YT Decoy first ride review: A brilliant ebike with outstanding performance

[Nasty Nick]

Really, really pleased with it (admittedly a first impression only) and can’t wait to get back on it tomorrow

I completely agree with everything you said, impressive packaging, assembly ease, fit and finish, and the ride! I didn’t even have to adjust the derailleur. I’ve bought a lot of bikes with ep, requiring more assembly and in standard packaging. So, I’ve never experienced such a premium unboxing. My only complaint is the cables are too long and the cockpit is untidy. I have to cut and bleed the brakes and wrap the wiring.

I’ve never ridden an ebike so I was expecting a heavy sluggish feel, but this just feels like a good enduro bike. It has an amazingly balanced, playful and natural feel. And it’s not hard to bunny hop decently high. I’m pretty shocked how normal it feels.

Large is perfect for me too at 5’11”. The reach is about an inch shorter than my large ‘19 gt sensor, theres plenty of room in the cockpit but the weight balance is more biased towards the front. Helps load the front for corners. The steerer is cut super short with just one 5mm spacer to adjust the bar height. I’m glad I got got riser bars cause it feels a bit low for the steep stuff around here, especially with the divey motion control damper.

 

[WarrenB]

I’ve owned 3 Levo’s and now am on a Shimano, and liking it over the Brose. Everybody has their own idea of what they prefer. Both are great IMO.

Just wondering what you prefer in the Shimano over Brose?

 

[Nasty Nick]

I got to take the decoy out to a little lift-less bike park in California called skypark. It’s was an absolute blast on the ebike. Definitely more fun and capable than I expected. After half a day on the Decoy I did a few runs on my wreckoning, which was a lot more fun on the downs, but that’s not really a fair comparison. I also got to ride a turbo levo expert with a 160 fox 36. It felt a lot lighter than the decoy when getting the wheels off the ground and a lot closer to the wreckoning in terms of mid air playfulness. I can, you know, really send it and the decoy felt a little stale in the air, albeit very confident. We were climbing in turbo mode and the Brose has significantly more power and was much much smoother with power delivery. The turbo levo motor package is simply way nicer than the Shimano. What I found to be super interesting tho is the decoy rips single track. It felt more nimble than the levo. I think I’d rather have a beefy levo, because I love big flow stuff, but the levo is also twice the price and the bikes are pretty close in performance. The park didn’t have any techy steep gnarly chunky stuff. But I think the decoy will ride pretty much like a good enduro bike through that kind of stuff. I’m happy.

 

[WarrenB]

Thanks for the detailed feedback. Much appreciated!

 

[Jamsxr]

I got to take the decoy out to a little lift-less bike park in California called skypark. It’s was an absolute blast on the ebike. Definitely more fun and capable than I expected. After half a day on the Decoy I did a few runs on my wreckoning, which was a lot more fun on the downs, but that’s not really a fair comparison. I also got to ride a turbo levo expert with a 160 fox 36. It felt a lot lighter than the decoy when getting the wheels off the ground and a lot closer to the wreckoning in terms of mid air playfulness. I can, you know, really send it and the decoy felt a little stale in the air, albeit very confident. We were climbing in turbo mode and the Brose has significantly more power and was much much smoother with power delivery. The turbo levo motor package is simply way nicer than the Shimano. What I found to be super interesting tho is the decoy rips single track. It felt more nimble than the levo. I think I’d rather have a beefy levo, because I love big flow stuff, but the levo is also twice the price and the bikes are pretty close in performance. The park didn’t have any techy steep gnarly chunky stuff. But I think the decoy will ride pretty much like a good enduro bike through that kind of stuff. I’m happy.

Good feedback. If you believe the hype we’re all going to sell our acoustic bikes as they’re pretty useless compared to a sorted eBike, but it seems you’ve still got plenty of time for your wreakoning.

 

[Nasty Nick]

Maybe if they were lighter! My large base with 354 gram pedals, tubeless, rimpact+ rear insert, and a carbon bar weights 53.4 pounds. I think I’ll ride it with my friends on the weekends a lot. But probably stick to analog for more fun and fitness during the weekday rides.

 

[Jamsxr]

Maybe if they were lighter! My large base with 354 gram pedals, tubeless, and a carbon bar weights 53.4 pounds. I think I’ll ride it with my friends on the weekends a lot. But probably stick to analog for more fun and fitness during the weekday rides.

I guess it depends on riding style. I’m waiting on my first eBike, but I’m lead to beleave the extra weight improves traction and descending capabilities, I’m sure it does, but it seems if you like to pop and boost of stuff it’s more of a hindrance.

