2015 YT Tues CF Pro Review

YT Bikes came into the scene with a new approach to bicycle sales. They launched the Tues in 2010 and sold their complete bikes direct to the consumer. Going this route allowed YT to sell complete downhill bikes with good build kits at the price of other companies frames. Their bikes have good geometry and range in price from $2800-$5000 depending on frame and build kit. For our test bike we chose the Tues Carbon Pro in size LG. This bike comes with a BOS Idylle RaRe fork and a VOID DH rear shock for a drivetrain it uses SRAM XO DH 7 spd. This is the $5000 high end bike and we are very pleased with the parts on the bike. Our size LG Tues weighed in at 36.03LBS complete with pedals.

"Imagine two boys in a jump park, stomping 3s on a bog-standard bike. Bearings were popping like Chinese crackers and the fear of something bigger going was ever present. Not that that stopped them. It was all just too fun and they were killing it! It was this scene, back in 2006, that was the catalyst to the formation of YT. “There’s got to be a way of building competition ready dirt bikes without spending a fortune,“ was Markus Flossmann’s thought; he is the founder and director of YT Industries. The idea was to produce technically innovative bikes of high quality that beginners could afford; or put another way, cool bikes for young talents (YT).

The solution was no middle men and no subsidiaries – only possible through direct marketing. YT’s 2010 TUES model was the first comp ready downhill bike in the world that delivered premium quality at an accessible price. Countless awards and test victories attest to the excellence and ingenuity of YT bikes but more importantly our products are trusted by top riders like Andreu Lacondeguy and Cam Zink. Why? Because every cell of what we produce, which is bikes by bikers for bikers, is made from YT’s love of MTB. YT wants the best bikes because they ride them."

Our YT came in an oversize box. Upon opening we saw that YT uses various pieces of labeled cardboard to hold the bike in place while in transit. All we had to do was mount the wheels and the bars onto the stem. It took us 10 minutes to have it ready to ride. This packing job was very impressive and should provide customers with undamaged bikes and get them riding fast. 

The YT Tues uses a Horst Link design suspension they refer to as the V4L. It is designed to give strong mid-stroke support while staying active throughout its travel. These designs have always proved competent at bump absorption but have typically fell short on the pedalling side of things so we are curious to see how the Tues responds to us putting power down. Nothing stands out to us in the geometry department on the YT as it all falls within the ballpark of a normal downhill bike.

The Renthal bars at 780mm are a bit on the short side from what we are used to riding. If this was a personal bike we would swap them out for a 800mm by Enve or Race Face. Keep in mind these are not the lightest wheels out there either so swapping them will shed even more weight off this already somewhat light downhill bike!

"Frame

The 3,500-gram carbon monocoque frame is our latest masterpiece. A whole kilo lighter than its aluminum counterpart, it features the much-loved characteristics of the TUES frame at a lower weight: optimum stiffness and a low center of gravity for awesome handling. Travel has been extended to 208mm, 8mm more than its aluminum predecessor.

The modern race geo features longer reach, and by redesigning the frame around 650B wheels, we were able to place the bottom bracket below the wheel axles. This combination centers the rider’s weight between the wheels, which offers several benefits: more grip in turns, comfort and control at high speed, as well as greater security and balance in the air.

Of course, our new crown jewel has been put through the harshest tests we could come up with, be it in the lab or on the trails.

Suspension

Our award-winning "V4L" rear suspension linkage provides linear, smooth, and responsive action throughout the travel.

At the same time, we made sure that it is just progressive enough not to sag excessively, and to deal with big hits without bottoming out harshly. And you can say goodbye to the suspension bob so common on yesterday’s long travel bikes!

"V4L" gives awesome mid-stroke support, reacting to the terrain while remaining unaffected by your power on the pedals."

Specifications

 

Geometry

Overall the build kit on the Tues Carbon Pro is very impressive. The only area you could say they may have tried to save money with is the E13 LG1r wheelset. The Renthal bars where a bit shorter than we have become used to they are 780mm and right when we sat down it was noticeable. Even our trail bikes have 800mm bars on them. The BOS suspension is spendy stuff the fork retails for $2000 and most owners claim the suspension works very well. It took us a bit to get the shock working well for us. Their race setting seemed to be just a bit to progressive for us to use full travel.

The frame construction on the YT looks very good as well. It as all carbon except the lower rear stay which is aluminum. We have heard of some people having problem with some companies sending out frames that are not straight. So we paid attantion when putting the back wheel in and it was a non issue. We had a few hard clunks from large rocks during our testing which left marks on the paint as any other painted frame would have done. Overall the YT has an impressive finish.

Ian W

Our first outing on the YT Tues Carbon was a trail that is about 1100 feet high. It is pretty rocky for most of it. It is not very steep but riding over soccer ball sized rocks at speeds gives a good idea how the suspension action is. A big concern for me is frame stiffness weighing 215lbs it is pretty obvious when you are riding a noodle. Luckily the YT Carbon seemed plenty stiff mashing against the rocks. It handeled the rocks well and it was easy to change lines and hop over rocks when the need arose. Once out of the rock garden the speeds increase and you enter trees with turns carving their way down the hill. In the twisty stuff the YT does a great job of offering copious amounts of traction and carrying speeds through turns.

Once we got the chance to head up to Northstar we loaded up and hit the road. Along with the YT we also brought a few trail bikes and another downhill bike. Their lifts run fairly fast and we hopped on and headed for the jump filled trail Live Wire. This is a flow trail loaded with many tabletop jumps and corners for the 2 mile run. Overall the YT Tues carried great speed and was very easy to jump and proved to be easy to maneuver when in flight. Having the 27.5" wheels may have helped on the breaking bumps and covering ground on the flatter sections of trail. The difference between them and a 26" isn't huge so it is really hard to tell how much they helped.

