YT is best known for its best enduro mountain bikes and trail offerings but the latest Izzo is all about downcountry riding. The German brand's design team have taken the adaptive Izzo and transformed it from a 140mm lite-enduro bike (the Blaze) to a 120mm high-efficiency trail blaster.
This is the third iteration of YT’s Izzo offering, which debuted with 130mm of rear-suspension travel. The new Izzo Uncaged 7 features 120mm of suspension travel at both wheels and is designed to deliver all the trail feedback you want, with excellent climbing dynamics in steep terrain.
To support the bike's suspension kinematics, YT’s has selected RockShox’s SID Ultimate fork and a similar grade SIDLux Ultimate rear shock. If you need additional damping at the rear for those steep climbing pedal efforts, a SRAM TwistLock Full Sprint remote can be triggered to help stiffen up the back end.
Slack and long - but not too radical
On theme with the latest generation of progressive geometry bikes with less suspension travel, the Izzo Uncaged 7 is much slacker than you would expect for a 120mm bike. Geometry is slightly adjustable, too, with the head angle varying from 66.9- to 66.5-degrees.
Reach numbers vary from 432- to 517mm across the sizing range. For reference, the reach on a size large Izzo Uncaged 7 is 475mm – which is fairly typical for a downcountry bike.
Build spec for the new Izzo Uncaged 7 reflects its agile trail and endurance riding purpose. It rolls along on DT Swiss XCR 1200 Spline wheels, shod with super fast rolling Maxxis Rekon Race 29x2.4in semi-slick tires.
It will be a rare sight - out on the trail
The drivetrain is SRAM’s XX1 Eagle AXS, with a matching Reverb wireless dropper post. Brakes are lightweight four-pot SRAM G2 Ultimate calipers, actuating CentreLine X rotors, which are sized 180mm up front, and 160mm at the rear.
The IzzoUncaged 7’s lightweight build curation is completed with a 740mm RaceFace Next SL handlebar. Featuring a composite structure that helps with terrain damping, the Next SL handlebar is only 167g.
YT will only produce 300 of its Izzo Uncaged 7s, which weigh in at 25.1lb (11.4kg) and are all finished in Laser Yellow. Recommended retail price is $7,499/£5,999/€6,999.