I thought this was an interesting comparison... cant beleave how high he can bunny hop the eBike!!

 

[Eckythump]

We were climbing in turbo mode and the Brose has significantly more power and was much much smoother with power delivery. The turbo levo motor package is simply way nicer than the Shimano.

Boost on the Shimano isn’t very refined. It’s only really there to give you an instant full power hit to get up & over stuff.
Trail mode is where you need to be. If you are ‘shuttling’ use the E-TUBE app to increase the assistance level in trail to medium or if necessary high then try your comparison test again. Dont get me wrong it will not make up for the extra torque of the Brose motor and the noise from a Shimano is somewhat obnoxious!!

 

[jcmonty]

I got to take the decoy out to a little lift-less bike park in California called skypark. It’s was an absolute blast on the ebike. Definitely more fun and capable than I expected. After half a day on the Decoy I did a few runs on my wreckoning, which was a lot more fun on the downs, but that’s not really a fair comparison. I also got to ride a turbo levo expert with a 160 fox 36. It felt a lot lighter than the decoy when getting the wheels off the ground and a lot closer to the wreckoning in terms of mid air playfulness. I can, you know, really send it and the decoy felt a little stale in the air, albeit very confident. We were climbing in turbo mode and the Brose has significantly more power and was much much smoother with power delivery. The turbo levo motor package is simply way nicer than the Shimano. What I found to be super interesting tho is the decoy rips single track. It felt more nimble than the levo. I think I’d rather have a beefy levo, because I love big flow stuff, but the levo is also twice the price and the bikes are pretty close in performance. The park didn’t have any techy steep gnarly chunky stuff. But I think the decoy will ride pretty much like a good enduro bike through that kind of stuff. I’m happy.

Funny.. I was up there yesterday on my Kenevo with my buddy on his Levo Comp 2019 (such good dirt!). I thought I saw a decoy! Interesting comparison. Also funny - is that my other mtb is an Insurgent.

Perhaps it sounds like the Decoy is closer in comparison to the Kenevo rather than decoy - at least on fast/flowy stuff. I rode my buddies levo for a few laps, and other than suspension quality (my kenevo is dialed with modded lyrik and ohlins) and some bar height tweaks - it felt faster rolling and able to keep momentum better than my kenevo. Sounds like the Decoy is somewhat similar, or at least leans more towards the kenevo side of the fence vs. levo depending on the track.

 

[Q-Ball]

Nick -

Did your Decoy come in as scheduled based on when the YT site said availability? I'm just wondering how close to 6/5 they are going to be with my medium Pro model.

Thanks - Q

 

[Nasty Nick]

Eta was 6/5 but I got a shipment notification on 5/15. I got lucky. So I guess yt is trying to be conservative with delivery dates. I assume they are waiting on a big container and filling orders in the queue as fast as they get them in stock.

Ya. The bike got a lot of attention yesterday! Between it and the Evil a lot of dudes in flannel wanted to make friends. Let’s just say it’s endurobro approved lol

The differences may boil down to the shorter chain stays, smaller rear wheel and lower bb (low mode) might help the decoy corner quicker than the levo and the levo might weigh 5+ pounds less so it feels more maneuverable in the air. Should say my feedback, while honest, might not be valid for someone else, ymmv philosophy.

 

[Highway]

Got a mail today that my Decoy CF Pro Race is on it's way

 

[Jedipip]

Got a mail today that my Decoy CF Pro Race is on it's way

Where in the World are you? Excitement abounds

 

[Highway]

Where in the World are you? Excitement abounds

The bike is send to Sweden, I ordered the bike the 28th of march

 

[Lee Dove]

you are right there as I read my Levo booklet earlier and it said 160mm was the maximum upgrade on suspension and anything more that that will void the warranty!

Put a 160mm Fox 36 on it and get it adjusted to 170 ... For warranty purposes a 160 I am always confused as to WHY anyone would TELL the manufacturer that they had another fork on it if it breaks ... duh One final thing is if you break it with a 170 then a 160 will break it just the same .

 

[Doomanic]

.. duh One final thing is if you break it with a 170 then a 160 will break it just the same .

Do you even physics bro? The forks act as a lever, the longer the lever the higher the force exerted. The kind of impact that will break a frame is likely to happen at full extension so a 170 fork will exert more force than a 160 fork.

 

[Gary]

nah.. it isn't Dom. sorry.

