We introduce you to the newest member of Pivot bike family. A trail-carving expression of blazing speed and feline creative mayhem, the Shadowcat.
In today's all about bikes episode we will talk about a new family member, the Shadowcat. As you know from previous episodes, Chris Cocalis is on the show to give you all the technical details to provide you all a broader impression about how the bike feels and how it is designed to also fit riders on the smaller end of the sizing scale. We have Chloe Woodruff with us. She has been a Pivot athlete for many years and can look back on a stunning career racing with the US World Championship team in 2004 and 2005, racing cross country in the Rio Olympics and winning the world cup in Nove Mesto in 2019. Does this mean to Shadowcat is a cross country bike? Not really. But Chloe will explain why is it still a match for her and what this bike is best at? So let's dive in to get to know the Shadowcat Chris Cocalis We have on our show. Hello, Chris.
Chris Cocalis:Hello, Jens.
Jens Staudt:Also, we have Chloe Woodruff with us. She will actually share her impressions on the bike because she was out there on it. Hello, Chloe.
Chloe Woodruff:Hi. Thanks for having me on.
Jens Staudt:Yeah, let's start this episode by telling the listeners the name of our the newest member of our family, Chris, how's it called?
Chris Cocalis:Well, the new bike is called the Shadowcat. So it's an all new bike name in our line.
Jens Staudt:just an all new model, or will it replace something people may already know of?
Chris Cocalis:Yes, technically, it replaces the Mach 5.5. And we'll get into the details of that.
Jens Staudt:Okay, so Shadowcat. A replacement and already, I mean, obviously, we can't our listeners can't see the bike, but we have plenty of looks on it. You can have some kind of an idea of what is this intended use for right when it's replacing the 5.5. Is it a new 5.5? So what are you going to do on this bike Chris?
Chris Cocalis:It's really the intended to be the the best mountain bike for having fun. And by that, I mean it's not a purpose built Enduro Racer or downhill bike, cross country race bike, it's really a mountain bike for all kinds of trails and all kinds of fun, and Chloe can expand on that a little bit as well.
Jens Staudt:Chloe, you also had a little first impression on it.
Chloe Woodruff:Yes, I did. Actually, for my first ride on the Shadowcat I invited Chris out. So very first ride, Chris and I were out there and you know, I think he just kind of wanted to see how big of a smile I had on my face. And yeah, he succeeded. So the bike is a whole lot of fun. And you know, I was running just the 160 Fox 36 Fit4 and the DPS for your shock setup was a breeze just kind of set the sag and check suspension settings and out the door and be a comfort and it felt balanced, handled well. It was just it was a blast.
Jens Staudt:Which trails we were riding on?
Chloe Woodruff:Crona De Loma, CDL here on South Mountain.
Jens Staudt:Can you explain to our listeners what you actually have on those trails are these flow trails are more rocky chunky stuff?
Chloe Woodruff:It's rough out there.
Chris Cocalis:I jokingly call it a rocky flow trail. No, I'd say it's one of our more technical trails. It's it's probably not one of our steepest trails, but at the same time there there's no smooth section on the trail whatsoever. And, Chloe, would you say it's got at least 30 switchbacks on that trail. I've never actually counted them.
Chloe Woodruff:Oh, me neither. Yeah, I mean, it's you just switch back down south mountain. And it's a trail I have tried to ride on my, my cross country bike, and it's just, it just beats you up. So it was just a blast to be out there on the
Jens Staudt:So Shadowcat it made the trail smoother. Oh, Shadowcat. yeah, for sure. Chris talking about smoothing out the trail without giving away all the technical stuff and the black magic you do to the carbon. Can you give us a little run through on the technical side of things of the bike.
