By: Tim Zellers

Tim Zellers — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 11:29:44 +0000

I took a spring break trip to Moab w/ some friends recently and got 3 good days of riding in (Soverign, Slickrock, Porcupine, etc.) We all wanted to demo some new bikes so we decided to rent in Moab from Poision Spider. The first 2 days I was on a new intense tracer (in fact they had gotten in in like two days before I rented it, and I was the second person to take it out. When I reserved my bikes for the trip, I ordered the intense for 2 days, and a Pivot mach 5 for the last day. On the third day when I showed up expecting a Mach 5, they said that it had accidently went out and I could take my pick of the fleet. Being from Illinois, I am obviously What RC would call a trail rider, and for the most past not an “all mountain” rider due to the lack of mountains in illinois. THe Pivot Firebird was sitting there looking real nice, but I figured with 6.5 inches of travel,it would be a pain hauling up and around the trails of moab. I asked one of the workers if the Firebird would be suitable for my “Illnois style riding”, and he assured me I would be alright. He even said that he personally had just but bought a firebird for himself. Long story short, RC’s review on the Pivot Firebird summed up my experience. The firebird was really a mind blowing ride. The brand new intense I was on the for the first two days did not even come close to comparing. The firebird pedaled like a hardtail, and soaked up some lines that I wouldn’t have even attempted on another bike. I have been a long time subscriber to MBA, I am aware how RC will every so often flip out and seemingly exagerate about how amazing a bike is (BLUR LT2,New Treks,etc. Im sure like many other readers, I have always been skeptical on how accurate his claims are. After demoing the Firebird, I will never question any of RC’s Rants over a product ever again. SPOT ON RC, SPOT ON.

Comments on: Tracking the Pivot Firebird

By: Tim Zellers