RM Slayer Vs Pivot Firebird

PB Forum :: All Mountain, Enduro & Cross-Country
RM Slayer Vs Pivot Firebird
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flag seanondemand
Posted: Sep 24, 2017 at 12:52 Quote
ortonc85 wrote:
seanondemand wrote:
I'm fortunate to work in an lbs so I've ridden a lot of bikes this year, including the Firebird, not the rocky though, sadly.

The thing that gets you about the Firebird is how fast it climbs for such a big bike; seriously, it's pretty mind blowing. And then, on the downhill, of course it's a big long fast enduro bike so it shreds. Seriously impressive machine. DW-Link really is gamechanging, but something you notice is that it has a really racy, planted, plowy feel. Not my style, I prefer a playful, flickable bike, but I really liked it nonetheless, and some guy really love the racy feel, like you're railing every berm and landing every drop perfectly.

I really like the feel of the Firebird but i still like to have that playfulness that the Slayer has.....If i go with the Firebird i am afraid of it feeling lethargic and not being able to whip it around the trail like the Slayer, in your opinion can you still throw the Firebird around but maybe not as much as the what everyone is saying about the RM?
I mean, I've never found too many enduro bikes to be super "playful" because I'm pretty small (can't muscle them around) and they're naturally going to be less playful than a shorter travel bike, but I'd say the Firebird is just as flickable as some other ones I've ridden lately (Enduro, Range, Process 153).
flag ortonc85
Posted: Sep 24, 2017 at 13:43 Quote
seanondemand wrote:
ortonc85 wrote:
seanondemand wrote:
I'm fortunate to work in an lbs so I've ridden a lot of bikes this year, including the Firebird, not the rocky though, sadly.

The thing that gets you about the Firebird is how fast it climbs for such a big bike; seriously, it's pretty mind blowing. And then, on the downhill, of course it's a big long fast enduro bike so it shreds. Seriously impressive machine. DW-Link really is gamechanging, but something you notice is that it has a really racy, planted, plowy feel. Not my style, I prefer a playful, flickable bike, but I really liked it nonetheless, and some guy really love the racy feel, like you're railing every berm and landing every drop perfectly.

I really like the feel of the Firebird but i still like to have that playfulness that the Slayer has.....If i go with the Firebird i am afraid of it feeling lethargic and not being able to whip it around the trail like the Slayer, in your opinion can you still throw the Firebird around but maybe not as much as the what everyone is saying about the RM?
I mean, I've never found too many enduro bikes to be super "playful" because I'm pretty small (can't muscle them around) and they're naturally going to be less playful than a shorter travel bike, but I'd say the Firebird is just as flickable as some other ones I've ridden lately (Enduro, Range, Process 153).

Right on! thank you for the input......now do i go with the red or black lol.
flag ortonc85
Posted: Sep 24, 2017 at 20:23 Quote
seanondemand wrote:
Gotta be the red!
I kinda want the red but i saw the black on sale so i might save some cash and upgrade some parts.
flag benjaminSehy
O+
Posted: Sep 27, 2017 at 7:48 Quote
I'm looking to purchase a Slayer, but need a little help on sizing. For you that have purchased the slayer, does the bike fit true to size, or would you recommend sizing up. I'm just under 6'1, 210 pounds and I have longer legs, longer arms and a shorter torso. I ride everything from XC trails to downhill and park.

Please let me know what you all think.
flag Schaefdog
Posted: Sep 27, 2017 at 7:58 Quote
I'm not really sure what to tell you, I'm 5'11", 175lbs and generally land square between M and L on bike sizes. I went with a large and tossed a short stem on the front and love it so far. The large does have a lot of stack height, so my bars are a bit higher than I'd normally run them, but so far it hasn't proven to have any negative impacts on the ride.
flag Lambert45
Posted: Sep 27, 2017 at 8:04 Quote
benjaminSehy wrote:
I'm looking to purchase a Slayer, but need a little help on sizing. For you that have purchased the slayer, does the bike fit true to size, or would you recommend sizing up. I'm just under 6'1, 210 pounds and I have longer legs, longer arms and a shorter torso. I ride everything from XC trails to downhill and park.

Please let me know what you all think.

I am 6ft and I have ridden both the large and XL and for you I would say the XL if you want an all out speed machine and a Large for more of a playful everyday ride. I ride a large
flag ButtersNZ
Posted: Oct 9, 2017 at 13:37 Quote
I can only pitch in my experiences as a Firebird owner. People seem to think it's a plow machine but to me that seems as if they haven't managed to dial in the rear shock properly. For a long time I had struggled to find the sweet spot with the X2 - and found that it ran through travel too easily, never bottoming out harshly but lacked playfulness. I've ramped up tokens and air pressure and landed on some compression and rebound settings that have really made it feel dialled. It's always going to have the slack geometry, but would definitely describe it as playful now. The rear platform feels supple and active, but not harsh.

If you get the chance to ride the FB again, if you felt it was lacking in the 'poppy' dept, try a little more air and an extra spacer or two. I can get my X2 settings to you if you're interested.

On paper though the top Slayer model is better specced than the XT/XTR FB. Saint brakes and Fox 36 RC2 (not Fit4) are a nice touch.

Oh and the way it climbs is mindblowing! I've churned out steep technical climbs on it that in the past I've had to jump off and push. It really is something else Smile
flag BrilliantNeon
Posted: Jan 21, 2018 at 23:01 Quote
Maybe it is a bit out of topic, but what does it mean "pop vs plow" in this context?

Sorry english is my second language.
flag supercollider
O+
Posted: Jan 22, 2018 at 1:19 Quote
Can't really speak for the firebird, but I'm having a blast on my slayer. After demoing a few bikes, including the medium slayer (I'm 5'10), I sized up to the large and then knew it was for me.
Running the X2 shock with a climb switch installed. For me what worked best was backing the rebound damping off to nearly open, and then it ran great.
flag ButtersNZ
Posted: Jan 23, 2018 at 1:29 Quote
BrilliantNeon wrote:
Maybe it is a bit out of topic, but what does it mean "pop vs plow" in this context?

Sorry english is my second language.

Plow is the feeling of your suspension rolling through and absorbing trail features like larger rocks etc without any trouble. This suggests that rider feedback from the suspension is diminished. It's what you might get from a DH bike with lots of travel.

Pop isn't necessarily the opposite, but to me it's a more responsive setup that is more sensitive to the trail and rider inputs. There is a lot of rider feedback from the trail.
flag jarrod801
O+
Posted: Jan 29, 2018 at 11:47 Quote
Hi, Im interested in both of these bikes too. Is the Firebird BB press fit like the Slayer? I love everything about the firebird but I am hoping it is not press fit. thx
flag ButtersNZ
Posted: Jan 29, 2018 at 12:05 Quote
It is, PF92 I think. I've put over 1000km on my FB now and haven't heard a single noise from the BB.
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