Chris Cocalis:When we're working on this bike the 5.5 was an is one of our bestsellers in the line. It's also the was the oldest bike in our line, but but it just appealed to a wide group of trail riders and that it's a snappy pedaling bike and really just has enough travel to descend anything. The 5.5 was really often referred to as the 27.5 version of the Switchblade. That puts it in a new unique place because it was in that iteration kind of like that. But the frame was also a little bit lighter than than the the Switchblade and and certainly not something that you would consider to be an enduro racing bike. And so we really wanted to take that heritage and expand on that with the new Shadowcat. And everything that made the 5.5 great is really amplified on the new bike the frames considerably lighter, it's there, there was just a incredible focus on lightweight. In fact, that was really the the first and foremost driving factor behind the bike. And in the details we just went after every way we could make a trail bike just to everywhere we can shave grams on the trail bike. And that includes things like an integrated headset, really paying attention to our tube shapes and sizes per frame size, and make sure making sure we optimize everything. So when we're all said and done, we have a frame weight that weighs less than our Trail 429 model, which is an extremely light trail bike class leading and frame weight in and of itself. And then this one, the front and rear triangle, the carbon pieces on the bike, there's only a 45 gram weight difference between it and the Mach 4 SL medium front and rear triangle, it's really knocking on the door of Worldcup XC frame weights. You add that in the 27.5 wheels in just a smaller diameter in the weight of those wheels, you really have a rocketship of a bike. So an XTR equipped bike weighs just over 26 pounds, I think close to 26 and a half pounds in a medium size. And then as Chloe mentioned earlier, it has 160 millimeter travel front fork, it's 140 millimeter rear travel bike, so travel is up there. But the bike is designed for the lightweight and the tuning of the suspension to be just super fast. So it really accelerates a lot like the Trail 429. And the tuning of the shock is in that area as well. So just what makes the bike so fun is a bike that just accelerates like an XC bike, but has lots of travel and reserve modern geometry and all the things you need to be able to really attack good and aggressive trails. But the climbing is also super fun. It's just a zippy bike.
Jens Staudt:the Shadowcat frame was lighter than a Trail 429 frame and just slightly heavier than a Mach 4 SL. How much was that, Chris?
Chris Cocalis:45 grams 45.
Jens Staudt:Chloe, your background is XC. So you're the weight weenie here?
Chris Cocalis:She is!
Chloe Woodruff:Yeah. So you know, I've always thought of the 4SL as kind of being like, my ideal, do it all bike, put a little bit more trail worthy tires on it, 120mm fork, and it's a full package. But now we have the Shadowcat and I just have a big smile on my face talking about it, because it just feels like this is the do it all bike made for me. I mean, it fits my riding style, just with how it handles and we're getting the whole package down light enough where you can really take it out on cross country rides. And yet you've got that 160 travel to really have fun out there, you know when you do have features. So I'm thrilled. Thank you, Chris.
Jens Staudt:You mentioned earlier that you had a blast on the trails and it's a chunky flow trail Chris said and we were talking about 160 upfront right. So Chris, our analog bikes, it's it's one to follow our vertical shock design. What's the reason for that and how the overall kinematic is designed in its characteristics so you could make Chloe happy and maybe also a trail rider.
Chris Cocalis:That's an interesting question. You know, the 5.5 as I said was the longest really running bike in our line, the last one to be redesigned. And we were able to do that because the bike had a nice look. So even though it still had the shock mounted underneath the top tube it cleared a water bottle cage had decent stand over and it's really stood the test of time against more modern competition, but the horizontal shock design activated by the linkage on that bike still created some limitations particularly in stand over clearance and overall packaging of the bike with such a focus on making the Shadowcat so much lighter, a more compact package was needed and the vertical shock design really achieves this. You know, from a kinematic standpoint, the new Shadowcat really development benefits from the development of our other vertically modern shock designs. It's a better pedaling bike. And at the same time, it remains plusher later in the travel so you get benefits at both ends of the spectrum. And the standover clearance I mean that's one thing that that that Chloe can talk about being a slightly more compact rider and being able to fit that large water bottle in and have really massive stand over clearance. It's a big improvement on the extra small and small sizes over the 5.5
Jens Staudt:How tall are you Chloe?
Chloe Woodruff:I'm five foot two tall.
Jens Staudt:Means you were on a small or extra small?
Chloe Woodruff:I'm on the extra small Shadowcat, feels like a great fit for me. We could talk all day about added travel and suspension settings on your bike but without that additional room to maneuver. So achieving that low standover is key for that because unless you're able to get your, you know, balanced on the bike, and really be able to get a good lien out of it, it wouldn't be up for the task. But yeah, it's just amazing what this bike can do. It's fun, it just handles well.