The next trail was Flameout which is on the left side of the mountain. This is a chunkier trail that has a few jumps. The trail has a bit more loose dirt around the rocks so line choice here can be a bit more difficult. The YT did well in the chunkier stuff here. It made up for some bad line choices on my part and the suspension never seemed overwhelmed by the repeated high speed rock hits. There are a few sections to climb on the trail and climbing on the Tues took some effort. We did not have much LSC on the rear shock at this point.

Gypsy trail is on the right side of the hill. This is a mellower trail that has some rocks, jumps and wood features in it. The Tues did well here and felt fine hitting the wood wall rides at speed. I was a bit concerned that the taller wheels would feel weird leaned over on the walls but this turned out to be a non issue.

Mineshaft is a trail that takes you from the halfway point back down to the lodge. It has some jumps a bunch of tall bermed corners and some rocks scattered here or there. This trail can literally be pumped the entire way down and you will be able to clear the jumps. The YT did well on the way back down and at this point in the day I was pretty smoked. It pumped down the jumps well and ran over any rocks in my way with no issue at all.

Initially we used the Race settings suggested by BOS and they proved to be a bit too progressive to use all the YT's travel. So we ended up going to trail setting and it was using all travel easily at this point. I added some more LSC and HSC about 4 of each and it felt just about right!

Overall the YT Tues Carbon Pro's ability to carry speed, playfulness, and geometry made for an awesome downhill bike. This bike can be had for $5000 and comes with a very solid build. The V4L suspension (Horst-Link) design is going on 30 years of age at this time. It works well at eating chunky stuff and stays active under braking as we have heard over and over again since the late 1990's. I would suggest running a bit more LSC because the bike likes to bob a bit.

Nate Lewis

I had the opportunity to spend a weekend on the YT Tues, riding the rough and rocky trails of Northstar. This was my first time riding a fully air sprung downhill bike, and my first time on a 650B DH bike. It was an excellent opportunity to see how DH bikes have evolved over the years, and to get some lift assisted laps in on some familiar, rough and rowdy trails.

YT did an awesome job with the look and the the build of the bike. The Tues is spec’d as if it were a custom build from the tires up, although with this bike you don’t have to pay the custom build price. It has parts that are strong, lightweight, and functional; three qualities that can rarely be attributed to a single part. The E.thirteen, BOS and SRAM components make for a bike with impressive ride quality and the strength to last.

For fork setup I followed BOS’s recommendations of 20 clicks for high speed, and 15 clicks for low speed, I prefer faster rebound so I ran 18 clicks for that. I used the recommended settings for the rear shock as well, at 12 clicks for low speed, 17 clicks for high speed and 12 clicks for rebound.  

The bike felt lively and compliant on the nasty rocky trails at Northstar. The short chain stays and slack head angle made for a bike that was confidence inspiring in tight, rutted corners. The rear of the bike could easily be thrown around, making line adjustments in high commitment situations easy to make. The bike was equally nimble in the air, the light frame and four bar linkage made for a stable feel over the lofty jumps on Livewire. On steeper lipped jumps the bike felt “poppy” for a dh bike, and the the roomy cockpit made it easy to through around.

By the end of my weekend at Northstar I felt I had rediscover the joy of flying through the air, smashing into corners and letting off the brakes. I think this is mostly attributed to the goodness of the trails at  Northstar but getting to experience them on a killer new bike certainly helps. YT has made weekends like this one slightly more accessible by producing a solid downhill bike at a reasonable price. By measures of both value and performance the Tues stands in contention with the heavy hitters of the downhill world, and is worthy of serious consideration for anyone contemplating getting a new DH bike.

YT Tues Exploded View

Conclusion

We came away impressed with the YT Tues for a few different reasons. The first is it's obvious price point which in itself is pretty crazy. But once you combine that with great geometry, and a solid frame that has a good quality to it and things start to get interesting. With many big brand bikes pushing into the $8000 and above mark for the high end builds it is very refreshing to see a complete bike for around $5000. YT hit it out of the park on the pricing of their bikes that is for sure.

The geometry of the Tues felt good the Head Angle was not to slack and the bottom bracket height felt decent. It probably could have been a bit lower but it's not to high by any stretch. We tested the large frame and having a reach that is under 18" was pushing it for riders around the 6' 3" mark. YT has released XL version of their trail bike The Capra so hopefully sometime in the near future The Tues will have an XL size as well.

We all came away from riding the YT impressed with the overall package. The parts, geometry, carbon frame and the way it felt up on the hills was impressive. This is a bike that is close to some big brands frame only pricing and with that you get a $2000 fork and an $800 rear shock! This is a bike that can get you onto a podium in Cat 3 or Pro as Mikey Sylvestry has shown us this year. We tested the high end Tues CF Pro they also have the Tues as complete bikes for $2700. This is a great way for someone starting out to get a good gravity bike for cheap or for the former Downhill rider that only uses a big bike on trips to be able to have two bikes and not spend a ton on the gravity bike.

Overall we would recommend the YT Tues Carbon Pro to a friend or any gravity rider looking for a capable dowhnill race machine. YT get the bikes built in small quantities so keep an eye out on their website. If you are after one and they are out of your size be sure to send them an email to inquire about expected delivery dates.

2016 YT Tues Pro Updates

2016 YT CF Pro BlackYT has done some updates to the CF Pro for 2016. The biggest is to make the jump from BOS suspension over to Fox. This was mainly done to help customers have easier access to service centers across the globe. The other notable change include cranks and a pure black color option.

YT Tues Owner's Manual