Izzo Review

The Bike-pocalypse is bad... unless you get a great deal, which I did! I've had about 5 months of riding aboard the YT Izzo, and while the changes of the impending next generation are easy to extrapolate, the character of this current bike fits my personal niche about as well as a bike can. It's not the right bike for everyone, but with a little bit of massaging it has been delivering the ideal experience out on my local trails.

Lets talk about it.

[russgordon]

I made similar changes to my 2023 Core 4 Izzo, including swapping out the FOX 34 fork to a FOX 36 factory 150mm. I'm 5'9" on a large with a 50mm stem and 30mm rise bars so the shortened effective reach and higher cockpit position feels just about right. The resulting HTA is around 65 degrees. I had a similar experience with the 175mm cranks and swapped those out for X01 170mm cranks. I changed the tires to Maxxis DHRII in the front and Rekon in the back. These provide much more grip for my local loose over hard trail conditions (SF Bay Area). The G2 brakes never felt quite right to me so I swapped those out for SRAM Code RSC which I've used on previous bikes and like. I was able to fit a OneUp v3 180mm dropper shimmed to 170mm with a WolfTooth remote. I didn't like the original saddle and swapped that out for a WTB Volt. I went with a WolfTooth headset replacing the Acros. The bike still weighs a bit under 30lbs with pedals. With all of the changes it now handles chundery descents with noticeably more stability. The climbing is still excellent with perhaps only a bit more front end wander on the steepest sections. I ended up spending almost as much on upgrades as I spent on the bike (I also got it on a ridiculously good sale price). If I had it to do over I might have gotten something else that didn't need as many upgrades, e.g., Yeti SB140 or a Jeffsy. However, I love the way the Izzo climbs and how light and Nimble it is. I'm intrigued with the concept of removing one of the negative spacers to get better small bump compliance. Did you do that yourself? I appreciate your video and it sounds like we've had a very similar experience with the Izzo.

[tristanchadderton]

If you angleset and increase travel by 10mm that would keep the BB height, but sounds like the wheelset is the limiting factor for pushing hard. I am likely to get this bike soon

[matthewserna]

I definitely agree it pedals great when open; I'm not sure why some reviewers say it needs to be locked out

[SuperMatt]

What about the pedalling performance vs the Ripley Af? Does the lighter weight in the Izzo make for better/faster riding in Edmonton’s up and down trials?

[ciastek]

So the takeaway is following: comparing this bike to the Ibis Ripley AF, ibis is more capable in terms of the descending capabilities in chunky terrain leaning a little bit to the agressive trail/light enduro territory and YT is better for XCish/ light trail usage?

[thinkaboutit]

I ordered a core 4 aswell for 2200 a month and a half ago from the outlet it was to killer of a deal to pass. Im still waiting for my delivery date im stoked tho i already ordered a few parts similar to what you did disector up from and i had a rekon for the rear and a set of mt7s as the g2s are terrible in my opinion. I got a one up 210 and pnw bars for it aswell and I have a works 1 degree angleset to try which I think actually will make it perfect

[wvjeepguy]

Seeing people buy the higher end packages and still swapping parts out makes me think I'd be better off getting a Core 1 and building off that platform.

[lukas-a]

5mm crank length causing knee pain is the most made up shit i think ive ever heard, get real dude