Jens Staudt:When you think about the versatility of our bikes, I mean, most of our bikes are available with different builds in their suspension, for example, the Trail 429 you can buy as the regular trail spec, with a Fox DPS shock and thirty four Fit4 the front, providing 130 mil of travel and we also offer it as an enduro builds with the fox Float X piggyback shock in the back with also come 120 mil of travel, but in the front paired with the 36 140 Grip2. Do we have something similar on the Shadowcat, Chris?
Chris Cocalis:No, one of the things we really wanted to achieve with this was to have a very specific balance and feel out of this bike. And so there's really just did two suspension packages. And one is this the standard that we have in both factory series and Performance Series suspension, which with a DPS rear shock, and the 160 millimeter Fox 36 Fit4 front fork. And that combination helps keep the weight down, keep the performance up. And it's simple, it's simple to set up. And it performs in all conditions. It also helps us especially on the rear shock to achieve what we're looking for in that poppiness and acceleration. And then on the other end of the spectrum, we have the Live Valve option, which on this bike is really the next generation of tuning new valving new setup that a rider might not be able to get into a paved parking lot and sprint and go, Wow, I can really feel the difference when this thing is turned on. But off road, the traction, the pedaling performance, everything it does in climbing even takes that level of the DPS up another notch. But even more so on the other end of the spectrum, you get that even like more enduro feel when the suspension is open. So just on our other trail bikes, the goal with the fox live system is to take a very versatile bike and suspension package and open up the ranges at either end even more to provide more efficiency and speed via the electronics of the Live Valve system.
Jens Staudt:Live Valve not alone makes it fast. It's again, is it maybe the lightest bike out there with a 140/160 platform?
Chris Cocalis:I don't make like to make grandiose claims, but it could be I mean, that was that was the goal. And I know in that Trail 429 category, there's really not any lighter competitors. So I would certainly expect that in the anywhere from 125 130 to 140 Travel 27.5 category and our key competitors we are considerably lighter than those frames.
Jens Staudt:Chris, you go a long way for finding those grams and on all the frames and make them super light. Can you give us a little insight on on the process of how to develop such a lightweight and stiff frame?
Chris Cocalis:Well, we're we're not a company that throws the baby out with the bathwater, so to speak, we were always developing based off of our prior knowledge and working towards refinement and improvement. In addition to innovation for this certainly, all the development that went into both the Mach 4 SL and the trail for 29 are a starting point for refining. And you as we get through these bikes, we find different ways in the flex and the ride tuning of the frame, where we can orient materials in different ways. Look at different modulus of materials to achieve our balance of weight to ride characteristics. And so this bike is it's not only about like, let's just shave every last gram in ride quality be damned. Everything about this bike is to enhance ride quality as well. The balance of finding that super lightweight, and getting a great feeling frame is really what I think Pivot is best at compared to a lot of our competitors. The balance of the chassis and the suspension tuning combined with the DW link it all just it adds up and you have a really nice feeling and great writing experience. It's not too stiff or too flexy. It's just a nice poppy accelerative feel. I think it'll put a smile on any riders face regardless of their riding level, or which size bike they're on.
Jens Staudt:Do you think that the ride quality overall is running a little bit under the radar? Like Chloe also you
Chloe Woodruff:You know, you might have already labeled me mentioned that it's just like so easy to ride and it's maybe not only the suspension that make it more comfortable over the chunky stuff. the cross country weight weenie over here, but performance always comes first. And you know even as a cross country rider you need to have have a bike that you know is capable of the, what you're asking it to do, you're able to ride efficiently. And it really seems to achieve all of that. And then you've got the added bonus of, you know, taking taking a lot of weight off the whole packet, and it definitely pass the smile test with me. So first ride.
Jens Staudt:Also for ride quality, and some people, they're going to a shop and they don't they don't have a clue what kind of size they need. But on the other hand, you also have people that are very deeply interested in geometry, and they look on all the numbers, right. Last summer, we released the new Firebird, and it comes in four frame sizes. And we made something very special on this bike, we had individual chainstay lengths for every size, Chris, to balance this the center of mass on the rider of the bike. Did we do that on the Shadowcat as well, different chain sizes for all different frame sizes?
