New Pivot Shuttle LT first-ride review: a true enduro eMTB that challenged my perceptions

Pivot’s latest Shuttle LT is one of the most adjustable full-fat electric enduro bikes you can buy, with a plethora of geometry-adjusting chips, inserts and links – as well as an app – to help ensure the bike is set up how you like it.

The new Shuttle LT is a 162mm-travel enduro rig with a 170mm fork and uses a Bosch drive unit. Built around a carbon frame and Dave Weagle's DW-link suspension, it’s a Pivot, through and through.

Despite its burly build and long-travel chassis, it’s a bike that feels lively and engaging on the trail – but it’ll still blast down chunky terrain with the utmost confidence.

It's not cheap, at £13,500 or $14,999 for the Team model I tested, but the parts list is a who's who of top-flight Gucci componentry.

Pivot Shuttle LT Team frame details

Pivot’s carbon fibre frame features the twin-link DW-link suspension system to deliver 162mm (adjustable to 165mm) of rear-wheel travel. Two short alloy links join the main triangle to the rear, both rotating clockwise as the suspension compresses.

Pivot adjusts the cross-section and layup of its carbon tubes for each size to ensure ride characteristics are maintained across all sizes.

This focus on ride quality extends to the mounting of the 800Wh battery, which is held on a pair of nylon plates. 

This prevents the battery from impacting the flex profile of the down tube, thus helping Pivot tune the ride feel. It should also help with overall durability, because there are fewer forces being put through multiple components.

The battery is removable, should you wish to charge it indoors, swap it out or replace it with the compatible, lighter, 600Wh option from Bosch. A 250Wh Bosch PowerMore range extender can also be attached to the frame.

What separates this chassis from most others on the market is the wide range of geometry adjustability on offer.

From the front is a ZS56/ZS56 head tube, enabling reach and angle-adjust headsets to be fitted.

In the top link, there’s a high and low flip chip, which alters the overall head and seat tube angles, as well as the bottom bracket height, and ensures a swap from the stock mixed wheel-size setup to full 29in won’t mess up the shape.

Above this is the ‘Slacky McSteepTube’ system (Boaty McBoatface has a lot to answer for), which is a nylon seat tube insert offering independent seat-angle adjustment of 1.5 degrees – up to 78 degrees.

Continuing the geometry theme, the Swinger Dropout provides 8mm of chainstay length – not something many brands offer. In the longer setting, travel is also boosted by 3mm to 165mm.

There’s also a two-position progression chip to alter how the suspension feels and ensure both air and coil shocks are compatible.

All in, Pivot tells me that there are 96 configurations. You'll have to believe me when I say I haven't tested them all…

Pivot Shuttle LT Team geometry details

As you’d expect from a modern enduro eMTB, the Shuttle LT has a bang-up-to-date design – especially when taking into account all the shape-shifting capabilities present.

Key figures, for the size large with mixed wheel sizes, in the low setting, include a 63.2-degree head angle, 335mm BB height, 657mm stack, 474mm reach and 443mm chainstays (in their shorter setting).

Pivot Shuttle LT Team specifications

The Team version of the bike is the highest-spec option on the table, coming in at £13,500 or $14,999.

For those with less deep pockets, the range starts with the Ride model, at £9,000 or $8,999, and there’s a Pro option at £12,000 / $12,599.

This Team model comes decked with top-end kit throughout, as you’d hope.

At the front, there’s the excellent Fox Podium Factory fork, its inverted design making it stand out from the (mass-market) competition.

This is joined by a Fox Float Factory X2 air shock.

SRAM’s XX Transmission is paired with punchy SRAM Maven Ultimate brakes.

DT Swiss Hybrid HXC1501 carbon wheels are shod with appropriately sticky and strong Continental Kryptotal tyres. 

The motor on this model is the Bosch Performance CX Race Gen 5, which has 750W of peak power, 400% assistance and 100Nm of torque. The Race motor gets a lighter magnesium casing, ceramic bearings and a titanium spindle.

The Pro build also gets the race motor, but instead has an X0 Transmission and alloy Crankbrothers DH hoops, while the Ride build has the non-Race motor, a mechanical Eagle 70/90 Transmission and DT Swiss H1900 wheels.

You get the inverted Podium fork on the Pro bike, but the Ride rolls on a (still excellent) Fox 38.

Pivot Shuttle LT Team ride impressions

With limited time to test the bike ahead of its launch, I largely kept to the settings it was in – shorter chainstays, more progressive suspension and the low geometry chip.

