The YT Industries Decoy SN 29 came out swinging at the launch in the Surrey Alps, with a potent blend of composure and natural-feeling power, but how does it handle longer outings?
Shortly after the launch in March, Pete got sent the very bike he rode in Surrey so he could give the YT Decoy SN 29 Core 4 a good run out on home turf.
Photos by Pete Scullion.
Key features:
- Fox 36 Factory Grip X2 160mm fork
- Fox Float X Factory shock
- SRAM XO AXS Eagle T-type 12-speed drive
- Fazua Ride 60 motor
- Fazua 480Wh battery
- Hayes Dominion A4 brakes
- DT Swiss HXC1501 carbon wheels
- YT Postman V2 dropper
- £8,999.00 RRP
- YT-Industries.com
Two days of Surrey hot laps had me fully enamored with the YT Decoy SN 29 Core 4 and I couldn’t wait to get it north of the Border to run it out on my home trails. Another breed of ebike that I can actually ride rather than feeling like I only have my feet on the pedals and hands on the bars but not much else.
The Core 4 model is the pick of the bunch at a princely £8,999 and shares a frame, motor and battery with its two lesser siblings. It also shares a front triangle with the Decoy SN MX with kinematics and geometry changing with a different rear triangle and link. All have an Ultra Modulus carbon fibre frame, Fazua Ride 60 motor and 480Wh battery.
Fox Factory dampers handle the bumps, with a 36 out front and a Float X in the middle. Drive is managed by SRAM GX AXS T-type 12-speed drive, with Hayes Dominion A4 brakes keeping things in check. DT’s HXC1501 carbon wheels are shod with Maxxis rubber, a Minion DHF and DHRII respectively. RaceFace Era carbon bar is paired with a RaceFace stem, and an SDG saddle sits atop a YT Postman V2 dropper.
Geometry
The YT Decoy SN 29 is available in S, M, L, XL and XXL sizes. A flip chip on the shock yoke allows changes from Regular to Low.
Reach on the M in Regular is 457mm with a seat tube of 400mm. Head angle is 64.4 degrees with an effective seat tube angle of 78.6 degrees. Chainstays are 447mm across the sizes with a wheelbase on the M of 1241mm.
After the dust had settled at the launch, I was more than looking forward to riding the Decoy SN 29 at home. It had impressed me down south and I was certain that this would be replicated at home. More than a few uses as a photoshoot bike proved its range and power. Making it easy for me to keep up with an extra 10kg of camera and lenses on my back.
With a lighter pack on my back, or none at all, a few things challenged me to ride the bike as fast as I had done in Surrey. Firstly, the bars felt horribly stiff, to the point that I would have to stop as my hands just gave out. I hadn’t had this feeling in my hands for years. A swapped them out with now default OneUp carbon bars but this didn’t full alleviate the issue.
Suspecting the wheels might be too stiff was the next thought, but I figured that I would persevere with the bike that rattled its way around Dorking with aplomb. A hot, dusty ride where the throttle was fully opened revealed that I had done a classic Pete Scullion and being knackered from saying yes to everything had me moving my weight rearward and off the front wheel.
This, combined with too much pressure in the tyres meant that all the feedback went to my hands, rather than into the dampers and the tyres. I had also run my brake levers too high as well. With the levers dropped along with the tyre pressure, plus an attack posture resumed, the Decoy SN 29 lit up. I forgot about my hands. It was me all along, not the bike.
There was now yet more impetus to enjoy the range and power from the Fazua system, being aware to note that production models will boast a larger battery by 50Wh thanks to different cells. The bike I’d be riding had a mere 430Wh. The new mode control for the Fazua is night and day compared to the outgoing model, and has a button for the 12 second boost rather than having to hold the ring forward.
Very little has gone wrong with the bike since I got it home. The rear brake pads melted themselves on a particularly long and steep descent, with the caliper smoking at the bottom of the hill. This led to less bite in what are otherwise excellent brakes. This may well have been due to a leaky caliper as the Hayes Dominions do seem to have a batch that leak.
Hopefully, like the battery, the Fazua Ride 60 drive unit is an older one as well. Intermittent cutting out of the power, despite no indication of an issue from the app or control unit sometimes just needs turned off and on again. This isn’t always a foolproof fix though. Beyond this, the Decoy SN 29 has been a reliable workhorse since it rocked up at my door.
What do we think?
Along with its MX brethren, the YT Decoy SN 29 is a bike that doesn’t feel like an ebike to ride. It’s another of the mid-power ebikes that I can ride the way I want to, not the way the bike dictates, like some full fat machines do. There’s little I’d change beyond the slightly intermittent motor issues.
The real challenge for YT is to overcome the negative PR they’ve experienced in the wake of their self-administration. They do make cracking bikes do YT.
We love:
- Confidence-inspiring ride
- Doesn’t ride like an ebike
- Not stupid money considering the spec
Could do better:
- Stock bars are very stiff
- New software needed to remedy motor issues
