YT Capra 29 CF Pro Review

Photo: YT Industries

Overview:

If you want an affordable bike with great value, look no further than YT. Although the bikes themselves have a few noticeable drawbacks, they have parts on them that you would usually find on a bike priced at $2,000 more. Last week I had the chance to demo a Capra, YT’s enduro race bike that has everything from high quality E Thirteen components to dialed RockShox Suspension, and even a super smooth looking carbon frame. At first glance, I thought this bike was at least $6,000—way above my budget while in fact it costs $4,000. At that price, it isn’t cheap, but they do make builds that go down to $2,000. Before I demoed this bike I had read reviews that said this bike was super great on jumps despite having massive 29 inch wheels. I’ve been skeptical of 29ers for as long as I can remember but could this be the bike to change my mind? I was about to find out.

Climbing:

I rode this bike at my local downhill park, Mountain Creek, which doesn’t feature a lot of hills. However, I took this bike up two small climbs and noticed that the seat angle was a lot steeper than my 2018 Specialized Enduro 27.5. (I think all bikes have steeper seat angles than two years ago.) The bike was a bit sluggish, though, and I began to think that on any larger hills I might want to flip the lockout switch. Flipping that switch is something that you shouldn’t even consider on most enduro bikes today. I never got to try any out of the saddle sprints on this bike, but I’m very curious on how it would perform.

Descending:

When I first started going down on this bike, I noticed that the suspension was very firm on fast braking bumps and chattery tech which ended up taking it’s toll on my hands by the end of the day. Yet these are the only criticisms I had on the descents. Other than that, the big 29-inch wheels gobbled up rocks with which I had previously had trouble on my current bike, and were great at maintaining speed. Also, did I mention the bike is a great jumper? I took the Capra off jumps that I still find scary on my 27.5 bike and somehow I was able to boost all of them and hit all of the gap jumps blind. One thing I’m unclear on about the Capra’s performance is whether it needs gnarly terrain and big jumps to come alive. I think had I ridden this bike on more mellow trails, it would’ve felt a bit more lazy and hard to manage it’s slack head tube angle.

Verdict:

I think the Capra makes a great park bike as long as you can bear the firm impacts on fast terrain. I also wouldn’t mind doing enduro racing on this bike since it felt so friggin’ fast and with the shock locked out it should climb fine. However, I don’t think this makes a great all-round bike and I’m very glad I didn't go for any cross country rides aboard it.