Pivot Cycles introduced the Mach 6 Carbon in late 2013 as a bike aimed at all-mountain/ enduro riders. Pivot founder, Chris Cocalis, was looking to build a machine that pedaled like a trail bike, yet could tackle much more aggressive terrain. And Cocalis had some numbers in mind; numbers like 155 millimeters (six inches) of rear-suspension travel, 430-millimeter (16.95-inch) chainstays and enough room out back to squeeze in 2.3 or 2.4-inch tires. The Mach 6 Carbon was the result.
Pivot Mach 6 Carbon Details• Intended use: All-mountain/enduro
• Wheel size: 27.5
• Head angle: 66°
• Carbon front and rear triangles
• Sizes: XS, S, M, L, XL
• Weight (size L w/o pedals): 27.56 pounds (12.50 kg)
• MSRP: $5.899 USD
•
www.pivotcycles.com /
@pivotcycles But that was a couple years ago, which, these days, might as well be an eternity. Times and standards were changing fast, and so Pivot unveiled this 2nd generation Mach 6 Carbon last fall. We'll get into all the new-and-improved jazz in a second. In the meantime, it’s worth noting that Pivot offers the Mach 6 Carbon in 12 different build options, ranging in price from $4,299 to $9,899 (USD). Not feeling the plastic fantastic? There’s also an aluminum Mach 6 that sells for between $2,899 and $6,299 as a complete bike. Our mid-tier carbon iteration with its XT/XTR 1x kit has a price tag with $5,899 (USD) stamped on it.Frame DetailsOur Mach 6 test bikes features an all-carbon frame that registers (2.75 kilograms) six pounds on the scales. While impressively light, it’s actually a hair heavier than the first-generation bike. That’s not the way progress usually shakes out, but in this case, Pivot was aiming to burly up the bike a bit and if that meant adding a few grams, so be it. To that end, the bike gained an entirely new double wishbone rear end with Boost 148 spacing. The goal was to create an even stiffer package with more breathing room for bigger tires. Pivot reworked the moving bits as well. The upper and lower linkages both grew wider and stiffer; they also now pivot on suspension-specific, Enduro Max cartridge bearings. Durability gets a boost there.
The first Mach 6 carbon featured a bit of wonky cable routing—there was an offensive bit riding along the rear shock. The newer Mach 6 carbon tidies up the internal cable routing. The frame is also compatible with Shimano’s Di2 electronic shifting system if you’re well-heeled and down with the whole robot-in-my-bicycle thing. Though plenty of riders have sworn off front derailleurs, there’s a very slick, removable front derailleur mount that meshes with Shimano’s side-swing front mech. If you’re staring at the bottom bracket, you’ll see it's a press-fit affair (PF92). You’ll also see chain guide tabs. More importantly, you’ll notice that, dang, the pipes on this thing are huge. The cross-sections on the carbon downtube are beefy. It ain’t the sleekest-looking frame; it looks more like a brawler. Because it is.
Suspension DesignPivot Cycles has long used Dave Weagle’s DW-Link system on its bikes and the Mach 6 carries on in that tradition. To wit, it’s a short, dual-link design that seeks the holy grail of suspension. In other words, it’s supposed to pedal efficiently, while remaining supple enough to keep the wheel tracking over rocks and roots on climbs. Square-edged bump performance is, per usual, supposed to be awesome as is suspension performance while braking.
I say “supposed”, not because the Mach 6 doesn’t do these things (we’ll get there in a bit), but because just about every brand says their own suspension design achieves the same results… with varying degrees of actual success. I’m not an engineer and won’t pretend to be. I’ve yet to meet anyone who can really parse out in plain speak, what sets DW-Link apart (in theory) from other short, dual-link designs. This doesn’t mean that isn’t something unique in the way that DW-Link combats suspension squat. I’m going to refrain, however, from regurgitating the marketing literature as if the patented aspects of the design made sense to me.