Chris Cocalis:That's always a really good question. And it's interesting because first of all, we make the Shadowcat in four sizes like we do on the Firebird. But instead of small through extra large, the Shadowcat is extra small to large. So there is no extra large because really tall riders or we feel better served with wheels that are more proportionately correct for their size. And that's where this extended chainstay length really helps certain riders and that really taller riders with really high saddle positions are also the ones who really feel the difference in balance when they're positioned over the rear axle without much bike in back of them. Also in the most extreme terrain, having more length in the rear of the bike provides more stability. But the counter to this is that it also significantly reduces agility and Shadowcat is all about agility. So it's designed for a rider range in the 4' 10" to 6' 1". Now Jens, I know you're six three and and you also like the large but the goal of the bike of being able to have this nimble snappy machine it's not the Whistler, Pemberton, you know, find the steepest descent, and not really, you're either taking a chairlift up or you're not worried about the long fire road climb, you can, you can suffer through that and having that stability, that pure stability is the is the one goal. And on a bike like the the Firebird, it's balanced, precise, but it really lends towards that more extreme riding where the Shadowcat is designed to be playful and have fun in a just a much wider variety of terrain. And honestly, fitness levels for different for different riders, we have that stability with the modern geometry and having a bit more travel. But we do not want to give up that maneuverability that we get with the shorter chain stays. And when we're dealing with an extra small through just a large size frame, we can achieve that with the with chainstay length that we've got going on this bike, it's awesome for everyone from again, the shortest riders to people like yourself that are kind of pushing the limits on whether they should be riding a large Shadowcat.
Jens Staudt:Chloe, you come from Mach 4 SL, which is the 29er the Shadowcat now is a 27.5, how this played out for
Chloe Woodruff:You know, all the things that Christus spoke you? to about kind of what they've been able to achieve with the agility of this bike. You know, I certainly feel that and I think a lot of that may have to do with wheel size. It's not everything, you know, it's certainly part of it, you know, and I'm hugely appreciative that Pivot makes bikes for, you know, small, smaller people. So already mentioned, I'm five two, and I believe Pivot says that the extra small Shadowcat can, you know, fit riders as small as 4' 10" and that would be really, I think, challenging to do with the larger wheels. But you know, then again, they did achieve that on the 4SL so yeah, it's it's unique that, you know, Pivot is still offering both options, but I think it just goes to they're, they're really making bikes, not only for to accommodate different size people, but also for different riding preferences like I you know, I do like a quick quicker handling bike. That's what we find with the Shadowcat.
Chris Cocalis:You know, I want to comment for those who don't recognize Chloe's name Chloe Woodruff has been racing with Pivot for many years and you actually went to the Rio Olympics on the 27.5 Mach 4 SL and then the week that we launched the new 29 inch Mach 4 SL Chloe went and won World Cup short track her first World Cup short track on that bike as well. So she's got a very accomplished racing history. And during the time when we were developing that that first 29er Mach 4 SL and an extra small there was a lot of discussion with Chloe, and we actually built her two prototypes, same geometry, one in 27.5 and one in 29. And Chloe can speak to this one But if I remember correctly back from that time you liked the the 27.5, as far as it's fun factor more, but understood that for pure racing and even the development of what was happening in the world of tires that you needed to go 29 inch.
Chloe Woodruff:Yeah, I mean two different kind of two different topics there. One was like, what's the bike that's just going to give me the most the best experience riding the most playful and fun? And what's the bike that's really going to serve me out there on the racecourse? And those were the two kind of conflicting, not necessarily even conflicting, because I have a hell of a lot of fun on the forests as well. But yeah, you're right, those were kind of the two, the two discussions there. So again, thank you, Chris, for the Shadowcat. So now I get both.
