Words: Ryan Cross
Photos: Ryan Cross
Sports Garage ambassador Ryan Cross recently took the Switchblade to Grand Junction, CO (pre-pandemic) to put it to the test on steep, technical climbs and challenging desert descents and was remarkably pleased with how it performed.
In the competitive landscape of the modern-day trail bike, it’s not often we see a new player emerge as a true bike of the year candidate. With so many brands serving competitive options for do-it-all trail bikes, how does one stand apart?
Enter: the 2020 Pivot Cycles Switchblade. A completely redesigned frame and upgraded build packages set this bike apart from its predecessor, which was leaned unapologetically towards the cross country end of the spectrum. The new Switchblade got a facelift and the modernized 2020 model outperforms its previous iteration in more ways than one. Sports Garage got an opportunity to check out the new Switchblade at an event in Arizona and covered what is new and what was remained the same for 2020.
First Impressions – it climbs like a champ
My rides at Grand Junction’s infamous Lunch Loops system started with a tough climb. I put the DW platform to work right away and was incredibly impressed with how efficient it felt. On steep, technical climbs where I remained seated, the power transfer to the rear wheel was on par with anything I’ve experienced on a modern suspension platform, leaving me confident and composed on low-speed technical terrain. A reduced offset fork (more on that later) kept the front wheel from wandering and allowed me to navigate through technical climbs with comfort and confidence and predictability.
Where the Switchblade really began to stand out was on the less aggressive, faster, bumpy climbing where consistent out of the saddle efforts were met with a quick, yet efficient, response. Typically, I find that most trail bikes come up short here while dipping too deep in the stroke of the suspension under the force of repeated standing accelerations. When I popped out of the saddle on the Switchblade, I stayed high on the stroke and was able to power up and over rocky terrain efficiently and powerfully. I felt like I got the support I needed from the suspension without a sacrifice in efficiency during out of the saddle efforts and that’s a feeling worthy of praise.
What goes up, must come down.
The Switchblade’s climbing prowess was impressive, to say the least, but it’s unsurprising that the bike goes uphill well given its somewhat cross-country oriented roots. The real test of whether or not this bike would land in the category of other industry-leading trail bikes, was going to be put to test on the descents. And it passed. Boy, did it pass.
With a 66-degree headtube angle, the Switchblade isn’t aggressively slack, but to further tighten up the handling, the 2020 model uses a reduced offset fork (44mm) to bring a little more balance to the front end.
The result? A machine that gives you the stability and confidence of a much longer, lower, and slacked-out bike in a much snappier and quicker handling form. As I whipped down fast and flowy desert singletrack, I felt like the bike was quick and poppy, almost as if it was one step ahead of me when I looked through my next turn.
When it was time for a ledgy descent or a big drop, the Switchblade performed beautifully. The plush suspension platform never had me wishing for more travel and the bike met all the demands I threw at it. Even on the challenging technical trails of Colorado’s Western Slope, I never felt like I found the end of its capabilities.
Build, Sizing and Geometry
The new Switchblade comes in 5 sizes from XS to XL. I’ve always respected Pivot’s dedication to their size run, and their support of smaller riders through the testing and development with pro rider Chloe Woodruff, who’s barely 5 feet tall. I was testing an XL frame and felt perfectly fit for this bike at 6’2”.
While many brands offer a large number of different frame qualities, increasing with price as carbon gets higher and higher quality, Pivot designs around a single frame layup. This means there is only one Switchblade frame, which earns a major fistbump from me.
All builds come with a trusted Race Face remote lever.
As with the previous version of the bike, it can be set up as a 29’er or 27.5+ and uses the Super Boost spacing on the rear wheel with capacity for up to a 2.6” tire. It comes spec’d with Maxxis Minion DHF 2.5” front tire and a Minion DHR 2.4” in the rear. The frame gives enough room for a full-sized water bottle cage (HURRAY) while still accommodating a coil shock.
Clean lines, tidy cables and bolted housing guides.
A couple checks in the aesthetics column come in the form of a wavy chainstay protector (no chain slap here!) and super sleek bolt-on housing guides in the frame. I’m a sucker for clean lines and these made my eyes twinkle a bit.
The new anti-chain slap guard looks great too.
The new Switchblade comes with a flip-chip that allows the bike to be run in two positions. Position A, let’s call it, sits 6mm higher and tightens the head tube angle by half a degree. Position B – actually, let’s call this one “party mode,” lowers the BB and slackens the head tube angle. I rode it in both positions and noticed the subtle differences in each. Frankly, I don’t see this as a dynamic feature that you’d play with mid-ride or even on a day to day basis, but the option to optimize the geometry to your riding style is a major plus. I didn’t feel that party mode was a drawback in the slightest on the climbs and for my preference, the bike would live in this setup full-time.
The 1x-specific frame comes with a slew of build options, with SRAM and Shimano 1×12 drivetrains. The base model is impressively affordable at $5,499. Check out Pivot’s website for full specifications and price breakdown or reach out to Sports Garage and chat with the staff, they’ll be happy to help you.
The Verdict
Categorically, where does the new Switchblade land? It has the DNA of a trail bike with the pedalability of a marathon cross-country bike, but frankly, it does them both so well that it sits in a class of its own. It’s the first bike I’ve ever ridden that blurs these lines with this level of grace, and defines itself as a true (buzzword alert:) quiver-killer.
When buying a new bike, we all have to find something that’s optimized for our style, preferences, and terrain choices. The 2020 Pivot Switchblade checks more boxes than any other bike I’ve thrown my leg over. It’s a bike riders’ bike, the kind of machine that you want to spend hours and hours riding and not get sick of. One that’d be just as aptly suited on the smooth flow of the 401 as the ledgy sandstone of Porcupine Rim. To sum it up, this thing can do it all and is fun as hell to ride. If you want to own one bike that’s going to put a smile on your face on 99% of your rides, this might just be the one.
Don’t just take my word for it, demo one of these things with Sports Garage immediately.