Designed to blend the near-enduro character of the Switchblade with the trail friendliness of the Trail 429, Pivot’s new Trailcat LT is shaping up to be more than a humble trail bike. Built with relatively burly kit, it provides an impressively easy-going pedalling dynamic with serious potency downhill. Here are my early impressions.

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The Trailcat is a brand-new bike for Pivot that’s taking the reins of the Trail 429 from here on and fills a gap in the range. However, it’s technically two bikes as it can utilise either 120mm of rear suspension and 140mm up front in SL guise or 135mm/150mm rear/front in the LT build you see here.

Although you’ll need pockets deeper than the Mariana Trench to unlock the ability to do so, Trailcat owners can swap between the SL and LT builds by flipping the lower shock mount and the rocker link. You’ll also need a fork to suit the front travel.

2025 pivot trailcat lt upper link.jpg, by Liam Mercer

There’s quite a lot of new stuff for Pivot being introduced on the Trailcat, namely, the new Toolshed downtube storage, which is very neatly done, I must say. It opens up the whole of the downtube to store anything you like, and it comes with a pair of bags to keep that kit rattle-free. And if you plan on switching between the LT and SL builds, it can be flipped to lower the bottle mount for a marginally lower centre of gravity or to make space for a piggyback shock.

The brand has also brought improved cable routing into the mix, with single ports at the head tube and tidy clips around the Toolshed that hold the cables along the topside of the downtube, and around the Toolshed door.

2025 pivot trailcat lt ports.jpg, by Liam Mercer

Elsewhere, there are all the classic Pivot hallmarks, like the geometry and rear wheel size adjusting flip-chip and a dw-link suspension platform. On this bike, that linkage has been shaped to provide small-travel trail bike-like pedalling efficiency while allowing a plush and bottomless sensation on the descents. 

Pivot has hit the nail on the head when it comes to ‘trail’ geo. It’s nothing too crazy, but given the bike’s purpose, I’m not left wanting. The large frame on test gets a 475mm reach, a 65.3-degree head tube angle and a 75.6-degree seat tube. Chainstay lengths are size specific, and still rather short at 433mm. Flipping the chip into ‘high’ position raises the BB from 340mm to 280mm.

The geometry does change when it comes to the Trailcat SL but I’ll let the news story do the explaining.

Pivot Trailcat LT PRO X0 - Componentry

Brace yourselves, this is a £9,000 mountain bike, but no corners have been cut. Pivot has kitted the carbon-framed Trailcat LT Pro X0 with Fox’s top-of-the-line Factory 36 fork and latest GRIPX2 damper paired with a Factory Float X shock.

2025 pivot trailcat lt fork.jpg, by Liam Mercer

As you might have guessed from its name, it’s driven by SRAM’s Eagle T-Type X0 drivetrain but, in an interesting move, it’s kitted with SRAM Maven Silver brakes, slowing 180mm rotors at each wheel. For a trail bike, Mavens could be seen as overkill, a pair of Codes or XTs will serve the Trailcat LT perfectly well. But the Maven brakes are pretty sought after, and there are performance benefits to be had, mainly in how they deliver more power than regular brakes with less effort. They’re not without a weight penalty, however.

Fox also supplies the dropper post with a Transfer Factory 185-210mm dropper on this large bike. Yep, it’s adjustable.

Rolling on a pair of DT Swiss XM1700 wheels from factory, the Trailcat LT gets a Maxxis Dissector tyre at the rear with a Maxxis Minion DHR II at the front. Those are both 2.4in wide with MaxxTerra rubber, with the rear getting an EXO+ casing and the front an EXO casing. However, on this test bike, I’ve got a Minion DHR II at the rear and a Minion DHF at the front - the trails are wet here in the UK, and Saddleback (Pivot’s UK distributor) has been kind to kit the bike with grippier rubber.

2025 pivot trailcat lt weel.jpg, by Liam Mercer

Pivot’s own line of components finishes things off with a carbon bar and a comedy-length, 55mm stem. I swapped this for a shorter, 40mm stem. WTB provides the Volt Pro saddle.

Potential customers can upgrade the wheels to Reynolds Blacklabel 309/289 carbon wheels with Industry Nine Hydra hubs for an extra £1,200. You can also put down an extra £1,500 for Fox Live Valve Neo.

Pivot Trailcat LT Pro X0 - Early impressions

Before I get into how the Trailcat rides, I can’t ignore how the bike looks. It’s another Pivot bike that uses the same lines as the rest of the range but, the colourway is a significant step up compared to previous releases. With more outlandish styling coming on the Phoenix, it’s great to see the brand continue to make large strides as the Trailcat in this Dr Purple colour tickles me in all the right ways. The Green Meadow Mist colour is awesome, too. 

2025 pivot trailcat lt ht.jpg, by Liam Mercer

Before I properly got pedalling, I did change one thing – the stem. Lengthy stems have their place but, at 5’10”, the standard 55mm stem just didn’t sit right with me. It can make the front end twitchy, and personally, it didn’t feel natural when setting up the bike. I felt much more at home with a shorter stem but this is a personal preference.

When I got on the bike, I headed to my usual Forest of Dean spot which was remarkably wet. But, when winching up the climb, I was welcomed with a super-solid platform in which nearly every watt put through the pedals translated into an abundance of forward momentum. It’s super spritely on the pedals, which becomes clear in more ways than just climbing. Upon flatter sections mid-descent or when sprinting into a trail, the Trailcat sacrifices very little energy to excess movement in the rear suspension as the bike does live up to the brand's claims of ‘pedalling like a small-travel trail bike’ – to a point where even cross-country purists will be impressed.

2025 pivot trailcat lt shock.jpg, by Liam Mercer

However, when battling downhills, I never felt undergunned. Despite being immovable under pedalling loads, thanks to the dw-link platform, the bike can achieve more than you would expect of a 135mm bike. It opens up, absorbing hits with the composure of a bike with much more travel, fending off bottom-outs while feeling communicative. There is still plenty of support and that’s where the Trailcat feels very much like a trail bike at heart, in the way that it's lively and easy to manoeuvre.

The brand has done a good job with the geometry. It stays true to the bike’s trail bike intentions. The numbers are very middle of the road but that’s how a trail bike is meant to be. I’m a fan of the head angle, too. Where 64-degrees is nearing the standard, pulling back the head angle rewards the bike with a responsive front end that, with a shorter stem, balances confidence and support when tackling steeper sections.

2025 pivot trailcat lt st rear.jpg, by Liam Mercer

And where, in some cases, chainstays are getting longer, the 433mm measurement on the Trailcat is an absolute blast. Generally, the bike is taught feeling and precise without lacking the ability to go hard.

Granted, I’ve only spent 10 to 11km on the bike but I have a couple of hang-ups with the specification. Firstly, there’s a press-fit bottom bracket. Maybe in Arizona that works but the UK’s conditions can chew through a BB in under a year. I don’t want to be faffing with press-fit if I don’t have to, so it's a bit of a turn-off if I'm honest.

2025 pivot trailcat lt caliper.jpg, by Liam Mercer

The tyre and brake choices are interesting, too. Given that the Trailcat LT is the longer-travel, more capable bike out of the new duo and has some serious headroom, why not give it a 200mm rotor up front? The standard Dissector/DHRII tyre combo may get limiting, too, but admittedly, tyres are much more case-specific.

It might be a pricey bike, but it’s looking like the Pivot Trailcat LT Pro X0 can put its money where its mouth is. It does rustle up that easy-going pedalling usually reserved for lightweight trail bikes and might be improved with minor changes – but I’ll report back in a month or so.

• www.pivotcycles.com

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