Pivot Firebird Pro XT/XTR Air review: Pivot’s bougie enduro rig rips, but it’s costly and unforgiving to ride

Pivot’s recently updated 165mm-travel Firebird enduro bike thrives when ridden at speed on the gnarliest trails.

Its stiffness and precision give it a direct and uncompromising feel, perfect for budding enduro racers and the hardest chargers.

However, when you start cruising, it’s not as forgiving as other enduro bikes; comfort, traction and control are limited.

Some of that harshness is down to the Continental enduro-casing, soft-compound tyres shared across the 14(!) bikes in the range, that are known to feel less damped than Maxxis’ equivalents.

The frame’s robust carbon layup is another contributing factor to the sporty feel.

This Pro XT/XTR Air model has Fox Factory dampers front and rear, and a Transfer seatpost. A smattering of Shimano’s XT M8100 and XTR M9200 kit and a svelte 15.58kg weight (large, without pedals) help to justify the £8,300 / $8,199 price.

Whether the Firebird is the right bike for you will depend firstly on the extent of your bank balance, and secondly whether you’ve got the mettle to get the most from it.

Pivot Firebird Pro XT/XTR Air frame and suspension

Famed for its carbon fibre manufacturing techniques, Pivot’s newest Firebird is no exception; both the front and rear triangles are moulded beautifully.

This latest iteration gets all the usual features we expect to see, including internal cable routing, SRAM’s UDH, underside and chain-slap protection and an oversized head tube that’s compatible with reach-adjusting headset cups and angled headset cups.

New to this model is the Toolshed down tube storage, and chainstay-length adjustment via the Swinger Dropout, while retaining the bottom bracket height adjustment from the outgoing model.

Along with the widest Super Boost 12x157mm rear axle, it’s got a PF92 press-fit bottom bracket, two things you may love, endure or dislike.

Suspension

Pivot is now synonymous with Dave Weagle’s twin DW-link suspension design and the Firebird uses this system with 165mm of rear-wheel travel.

New to this model is progression adjustment via the lower shock mount’s flip chip. The forward position is the more linear setting – best suited to air shocks – and the rear position is the more progressive, suited to coil-sprung shocks.

Pivot Firebird Pro XT/XTR Air geometry

Thanks to the rear end’s Swinger Dropout, the Firebird can run 29in or 27.5in rear wheels, in either the long or short chainstay setting. Both wheel sizes can be used with either the high or low bottom bracket setting – adjusted via the rocker-link flip chip – too.

In the 29in wheel, low and long configuration I chose, key figures include a 63.8-degree head tube angle, 77-degree effective seat tube angle, 443mm chainstays and 485mm reach.

Those three points of adjustment (wheel size, chainstay length, bottom bracket height) make the Firebird’s figures adaptable.

Factor in the potential for reach or head-angle adjustment via the headset and even more customisation means it can easily be morphed to suit your needs.

The five-size range (XS-XL) has reach figures that span from roughly 400mm to 500mm, depending on geometry flip chip settings.

Pivot Firebird Pro XT/XTR Air specifications

Not all markets get every one of Pivot’s 14 Firebird models, but this Pro XT/XTR Air sits at the more affordable end of the spectrum.

Costing £8,300 / $8,199, it’s not exactly cheap, but bar the tyres, there’s nothing that needs upgrading out of the box.

Fox’s Factory-level dampers sit front and rear, with a 170mm-travel 38 GRIP X2 fork and the newest Float X2 shock. These are matched with the Factory Transfer dropper’s Kashima-coated stanchion.

Shimano’s XT and XTR take care of the drivetrain, but are paired with Race Face’s carbon Next R cranks and 32t chainring.

DT’s trail-level XM 1700 alloy wheels are wrapped with Continental’s Kryptotal enduro-casing, soft-compound tyres, and the finishing kit (bar, stem, grips) is all Pivot’s in-house Phoenix products.

At 15.58kg, this big 170mm front, 165mm rear-travel enduro bike is lighter than plenty of trail bikes on the market.

Pivot Firebird Pro XT/XTR Air ride impressions

I tested Pivot’s Firebird Pro XT/XTR Air on the famous, gnarly enduro trails in Scotland’s Tweed Valley, perfectly suited to the bike’s intended use.

Long fireroad winches to the hilltops are rewarded with twisting, gnarly descents back down, including the Innerleithen DH tracks and Golfie’s archetypal enduro riding.

The Firebird got a true workout on the terrain it’s designed for.

Setup

Despite being fitted with an air shock and Pivot recommending the progressive shock flip chip position for coils, it was delivered to me in the more progressive of the two settings.

The flip chip is quick and easy to use, so I put it in its linear setting before testing.

I then adjusted the chainstay to its long setting and the bottom bracket to its low position. Both procedures are quick and easy.

For my 78kg weight, I Inflated the rear shock to 205psi, giving me 19mm of sag – bang on Pivot’s recommendation.

Initially setting all four of the shock’s damper adjustments fully open (low- and high-speed rebound and compression), after the first ride I added plus five clicks from fully open of low-speed compression damping.

At the fork, I inflated the air spring to 95psi and left the two factory-installed volume reducers. Like the rear shock, I initially had all the damper adjustments set to fully open, but increased low-speed compression damping by plus five flicks from fully open during the initial ride.

Pivot Firebird Pro XT/XTR Air climbing performance

Uphill, the Firebird’s got an urgency that’ll catch you off guard.

