Pivot Shuttle SL Review

Pivot was kind enough to send me a loaner, media bike for the video, but I am not sponsored by Pivot in any way.

Parts mentioned in the video:

Heavy duty tires:

Huge thanks to these guys for helping film, and Reilly helped edit a ton, too:

Here’s the full list of my riding tutorials posted through January 2024:

00:00 Intro
0:40 Unboxing
1:59 Context
2:36 Who for, and What is it?
3:52 Power vs Range vs Full Power
6:48 Shuttle SL vs Orbea Rise
7:23 1st Ride
10:05 Dialing in Suspension and Geo
12:29 Excellent weight distribution
15:22 Back in the shop
16:08 Final thoughts

[JasonLiebrecht]

I’ve had my Shuttle SL for a year and absolutely love it. I spotted it on your rack on your last dirt bike video and spent a bit trying to find your review of the bike. And here it is!

[NH-iluc]

I ride an acoustic Switchblade. Hard to call any Pivot a “Peasant Bike” unless you mean that you’ll be a peasant after buying one as it will take all your money.

[jason-dyou]

while i have not had any range issues with mine, I did make the same changes you made. I used a 35mm stem to shorten the bike and bars with more sweep and a 35mm rise. I am 6'4" and ride most bikes in the XL size. I ride a XL switchblade and I WISH I bought the Shuttle SL in a Large size. It is a long bike. I would recommend dropping down a size for those wanting a more playful bike. All that said I absoutley love mine. It is a lot of fun to ride.

[Nutinbutmtb]

Hey Jeff, great video. I put a 160 Zeb and mullet setup to make it more enduro oriented. I am loving this setup. Also, I am able to do a local loop that's just over 20 miles and 4300 gain on the bike - 50/50 trail /eco.

[drewchang]

I swapped mine to an ohlins 160mm fork and coil shock for gnarly downs. also changed to a 35mm stem and took out some spacers as the stock setup was too high. lastly, I changed the bike to a mullet. bike is great with this setup

[SuperSickSends]

I’ve been watching you for a while and I love your vids and I even got the Kona presses 134 because of you

[Shawn-in-da-Canyon]

Nice video. I would love to see you spend some time on a Trek EXe. I’d be curious to see what changes you would make. I’ve made a lot of changes to mine and I love it. Although, I fell too, but broke 5 ribs. On New Year’s Day, of all days to fall. Give us more great videos. There’s a shortage of good MTB videos on YouTube.

[AZMTB]

Hawes does allow ebikes, class 1 and. 2 only. Surrons definitely not allowed. I demo'ed the Shuttle LT right from the Pivot factory a while ago and did like it, but demo'ed an Orbea Wild a few months later and THAT bike impressed the hell out of me. I had bought an Oso in the meantime which I don't really get along with, but just got my customized Wild a few months ago and have my Oso listed for sale. I did opt for the smaller 625 watt hour battery to keep the bike a little lighter, but I'm still able to clear 3500 feet of climbing no problem (and I'm 225 pounds). But the bike handles AMAZING especially through the chunk, and it loves to turn (unlike the Oso). I'm a little surprised, I was expecting to see you do a review on the Oso given your past with them, and would love to hear what you think on the Wild (basically a Rallon with a battery and motor).

[scottpetersen]

Due to range issues on all the other light ebikes I test rode I ended up with an Specialized Enduro SL and at 6'4" 240 riding in Bellingham I can get over 2.3k vert on boost mode easy and add a range extender there is another 1000. You could get 3k on the bike being so much lighter than me.

[alexthemtbr]

Short chainstays probably caused the front wash out of nowhere. Obviously crashes happen. But that crash probably could be prevented if the bike had better balance. It’s a shame pivot has some of the best feeling suspension on the market but the rear ends are so short, it’s very unpredictable to corner

[summerthewise]

I am curious how the geometry would compare to an Orbea Rise with MX wheel setup. I find the Rise in this configuration is much more aggressive due to the slacker head tube angle. That’s how I set up my Rise and I find it much more stable descending.

[arhamrasool]

Would love to hear your thoughts on the pivot shadowcat!

[FireLysm]

@Jeff the only thing I would like to have is a bigger shock, would you agree?😅 Battery is plenty!

[OSUHARDINGATECHNICEXPERIENCE]

I own this exact bike here in the PNW and I get a lot more range out of the battery than you described here. I am 200 lbs and not in the greatest fitness condition so something seems off with your test bike. I can get 3000 - 3500 feet with battery remaining.

[WilliamrikerNCC]

The SL bikes are great in theory however you have to ask yourself if the range trade-off is worth the weight savings. For me it isn’t, but for others if you ride in an area with no much elevation or really want minimal assist then maybe the SL is better for you.

[andymtb]

I rode Hawes last week and it was about 50% e-bikes. Technically not allowed but no one was complaining/enforcing the policy. Could have rode twice as much if I brought the emtb 😭

[maplic]

I'm curious why you went with a 1 degree slacker headset, when you already felt the front of the bike felt too long for PNW trails. Can you elaborate your mindset here?

[toddolson]

Have you tried the Pivot AM - it's the Switchblade e-bike from Pivot? Has more range, etc..

[swbroadfoot]

Have been waiting for you to review this one. Thanks!

[LaurentiusTriarius]

Pivot are way up there with yeti and santa cruz for pricing exuberance.
They are probably great but unless they have a Kona 2 for 1 type of deal I'll probably never consider one 😢