All

This actually has much more to do with the person reviewing the bike. In this case, I have not ridden the SB150, and cannot draw a comparison. We're happy to compare a bike to a comparable model if we have real experience to back it up. The only comparable bikes I've thrown a leg over in the last year would be the Transition Spire and Trek Slash. My Spire time was very limited (but it will be in the Enduro Test Session along with the Firebird) but I like the pedaling manners better on the Spire (so far.) The Firebird...

I agree.. Short stems and short chainstays make for a combination that will take weight off the front wheel.. Unless you really make an effort to ride with your shoulders lined up with the bars in corners.. I tend to ride off the back of the saddle, so the longer stem helps me get a little more weight forward..

A soft fork will definitely make for a forward weight shift.. Maybe a middle ground on the fork setting? Yeah, I have too much fun seeing the cause and effects of things like this..

Surprised by the hate for the 45mm stem. I'm 5-10 and run a 50mm stem on all my bikes with a 760mm bar, includinga Spire. I have a 35mm hope stem I've tried on 3 bikes and preferred a 50mm every time. Too short makes it feel like I can't put enough weight on the front wheel

Yeah this is an interesting one. My experience w/ Pivot's is that their frames are about the stiffest in the business, but we're talking 165mm of rear travel here and a coil shock so it should grip like crazy. They must have just erred on the side of all rounder with this bike instead of mushy runaway freight train. I do trust the quality and support of Pivot's frames over Orbea tho. Anyways, they're not slowing down the Pivot enduro team, that's for damn sure.

On my Ripmo (comparing because of DW) if there's not enough sag in the rear then it feels like it's ready to throw you over the front on almost anything. Ibis even has text in their tuning guide about it. Maybe you had the rear too stiff.

What a contrasting review, Surprised that its so different from anyone I have talked to about these.

Like another comment has clearly pointed out, for an objective review you need to remove basic variables which are always dictated by individual preference and are easily interchangeable. i.e. set-up your contact points consistently across bikes, use the same tyres across bikes. Regards the fork set-up, your video clearly shows footage of riders with a fork set-up too soft. So regardless of who's set-up guidance you followed it clearly isn't well set-up. This review simply comes across that the bike was set-up poorly and thus didn't ride to expectation. Man people including myself are interested in this bike and this...

Very confusing review, makes it difficult to have a professional respect for the Vitalmtb test riders. Do they need some fundamental lessons in suspension setup? or are they simply not experienced riders?

While I understand the desire to put multiple riders on a bike in a relatively short period of time, I'll be honest and say "this could be better". Anyone looking to spend $5K+ on a bike knows swapping stem & bars is relatively minor, as is monkeying around with suspension (or swapping tires). I can't remember the last time I bought a bike and *didn't* swap tires, bar, stem & play around with suspension over the course of weeks to get it dialed to my liking. While it makes a "shootout" much harder, maybe its time we let that kind...