Claiming to be its best enduro bike yet, YT Industries has taken its Decoy formula and given it a mid-power e-mountain bike/enduro twist as it introduces the Decoy SN. It’s a modern and sleek heavy hitter that handles as impressively as it looks, all while carrying the usual YT charm. It’s not without a few caveats, though – it’s very stiff and its motor isn’t the most reliable, but as YT’s first lightweight e-bike, it performs solidly.
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YT Industries Decoy SN Core 4 – Technical details
Although the Decoy SN does a fantastic job of hiding it, it’s driven by Fazua’s Ride 60 motor, which is slated to be its most powerful to date. In numbers, it kicks out 60Nm of torque and up to 450W of power. Combined with a 430Wh battery, it’s said that the whole system weighs 4.2 kilos.
That’s housed within YT’s top-end Ultra Modulous carbon fibre frame, which blends light weight with strength. As a YT bike, the Decoy SN carries a few of the brand’s hallmarks, and that includes the V4L suspension platform we’ve seen on countless bikes prior. It’s a four-bar linkage designed to be supple off the top, supportive in the mid-stroke, and progressive towards bottom out, a classic trio.
That V4L linkage controls 160mm of rear suspension, whereas there’s 170mm up front. The larger front and smaller rear theme continues to the wheel size, too, where there’s a 29-inch hoop at the front and a 650b at the rear.
Keeping things tidy is internal cable routing and the traditional kind, if you can call it that. There’s frame protection aplenty, with the chainstay and seatstay and the lower portion of the downtube receiving comprehensive coverage.
Moving on to the geometry, it’s very much in keeping with what we’ve seen from YT in the past, but it’s certainly been modernised. In the grand scheme of bike shapes, it is rather conservative, but given how well this practice worked out on the original Decoy 29, this is only good stuff.
The large frame pictured here gets a 475mm reach, and there’s a 442mm chainstay across the size range. All sizes then share a 64.2-degree head tube angle and a 78.3-degree effective seat tube. There’s a 32mm bottom bracket drop. Thanks to a flip-chip at the shock yoke, those angles can be slackened by around 0.3-degrees. For the most part, that’s how I ran the bike.
YT Industries Decoy SN Core 4 – Componentry
As expected with a direct-to-consumer brand, you get a fair bit for your £8,500, and there’s absolutely nothing I would change. There’s a Fox 38 Factory fork with the latest GRIP X2 damper, which I’ve become a big fan of. Then, at the rear is a Fox DHX2 Factory coil shock. Both of these provide all of the adjustments you’ll need, but the shock comes with predetermined coils, so the small will come with a 325lbs spring, the medium a 375 spring, the large a 425, the XL a 475, and the XXL a 500. YT provided a 500lbs spring on the large frame because I’m a dense chap at 95kg.
Shifting is provided by SRAM’s GX Transmission drivetrain, which has become mighty popular since its release. It’s reliable, reasonably slick and a no-brainer for e-bike use. The bike is slowed by a pair of SRAM Maven brakes, which tie a bow on this pure enduro package. They’re yet another product that makes sense on a bike like this because there’s still some extra weight at play, and the extra stopping power and control these brakes provide elevates the experience.
The wheels come from Crankbrothers and are a pair of Synthesis Alloy Customs with Industry 9 1/1 hubs. These are tuned for front and rear use and wrapped with Continental Kryptotal Fr and Kryptotal Re tyres. The front tyre benefits from the Super Soft compound and Enduro casing, whereas the rear gets the firmer Soft compound.
As a top-end bike, the Decoy SN Core 4 is finished suitably with a Renthal cockpit featuring a 40mm-rise bar, a pair of ODI Elite Motion V2.1 grips and YT’s Postman V2 dropper. There’s also a colour-matched e*thirteen Helix Race e*spec crankset with 160mm cranks.
The Decoy SN Core 4 tips the scales at 22.07kg.
YT Industries Decoy SN Core 4 – Performance
Supernatural by name, supernatural by nature? Well, perhaps by e-mountain bike standards, as, at face value, it’s yet another e-mountain bike that does well to hide its motor and battery. And speaking of aesthetics, it’s a handsome machine, especially in its cleverly chosen gold/blue colourway that neatly matches the Kashima coating of the fork stanchions and the colour of the crank. Straight out of the box, it carries a custom feel without dumping extra cash into upgrade pieces.