GeometryEnduro was suddenly becoming “a thing” when then the Mach 6 debuted. Bikes were getting much slacker and longer. The Mach 6 bucked the trend then and continues to do so today. With its 66-degree head angle (actually 66.25 degrees in a size Large), the bike is appropriately slack for the genre, but its reach is shorter than what is becoming the norm in a longer-travel bike. Our size Large frame, for instance, has an effective top tube length of 607 millimeters (23.9 inches). If you’re into Reach figures, the Mach 6 has a reach of 414 millimeters. For comparison’s sake, A size Large Santa Cruz Bronson has a reach 445 millimeters. A Large Specialized Enduro 650b? 450. A Large Giant Reign? 458. A Large Kona Process 153? 475. You get the idea--the Mach 6 is, comparatively speaking, a bit short in the cockpit.
Conversely, the Mach 6’s shorter reach also makes it an attractive option for vertically-challenged riders. The Mach 6 comes in five different sizes, with an XS option that fits riders as short as 4’11” (150 centimeters). The Mach 6’s stubby front center and chainstays also add up, no surprise, to a short wheelbase. While many of the latest six-inch travel bikes sport sprawling wheelbases approaching 48 inches, the Mach 6 measures a very tidy 115 centimeters (45.3-inches) from axle to axle.
Specifications
Specifications
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Release Date
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August 2015 |
|
Price
|
$5899 |
|
Travel |
155 millimeters (6.1 inches) |
|
Rear Shock |
FOX Float X Kashima |
|
Fork |
FOX 36 Factory 27.5" 160mm Kashima |
|
Cassette |
XT M8000 11-42 11Spd |
|
Crankarms |
Race Face AEFFECT SL 30T |
|
Bottom Bracket |
Shimano BB92 |
|
Rear Derailleur |
XTR 11Spd GS |
|
Front Derailleur |
NA |
|
Shifter Pods |
XT 11Spd R |
|
Handlebar |
Phoenix Carbon Riser 780mm |
|
Stem |
Phoenix Trail Enduro |
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Grips |
Phoenix Lock-On |
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Brakes |
XT 8000 |
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Wheelset |
DT Swiss XMC 1200 Spline 27.5 |
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Hubs |
DT Swiss 240 |
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Tires |
Maxxis High Roller II 2.3s |
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Seat |
Pivot WTB Vigo Race |
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Seatpost |
KS Lev Integra |
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| |
Set-UpMy general approach with an all-mountain bike is to aim for 30 percent sag, front, and rear. Our Mach 6 actually came with a handy-dandy sag indicator zip tied to the rear shock’s air sleeve, which made proper setup dead simple. And, kudos to Pivot, the indicator proved spot on.
Our Mach 6 Carbon is equipped with a Fox Float X EVOL rear shock. Tuning is fairly straightforward. You can add volume spacers to the large-volume air sleeve get a big more ramp out of the end stroke. You get the usual three position Open-Medium-Firm settings and you can vary the level low-speed compression damping in the Open mode as well. After a bit of experimenting, I set the compression damping in mid position and rode the shock in open mode 90 percent of the time. Up front, I ran the Fox 36 with 28 percent sag, dialed in a few clicks of compression damping and, as with the rear shock, largely rode it wide open.
ClimbingThe Mach 6 climbs like a trail bike. A very efficient and speedy trail bike. In some respects, that makes sense. The bike registers just 27.5 pounds…with a droppr post and healthy tires and a stout fork worthy of a descending machine. The six-pound frame and the featherweight carbon wheels, no doubt, help in this department, but still, the bike’s tendency to motor uphill is impressive all the same.
While I may not be able to pinpoint the unique aspects of Weagle’s link shape, location, and action in relation to a rider’s center of mass, I can say that the guy has yet to turn out a clunker in the climbing department. True to the hype, the Mach 6 can be pedaled up long, crappy climbs with the shock wide open. Admittedly, I wound up adding a bit of extra compression damping to the Float X’s “Open” mode, but still, damn. Moreover, traction is excellent when you’re pedaling hard through loose and chunky sections of uphill.
The Mach 6 has a fairly slack seat tube angle of 72.3 degrees, which doesn’t usually equate to awesome climbing performance on longer-travel bikes. But despite the fact that your weight is slightly rear-biased on the Mach 6, the bike rides high in its travel when you’re pedaling on seated climbs. As a result, the steering doesn’t feel overly slack and sloppy. I’m not sure what the special sauce is in this kinematic recipe, but it works well.
