Firebird & Mach 5 reviews
Cool, I'll check the specs later, but from the horses mouth(ie you, sorry), the handling is better why? and what areas ie tight stuff, climbing, DH? Pedalling, when seated, standing, over rocks? Do they lock out much/at all when pedalling(I'm guessing they would)? Suspension performance, again, same questions as handling? A mini review from you would be great, on bothbikes. Are they in "post your ride"?
Specs for both are
here.
Pivot Firebird Review (compared to my old Nomad [
specs])...
My original plan when i bought the Firebird was that i was buying it while it was still a pretty much unknown qunatity. If i didn't like it i figured there'd be someone out there who would want one and i'd sell it and buy a Nomad 2.
Pedalling
Excellent. I loved the pedalling performance of my Nomad and the Firebird was instantly better. The bottom bracket is slightly higher so i'm not bashing the cranks as much. It feels more eficient. The bike just moves along without feeling like i'm wasting any energy. I like to have my suspension set up fairly soft in the front and rear and while the fork bobs when standing, the rear still feels like it's not wasting any energy. I can't feel any pedal feedback in the big (36T) ring but can feel some in the granny (22T) an 4th in the back. That's the only gear combination I can feel it in and it is not as bad as it was on the Nomad which had it through a few gears in the granny ring.
Handling
I liked the handling on my Nomad but it always felt a little sluggish. The head angle on the Firebird is a little steeper and i love the handling. Riding the same tracks the Firebird is much easier to get through the same corners. It's not twitchy and i've never found myself wishing for a slacker head angle like the Nomad. The seat angle also feels more upright and it was easier to position myself over the cranks compared to the Nomad where i always felt a little behind the cranks. When i did get the Nomad pedalling position sorted out i felt a little bit too far forward over the bars so it was a bit of a compromise with positioning myself on the bike. It was the correct size frame too. On the Firebird i just feel centred properly.
Climbing
It's a mountain goat. Seated climbing is great, but when i need to get off the seat to get up something technical it just digs in and up i go. Someone with no experience on a Pivot told me they were getting a reputation or having the rear wheel lose traction on climbs. I definitely find the opposite of this and have not been able to find anything on the net about it. It climbs better through technical stuff than the Nomad and i think this is because of the livelier feel from the frame geometry and also the significantly reduced bob from the suspension. Smooth fireroad climbs are easy. No ProPedal needed.
Suspension Performance
Obviously summed up a bit above. Small bump compliance is on par with my Nomad. To get the Nomad how i wanted it i went from a Float R to a DHX-C then to a CCDB. I've never felt either bike bottom out after a big (for me) hit or from stuffing something up. From the marks on the rubber bumper I have obviously bottomed the Nomad but i never felt any harshness or thought "geez i've hit that hard and bottomed out". Same thing with the Firebird. With the forks it's different and i could tell when i've reached the end of the travel on both bikes.
I've had a bit of a play on the Nomad 2 and the small bump compliance on it isn't as good as the Firebird. We even put my CCDB on it and it still wasn't as good. This and the pedalling performance are the things that put me off the Nomad 2 but i think if i'd bought that instead of the Firebird I would still be a happy mtber. Braking never seemed to affect the suspension on either bike.
Things i'd change
I'm playing with rear shocks because the ISX-6 has had brilliant reviews on the net and i always wanted to tr one on my Nomad. It just came up at a price that was too good to refuse. I always wanted the CCDB on the Firebird because it made such a significant difference on the Nomad. If it can make that degree of difference on the Firebird then i don't know how anything else out there will come close to it's performance, although the DHX Air has been a brilliant shock on this bike with none of the mid stroke wallow that seem to plague the Nomad with this shock.
Parts wise i'm getting annoyed at how many rear derailleurs i'm destroying the last year or so. 3 x X9 and 1 x X0. All my fault but the X0 i don't know what i hit to snap the carbon outer cage and two of the X9s i think should not have been damaged after a very small hit. I think i'll be trying Saint shifters and rear derailleur but i'm holding out to see if it is going to be released in a 10 speed version.
Additional Stuff
I should have mentioned the wheelbase, or particularly the chainstay length. The Firebird is much easier to lift the front of compared to the Nomad. I'm not sure how much difference the 4mm longer length on the Nomad really makes but i really had to work to manual through dips and the like on the Nomad. Mine was a 2006 model Nomad and i'm pretty sure there were a few revisions to the geometry and features of the Nomad 1 before version 2 came out.
