Mountain bike maker YT Industries kicked up the tease yesterday about a major overhaul to their Capra enduro mountain bike via the story of the Return of the Goat. Hidden amongst the cryptic horror film of being hunted by a man with a goat’s head, was a new carbon mountain bike sporting bigger wheels, longer travel, and promising epic riding.
YT Capra carbon enduro mountain bike in 29″ or 27.5″
YT’s enduro Capra has taken lessons from their popular trail riding Jeffsy offered either carbon or alloy frames and both 29” and 27.5″ wheel options. Now the longer travel Capra is getting in on the same game, offering the same two wheel size and frame construction options so you get to pick what is best for your riding.
As a sidebar, the G.O.A.T. is indeed also an acronym and looks to reference Eminem’s unreleased song of the same name. Hence, the return of the Greatest Of All Time…
29″ and 170mmm of travel
YT says the 170mm travel Capra 29 will give you more stability for both fast descending and efficient climbing, thanks to the combination of its slack head angle, longer wheelbase, and big wheels. One unique feature of the 29er version are YT’s FlipChips that let you tailor geometry to your terrain – adding more BB drop & slackening the headtube to get even more gnarly downhill, or going the opposite way to make the bike more trail riding friendly.
27.5″ and 180mm of travel
The slightly longer 180mm Capra 27 on the other hand is meant to be more of a playful, agile bike. YT even calls it a mix of Enduro & DH race bikes in one. It also gets a slack headtube and long wheelbase, but pairs it with short 427 or 432mm chainstays to keep everything snappy.
Tech details
Available with either 29″ or 27.5″ wheels, the new Capra strikes a similar looking stance to the prior generation of the bike, with the same aesthetics of their recently updated 2018 line. The updated carbon design and construction is said to drop 15% or the weight of the previous generation, while also boosting stiffness by an extra 10%. And true to YT’s gravity fueled roots, the Capras are tested to the same level as the World Cup winning Tues DH bike, so you can huck these off anything you can find.
The overall true four bar Virtual 4 Link suspension layout remains unchanged, as the latest iteration of the design developed on their Tues DH bike. It gets a strut between the seat and down tubes supporting a rocker linkage, but the piggyback air shock is driven directly off the seatstays.
The carbon frame does get a revised seattube design that gives the bike more standover clearance and more space for longer travel droppers, also letting riders pick bike sizes based more on frame reach than inseam length.
The carbon bike does get overhauled double sealed bearing pivots like we’ve seen on YT’s other recent updates. The carbon monocoque frame features full carbon headset races, internal cable routing with guides, and full carbon press fit BB92 bottom bracket. The frame gets ISCG tabs, an anti chain suck plate, and molded on chainstay & downtube protectors.
YT makes the Capra 27 in five sizes (S-XXL) to suit pretty much any rider, and four sizes (M-XXL) for the Capra 29.
Complete bike builds
Like they did with the 2018 Jeffsy, the Capras adopt YT’s Eleven+ drivetrain concept. They exclusively are building bikes with 1×11 setups and the 511% spread e*thirteen TRS+ cassette, for even wider range than Eagle.
The full carbon bikes are available in three complete builds. The range-topping Capra CF Pro Race in liquid metal/black magic paint (all photos above) sells for $5200€ in either wheel size – and a claimed 27.5″ weight of 13.2kg or for the 29er 13.5kg – with Fox Factory suspension & dropper, XTR shifting, TRSr Carbon wheels & cranks, and SRAM Code Ultimate brakes.
The Capra CF Pro drops to $4300€ adding just 200g, with Fox Performance suspension, the same XTR drivetrain, alloy TRS wheels, and Code RSC brakes.
The $3700€ Capra CF rounds out the carbon offerings adding another 200g with RockShox suspension, XT shifting, and Code RS brakes.
Availability on the carbon bikes ranges widely. Some are in stock. Some are available as pre-orders with delivery dates ranging from Feb 28 – Jul 24, 2018.
Capra AL aluminum enduro mountain bike in 29″ or 27.5″
And of course if you can’t shell out the big bucks for full carbon, there are also aluminum Capra AL options in both wheel sizes, with some intricate alloy forming from the topttube to the seatstays.
RockShox-equipped alloy bikes come in either the $3000€ Capra AL Comp or the $2500€ Capra AL, both with SLX shifting and SRAM braking.
They look to also be available for pre-order now, with delivery slated for anywhere between Feb 21 – Jun 6, 2018.