DescendingWith the Mach 6, Pivot was purposefully steering clear of making the kind of long and low bikes that were becoming the norm. This was the point when so many six-inch travel bikes shifted away from being jack-of-all-trade all-mountain bikes and towards something akin to scaled-down DH bikes. To that end, the Mach 6, with its tight wheelbase, isn’t as stable at high speeds as a bike with a longer wheelbase. There’s no getting around that fact. When you're tearing down wide-open, uber-chunky sections, the Mach 6 simply doesn’t feel as planted and confident as bikes possessing more breathing room between the axles. If you are all about finding a dedicated mini-park bike, there are better options. Pivot’s new Firebird, the Santa Cruz Nomad, the Giant Reign or the Yeti SB6c all come to mind. That doesn’t mean, however, that the Mach 6 isn’t a capable descender.
The upshot of having a tight wheelbase is that the Mach 6 makes a lot of those ultra-long enduro machines look downright clumsy on downhills filled with tight corners. Feel like charging into terrifying territory? The Mach 6 is more than up to the challenge; there's damn little in the way of flex from this chassis and the Fox/DW suspension is up to the task, sucking up small and big hits alike. What sets the Mach 6 apart from many of the latest enduro bikes is that it retains a playfulness under pressure. And, yes, it can climb for days.
In short, whether the Mach 6 lights your fire on the descents largely boils down to what your descents actually look like: Wide open courses? The Mach 6 can feel skittish at Mach Chicken. Super tight and hacked out downhill trails? The Mach 6 is a hell of a weapon for that kind of work. Take your pick.
Component Check• Fox 36 Factory Float fork/Float X Kashima rear shock: Set it and forget it. Sure, you have the ability to tweak the compression damping on both suspension units, but after setting the rear extra-volume shock's sag at 28 percent, matching the fork's sag and dialing in the rebound, I didn't feel the need to futz with either product again, which is good since the rebound adjuster on the Float X is nearly inaccessible to anyone who doesn't possess toddler-sized digits. Fortunately, you generally set rebound once and then forget about it for ages. Minor gripe aside, the front and rear ends feel remarkably well balanced and just...right. It's very good spec.
• Shimano XT brakes: Shimano brakes have a whole lot of advocates. I've never been a huge fan of their actual feel: There's a ton of dead band in the stroke and then the pads eventually hit the rotor and it's suddenly game on, Servo Wave style. But disc brakes are surprisingly subjective. A lot of people love what leaves me cold about the way Shimano brakes feel at the lever. What was always indisputable was their reliability. Shimano brakes
always worked. You could count on them. These XT brakes, however, haven't proven as consistent as past iterations. The point in the lever stroke when the pads actually engaged the rotor varied during some rides, which led to some "OhCrapOhCrap!" moments aboard the Mach 6. If the brakes had a more effective contact point adjuster, this would be less of a problem, but the Free Stroke adjuster screw does relatively little to change the bite point in the lever throw. To date, I've had mixed experiences with several XT M8000 brakes--some proved as reliable as XT models of yore, others a bit fickle like these on the Pivot. It's a head scratcher.
• Shimano XT-XTR 1x: Shimano came to the single-ring game late, but with XT they've created a proven drivetrain with consistent, solid shifts. It's been about six months since these photos were shot and in that time, I've legitimately abused the Pivot. The largely-XT drivetrain (the rear derailleur is an XTR unit), however, has proven immune to the spring mud and summertime dust. Pivot also added a RaceFace Aeffect SL crank to the mix. No problems there either.
Pinkbike's Take: | For a bike with this much travel and a take-no-crap frame, the Mach 6 Carbon is surprisingly playful. In a way, the bike is a bit of a throwback to when all-mountain bikes were less mini-DH sleds and something closer to all-purpose rigs for people who loved big descents. The Mach 6 is the quintessential, light-yet-burly all-rounder. If long top tubes and wheelbases are your thing, however, you'll want to consider running one size larger than usual. - Vernon Felton |
Visit the high-res gallery for more images from this review
MENTIONS: @pivotcycles / @vernonfelton
About the ReviewerStats: Age: 44 • Height: 5'11” • Inseam: 32" • Weight: 175lb • Industry affiliations / sponsors: None In 1988 Vernon started riding mountain bikes—mainly to avoid the people throwing cans of Budweiser at him during his road rides. At some point, roughly when Ronald Reagan was president and Hüsker Dü was still a band, he began loving mountain bikes on their own terms. Vernon Felton spends most of his time riding bikes, thinking about bikes, thinking about riding bikes and then riding some more around Bellingham, Washington. If it has a greasy chain and two wheels on it, he’s cool with it. Except for recumbents. Well, okay, maybe those too. Nah, forget it. No recumbents.