Chris Cocalis:Another point to that, and that being able to do smaller bikes in the extra small size, there has been a move just in general, obviously, to more aggressive geometry where both 27.5 and 29 inch wheels in the smaller sizes. When seat angles were slacker and head angles were steeper even on trail bikes, we started to get into these problems where there could be toe overlap with modern geometry and specific to the Shadowcat, we went fairly aggressive with the reach measurements, just like with the Mach 6 to Trail 429, and the Firebird, it's a modern trail bike. And this more progressive geometry really opens up a lot of opportunities for a wider range of riders, if you're if your ideal downhill is something that you could actually still walk down. And you traditionally rode a large frame from Pivot, or from most other companies, then you might want to look at a medium in this bike, if your idea of downhill is something that may even be too steep to walk. And you consider yourself more of an aggressive new school rider than the large there's, there's a lot of flexibility in the sizing and more progressive geometry, that that allows us to fit a wider range of riders in their riding styles. There's more bike out in front of you, which makes more the bike more stable and highly technical terrain. I previously rode larges in most of our models, but with the Trail 429 and Firebird I'm on I'm on a medium even even Chloe, I think with the extra smalls, we built you in the past, you've made some comments about getting a little more bike out in front of you. And so with this one, we get that.
Chloe Woodruff:for the 4 SL I've I felt like I could even be between the extra small and small size. Which is remarkable, because it's probably the first bike I've ever felt like I could size up potentially, you know, and Shadowcat I feel really solid on the extra small. So I think that just kind of reiterates, the point Chris is making about what they're trying to achieve with that geometry.
Jens Staudt:You can choose your size, also by your preferred riding style, Chris. This is something that we talked about on our late last podcast as well from our other bikes we often talk about also one thing that is very specific for Pivot, and this is Superboost plus the Shadowcat doesn't feature 157 mil of rear spacing, but 148. Chris, what happened?
Chris Cocalis:I don't know. I think we just lost some some numbers there. You know, it's like some tracking grand, let's say actually, we are no it's it's really that combination of bringing that the heritage Mach 4 SL along with the trail 429 into the equation. But the reason we use Superboost plus is to be able to get bigger tire clearance in certain frame stiffness, or chainring combinations to make for a better bike. And in the longer travel stuff with bigger 29 inch wheels, we start to get into some real space constraints where designing a bike at 148 starts to present some compromises. But on this bike just similar to the Mach 4 SL, we're not running plus tires, we're running 27.5 wheels, the chainstays aren't insanely short. So we have all the room that we need to to work with to optimize the bike properly. So at that point, there's no reason to go to a wider hub. In fact, Chloe likes to run really short cranks with a very low Q factor the Shadowcat because of its 148 spacing, and it's good crank arm clearance you can actually run pure XC Nero Q factor crank so what do you what do you run it on yours?
Chloe Woodruff:I'm running a 160 Crank it's actually a road crank. Yeah, it's a 160.
Chris Cocalis:So yeah, that it just opens up more flexibility in sizing and when there's no reason to go wider, no technical engineering advantage to do that. We'll always go with with the option that for I just the best optimization and does that for the customers as well. So in this respect, there's there's grams to be saved to mean a 157 axle is wider than 148. A hub is wider part of the the idea of bike feel and suspension feel the wheels play a big part on that. And when you're talking about a 27.5 wheel bike, those wheels are naturally stiffer than the 29 inch wheels, we can get a good spoke angle and get good wheel strength and stiffness with 148 on this bike, and we're not trying to run monster size tires. So in that respect, comparing it to the Mach 6, which is a super boost bike, and also a 27.5 bike, that one's more of a park and terrain bike and 2.5 tires with big tire clearance, we just have some things that we want to achieve with that also in frame stiffness that are just different than what we're looking for out of the Shadowcat. And so we basically just achieve the best balance in the best overall bike with 148 spacing on this. On this particular model
Jens Staudt:The Shadowcat is a new design, it features the vertical shock, it's designed from the ground up, and it's all new, what makes the frame design so great, Chris?
Chris Cocalis:From a technical side, all the work done to reduce the weight to XC levels combined with the geometry, the 27.5 wheels, the suspension tuning, and the travel combination, it couldn't possibly make the Shadowcat, the lightest and best handling mountain bike in the category, at least we feel it is. But it's not just about the numbers on paper, when riders get a chance to try that this bike, it becomes obvious very quickly that this bike is something special. If you have more fun, and it makes you a better rider, then it's all all you really need to know. I mean, we if you're just diving into the numbers, you could you could certainly make some judgments. But it's just once you ride this bike, it's just one of those that has that kind of special combination to it where it's it's hard to explain, you know, 29er wheels are easy to say, Oh yeah, 29er's that's the hot thing. But we make a wide variety of bikes and different wheel sizes for different purposes. And for a lot of our customers. I won't say the majority, but like +50% could be, this could be the perfect bike for them and what most people are riding, I think, I think Chloe can probably offer some great insight on this as well.
