I recently re-homed my Pivot Mach 6 frame with a friend after 4yrs in my fleet. I don’t think I ever wrote a proper review of this fine bike so I figured a few words upon its departure would be nice. You can see the build spec here and a short 1yr review I wrote here.
The Mach 6 was my first [and so far only] carbon bike. It was a 6″ travel do it all enduro rig that was sort of an updated and more uber version of my Santa Cruz Nomad. In that respect it 100% lived up to my expectations. It was very fun to ride, it could tackle any trail I had the balls to ride, it was efficient for all day pedalfests and it was a reliable machine that never let me down. I’m a one-bike-to-rule-them-all guy and the Mach 6 filled that role amazingly well.
I even took the Mach 6 bikepacking, which really opened my eyes to how much fun a seriously lightweight camping setup was and has focused my interest on the “bike” part of bikepacking….not so much on the “packing” end of things. After all I go mountain bike touring to ride my mountain bike in places beyond the range of a day ride. I don’t do it to enjoy minimalist camping. So if I am going to make compromises it will be with my camping gear….not the bike I choose to ride.
I did have some quibbles with some of the finer details on my Mach 6’s design, but Pivot has resolved all my concerns in the two new Mach models that have come out since mine debuted in 2014. The current version looks great and I wouldn’t hesitate to own one again.
With so much good stuff to say about the Mach 6 why did I decide to get rid of it? Well really only because my preferences with bike geometry have changed. I got a Knolly Endorphin that’s got 2″ more reach and 1.5″ longer wheelbase. This longer bike does give up some agility and slow speed playfulness, but it has also allowed me to ride faster and more confidently than ever before. I tried swapping back to the shorter bike and it wasn’t enjoyable. So I decided it was time to move it on. My friend who will ride it is shorter than me so the Mach 6 will be a “long” bike for him in line with current geometry trends.
I’ll close with a heartfelt thank you to Pivot for making such a rad bike. I enjoyed creating countless priceless memories aboard the Mach 6 and it remains my standard for what an amazing long travel bike should be. I’m glad I’ll still get to see it in action and spend some quality time together on the trail. 🙂
vikapproved MK2 