My boyfriend and I do a decent amount of mountain biking in the spring, summer, and fall. Probably one or two rides a week. We mostly are riding tech trails in PA. Lots of rocks and roots everywhere we end up. Each year we do end up going to Killington and mountain creek for downhill riding 3-4 times. So this post is for him. He’s currently riding my old specialized stumpjumper. I got it at a bike swap a few years back and it was in decent condition. Carbon frame. Slightly above mid level components, but he’s looking to get something of his own that is a bit newer too. I got the YT Jeffsy core 5, so that got him to looking at YT bikes as well. Right now he’s caught between the Izzo Core 3 CF (https://www.yt-industries.com/products/bikes/izzo/core-3/782/izzo-29-core-3-cf/) and the Jeffsy Core 2 CF (https://us.yt-industries.com/products/bikes/jeffsy/core-2-cf/789/jeffsy-29-core-2-cf/). They both have a lot of the same components but the Jeffsy has 10 more mm of travel in the fork and I’m not familiar with the brand OHLINS that the Izzo has for he’s suspension. The main thing is he wants to make the best choice for what we are doing. What bike is gonna be good for our usual trail riding but will also handle some downhill riding just fine.
Comparison: https://99spokes.com/compare?bikes=yt-jeffsy-core-2-cf-29-cf-2025,yt-izzo-core-3-cf-29-2025
by Chemical_Raspberry_8
5 Comments
Jeffsy for sure
Izzo. The Jeffsy will be better for riding you do less of. The Izzo will meet your needs for 90% of your riding and you won’t be sacrificing the climbs.
Was going to recommended the Izzo from the title as most people need more efficiency over travel, then read your post and it’s 100% jeffsy.
Ohlins is a very reputable Swedish suspension brand. Ohlins forks are somewhat unique in that you can use air instead of volume spacers to fine tune ramp up (the Manitou Mezzer Pro also has this) and people absolutely love them. I’d buy it for the Ohlins.
Ohlins is great. I was under the impression these bikes would be significantly different pricing, as an entire tier apart. If you’re mentioning bike park at all, Jeffsy for sure. ~~Izzo is a fixed headtube angle at 65.5 (with the new 130/140 blaze set up).~~ *Apparently the new ones chips between 66 and 66.5 despite the travel change, I’ll have to confirm that but either way that makes it WORSE for the use case described.* THE PLOT THICKENS, the website reports 66 to 66.5 but YTs press release for them reports a 66.1 to 65.7 chip, AGAIN regardless its worse for the use case. Whereas the Jeffsy can chip from 65.5 to 65, which is what most people ride it in, particularly with the healthy and foot-friendly BB height YT does, compared to other brands.
Also it would be a bummer if your bf chose the ‘lesser’ bike and felt mentally held back by it, as there would be some objective physical hang ups in terms of geometry, travel, etc.
Just double checked, I see why they are similar price. I would wait for the first sale. Not sure if you missed the presidents sale. That should at least take 10% off, USA10. Just keep in mind these new Jeffsys JUST released and YT puts their bikes on sale FREQUENTLY. The only concern would of course be that model being out of stock being one of the more popular models.
And I’m not sure how long YT price matches for, probably 30 days, is common with most companies. But yeah, try the presidents day code but dont be surprised if YT drops it by hundreds just after your 30 days are up lol
Pick the one you think is prettier and don’t agonize over it too much.
Other than the extremes (XC and DH) all popular modern bikes are extremely capable and will get up and down the hill well with slightly different compromises in ascending vs descending.
All these contrived bike categories separated by <1in travel and 1 degree of head angle is mostly consumerism run amok. The companies just want to sell you new/multiple toys.
Ohlins is at least comparable to Fox/Rockshox, just newer to the MTB market. They’ve been making elite motorcycle suspension for decades. Wouldn’t worry about it.