Chloe Woodruff:I feel like I've been looking for the bike that does allow me to be the best rider I can be not necessarily the fastest rider but the best bike handler. And it really is the the full package that you know, this is kind of the bike for me. So I'm thrilled about just how it handles, maneuverability, but also that I can. It's not too hefty to take out on a good cross country ride. So it kind of does it all, but it does it all exceptionally well.
Jens Staudt:Some of us live in areas which are flatter, flowy, steep, chunky, our bikes are built to be adjustable to terrain, personal preferences. So the Shadowcat has less of that. So still, how can it be adjusted Chris?
Chris Cocalis:Well, there's always the standard suspension settings where you have a really wide range of compression and rebound adjustability on both the fork and the rear shock when it comes to the bike itself. We didn't put a flip chip on this bike. We're not saying it's also plus compatible, we don't have different headset cups that can be put in it to tune it. It's really we were very happy with what we achieved in the kinematics and everything on the bike, just throwing all that technical stuff aside, the bike is just super dialed as we designed it, it's easy to set up for a wide range of riders and capabilities. And we just purposely stayed away from adding too much geometry and wheel size adjustability, you know, wanted the bike to be perfect just the way it is. And so for a wide range of riders, so just get on this bike. And there is not a lot of explanation needed. Just smiles for miles. Just get on the bike set the sag a couple maybe a couple clicker adjustments, and it's good to go.
Jens Staudt:Chloe, how many bottles of water you take on your ride?
Chloe Woodruff:What time of year is it? South Mountain we're we're spoiled with drinking fountains so but I can fit a large bottle on the bike. No problem
Jens Staudt:Counted and I think it's eight bolts, right Chris?
Chris Cocalis:Depends on the frame size. So we actually get are already getting this question on some of the frame sizes. It looks like somebody bedazzled the top of the down tube. It's got four water bottle cage bolts relatively close to each other in a row. And the question comes up on why there's why there's four mounts. The reason we did that was when you're looking at the Live Valve shocks. It has a reservoir In front of the shock, and so it forces the bottle cage to be mounted higher, and you might not be able to run quite as large a bottle on that. But on the DPS shock, you can run the bottle cage much lower. So we've got a second set of bottle cage bolts on the downtube to to move that bottle cage down to a lower location and then be able to run a really massive water bottle. Also, on many of the bike sizes, there's a water bottle mount underneath the downtube. So if you're kind of more of a bikepacking adventure type person, you can, you can have a backup water bottle down there. Underneath the top tube, we have both mounts for the Live Valve, as well as water bottle cage distance mounts for our Phoenix dock tool system. So got allen wrench sets of tool bag, other things that you can run. And then there's also another setup underneath, down underneath the by the front chainring for another Phoenix dock tool system out. So yeah, there are quite a bit of opportunities both for water. And, and for tool integration on the bike.
Jens Staudt:We at Pivot are known for building bikes, which makes for the perfect balance between climbing up your hills and mountains and not making any compromises on the way down. So even the Shadowcat is built straightforward. With less adjustments. There's one thing which can make big difference for the behavior of the bike. It's not visible in first sight, but we need to talk about Poppy versus planted. So Chloe, how was it on the trail.
