YT has grown the Izzo into a proper trail bike, increasing fork travel, the burliness of its components and the overall weight of the direct-sales brand’s shortest-travel MTB. At over 14kg, the new Izzo sports a 140mm fork, including the Ohlins RXF36 M.3 on the top end bike, making it a real stretch to call it a down-country bike anymore.

However, YT hasn’t changed the carbon frame design or 130mm of travel compared to the last Izzo we tested though, instead this is more of a shift in attitude and a fresh wardrobe. RockShox and Ohlins are in and Fox is out, while Shimano’s now doing all the drivetrain duties.

YT Izzo 2025 need to know

• Same 130mm travel carbon frame, the Izzo now gets a 140mm fork on all bikes
• There’s a three-bike range, with Ohlins suspension in the Core 3 for £4,499
• Our pick is the Core 2, with the latest Rockshox’ Pike Select + with Charger 3.1
• Weight has increased from 14.2kg to 14.9kg, meaning the Izzo is more trail bike than down-country

The Core 2 is my pick of the new Izzo range, with the RockShox Charger 3.1 damper and SLX drivetrain

YT Izzo – more unchanged than uncaged

YT told me that the frame hasn’t changed on the new bike, it’s still a blend of the brand’s premium Ultra Modulus carbon fibre, which saves several hundred grams over its basic carbon. It’ll now take a UDH though. The top end Core 3 comes with a full carbon frame, while the Core 2 and Core 1 bikes get an alloy back end to keep the price down.

Gold Ohlins forks offer plenty of fettling opportunities for superior performance

The big change is to add 10mm more travel to the front of the bike, to make it more capable on bigger terrain. To put that into perspective, the best down-country bikes I’ve tried use 120-130mm travel as standard, and come in around 12-13kg in weight.

Making bikes increasingly more capable though is very definitely a bike industry trait right now. It seems every bike from the top end Santa Cruz Hightower enduro bike to the entry level Calibre Bossnut 2025 is adding in more travel, presumably at the behest of their customers.

The Core 1 gets the same premium carbon front triangle, and two different length alloy chainstays

Boosting the fork travel has also slackened out the head angle to 65.7º, YT says, and it will also have lifted the BB height, albeit by a pretty negligible amount. Other Izzo highlights include size-specific chainstays, 432mm on sizes S-L, and 437mm on sizes XL-XXL. That’s something I really appreciate as a larger rider who doesn’t want to get thrown off the back of the bike – proportionally speaking – as the front grows but the chainstays stay the same.

YT Izzo Core 1

YT Izzo Core 1 £2,499 ($2,499)

The Core 1 gets an Ultra Modulus carbon fibre frame with an alloy back end. Marzocchi Z2 Bombers with 140mm travel prop up the front end, while a Sunringle SR329 wheelset and 30mm internal width rims and Maxxis Minion DHR II tyres keep the bike rolling. There’s a vanilla YT brand cockpit and dropper post too. Claimed weight in size small is 14.9kg – chunky for the travel.

YT Izzo Core 2

YT Izzo Core 2 £3,299 ($3,299)

You get the same carbon and alloy frame on the Core 2, but the front end uses a Rockshox Pike Select+ fork with the new 2025 RockShox Charger 3.1 damper. That alone probably makes it the best blend of performance and economy here, with a RockShox Deluxe Select+ shock backing it up and featuring a wider rebound range. The drivetrain is Shimano SLX with an XT shifter, great on a bike at this price. Crankbrothers Synthesis XCT wheels and Maxxis DHR II tyres and EXO casing up front and EXO+ out back make for a pretty premium rolling package. At 14.3kg the Core 2 saves 600g over the Core 1.

YT Izzo Core 3

YT Izzo Core 3 £4,499 ($4,499)

This little down-country bike now comes with a a chunky Öhlins RXF36 M.3 fork, something that wouldn’t look out of place on some enduro machines. There’s an Ohlins TTX1 shock at the other end too, and you get control of high and low speed rebound now with dials for both. The Core 3 also gets a posher frame with carbon chainstays rather than alloy. Other greatest touches include a DT Swiss XM1700 wheelset, a Renthal Fatbar and Apex bar and stem combo, and trusty Shimano SLX drivetrain. There’s a further 100g weight loss, bringing the claimed weight down to 14.2kg.