Even Pivot has finally updated the geometry on their newest models.
TL/DR Good bike held back by poor geometry.
Time for an update Pivot!
Your suspension works great so I was reallly pumped to see a new Mach6, but not, it's not a new version
www.pinkbike.com/video/373707
These guys look really unhappy and sketched out from all the short geo.
I had one for a while. Nice bike, but not nearly as capable as as the current crop of big bikes. Doesn't climb steep tech well while sitting due the slack SA and does not inspire as much confidence on rough downhills due to the short reach.
It is a great transition bike for riders coming from bikes like the first gen HD or other long travel short wheelbase bikes. It is a tweener from those days. I am just surprised that they didn't update it while they had the chance.
Bottom line...if my Mach 6 was stolen tonight, the V2 version would lead pack as a replacement.
Love the rock garden descent fish face complete with the John Lennon shades...keepin it real.
the other day, my brother posted a photo of me in my riding gear (mtb shorts completed with a tucked in old baggy dress shirt: better airflow, sun and fall protection)
practicality wins out every time.
Cheers to us old guys who dont give a caca.
The shorter TT makes this bike super maneuverable in the tight stuff, but its slack angles keep it stable on the steeps. I've got real long levers and built like a lollipop and never feel endo-prone on this rig.
Admittedly the bike has a DH bias and to me, rides like a DH bike, albeit a nimble one. It's amazing how this rig rails the corners.
This bike is amazing and come the closest to the "one bike" I've ever had. My M6 has been with me from three years now and routinely does every thing from trail riding, to AM, to lift assist. Just returned from Trestle where it tackled nearly everything on the mountain for a week straight, and also still allowed this low lander to go on a trail ride and pedal at 10,000 plus feet. With a change of tires it will be my trail/AM pedal bike soon as I unpack it.
The original Float X seemed to be under-damped on the LSC. Probably to make it feel nice in the parking lot. Sorry I waited so long but had mine PUSH'd with added LSC and the bike is way better. Far less mushy/springy, and more controlled. I almost never take it out of Open mode now.
If I had buy another bike right now it would be the updated M6. Speaking of which, I'd be willing to trade a like new, large, HD3 for an M6 if interested
Yeah the Firebird looks nice, but I've got a real DH bike, and our local mountain would be too much for even the Bird.
My biggest gripe is the original black carbon look with understated red graphics was classy and timeless. Wish they would have kept that.
ETT is not a good way to size bikes, as you inadvertently point out.
www.pinkbike.com/news/Pivot-Mach-6-Carbon-Reviewed-tested-2014.html
The review praises the descending capability as well as the spot on geometry. Has the MTB world gone so mad in only 2 years that we are to believe that the refreshed M6 is obsolete and just a trail bike with outdated geometry, therefore you need something with "modern" geometry to enjoy the downhills...
.
I could have tried a longer stem or the XL to see if it was any better. I have a couple of friends that love their's, but I like a longer TT. Nice bike though, and a ton of build options is nice. It's pretty light for the travel too.
As for reliability my close friend has had one just over a year and rides 3-5 days a week all in all weather here in North and West Vancouver and he has had no issues with maintenance. Hence my decision to follow with one of my own.
So I'm liking it.
I think I'd love the bike more if they integrated the seattube brace and toptube... looks heavy in that junction
geometry matters, but its second to ride. #allgeometriesmatter #stopjudgingabikebyitsgeometry
(which seems to match my experience)
Step 2: If a result comes up in the spec, scratch bike off list
ridemonkey.bikemag.com/threads/saint-820-brakes-inconsistent-bite-point-any-fixes-or-solutions-yet.256756
Google is your friend.
Just read reviews of Shimano brakes, every second mentions inconsistent bite points.