Hi guys, I interviewed the founder and CEO of Pivot Cycles at Interbike, Chris Cocalis. He told me about the history of the company, the origin of the Pivot, why they chose the Shimano STePs E8000 motor, and then walked me through some of the design features of the bike. We looked at battery integration, suspension, and more.
Pivot Cycles was founded in 2007 and before that, Chris Cocalis lead a company called Titus Cycles (for 17 years). Chris started that company in college, he welded his first frame in 1988. They've been selling traditional pedal powered bikes in Europe for several years and then people began asking about ebikes. He said that Germany and France were the biggest markets. He likes motobikes and was interested in the technical side of producing an ebike. Pivot Cycles have worked with Shimano a bunch, so they were experimenting with the E8000 before it was really announced.
Chris said that he wanted to build a killer mountain bike first... and make it an ebike second. They wanted to produce something really refined, something that wasn't too heavy, something that felt natural. The Shimano motor is light, uses a standard q-factor, and pedals and behaves like a traditional bicycle. It offers a faster RPM support so you can still spin up hills vs. shifting way down based on motor needs. The integration of a motor and battery changes how the geometry and balance is setup. The Pivot Shuttle is all carbon, it weighs just 45.5lbs, it uses the external Shimano battery (which is lighter) but Pivot designed it to be inside the bike. The bike costs $10k and comes in four sizes Small, Medium, Large, and Extra Large. Weight is concentrated low and center for optimal balance. The battery is bolted on with eight screws but they are working on a quick release system as well. This means that battery changes can take five minutes right now, and requires a tool. It has a 140mm rear and 150mm front for a trail enduro type of experience. It uses a DW link rear suspension (dual link suspension design) that offers some anti squat technology that won't squat as much under power. With something like a four bar suspension you have to turn up compression but then you don't absorb the small bumps. It's similar to their Mach 5.5 model (in the non-ebike line).
The Pivot Shuttle won the men's open, got 4th in the pro, and first for the kids (a young lady, 10 year old won). This was the Bosch Boogaloo race at Northstar, CA.
Pivot Cycles was founded in 2007 and before that, Chris Cocalis lead a company called Titus Cycles (for 17 years). Chris started that company in college, he welded his first frame in 1988. They've been selling traditional pedal powered bikes in Europe for several years and then people began asking about ebikes. He said that Germany and France were the biggest markets. He likes motobikes and was interested in the technical side of producing an ebike. Pivot Cycles have worked with Shimano a bunch, so they were experimenting with the E8000 before it was really announced.
Chris said that he wanted to build a killer mountain bike first... and make it an ebike second. They wanted to produce something really refined, something that wasn't too heavy, something that felt natural. The Shimano motor is light, uses a standard q-factor, and pedals and behaves like a traditional bicycle. It offers a faster RPM support so you can still spin up hills vs. shifting way down based on motor needs. The integration of a motor and battery changes how the geometry and balance is setup. The Pivot Shuttle is all carbon, it weighs just 45.5lbs, it uses the external Shimano battery (which is lighter) but Pivot designed it to be inside the bike. The bike costs $10k and comes in four sizes Small, Medium, Large, and Extra Large. Weight is concentrated low and center for optimal balance. The battery is bolted on with eight screws but they are working on a quick release system as well. This means that battery changes can take five minutes right now, and requires a tool. It has a 140mm rear and 150mm front for a trail enduro type of experience. It uses a DW link rear suspension (dual link suspension design) that offers some anti squat technology that won't squat as much under power. With something like a four bar suspension you have to turn up compression but then you don't absorb the small bumps. It's similar to their Mach 5.5 model (in the non-ebike line).
The Pivot Shuttle won the men's open, got 4th in the pro, and first for the kids (a young lady, 10 year old won). This was the Bosch Boogaloo race at Northstar, CA.
