2018 Pivot Mach 5.5 Carbon Team XTR 1X Complete Mountain Bike

Pushing the envelope with progressive geometry that’s longer, slacker, and lower for increased composure at high speeds over aggressive terrain, the Mach 5.5 Carbon Team XTR 1x Complete Mountain Bike represents a new-school reincarnation of Pivot’s legendary Mach 5.7 Carbon. Its reinvigorated design handles anything the trail throws your way, from chunky, rock-strewn climbs to blistering descents with square-edge hits, steep rock rolls, and root-latticed singletrack just begging for action. Pivot places it firmly into the trail category, with a secondary focus on all-mountain exploration. To be frank, we just call it “damn capable” and “stupid fun,” making it a worthy rig for aggressive riders demanding their bike climb like a goat and descend with remarkable composure across the rough stuff.

The Mach 5.5 Carbon retains the sought-after attributes of the DW-Link suspension platform, namely the ability to claw up the steepest, chunkiest climbs and soak up square-edge hits with unbelievable composure on the way down. Once you’ve reached the summit after a lengthy climb, 5.5 inches of rear travel gobbles up loose rocks and smooths out successive square-edge hits when you’re bombing downhill at high speeds. It’s all party up front, with 6 inches of travel instilling confidence for rallying over rough sections littered with boulders, loose rocks, and speed-impeding root sections. This 20-millimeter disparity between front and rear travel gives you a bit more efficiency for pedaling, but with extra plushness up front for cleaning notoriously technical stretches of trail.

Realizing the industry is ever-shifting, it makes perfect sense to see the Mach 5.5 Carbon with a slacker, longer, and lower geometry for riders seeking unflappable composure at high speeds. The 66.5-degree head tube angle offers stability on descents, without being overly slack or wandering excessively on sustained climbs with steep, punchy sections. Just a tick shorter in the front than the notoriously long and slack Firebird, the Mach 5.5 Carbon’s long top tube gives you ample cockpit room, which is especially welcome if you have a longer reach. This longer front end is complemented with snappy-short 16.93-inch chainstays. Shorter chainstays provide greater maneuverability for cleaning tight corners and uphill sections, as well as lifting the front up and over trail obstacles.

A few key details make the Mach 5.5 Carbon a truly stand-out trail bike. Delving into its carbon frame construction, Pivot employs their proprietary hollow core internal molding process with an optimized lay-up of high-modulus carbon for the lightest weight possible. This method produces a feathery-light frame (claimed as low as 5.7lb) that approaches Mach 429 SL Carbon territory, but with the strength and stiffness of the enduro-bred Mach 6. In the rear triangle, both the seat and chainstays clear tires of 2.6 inches, which is a nice benefit for riders seeking added bump compliance and cornering grip of high volume trail tires.

This particular build enjoys the crisp shifting and ultra-light efficiency of Shimano’s XTR 11-speed drivetrain with a Race Face Next SL crankset for lightweight stiffness. This 11-speed drivetrain features a massive 11 to 46-tooth cassette for plentiful low-end when you’re spinning up steep climbs and pedaling across long stretches of trail with undulating terrain. The FOX 36 Factory fork is impressively stiff, lending precise tracking for picking apart rough sections of trail and plunging into steep descents. It’s finished with the Reynolds Carbon 36-millimeter wheels for snappy acceleration and precise tracking through the rough stuff, rolling on 2.6-inch Maxxis Wide Trail tires for impressive traction and cornering confidence. Another thing to note, the Industry Nine hubs feature an incredible 3-degree engagement, meaning you’ll get up and over trail impediments with their near-instantaneous response.