[Closed] YT Izzo - any reason not to?

You have probably seen this ...but when I looked a little while back, the final "delivered" price was considerably more than the basic advertised price?

Got good reviews in the magazine, it's on my imaginary full sus shortlist

@stanstorey Yeah, they add on approx €80 euros in P&P charges at the checkout. Still miles cheaper than anything else available at the moment even taking that into account.

I’ve got a 29er anthem and was also looking at the spur/Izzo. The YT shop in surrey lent me one for the afternoon and I took it to Swinley for a blast. The Izzo was slower on the flat and uphills, but felt better going down and on the jumps. If you can get down and book a test ride for half a day that will give you a good idea.

It’s a nice bike, but then so is the anthem and in the end I couldn’t quite justify spending 4K on the Izzo when most of my local riding is probably better suited to the anthem.

Just googled for a Transition Spur and found one in large. £1k more than the YT though!

The Izzo was slower on the flat and uphills, but felt better going down and on the jumps.

This is pretty much what I'm looking for. I've been put off the current gen 29er Anthem in part due to the narrow seatpost and sharp XC race geo. My 27.5 Anthem is the one with 130mm front / 110mm rear travel and a 67.5 degree head angle so less of a race and more of a general XC/Trail.

I've seen that Giant have a new Anthem due next year, which comes with a dropper and has a longer reach / slacker head angle etc so that could be a possibility, but the geo on the Spur / Izzo look better as an all-rounder option. I now have access to a lot more steeper / natural trails than I did when I bought the Anthem 4 years ago.

My 27.5 Anthem is the one with 130mm front / 110mm rear travel and a 67.5 degree head angle so less of a race and more of a general XC/Trail.

Ah, in that case I would have thought it wouldn’t be hugely different to the Izzo. Mine is the old 29er with 71deg HA and 100mm F/R.

I had a YT Izzo for around 15 months and really enjoyed it. Very fast bike. Efficient on the climbs and surprisingly good downhill. I have since replaced it with a Santa Cruz Tallboy though, which I feel isn't quite as efficient on the climbs but is much more capable downhill. I've never ridden the Giant so can't comment how it would compare. I know that Ross really like the Spur when he reviewed it too.

Any questions about the Izzo feel free to ask. If you do get one though the first thing I would do is to ditch the Sram lockout for something else.

Yeah, they add on approx €80 euros in P&P charges at the checkout

Was all set to buy one when they released a batch a few months back, but the £2699 soon became £3500 with import duty etc added at the checkout. **** Brexit. Still a decent price compared to most of the competition but it took it over what I was prepared to spend and thought I may as well hang on and save up the extra £1500 for the Spur or a Ripley.

Izzo owner here - love mine and Andi has it right with his comments. Efficient climbing due to the geo (not the lockout) so most either ditch the lockout or go for an aftermarket lockout. There was a lot of negative feedback on this issue when the Izzo was first released so I believe the new models are now shipping without it. Pointed downhill it’s ridiculous given the 130mm travel - way more capable than I am and urges you to go faster over the rougher stuff. Real world help or issues:

1. I’m 6ft and 95 kilos in riding gear and I was on the line between L and XL. Went with the L as I was coming from smaller wheeled bikes but suspect would have been roomier/quicker on the XL
2. At 95 kilos I sometimes feel the Fox 34 is a bit flexy
3. The Forekasters the bikes are shipped with are made of cheese - budget for 2 new tyres
4. No experience of warranty issues but the very iffy customer service appears to have improved now they have the uk ‘YT Mill’ down in Surrey. I’ve spoken to Alex a few times on hangers and other spare parts abs he has been very helpful and responsive.

I’m made up with mine and would only swap it for a Spur - like you I narrowed it down to these 2 and couldn’t find / afford the Spur
HTH
Dave

Only reason I didn't buy one was the awful website, which is a shame as the bikes look great

Thanks for the great replies so far everyone.

@muggomagic - I'm EU based so import duties aren't an issue but it is slightly annoying that they bung on those extra charges at the checkout.

@singletrackandi - the Tallboy is also on my shortlist and can get one locally for a pretty decent price (cheaper than the UK like for like) but no stock until next spring. They've ditched the lockout on this year's model so it won't be an issue. The lockout thing is one of the reasons why I discounted the new Scott Spark (too many cables and bar clutter!)

@lookmumnohands - Good to know about sizing. I kind of feel like I'm right in the middle of L / XL with the Izzo. Both would work and the L is closer to my current bike but it would be nice to swing a leg over an XL just to be sure. I'm only 66kg and run a Fox 34 on my Anthem which is plenty stiff enough for me, so no issues in that department.

Echoing a few points based on my experience owning a Jeffsy (which has remarkably similar geo).

Customer service from YT was poor about 18 months ago when I brought it but has been great more recently. I’ve been able to talk to someone on the phone in Surrey and have had them ship me various small parts quickly and cheaply (mech hangers, cable clip things etc).

I was also bang in between L and XL at 6ft 1 and went with L. I can’t tell you how XL would’ve been different but I never felt like the L was the wrong choice.