The 2020 Last Tarvo Claims to be the Lightest Enduro Frame Ever
Years ago, Last were gracing the pages of Dirt Magazine, with superlative things being written about the performance of their Herb bike. More recently, the brand saw a bit of a re-birth with their Fastforward steel hardtail. Many members of the industry grabbed one of these beautiful frames, I was one of them.
The German brand has been coming out with incredibly well-engineered full suspension aluminium frames coming in at under the 3kg mark for the past few years. But with the launch of their new bike, the Tarvo, Last sought to drop that weight dramatically to improve upon their already proven performance while maintaining a reliable and easy to ride bike. In doing so, they may have just made one of the lightest enduro frames in the world.
The German brand has been coming out with incredibly well-engineered full suspension aluminium frames coming in at under the 3kg mark for the past few years. But with the launch of their new bike, the Tarvo, Last sought to drop that weight dramatically to improve upon their already proven performance while maintaining a reliable and easy to ride bike. In doing so, they may have just made one of the lightest enduro frames in the world.
Last Tarvo Details
• 160mm rear travel (170mm with the MX conversion)
• 170mm fork travel
• 2.08kg frame weight
• Geometry and suspension adjusted per size
• Bike park approved 5-year warranty
• Developed and made in Germany
More info: Last Bikes
• 160mm rear travel (170mm with the MX conversion)
• 170mm fork travel
• 2.08kg frame weight
• Geometry and suspension adjusted per size
• Bike park approved 5-year warranty
• Developed and made in Germany
More info: Last Bikes
There are two options for the linkage for use with different wheel sizes and travel.
No rear mechanical pivot saves weight and instead the engineered flex of the structure is used to provide the movement for the suspension.
Construction & Details
The incredible low frame weight is one of the biggest headlines about the Tarvo. Last already felt that their current bikes had a high level of suspension performance, and so then looked to the weight to improve the overall performance of the bike. But this couldn't come at a cost to the reliability of the bike or the ease of riding, as Last also wanted to create a fast and easy to control bike. It tips the scale at a claimed 2.08kg, which includes all pivot and shock mounting hardware plus the cable routing parts and frame protection on the down tube and chain stay.
The Tarvo is a carbon fibre composite construction with a machined aluminium linkage. The front triangle and rear triangle are moulded in single pieces to avoid the increased material and glue needed when gluing separately moulded parts together. That lack of joints also offers Last slightly better control of fibres around the frame structure without the need to transmit forces across the joints. Their composite also uses a resin with increased impact resistance and is UV stable meaning the raw carbon frame would not react or degrade when out in the sunlight.
Also conscious in their responsibilities to source and manufacture sustainably and ethically, the raw fibres come from Japan where they are then converted into pre-preg in Italy with the laminating being done in Germany at All Ahead. Frame painting is done in Germany, so too is the frame and complete bike assembly. This supply chain location also lends itself very well to an increased level of control on quality available to Last as well as the ability to react faster to any issues that may have presented themselves during development or production.
The optional down tube storage uses the lid to mount the bottle cage and a bag to keep your bits and pieces safe inside the frame.
Internal cable routing is guided inside the down tube and actually acts to help stiffen the frame.
To drop weight, and to take advantage of the ability engineer in flex into the structure, Last removed the rear pivot on the seat stay. Instead, the seat stay itself flexes to provide the necessary movement for going through the suspension travel. Not something new, as other shorter travel bikes use this method, but not something so commonly seen on longer travel bikes.
There's an optional upgrade of a down tube storage compartment, costing €199, which sees a modified layup to accommodate the hole but apparently causes no compromise in frame stiffness. So, if you'd like some added frame storage then you're covered with the accompanying bag to go inside the down tube. Frames use internal cable routing with moulded tubes inside that actually act to stiffen the downtube.
Frames use the UDH from SRAM and utilise a threaded BB for reliability and to hold in the optional ISCG tab if it's needed. There's even captive shock hardware at the link to stop any washers falling out when you take the shock out. The frames are tested at EFBe in Germany to the ASTM 5 standard, allowing Last not only the chance to label the Tarvo as bike park approved, but to offer a 5-year warranty that extends past the first owner to any subsequent owners. There's even a further 3-year crash replacement scheme and Last are also keen to say they are able to repair composite damage if possible. Spare parts are of course available and they include the front and rear triangles. And any composite parts that need replacing can be taken care of by Last and recycled into fibre reinforced thermoplastic parts.
Geometry
The Tarvo is designed as a long travel bike for aggressive riding, and as such uses a 64-degree head angle combined with nice reach numbers for each of the four sizes ranging from 429mm to 518mm. The sizing is based around the typical rider sizes of 165, 175, 185 and 195cm tall.
Last change not only the chainstay length per size, to have a good front to back balance, but also the seat angle. Larger frames get a steeper seat angle to adjust the rider's weight between the contact patches when sat. BB height for the smallest 165 size is 5mm lower than the others. This was done as Last uses a shorter crank length for those smaller riders and saw that they could take advantage of the increased ground clearance on that frame.
Seat post lengths should play well with long dropper posts and the head tube lengths are generous enough to put the bars in a good position for aggressive riding without needing a mountain of stem spacers.
Suspension
Last's Flex Pivot takes advantage of the ability to engineer flex into the carbon structure and provide a pivot at the rear of the bike. The kinematic design minimizes the amount of deflection needed in the seat stays so keeps the stress and strain at a low level.
Last have always used very progressive leverage ratios on their bikes, something that they say contributes to those glowing reviews of the Herb back in the day. The Tarvo retains this same philosophy and has an overall progression of 55% (when looking at how much of percentage is the final ratio from the starting ratio), but Last tend to use their progression percentage from the sag point onwards, which in this case is 34%. So just be aware of that when comparing bikes on paper.