Chloe Woodruff:I would say the bike is more lively. So I guess that would be in the more poppy side of things, which you know, I think it's likely by design, Chris could probably talk about
Chris Cocalis:I have no idea what you're talking about. We do that. spend a lot of time on shock tunes and getting the the feel of the suspension and range of adjustment, just perfect for a wide range of riders and capabilities. And the DPS shock is always a unique one to explain to riders because there's actually the lever that has a firm, middle and open position. And then on the factory series DPS in that open position, you can choose between three settings. What is a little confusing on that shock is that you have those three settings which are low speed compression adjustments. And then the middle setting is also a low speed compression adjustment. So there's actually it would have been even easier if there was just a knob or something that did four clicks instead of three on one lever and then the fourth one on the main lever, and then the firm for like fire road paved climbs that sort of thing you really on a DW Link bike, you just never need to kick it into into that setting. That range of four compression adjustments really allows us to achieve a level where somebody as light as Chloe can run the shock in the open position on the number one compression adjustment and somebody as heavy is Jens or I let's just say we're slightly north of 200 pounds can run in that middle setting which is like the fourth low speed compression adjustment and and then the rebound adjustments have the full range to handle all those same weights of riders. So from that there's one key area outside of the obvious knobs levers air pressures, where riders can further tune the suspension for their riding style and terrain, and they can make very significant changes for fairly easily. Both the fork and shock use volume spacers. Some companies call those things tokens. They're their little plastic spacers or parts that snap into the air chambers on the inside of the shock or the fork and you can use them to either either reduce or increase the total air volume the suspension. So when you install a larger volume spacer, you're actually reducing air volume. And the reduced air volume means that as the suspension moves through its travel, the pressure in the forks or the shocks will increase at a faster rate making it more difficult for the suspension to bottom. So when people refer to a bike as more a more progressive suspension feel, this is what they're talking about like the bike doesn't bottom is easy. It doesn't move through it's travel is easy. On the rear shock of the Shadowcat. We've made the choice to go with a larger volume spacer as it helps keep the suspension from using as much of its travel as as easily. And it also because of this and it holds it up in the travel a little bit more. It gives you this Poppy feel and accelerative feel, but at the same time we haven't gotten so big on the volume spacers that writers will have issues using all of the rear wheel travel on bigger hits, but it will take a little bit bigger hit to use to travel but that gives an option for riders if that's not the exact feel that they want out of the bike, so if someone wants to have even more XC feel, and they want it more poppy more snappy, then they can go to even a larger volume spacer and it's a real easy thing to be able to do at home or have your shop do it for you. And Fox has technical data and videos on that on on their website. But I believe we are we can go actually up to two volume spacers higher on the on the bike our FAQs on the Pivot website, state what volume spacers in the rear shock and the fork and and what you're able to go to go up to. So on the forks, it's really more about whether you're getting full travel, or if you're bottoming off the suspension. What happens with a lot of riders is they can just continue to let air out of the forks if they're not getting full travel. And this may might solve the travel issue. But then the fork just dives deeper into the travel too easily. And when it rides low in the travel, it affects the overall handling of the bike. And the suspension isn't actually working at its best when it's kind of buried in the middle to the last third of the travel. Keeping that fokr that suspension up and it's travel is important on the front end. And if it's too progressive at that point, you can actually remove one of these volume spacers. Again, the number of volume spacers that come in the fork are called out on our on our website. And likewise, if you ride super aggressively in a forward attack position and hit big drops, then you might be using the travel too easy. It's it's okay to bump up the air pressure. But then you might have an issue with the fork riding too high in its stroke or small bump sensitivity and grip on the front tire. So adding a volume spacer might will allow you to get into a more normal pressure for your weight so that you have the good traction, you have the good hold up. But then you also have the bottoming control. So it sounds like a lot. But it's actually super easy. And there's a lot of technical videos on fox's website, which will help you get there. And of course, any experienced Pivot dealer, it will be very helpful in helping you swap these out.
Jens Staudt:For all the listeners out there that maybe this was a lot of tech talk, you can always go back in our podcast. And in the latest episode, we talked about suspension setup, in particular, with Jim and Sergio from Fox, and they will walk you through all the details and the easy way how to get the perfect setup. So don't be afraid. There's enough information out there. We have you covered.
Chris Cocalis:I talked when I spoke way too long.
Jens Staudt:I cut you out Chris No worries.
Chloe Woodruff:Volume spacers are are super easy to switch out. I think it's just making sure you have the right one. And then the swap is is really quick to do. It's actually something that I tend to I do make those adjustments. And for me with the Shadowcat I'm actually running just the stock volume spacers unless Chris or my mechanic Kenny conspired and change them. But as far as I know, it's just stock. And actually it was neat to hear Chris, you mentioned that you've added a token to the rear shock. Typically that might be the first thing I do. On the 4 SL and on my XC bikes is if I make adjustments there, typically I'm adding even a half of volume spacer into the rear shock. But for me more has to do with how aggressively am I riding and the steepness of the terrain. So if I'm going to Europe, and I'm getting ready to race World Cups and and training on those really steep courses, typically I am adding volume spacers, both front and rear. Whereas if I'm you know, back home and training, usually I pull them back out. So I get used to kind of making those adjustments. And then also with the higher volume in general, I would not do the half tokens, I would swap out a full but that would probably be as I kind of get more time on the Shadowcat. I imagine that I might end up adding a volume spacer on the front. But right now I mean it rides really well. It's balanced. I'm certainly not riding the bike to his capabilities. The bike needs to I need to Yeah, I need to bring my own riding up to the capabilities of the bike. That's next.
