First stage: 2021 Pivot Trail 429

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The new Trail 429 has more standover than before, while still providing plenty of room to fit a water bottle in the front triangle. There are five sizes, XS to XL, with the XS riders up to 4’11 “and the XL for riders up to 6’7”.

All models are made of carbon and there are several kits available at Race, Team or Pro level. Each level has the option of a Shimano or SRAM kit. Prices range from $ 5,599 USD for the Race XT build to $ 12,499 for the Team XX1 AXS Fox Live Valve build with carbon Reynolds / Industry Nine wheels.

Frame Details

The Trail 429 carries over many updates seen elsewhere in the Pivot line and it sheds much of the weight of the previous Trail 429, tilting the scale 5.9 lbs, almost 3/4 lb lighter than before on a medium of format. All frames are Fox Live Valve ready, there’s internal cable routing throughout, and everyone gets a full-size water bottle. There are also two bolts on the bottom of the top tube that can hold a tool, such as Pivot’s, or other accessories. There is integrated frame protection on the chain stays and down tube.

The 157+ Super Boost haul stays in place, in line with Pivot’s other more aggressive bikes. Riders can fit a 29 x 2.6 “or 27.5 x 2.8” tire with space to spare. Pivot sticks to this distance, claiming it allows them to build a better and stiffer frame with more room for the rear tires, along with greater wheel stiffness. The BB is the PF92 that Pivot pioneered, and while there are detractors, our experience has proven to be completely reliable.

For the derailleur hanger, the Trail 429 uses SRAM’s UDH, a welcome addition to all frames right now. There’s Live Valve compatibility on all frames, and while there’s a Di2 battery port, there’s no gap between the front triangle and the swingarm for Di2 routing. Riders can run the wire externally, but not with the same integration that other Pivot frames have.

All frames use a unique size-specific lay-up and tube diameters that correlate with frame size. Pivot does this to keep the handling on bikes comparable, so that a tall rider has the same experience and frame feel as a smaller rider. Looking at the tube, the large has a similar diameter to the Switchblade, while the medium and smaller frames clearly lose some weight from the previous iteration of the Trail 429.

Last but not least, it deserves to be mentioned and some applause that Pivot has done away with the Pivloc handlebar and grip system and designed a new grip that does not require you to cut your fancy carbon handlebar. The new “Phoenix Factory Lock-On Grip” was designed in-house at Pivot. It is left and right specific and has a tapered core to fit the bar precisely. The ergonomic handle tapers from 30mm to 32mm and has a soft rubber compound designed to dampen vibrations.

Suspension

The Trail 429’s rocker link has been reversed, but the amount of travel remains the same at 120mm. The shock is a metric tap style, 165mm long with a 45mm stroke. The suspension has been made more progressive and the shock is higher in its stroke to keep pedaling snappy and to prevent the lower BB height from causing too many pedal strokes.

While the Switchblade can be used with a coil shock, the Trail 429 cannot; even if the shock has separate depth control, that doesn’t provide enough progression for the frame, according to Pivot.

The bike is available with a DPS or DPX2 shock depending on the build. The more aggressive “Enduro” construction uses the DPX2 in combination with a 140mm Fox 36 fork versus the standard construction with a 130mm Float 34.

Geometry
Geometry undergoes the standard steeper, slacker handling along with more reach, although we’re still talking about a 120mm trail bike here. For a medium size, the Trail 429 in the lower position now has 66 degrees HTA (1.3 slack), 75 degrees STA (1 steeper), 455mm reach (15mm longer) and 432mm chainstays (2mm longer). The addition of the 140mm fork in the Enduro package will reduce that head angle by about 0.5 degrees.

The bike can use 27.5-inch wheels with the addition of a lower headset cup that changes the numbers slightly. Riders can also choose to run the bike in a “low” position, making everything a bit steeper using the flip chip in the rocker link. The chip can be turned by simply loosening and turning the bolts. so that no parts are lost.

Ride impressions
I’ve only had the new Trail 429 for a few days at this point, but I’ve spent a significant amount of time on the previous Trail 429 and still have a Switchblade in the fleet, which helps in making some comparisons.

The biggest takeaway is the Trail 429’s increased efficiency over the previous model. The older bike was efficient in the grand scheme of things, but I did find it a bit overbuilt, especially when compared to the latest crop of shorter travel bikes. The new bike is light, manoeuvrable and fast. The reduced weight is noticeable and the suspension rides higher in its travel and with much longer life.

The bike is easy to navigate up and over messy stretches of trail while holding a line, and staying planted when faced with off-camber chunder, the suspension stays smooth and supple throughout its journey. With larger compressions, I had a hard time finding the bottom of the travel, which isn’t always the case with shorter travel bikes that provide a good amount of traction at the top. The increased smoothness combined with more progression makes the new bike much more intuitive and easier to ride.

I’ll keep riding the bike for the next few months, hopefully logging more miles as spring arrives and the trails thaw. My first impressions of the Trail 429, or as I have come to call it, the “mini-Switchblade” are positive and I look forward to seeing if that trend continues once I can test it properly. For many riders, the new Trail 429 will be a more versatile version of the Switchblade that’s kinder on the uphill and easier to maneuver in tight spaces.