I want to get a cyclocross bike for more varied riding--riding a combo road and off-road. I'm not looking to compete, but want a great bike with a smooth ride. Can anyone share their experience of Psychlo-X with YBB. I'm sure it softens up the ride, but how much does it take away from the performance of the bike, e.g. bobbing, etc. Do owners find themselves locking out the YBB, or leaving it active most of the time? Thanks for your feedback.
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Mojo Man
MemberI just got a Moot X YBB custom. I have a nice set of road wheels I have been using for SS road training. The rear end surprisingly takes the edge off even with very little movement in the shock. I'd highly recommend it for a cross bike, even a road bike. I have not noticed any bobbing and/or lack of snappiness compared to my full hard tail Lynsky frame set up the same for road training, last year.
One thing to consider, with a Moots' softail design (YBB), you may be penalized with excessively long chain stay lengths. I’m in the process of redesigning new sliders to get the CS length to a respectable range, say 17.4 to 17.5” rather than the 18.2” I currently have. Unfortunately, this may have been a deal breaker for me had I know this ahead of time.
Hope this helps.
Mojo
Posted 1 year ago # -
sbsbiker
MemberMojo, can you really say that you can notice a 0.7 diff in your Chainstay length? Common, Deal Breaker, really, I call BS on that. Plus without the sliders, i belive the chainstays are the same, YBB or rigid. Put away the tape and go ride!
Regetk, don't fret, the YBB disappears on your third ride, for the first two you may think your rear tire is going flat. Once you realize the soft feel comes from the YBB, usually after stoping to check tire pressure, the action becomes unnoticeable. No loss of power, no chain slap or suspension feel through the driveline, just enought travel to take the edge off.
Posted 1 year ago # -
rogetk,
Over the years I've been on the Psychlo X Ybb and the Psychlo X Rigid. I passed the Ybb version onto my brother some years ago and went the rigid route for a bit more race snap. I love the rigid and it rides simply sublime, however when the day comes and I'm done with the racing pursuits I'll be back on the Ybb version...dirt roads & wash boards are simply no match for that Ybb.I feel you'd be really happy with the ride quality of the Ybb and see no performance knock. As for locking it out...yes, you can lock it out, but the one or two times I've done it, I've missed the smooth ride of the Ybb.
For chain stay lenght concerns....the Psychlo X Ybb uses a 43cm chain stay vs. the 42.3 in the rigid. We do this because we must run a round stay vs. the modified stay you find on the Psychlo X, Mooto X & Mooto X RSL...we run the round stay a bit longer to provide more tire clearance as well.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Many thanks,
Jon@Moots
Posted 1 year ago # -
mootini
MemberI own more bikes (mostly Moots) than I can find time to ride. I have always said that if I had to keep only one it would be my Psy X YBB. There is simply no other bike in my stable that can do so much so well. It's awesome to ride and race cross on, could readily do most mtb races (here in the midwest anyway), it commutes and if need be can be pointed down the highway. I used mine for years to pull a Burly some 5,000 plus miles when my kid was younger. We hit some bumpy trails - great cross training! I have owned mine for well over 7 years and have never locked it out, never even thought about it. I bought my wife one and she loves it. Never had a problem with bobbing, just pedal circles, no trick to it. Get on - you won't regret it!
Posted 1 year ago # -
Domestique
MemberHello rogetk,
I'll throw my .02 into this discussion. I bought my PX for the same reasons you described in your post, I wanted something that I could ride just about anywhere be it on roads or trials (within reason) and I had no intentions of competing with it, I just wanted something that would allow me to ride wherever I wanted without having to have two dedicated bikes, one for road and one for trails. I've owned my PX rigid for about a year now and I love it, so much so that I gave my Compact road bike to my brother as I felt that the PX was more than capable for road work as well as trail riding. Depending on where you plan to ride on any given day you simply swap out your fat trail wheels for your skinny road wheels and voila! you now have a bike that can go almost anywhere. When I placed the order for the PX I thought about getting the YBB but I felt that it might lose some 'snap' as Jon indicated above and perhaps make the bike feel vague (especially on fast descents where you definitely want to feel what the bike is doing). Looking back knowing what I know now would I opt for the YBB?... no, not once have I felt that I made a mistake by not getting the YBB. Besides, if you're thinking about getting the YBB just to smooth out the trails a set of 32 or 34 cross tires will give you plenty of cushion to take the edge off most trials. I also feel that if you do get the YBB and find yourself locking it out then you probably shouldn't have gotten it in the first place, again just my .02, ymmv. Either route you decide to go you're gonna love the bike, the PX is a keeper! (many thanks to my old shop mechanic Scott for enlightening me on the PX). She's a hidden gem.
D.
Posted 1 year ago # -
29ner
MemberI agree with pretty much all mentioned above. I had a YBB cross and several of the rigid. The YBB was my 1st 'true' cross and I don't think I locked it out once - I don't think I ever even thought about it. It most definately is trail worthy and you can take it alot more places than you may think. I.E. - I was 'in-between' mountain bikes one fall and took the crosser to Moab. I got a good amount of interesting looks as Moab can positively kill a bike - now, I obviously couldn't do a good deal of the rides, but I could STILL do a good deal of the rides (Moab is huge and varied) - and rides they were - jeez what a hoot.
Like said above, if I had to rid my collection to one bike - it would be the cross. It does everything well. It's not a road bike, it's not a mountain bike - but damn it's 90% of both. I ride a ridgid now and of course switch tires/wheels depending on what I intend. The YBB version absolutely and in no way detracts from the performance character of the bike (I just wanted a more pure form of a crosser). You will find after a few rides, that your body language dictates how you ride it - that rear wheel will dig in for you.
There is little more fun on two wheels than a cross bike. If you know a buff mountain ride well - do it on a cross rig and it'll be like doing for the very first time. Killer fun.
Posted 1 year ago # -
bigwheels
MemberHey! I have a vamoots, psychlo x ybb and 26" ybb. Love the px ybb. It's an awesome bike. I'm in WI and a lot of our cross races are on grass and it really saves you a lot of energy during the race. You can ride behind guys who's arms and legs are jiggling all over the place and you're just cruising. I've never locked either ybb out. I will say that you can feel the suspension when you're sprinting at high speed, but, I also think it helps the rear wheel bite.
As I've been reading these posts, I think I'm going to get a set of those challenge 27's like Jon's cross bike and I'm going to dedicate this one to the trailer, which gets a lot of miles and this will make them very enjoyable.
For what it's worth, I also enjoy top mount cross levers, and miss them when I go back to my road bike. They're just comfortable, but seem to have gone out of style. Love barends on the mtb too.. ;-)
I always watch the internet for a vamoots ybb. That would be a super fun bike to add to the stable!
Posted 1 year ago #
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