And while it hides its motor so well, it shines when it’s put to purpose. The Fazua Ride 60 system is simple as it provides three modes, with the middle mode tapering the motor’s output to mimic the rider’s input. The motor’s quiet and punchy, providing enough assistance to make light work of steep inclines without relinquishing control. It’s impressively drag-free, so when I’ve exceeded the motor’s limit, I’ve still been able to put down the power without being completely encumbered by the bike’s weight and any potential drag.
The reasonably short crankset helps here as the Ride 60 likes a high cadence, which the crank helps to achieve. I’ve also been able to eke out a good range from the battery, happily getting just short of 30km in with 1,179m of ascent. There is no range extender available, though. Not yet, at least.
However, the motor is not without reliability issues. When setting off for one ride, it failed without warning. It would assist with a few pedal strokes, then stop. It’s far from ideal on a fairly new bike, but this does allow me to praise YT’s warranty service. The bike was taken back to The YT Mill and returned with a fresh motor within two weeks. If this were to happen to a customer, it’d have to be delivered to The YT Mill or a Fazua dealer (whichever is closest) for replacement, but the process was speedy enough. This can be done via courier or in person.
In a world where bike geometries are still getting longer, like the Canyon Spectral:ONfly’s 500mm reach on a large frame, YT has stuck to its guns with the Decoy SN, and though 475mm isn’t long by today’s standards, it’s right on the money for this bike. YT hasn’t put a foot wrong, confidently blending the sure-footedness of an enduro e-bike with a lively and playful vibe that felt out of pocket for a bike of this type, in a good way.
Geometry-wise, it’s whippable and seriously engaging as its short chainstay allows you to take real charge of where the rear wheel is as it’s tucked right in behind the BB. The 64-ish-degree head tube angle is very on-trend and works well to promote stability at speed, especially when things get steep.
Because the Decoy SN is following the rather fresh trend of long front centres, short chainstays, and tall handlebars, it felt most at home on the climbs where its tall front end achieved through its high-rise bar instills plenty of confidence, backed up by superb braking power from the Maven brakes. On flatter trails, the bike’s short rear centre and high front end make popping the front wheel easy, adding to this enduro bike’s overall air of liveliness, as does its progressive suspension feel.
Adding to the Decoy SN’s feedback-rich ride is its overall stiffness. Almost every inch of the frame has been overbuilt, as exhibited at the chunky rocker link, and the heft of stiffness boosts confidence further as the bike is one cohesive unit as it’s slammed through rocks. But with that, such feedback is transmitted to the body, which can feel rather harsh. That mostly comes through the handlebar and grip setup, but it can be reduced by installing thicker grips, as I have. But the bike’s stiffness has had me tinkering with its suspension more than usual to tune out some vibrations.
That said, this alone proves that it’s a machine reserved for heavy hitters and in its attempt to create ‘the best enduro bike’, YT Industries has leaned into the brief. Because of the stiffness and the heaps of suspension travel, it’s encouraged me to hold higher speeds and plough recklessly into technical terrain without hindering handling through the tight and twisty stuff.
YT Industries Decoy SN Core 4 – Verdict
£8,500 is a fair bit of coin to drop on an e-mountain bike, and if you look at it from a sheer value perspective, it’s beaten by Canyon’s Spectral:ONfly CF LTD at £8,349 (here’s our review of the Spectral:ONfly CLLCTV). It comes with a fancier drivetrain and is claimed to be lighter, but these two bikes are in different leagues when it comes to genre.
Mondraker’s Dune RR is competitive value, too. At the very same price, Mondraker’s offering uses Bosch’s Performance Line SX motor, has 165mm travel at the rear with 170mm up front and suspension provided by Ohlins. There is some own-brand Onoff kit, and it runs the lesser-powered SRAM Code Bronze Stealth brakes. It also has a smaller battery but a lighter claimed weight of 19.6kg.
Although equipped with plenty of travel and mega burly componentry, the YT Industries Decoy SN Core 4 balances surefootedness with superb handling. Its Fazua motor and battery assist with a decent range, though it’s not without reliability issues, and some may find the bike’s stiffness a little too unforgiving.
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Ultra Modulous carbon frame, Fazua Ride 60 motor, 430Wh battery, Fox 38 Factory fork, Fox DHX2 shock, SRAM GX T-Type drivetrain, SRAM Maven brakes, Crankbrothers Synthesis Alloy wheels, Continental Kryptotal tyres, Renthal cockpit, YT Postman dropper.
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