YT athletes are teasing a secret new DH bike
When will it be new Tues day?
YT’s invested big in downhill for 2024. The German brand is bringing reigning world champion Vali Höll back into the fold after a few years away. She joins Snowshoe World Cup winner Oisin O’Callaghan and a strong group of returning athletes on the MOB’s DH squad.
Now, with all that investment on the athlete side, YT looks to be building a new bike. Several of those athletes have been spotted on a concealed DH bike from the brand. A few more from the YT MOB’s enduro ranks, like Kasper Woolley and former World Cup DH racer and past EWS champ Jack Moir, also seem to be testing out a DH rig.
The timing makes sense. It’s been a while since YT updated its venerable Tues frame. And, with all the attention Höll and Moir bring, all eyes will be on YT when the World Cup kicks off for 2024 in Fort William. Even Canadian enduro racer Kasper Woolley is getting in on the downhill action, racing a concealed YT at Threadbo moutain bike festival in Australia.
High on a Tuesday?
Unlike other brands, YT’s done a thorough job concealing the frame. The canvas cover makes it look like the riders are headed out for a gravity-fed bikepacking expedition (which should absolutely be the next mountain biking niche, please). But it does have a triple-clamp fork. It also has the same basic shapes as the existing Tues. What the new linkage will look like, however, remains to be seen.
A close look at Höll’s bike, though, appears to show the presence of an idler pulley above the chainring. That could mean YT is following the lead of, well, basically every other brand and moving the Tues to a high pivot suspension design. That would be a shift for the Germans who, for most other bikes, tend to stick to a simple-is-best design principle.
YT currently only offers the Tues in either a 27.5″ or 29″ wheel configuration, though. With the popularity of mullet, or mixed 27.5″ rear and 29″ front wheels seeming to endure beyond a passing fad, maybe a Tues MX is in the works.