Even 50:50ing or full nose casing a into the backside of a massive double a fork won't be at full extension when the frame headtube takes force of the hit

at 25% sag point there's only 2.5mm difference between a 170mm and 160mm forks A-C height.
Less than the difference between many headset lower cups. and a lot less than fitting a stupid 2.8 front tyre

 

[Andy A]

nah.. it isn't Dom. sorry.

Even 50:50ing or full nose casing a into the backside of a massive double a fork won't be at full extension when the frame headtube takes force of the hit

at 25% sag point there's only 2.5mm difference between a 170mm and 160mm forks A-C height.
Less than the difference between many headset lower cups. and a lot less than fitting a stupid 2.8 front tyre

Hey Gary I don't understand any of the above but it does sound bloody impressive though

 

[Gary]

Hey Gary I don't understand any of the above

Basically try to avoid situations you think might rip the front off your bike's frame. Whatever forks you have.

 

[Dirtnvert]

Kind of surprising that they wouldn't want more than 160 fork on a 165 rear bike. Thatd make it the only production bike that would have more travel in the rear. This from a company that gives the ok on the Capra to have a 200mm triple clamp if you want. If the 160 is max for the decoy , id call that piss poor designing. It makes little difference in climbing ability to have an extra 10 or 20 mm travel added on up front but adds a bunch of capability on the downhills. I'd want a minimum of 170 fork on the decoy and probably put a 180

 

[Doomanic]

The last few posts have been about 170 forks on a Levo.

 

[Doomanic]

@Gary everything I wrote is technically correct, even if the effect isn't as pronounced as the 10mm difference in fork lengths would suggest.

 

[Gary]

EVERYTHING ends up about the LEVO

 

[Gary]

Yeah. everything you said was "technically" correct Dom..
I'm not really disputing that
but How many headtubes and fork chassis have you broken in your time? and how did each one happen?
I've broken (flaired/cracked) 7 headtubes and bent/cracked/broken/twisted more forks than I care to count (well into double figures). None were broken because the forks were 10mm longer than recommended. (many were actually less than 100mm travel).
My point here is all of the above failed from making a pretty big mistake (and an extra 10mm or 10mm less) leverage wouldn't have made any difference to the outcome)
You could also use physics/logic to argue an extra 10mm travel can be LESS stressful on the frame
Having all of the above I wouldn't go sticking a 200mm dual crown fork on a bike not designed to run one but I wouldn't worry too much about upping your forks travel 10mm above manufacturers recommendation unless you are already a fork/frame killer..

Also... Do ask yourself what it is you are trying to achieve by increasing travel? (MOAR is not always an improvement)

 

[Dirtnvert]

The last few posts have been about 170 forks on a Levo.

Oh, thanks. Missed the pivot. All applicable apart from the more travel on the rear part. How many stock 140 rear bikes came specced with a 150 fork and no one gave a second thought about putting the fork to 160. Fair to say in most cases people did that. I figured a 20 mm difference at this point in frame manufacturing wouldn't risk anything unless maybe it was a triple clamp. The only headtube I ripped off were 90's bikes I put a triple clamp on or 90's cc hardtail I made into dj bikes. By the numbers, I wouldn't keep a levo at 150 fork and I'd be more inclined to make it 170 then 160. Part of that might be our local riding area but at the same time, .8 degree off the head angle and 20 mm more travel isn't going to make it a dog on the climbs. That will make it much more capable on the down though. If I had a warranted issue I'd forget that part

 

[Doomanic]

How many headtubes and fork chassis have you broken in your time?

None.

 

[Doomanic]

Yeah. everything you said was "technically" correct Dom..

 

[Eckythump]

Kind of surprising that they wouldn't want more than 160 fork on a 165 rear bike. Thatd make it the only production bike that would have more travel in the rear. This from a company that gives the ok on the Capra to have a 200mm triple clamp if you want. If the 160 is max for the decoy , id call that piss poor designing. It makes little difference in climbing ability to have an extra 10 or 20 mm travel added on up front but adds a bunch of capability on the downhills. I'd want a minimum of 170 fork on the decoy and probably put a 180

The pro & race versions are fitted with the e version of a Fox 36 so 160mm is the max travel. The guts on the air side are Fox 34 so they could beef up the stanchions.
The base model Yari can have the travel increased up to 180mm??

 

[Dirtnvert]

The pro & race versions are fitted with the e version of a Fox 36 so 160mm is the max travel. The guts on the air side are Fox 34 so they could beef up the stanchions.
The base model Yari can have the travel increased up to 180mm??

Yes, I like the base model. Make the Yari at 180, aluminium chainstay, swap to coil rear shock(new marzbomber is cheap), burlier tires(michelin)with tire inserts

 

[Eckythump]

Air shock for me.