Stamp on the pedals and it surges forwards quickly and positively with a satisfying uptick in speed that’s almost better than the amount of effort you put in.

It defies the enduro-focused personality its figures should create, moving convincingly into the realms of trail-bike performance.

The Firebird’s bread and butter – fireroad winches – are cruisy.

The 'sit up and beg' seated riding position focuses your body weight through your sit bones rather than your hands, creating plenty of all-important comfort.

This backside-dominant position is created by the tall stack (642mm) and seat tube angle.

Pushing the seat forwards and nose down in the post’s clamp to steepen the effective seat tube angle isn’t essential, but is recommended.

That’s despite the effective seat angle sitting at 77 degrees; it feels slacker on the trail and adjusting the saddle like this places your hips convincingly over the bottom bracket, creating that comfort.

Combining the riding position with its low weight and relatively fast-rolling tyres reveals a satisfying relationship between high-paced efforts and covering plenty of ground in a short amount of time.

The DW-link suspension is snappy and taut, barely bobbing regardless of the gear you’re in or whether you’re standing or seated.

It’s excellently efficient but somehow remains smooth and supple enough to absorb chatter and provide grip where it’s usually lacking.

It’s about as close as you can get to trail-bike performance without riding a trail bike. In a blind test, riding uphill only, I’d have guessed the Firebird has around 130-140mm of travel, rather than its monstrous 165mm figure.

Pivot Firebird Pro XT/XTR Air descending performance

Rapid changes in direction, and accurate and precise line choices, reign supreme.

The Firebird reacts instantaneously to rider input; its ultra-responsive feel dictates the way it needs to be ridden; you must remain totally in command to extract the best from it.

Commit to a high-paced off-camber line littered with roots and rocks and you’ll be rewarded with speed and a surprising amount of grip.

As on the climbs, the rear end’s eager to flutter in and out of its travel on the smaller bumps, especially when you’re absolutely hammering it. When you're committed, riding at nine tenths, it feels like an extension of your body.

But tension the chain with crank input or hit successive steps with medium to high impacts and there’s less give.

Back off momentarily from full attack and the harshness creeps in, each of those large impacts feeding back through the pedals into the soles of your feet and legs.

Flipping switches

Flipping your switch back to super-aggressive works in your favour to drive speed from each compression, if you’ve got the energy and strength to hold on.

Active, boisterous riders will float and flutter on the Pivot. Each dip, mount, root or rock has the potential to boost your pace, but maintaining that level of intensity is fatiguing, both mentally and physically.

If you want to feel good on the Firebird, opportunities to hit ‘pause’ are few and far between.

Worse still, get lazy or uncommitted and it’ll bang and bash you about, punishing you for any technique-related sins.

The bike doesn’t morph around you, you need to adapt to it. In this respect, it’s not a passive, 'drop your heels and plough bike' and doesn’t seem to have the potential to be one.

Like an Orange bike, the trail is fed back into your body with rich detail. The three-way relationship between rider, bike and trail is as visceral as it gets with the Firebird.

Spot-on figures

Its geometry makes riding steeper trails a confidence-inspiring affair; the steering is sharp, but the front end can be loaded up – to drive grip and control – without hesitation or fear of tucking.

A slack head angle and balanced head-to-feet relationship encourage the aggression needed to tap into the frame’s potential.

You can push into catch turns, bounce up to high lines and commit to steep sections without fear of imminent peril.

Railing corners feels awesome; dip your shoulder and elbow, and the bike follows dutifully, carving tight radii that other 29ers would only dream of.

Linking one turn to the next and keeping the bike leant over up to an apex doesn’t require continuous input. It sticks to your chosen path, carving a satisfying line around each corner.

Its stiffness also lends itself well to squaring off those same arcs.

Loading the bike with intent at almost 90-degree angles to a turn’s apex doesn’t strike fear into your heart.

Instead, the bike absorbs your energy and spits it out into the middle of a well-supported corner, changing direction quickly, abruptly and without fuss.

Time the corner to perfection and the sensation is almost unparalleled. But get it wrong by a millisecond and the joy of its ultra-tight handling comes crumbling down around you.

The Firebird’s bandwidth to deliver is limited. You’ve got to build yourself up to its potential, rather than relying on it to carry you to the next level.

A cautionary tale

Even at your limits, it’s not the smoothest bike.

Some harshness is ever-present regardless of the terrain’s ferocity or otherwise. This fatigues hands and arms quickly, and unless you’re on it, it’ll catch you off-guard, relegating your riding to the back seat.

The tyres are a big contributor – while they roll fast and help keep its weight down – they aren’t very well damped and lack traction when it’s greasy.

Swapping out for some Maxxis, Pirelli, Michelin or Schwalbe equivalents would be high up my to-do list.

It’s also a noisy bike. The stiff carbon frame, large tubes and seemingly copious amounts of chain slap culminate in quite the racket.

Add in brake pads that rattle in the calipers – something the four-piston Shimano brakes are renowned for – and people will hear the bike well before any whoops, hollers and screams you’re making.

Pivot Firebird Pro XT/XTR Air bottom line

Prioritising accuracy over smoothness, the Firebird is best suited to the most aggressive riders, regardless of whether they’re enduro racers or park shredders.

The frame, suspension and kit hands out speed generously, but whether you can maintain it will depend on how long and how hard you can hold on for.

It’s a high-cost bike designed for riders who want to attack all day long, but it won’t suit those looking to cruise about.