Promising cheetah-like acceleration, eye-blink direction changes, and the 'soul of a trail shredder with the legs of Usain Bolt' is Pivot's new Shadowcat. Not only does it rock one of the coolest names in the bike biz it rolls on a pair of 650b hoops and comes with 140mm of squish.

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The Shadowcat is Pivot's newest bike and it comes sorted with 140mm of suspension at the rear, provided by the brand's known dw-link suspension platform. That's then complemented with 160mm of travel at the front coming from a Fox 36 FIT4 Factory or Performance fork, both with 44mm offsets.

Pivot has included a number of cross country orientated details such as integrated headset cups and a Boost 148mm rear end, all in the name of weight savings.

Like many of the brand's other bikes, the Shadowcat gets a vertical shock layout which allows for a more compact design and clearance in the front triangle for a bottle. It also results in better Fox Live integration, says Pivot, and it's let the designed build in a progressive shock rate that's ideal for air shocks.

The new bike benefits from Pivot's Proprietary Ride Turning, with frames fitting riders from 4'10" up to 6'3" with sizes ranging from XSmall up to Large. Each frame then gets an independent strength to weight analysis to achieve consistent performance regardless of the size. Custom tuned carbon then scales stiffness throughout the size range, further ensuring that consistent ride characteristic.

Finally, Pivot has joined forces with tool brand Topeak to create an on-the-bike tool system. This Dock system lets riders attach Topeak's Ninja CO2, Ninja Toolbox T16+, or Ninja Tool Both Mini 20 Pro under the top tube and bottom bracket. 

Then, as for the geometry, the Shadowcat gets a 65.8° head tube angle, a 76° effective seat tube angle, a 430mm chainstay and a large frame features a 480mm reach.

In the UK the Pivot Shadowcat will be available in the Pro XT/XTR build that's built with a Fox 36 Factory fork paired with a Fox Factory Float DPS shock. As its name suggests, there's a mixed Shimano XT and XTR drivetrain with four-pot XT brakes. This bike rolls on a pair of DT Swiss XM1700 wheels that get two 2.4" Maxxis Dissector tyres with EXO casings. There's also a model available with upgraded carbon wheels.

Prices start at £7,500 for the Pro XT/XTR build and that goes up to £8,850 with a carbon wheel upgrade both of which are the only specifications available in the UK.

• www.pivotcycles.com

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