Pivot Shuttle LT Team climbing performance

Pivot’s DW-link suspension is a stable, efficient yet grippy system that doesn’t rob you (or your motor) of any of your efforts.

The shock remains stable until you really give it the beans, standing on the pedals, and so even in the lower assistance modes, it feels as though the bike’s making the most of the power input.

Even though the shock remains stable while pedalling, traction at the rear wheel is good. There’s enough small-bump sensitivity from the lightly damped shock to help the soft-compound rear tyre dig into dirt and mud, or eke out traction from slippy rocks and roots.

Of course, in the least grippy conditions, boosting the motor into its Turbo or Race modes can make the rear wheel a little too enthusiastic, but when keeping to the excellent EMTB+ mode, where dynamic power inputs naturally match those of your own, I found it very easy to dole out the watts without spitting dirt behind me.

The numbers add up

The geometry also plays its part here. The steep 78-degree seat angle puts you nicely in the middle of the bike, even in the shorter 443mm chainstay setting I ran the bike in.

There’s still enough wheelbase, at 1,281mm, to place your weight nicely between the tyre contact points, meaning traction in marginal conditions is good.

If you’re struggling for grip and balance on prolonged steep climbs, swinging the dropout into the longer 451mm setting will help further.

On more steppy terrain, Pivot suggests the slacker seat angle option might help with popping the front wheel up steps.

Pivot specs 155mm Praxis carbon cranks – a nice touch, especially if you're keen on riding more technical climbs, because ground clearance is good. They also feel good spinning at a slightly higher cadence, something that also helps get the most out of the Bosch motor.

While every ride and rider is different, as a guide, I completed a 1,350m (4,400ft) ride, covering 38km on mixed singletrack, double-track and tarmac climbs, at 85kg kitted-up weight. I used 82% of the battery on a moderately chilly day. 

Pivot Shuttle LT Team descending performance

With the LT denoting ‘long travel’, it’s no surprise the Shuttle LT has a bias towards the downs.

Up front, the Fox Podium fork is, frankly, magnificent. It’s smooth, sits nicely into its travel, and is controlled and confident. 

Working with the Supersoft compound, enduro-spec casing Continental Kryptotal front tyre, there is acres of grip – far more than you would believe before dropping into a wet, slippery track.

The confidence this gives to push the bike harder in marginal conditions is impressive.

On top of this, the weight of the bike helps guide it over obstacles, enabling you to point and shoot towards your eventual braking point.

The DW-link suspension, so stable on the climbs, retains ample freedom of movement on descents to help keep the rear wheel moving up and over rocks and roots, and your momentum ploughing forward.

It’s not entirely sofa-like – you can still feel the undulations under your tyres, and the 27.5in rear wheel doesn’t feel as if it rolls over sharp-edged hits as smoothly as a bigger hoop.

However, what this does is give great feedback about what’s going on. Certainly, there’s ample performance to let rip.

At the front, the bike has a commanding feel as you stand on the pedals, feeling stout and moderately tall with its 657mm stack and mid-rise bar. 

While drilling down into specifics in a first-ride review is tricky, I felt a touch of harshness through the bar that was noticeable on longer, rocky descents.

The fork and tyres aren’t to blame, and I've often found DT Swiss’ HXC1501 carbon wheels to behave well. As such, I suspect the bar is stiff, which detracts a touch from what could be a supremely comfortable ride.

Business up front, party out back

When it came to the twists and turns, I was surprised at just how well the Shuttle LT rode.

Despite being a ‘big’ bike, I found it easy to tip into a corner, trusting the fork and tyre to provide ample grip, while I like the way mullet-wheel bikes tip into a corner.

They’re a bit more prone to breaking free mid-corner than a full 29er can be, but I love that little bit of personality that makes them fun to ride.

I was also surprised at how easy it was to loft the Shuttle LT into the air off rocks and roots.

Combined, the cornering and pop on offer made the bike feel way more sprightly than a 25kg bike has any right to be.

Pivot Shuttle LT Team initial verdict

My go-to bikes tend not to be full-fat electric mountain bikes. In fact, I rarely reach for an eMTB full-stop.

But the Pivot Shuttle LT has challenged that status quo. 

There’s no denying that, on the climbs, the Shuttle LT is more than capable, with its modern geometry, grippy yet stable attitude and top-performing motor system.

But the descents were where it shone. It didn’t feel like many other 25kg eMTBs I’ve ridden, with a poppy and playful character that also liked to blat full-gas down rough-and-tumble tracks.