the rider fully from the terrain below and limit a small element of control in tighter and slower terrain, the Tues is a little sharper in feel and allows the rider to get a better appreciation for what is happening beneath the tires. You can play with the limits of tire grip that little bit more confidently as a result. This sharpness also lets the rider find backsides and thread needles in the trail that a less precise bike may not encourage, and riders who are able to utilize this are sure to benefit in speed.

FINISH AND VALUE | The finish of the Tues frame is excellent, with all of the details well covered throughout. The cables are managed effectively and chainstay protection is adequate to limit unwanted noise through the bike to the absolute minimum. You’re left with the sounds of the rear hub and the tires on the trail, as you should be. Through some serious bikepark abuse this didn’t change, and not a single piece of linkage hardware came loose or began to creak.

The spec on the Tues Core 4 was chosen excellently, too. It’s light in the right places, but overall gives a very solid and dependable feel. Some riders may call for a different set of brakes, but the CODE RSC’s suited my preferences well, offering up plenty of power with the dual 203mm rotors. At the $5,999 / £5,999 RRP, the value proposition is not incredible, but there’s currently some killer deals available from YT to pick one up with a good sum knocked off…although availability is very limited.

COMPONENT REPORT |

e*thirteen LG1 Race DH Wheels | The carbon e*thirteen wheels held up incredibly well, remaining true throughout an absolute barrage of abuse and fending off some harsh hits to the rims through the gnar. The integrated cassette knocks off some weight and allows e*thirteen to build a stronger wheel, with the 9T smallest cog allowing for a smaller front ring and therefore improved ground clearance. It makes a lot of sense for a downhill bike, and shifting was solid and trouble free throughout.

SRAM X01 DH Drivetrain | Part of the equation in creating the solid shifting is of course the small cassette and limited excess chain, but something has to push the chain side-to-side and add tension. The X01 DH derailleur and shifter worked flawlessly and the derailleur is very compact to minimize the chance of damage. At one point the B-Tension worked itself loose and the mech found itself impacting the frame, which runs close. But readjusting this and adding a dab of Loctite kept me rolling.

The Wolf’s Last Word

It may not be the freshest kid on the block, but you wouldn’t necessarily notice when riding the YT Tues Core 4. With a light weight and sharp package that doesn’t relegate it to only the absolute chunkiest gnar, yet typical DH-bike capability when things get serious, it’s one hell of a machine. It’s just not the most comfortable out there.

Price: $5,999 /£5,999 /€5,999
Website: YT-Industries.com