Chris Cocalis:Chloe made a call he made a really good point on that about the the correct volume spacers for the shock. So Fox actually color codes all their volume spacers and their specific part numbers and colors for each model of the shock. So what fits in a Float X In a volume spacer does not fit in DPS shock there, they're different models. But it's as she said, they're really easy to snap in. And it's one of those things that for most people, particularly on this bike, that that setup should be good to go. But if you are one who likes to tinker and likes to see what the difference is of a bike that settles in even deeper into its stroke a little bit easier on a steep descent, then by all means, go for it. It's a, it's a fun thing to play with. And it's something we test a lot with to get that final tune exactly where we want it, but your terrain can be different.
Jens Staudt:So people may have different tastes on suspension setup, but also for parts. We are addressing this by following again, our reputation of the most available builds on the market, what are we covering Chris?
Chris Cocalis:We make the bike simple and easy to understand. So but we still want to give our riders a lot of options. And so with the Shadowcat, and most all of our models we offer Race, Pro, and Team level builds, all of our builds are high end and perform at a very similar level. The race build is a no nonsense setup. It has all the performance most riders will ever need in the most simple setup package at the really the best price and the pro level build reduces weight, add suspension adjustments, and is really the high value option within our line. It's actually what we sell the most of you get Kashima suspension fork, shock, dropper post, and a mix of nice nice mix of carbon parts you get all the adjustability, it's kind of the the best bang for the buck. And then for those who just really wanted all the lightest weight, the lightest components and carbon fiber parts, carbon wheels, the team builds really the ultimate, it's got all the boxes checked, and they're the lightest parts throughout. Beyond this, we have the option of Live Valve suspension upgrade that can be added to any of our pro or team level builds.
Jens Staudt:Chris with your passion for technology and considering and improving every little detail on a bike. You brought a bike up which is insanely light but still capable so it's easy to ride in pure all day fun. So as a wrap up, who is this bike for?
Chris Cocalis:I believe that you called when we were talking about this bike previously and you had ridden the bike and I believe you called the Shadowcat mountain bike purity and so I think it's just best to quote you on that, not to be cheesy but the Shadowcat really just disappears underneath you becomes a part of you you become a part of it. I think that accurately really sums up the Shadowcat and it's it's one of those bikes that every time you get to ride it it just puts a smile on your face and I'm I'm I'm sure Chloe can add to that as well.
Chloe Woodruff:I think the only thing I want to add is Chris, when are we going to go riding again?
Chris Cocalis:Pretty soon pretty soon we have maybe you can come out with some of our big groups of dealers who get also experienced the Shadowcat so
Chloe Woodruff:Yeah, you had me sold with that description. So
Jens Staudt:Yeah, perfect. So this is a wrap then I would say we explained the bike in every detail and what struck me the most is that we make trail riders happy in the rider How would you call yourself Chris? Are you trail rider in the rider?
Chris Cocalis:I'm a bike nerd.
Jens Staudt:And all the way to Chloe so I mean yeah high performance.
Chris Cocalis:I will be, yes I'll I can be a crappy cross country racer on any day to downhill park but the majority of my time is spent on trails and, and bikes like the Shadowcat if you have to pick one and you don't know how much climbing how fast you have to go on the flats or what you're going to get into on the descents the this bike will have your back it will be there for you and and and give you the best experience on the widest variety of terrain. It's just super fun.
Jens Staudt:Cool. Perfect. So and it's good enough for Chloe fast enough.
Chloe Woodruff:Oh, yeah.
Jens Staudt:Thank you guys. It was a blast.
Chloe Woodruff:Thank you Jens. I appreciate it.