Test: With its 145mm or 150mm travel, the Decoy Pro 29 from direct seller YT comes with slightly less travel than the Pro Race top model. Like all Decoy models, it is powered by the Shimano E8000 motor, which is powered by its own 540Wh battery in the down tube. There is very little to criticize about the built-in components, especially at the attractive price of 5.599 euros: The Performance Elite suspension from Fox delivers impeccable performance, as do the XT 12-speed gears and the durable H1700 wheels from DT Swiss.
YT Decoy Pro 29: The Facts
Suspension travel: 150 / 145mm
wheel size: 29 inch
Drive: Shimano E8000
Display / control unit: Shimano E7000
Battery capacity (test bike): 540Wh
Frame material: Carbon
Weight complete bike (size L without pedals): 22,82kg
Maximum weight allowed: 150kg
With the Decoy platform, direct mailer YT Industries ventured into the highly competitive e-MTB market some time ago. It's no longer a secret that the manufacturer, which until a few years ago was primarily at home in the dirt, slopestyle and gravity markets, can now also build really good off-road all-rounders. Nevertheless, the versatility of the YT Decoy Pro 29 surprised us - also because we also tested its "big brother", the YT Decoy Pro Race. While with the latter the full focus is on the descent and the motor more or less simply replaces the lift or the bike shuttle, things are different with the Decoy Pro 29. There's a little less suspension travel here - namely 145mm or 150mm - and large wheels at the front and rear and an overall more rounded overall package.
frame | YT Decoy Carbon |
suspension fork | Fox 36 Performance Elite |
Power Type | Shimano E8000 |
Battery | YT 540Wh |
Suspension shocks | Fox Float DPX2 Performance Elite |
Wheels | DT Swiss H 1700 Spline |
Tire VR | Maxxis Minion DHR II 3C MaxxGrip |
Tire HR | Maxxis Minion DHR II 3C MaxxTerra |
derailleur | Shimano Deore XT |
Gear levers | Shimano Deore XT |
Crank | Shimano Deore XT |
Front derailleur | |
Brake | Ram Code RSC |
Brake discs | Sram Centerline 200mm/200mm |
Seat post | YT Postman |
Saddle | SDG RDR MNT |
Stem | E13 Plus |
Links | E13 Plus, 780mm |
High-quality, but firm chassis
The first thing that strikes you is the rear triangle, which is quite tight compared to other E-MTBs in this suspension travel class. It is by no means insensitive, but overall it has a little more travel. This characteristic initially has two advantages: when riding uphill, the bike doesn't sag when you're sitting down and you always stay in an efficient position to put pressure on the pedals. In spite of "only" 145mm of travel, the Decoy offers very large reserves on the descent and also copes well with failed landings or rough impacts at high speeds. The downside of this sporty chassis: Anyone who expects the wheel to iron out every pothole, no matter how small, is likely to be disappointed.
Let's stay with the chassis for a moment: The Performance Elite suspension elements from Fox need to be adjusted with a little patience in order to elicit the full potential of the suspension travel. If you have little or no experience in this regard, you should plan the time and a few test drives - especially since there is no support from the dealer due to YT's direct sales model.
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Sophisticated equipment with (too?) light tires
At 22,8kg in the size XL we tested, the Decoy is more on the light side. This definitely benefits the carbon fully on the trail. Due to the large wheels and the sporty geometry with a fairly long wheelbase, it is designed to run more smoothly. The relatively low weight and the aforementioned trendy chassis provide a healthy counterweight to give the bike a little liveliness while still running smoothly. If you really want to let it rip on the trail, you might want to think about more stable tyres: The built-in Maxxis combination of DHF at the front and DHRII at the rear is just right for a bike in this class, but the Exo carcass offers relatively little puncture protection .
Even though the YT Decoy Pro 29 isn't a climbing specialist, it performs impressively on climbs. Dirt roads or forest highways are no problem anyway, even if the Shimano E8000 always reaches its limits when it gets really steep; but here the wide range of well-functioning 12-speed Shimano XT gears helps. It is surprisingly agile in technical uphill sections and was also able to successfully master a few key sections of our test lap.
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Our test candidates in the High-End category: BH AtomX Carbon Lynx 6 Pro-S | Bull's Sonic EVO EN 2 | Cannondale Moterra Neo 1 | Focus Jam² 9.9 Drifter | Giant Reign E+ 0 Pro | Greyp G6.2 | Haibike XDURO Nduro 10.0 | Husqvarna Mountain Cross 8 | KTM Macina Prowler Prestige | M1 Spitzing Evo Bobby Root | Norco Range VLT C2 | Nox Hybrid Enduro 7.1 | Orange Surge RS | Orbea Wild FS M10 | Santa Cruz Heckler CC X01 RSV | Scott Genius eRide 700 Tuned | Simplon Rapcon Pmax | Specialized Turbo Levo Expert Carbon | Storck e:drenalin GTS 500 | TrekRail 9.9 | YT Decoy Pro Race | YT Decoy Pro 29
You can also find this at the kiosk Velomotion E-MTB test yearbook 2020. There you will find all 57 individual tests of the bikes, exciting stories and advice on everything to do with e-mountain bikes on over 160 pages.
Here you can also order the E-MTB yearbook 2020 directly from us.
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