New Pivot Switchblade with Super Boost 157 standard
135mm full susser with 29" or 27.5+ tyres - and ANOTHER new rear axle standard!
Five years in development, the Switchblade is a brand new model in Pivot’s range.
Need to know
- 135mm travel.
- 29″ or 27.5+ wheelsize.
- Healthy tyre clearance: 29 x 2.5 or 27.5 x 3.25.
- Super short 428mm chainstays.
- Can be run as 1x or 2x drivetrains.
- 2.9kg carbon fibre frame.
- Di2 ready.
- DW Link virtual pivot point suspension design.
- Sizes: XS, S, M, L, XL.
- ‘Super Boost 157’ rear hub spacing.
Excuse me? Super Boost 157?!
Pivot are aware that talk of yet another axle standard is going to set the internet forums alight with haters BUT they started down the road to the Switchblade five years ago and they started with a clean slate, no-holds-barred remit.
157 x 12 is already a standard found on many Downhill bikes. The Switchblade is the first bike to use it on a trail bike. The reasons for avoiding 157 before – and the cause of the invention of Boost 148 – is that 157 rear ends require similarly wide cranksets/BBs. Wide BBs are bad for pedalling – both in ground clearance sense and in a biomechanical sense.
Pivot have solved the wide Q-factor issue by running a RaceFace chainset with a RaceFace narrow-wide chainring fitted reverse/flipped. Okay, sounds like a bit of bodge and a bit limiting in spares/component choice but Pivot say there are other chainset companies thinking of jumping on board (e13, Shimano and SRAM have been mentioned).
>>> How to convert your 29er to a plus bike
Certainly some companies are already on board with making Super Boost 157 rear hubs, namely SRAM and DT Swiss.