![within the blade switch review within the blade switch review](https://i0.wp.com/nintendonext.gr/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Within-the-Blade-44.jpg)
The Switchblade plays well with existing trail-bike bottom brackets and Boost 148 cranksets. Pivot’s 157 approach let them get away with it all while creating a stout-as-hell package.ĭoes the Switchblade require fancy new parts? Nope. Many of those bikes, however, don’t also allow you to run a front derailleur and go particularly wide on the rear tire selection. Boost 148 provides a few crucial millimeters of wiggle room and has, if you talk to a lot of engineers, made designing bikes with short rear-centers and healthy tire clearance a shit-ton easier. Likewise, front derailleurs eat up massive real estate.
![within the blade switch review within the blade switch review](https://gaming-corners.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/1-2048x1152.png)
You can mount big tires on a 29er, for instance, but that generally requires longer chainstays. Or you can shrug off all this hub talk and get down to the review. You can see how those flanges match up against earlier 142, 148 and 157 hubs. SRAM's new DH hub flanges are similarly spaced.
#Within the blade switch review plus#
Per the diagram, spoke flange spacing has been increased by up to 14mm in the Super Boost Plus hubs. That, for the record, is a to-do list with items that generally don’t party together.Ĭrazy about spoke flanges? It takes all kinds. Oh, and Pivot also wanted to allow people to mount a front derailleur, if they were so inclined.
![within the blade switch review within the blade switch review](https://nintendoeverything.com/wp-content/uploads/within-the-blade.jpg)
Pivot also wanted to give the bike short chainstays, yet still allow riders to mount rear tires as wide as 29x2.4 or 27.5x3.25 (though the plus-size versions rock a less squishy 27.5x2.8 tire). The desire to make a stout frame and wheel package, however, wasn’t the only motivation driving Pivot to go the 157 route. What kind of stiffness gains did Pivot actually realize? Cocalis and I get into that below, in the interview. These newer 157-mm hubs, however, offer even more flange spread. Isn’t that the whole point of Boost 148? Yes, it is. The goal here was to improve the spokes’ bracing angle. Pivot spoke with a variety of hub manufacturers about joining the fray and a few (including DT and i9) obliged with hubs of their own. SRAM was, coincidentally, already working on new DH hubs along these lines. The Switchblade’s wider (for a non-DH bike, that is) rear end is paired to hubs with wider flange spacing than earlier 157-mm downhill hubs. The general design aesthetic runs towards the stout end of the spectrum. Rather, it’s more of a novel pairing of existing products and standards. Pivot jokingly refers to their arrangement as Super Boost 157, but it’s not a new standard at all. Consequently, Pivot’s engineers decided to bypass Boost 148 (which they acknowledge does provide the potential for a stiffer overall package) and go straight to downhill (157x12) rear spacing. They wanted a stiffer package still (as well a few other attributes we’ll get into shortly). They wanted to create an aggressive 29er that flexed less than other models on the market and initially created aluminum Boost 148-equipped prototype Switchblades but were unsatisfied. Pivot, however, went further in its pursuit of stiff. Pair it all with Dave Weagle’s dual-link suspension design and the result is a frame that’s unlikely to be a flexy flier. Consider the massive downtube/bottom bracket junction, the deep-section seat and chainstays and the double wishbone section of the rear triangle. While the latest Pivot models (including the Switchblade, Firebird and Mach 5.5) have more swoop to their frame members, the tube shaping still screams one word: “Stiff”.
![within the blade switch review within the blade switch review](https://www.keengamer.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Within-The-Blade-Review-Switch-Arms-1536x864.jpg)
For a lot of people, that’s always been a love or hate proposition. Pivot Cycles has always had an over-the-top industrial vibe to their design aesthetic. This bike’s heart and soul is its 2,900-gram (6.4-pound) composite frame. The double wishbone rear end, solid rear triangle, short linkages and massive downtube/bottom bracket junction make for a seriously stout chassis. Beefy-that's the adjective that comes to mind when considering the Switchblade's frame.