YT’s rise as a brand as been meteoric, from an unknown upstart to now sponsoring some of the absolute biggest names in the sport, like Aaron Gwin and Cam Zink. But while their image and branding is fantastic and their products great (we loved our time on the Capra, read the full review here), up until now they’ve lacked a bike with real mass market appeal. With the arrival of the new Jeffsy, their quirkily named 29er trail bike, that could all be about to change.
Quite frankly, YT had us the moment we saw this video. It’s quite possibly the sickest bike launch vid we’ve ever seen – the way Aaron Gwin and Cam Zink ride a 29er trail bike will make you laugh out loud with incredulity.
The Jeffsy is a 140mm-travel 29er. Yes, a big-wheeler, which is certainly not what we would associate with YT’s gravity-inspired roots and image. YT themselves admit that when they set out to make a trail bike, they didn’t expect that they’d end up designed a 29er, but that it proved to be the right platform for creating a shorter travel bike that could still shred hard.
The Jeffsy uses the Virtual 4 Link suspension found on the Capra, which we found to have a super progressive rate that is really targeted at hard riding. Geometry-wise, the Jeffsy is exactly as you’d expect; quite slack, a low bottom bracket, 435mm stays (440mm on the large and x-large frames) and plenty of reach up front. There’s geometry adjustment via a simple Flip Chip system too. We also like the Thirstmaster 3000, a specific water bottle and cage to fit the Jeffsy frame.
There are going to be six models in the Jeffsy range, from $3799 for the base model alloy-framed Jeffsy up to the carbon Pro model at $8099.
We’re looking forward to getting a ride in on this bike in the coming weeks. The Capra was a lot of fun, but too much bike for most of our local trails, so the Jeffsy could be the right tool for the job. You can read more on YT’s site, right here.