The geometry of the Firebird compared to the Nomad 2 look pretty similar. I ride a small in Pivot's sizing and a medium with SC. The top tube length is only about 5mm shorter on the Firebird. The bottom bracket height is 5mm taller on the Nomad 2 and the head tube height about 13mm taller. Head tube and seat tube angles are pretty much the same. I haven't spent enough time on the Nomad 2 to see how much difference these minor geometry difference make but i know that for the way i ride i made the right choice in suspension systems.
Pivot Mach 5 review (compared to my 3.5" Anthem)
Pedalling
Again, excellent. Where the Anthem sometimes felt sluggish the pedalling performance on the Mach 5 feels very lively. Same as with the Firebird, I wanted a higher bottom bracket than what the Anthem had and the Mach 5 matched up well with this requirement. Where i haed pedalling the Anthem aroiund Appin, the Mach 5 is much easier. Same as with the Anthem, i like to run the rear suspension at the firmer end of the manufacturers recommendations with the fork a little softer in comparison. There is minimal bob when standing, the rear, like the cliche says, jumps forward. I don't feel any pedal feedback in any gear combination with this bike, but i bnever did with the Anthem either. Even without considering the extra travel i get on the Mach 5, for me it is a better pedalling bike in all situations than the 3.5" Anthem.
Handling
Safe and predictable. It corners a bit better than the Anthem but that is the only real difference in handling. I really liked the Anthem with 100mm Rebas. The Mach 5 with 150mm Float RLCs feels the same but with more travel. At speed the Mach 5 is a little easier to control but again it's only a little bit. I ran a shorter stem on my Anthem though. a 70mm stem compard to a 90mm on the Mach 5. I tried the 70mm on the Mach 5 but hated it. The longer stem on the Anthem made it too twitchy for me.
Climbing
This is probably the biggest difference. It's not the same mountain goat that the Firebird is. For my intended use (XC) it performs almost flawlessly. Seated or standing fireroad climbing is brilliant. It's very efficient. Technical climbing is it's only shortfall for me and mainly because i don't just bash through stuff on the Mach 5 like i do on the Firebird. Super steep technical bits that the Firebird gets up can be a challenge on the Mach 5 because the front end will wander. This is only noticeable on my local track unfortunately. Every other track i've ridden it on (and there's a few listed on Trailflix!) i've not encountered the same wandering feel. Steep fireroads aren't a problem because they generaly aren't that technical. Back to climbing being the biggest difference between the Anthem and Mach 5... When climbing on the Anthem i would sometimes feel like the rear end was falling behind. It felt slow, i'd bash the cranks on rocks and it just didin't grip as well. I don;t get this feeling or those symptoms with the Mach 5. No ProPedal needed on the Mach 5 either.
Suspension Performance
Again, summed up a bit above. Small bump compliance is better than the Anthem. Where i would use ProPedal on the Anthem i never use it on the Mach 5. I've experiemented with using it on stretches of road and don't really feel a significant difference between using it or not unless i stand up to get up a hill. Even then it's not usually worth the effort to reach down and flick the lever. As with the Firebird and Nomad, i can't tell when i've bottomed the rear on the Anthem or Mach 5. Descending at speed feels great on both bikes but is a little more comfortable on the Mach 5. The forks are stiffer on the Mach 5 but you'd hope so with the 15QR. That said i never really felt the 9mm quick release axle RS Rebas were flexy and they definitely felt stiffer than the Marzocchi AM1 SLs i have on another bike with a 20mm axle. Braking never seemed to affect the suspension on either bike.
Things i'd change
Besides making it lighter with something like XTR wheels, different seatpost, stem ,etc there's nothing practcial i'd change on the Mach 5. I'm not a fan of travel adjustable forks so i wouldn't bother with them. I'm getting a set of needle bearings for the rear shock. They've had good reviews and i you have suspension you might as well get it performing as good as it can. I don't the bearings making the suspension performance worse, but if nothing changes then at least they'll look cool! I don't ride the Mach 5 in stuff as rough and rocky as i do the Firebird so i'm happy to keep going with SRAM on this bike.
I think that's about it.