Last recommend using, and spec, shocks with damping adjustment rather than with a lockout switch. This gives Last and the user more adjustment options to dial the bike in for their weight and riding.
Not only did Last adjust the geometry of the frame dependant on the size, but they also altered the kinematics. Leverage ratio stays the same but the anti-squat and anti-rise are tweaked to bring the acceleration and deceleration responses of the bike closer together, giving a more consistent ride feel between sizes and adapting to the changing CoG heights of the different riders.
Last's anti-squat graph compares the bikes at sag changing through the gears on the cassette. In the biggest climbing gear, all the frame sizes share the same anti-squat values and are even very close as you go to a mid-cassette 24-tooth cog. It's only further out at the 10-tooth extreme is there a bit more variation in the frame sizes. For comparison, the grey lines on the graph show the anti-squat values if Last hadn't adapted each frame size and show a much bigger spread in values between the frames.
The same is true of the anti-rise, where all frame sizes show the same values and will then share the same characteristics. Not many brands change their geometry, like chain stay and seat angle, per size, and even fewer change their suspension characteristics. So for Last to do both is a show of how focussed they were on every part of the Tarvo in its role in the bike’s performance.
Also available is the MX option. Using only a different link the Tarvo can be converted into a 170mm travel, 27.5" rear wheeled bike. The MX link adjusts the suspension and geometry for the smaller wheels, increased travel and change in dynamic sag. Inside Last they have found that generally their larger riders prefer the larger rear wheel and the smaller riders prefer the smaller rear wheel, but it's also an option they wanted to offer to everyone to give the freedom of movement that the smaller rear wheel offers.
Builds, Pricing & Availability
The Tarvo comes in a raw carbon finish with the upgrade to the painted blue matte metallic available for €399. Custom colours are also available at a €799 upgrade.
Frames cost between €4038 and €4158 depending on the choice of Fox X2 shocks in coil or air or Superdeluxe Ultimate RCT shocks in coil or air. You can also purchase the frame without shock if you have your own 205 x 65mm shock for €3599.
Complete bikes are available with a customer by customer dialogue to determine the best parts for your needs based on the many options Last have. Complete bikes start at €5799 and can be built as light as 12.4kg.
International shipping is available, but if you can visit Last in Dortmund, Germany they will offer a set up and guided first ride to get the bike settings fine-tuned. Test sessions are also available to try out the Tarvo and other Last bikes with details are available on their website.
185 and 175 frame sizes are available right now with 165 and 195 available in August.
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Member since Apr 6, 2019
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Acutiually we do not save that weight by reducing stabilty. We save the weight by a supreme fibre qualtiy and absoulte production process controll here in Germany.
+We did not desing some fancy design features that only produce weight without any function or strenght gain!
However, look at my username, and the fact that Loic Bruni prefers a 40 pound bike with aluminum everything, so what do I know?
Trump being a con man, and a dolt outside of the con, doesn't mean that economic theory is wrong, correct?
It exists not to make you faster, but to make you BETTER than others in your riding group. You're 47. Your wife left you a while ago, and you only see the kids on weekends. You're upper management at a tech company, or a lawyer. You already have a Tesla, and you can't afford to also have a $200k BMW. You make a ton of money, but with alimony and child support you can't go too crazy.
Enter this bike. You show up with your other riding buddies, all in their 40s and 50s, all 30 pounds overweight wearing $500 sunglasses. Everyone has Enve rims. Everyone has a Kuat rack. The only thing left to you to oneup them is Pinarello. Boom- instant top of the pecking order.
Actiually I can totally understand your concerns, because it's new, because it's something that has not been done before on a gravity orientated bike.
But does that mean it's bad?
If you look at the numbers of leverage ratio, anti squat and even anti rise we could hardly have created a kinematic that was more suitable for a full on enduro racing machine. Even if we had added 28 more bearings and a slider (which sure would have looked super awesome and therefore would have made it a way more reasonable discussion with your wife ???? or your husband to be fair to all the fast girls out there❤️)
So the only remaining worries could be that the flex is so strong that it negatively affects the spring curve of your rear suspension and that the flex is so strong that seatstay may break. But neighter is the case.
You may not belive me but actiually we engineered the kinematics with a flex needed so little that once you have removed the shock you can push the swingarm through its travel by just slightly touching it with your little finger. I'm pretty sure some of the magazines will demonstrate that once they have the bike
And because the fiber layup is made in a way that supports this flexible movement only in the desired direction the swingarm remains stiff and 100% play free in the sideways direction. You will also never nerd to service that Pivot.
The bike was designed to be light not because we wanted to build the lightest enduro bike the wold has seen, but because we realized we could do it without any drawbacks.
Correct Toptube length are : 581 for Medium, 604 for Large , 633 for XL and 666mm for XXL
Really nice loolong and I fully understand tge oremium orice considering the production. BUT at that price the storage should be included. 200 for that alone ist not that nice. On other frames you pay more for different carbon layup but not for the stealth storage or so. That is a
New price politics.
Most bikes don't tend to go through seatstay/chainstay bearings, for precisely the same reason why you are able to avoid using them on your frame.
I keep my bikes for 6+ years, and the only bearings I've ever had to replace are at the shock rocker link (once at 5 years on my current bike). My old bike used to chew through shock DU bushings every couple of years, but never had problems with any of the bearings and I had it for 8 years before selling it.
I acknowledge your frame has gone through EFBe ASTM certification, designs, layups and resins are different etc, but some of us are old enough to remember what used to happen to Yeti 575 frames with their carbon flex pivot. People aren't concerned because it's never been done before, they're concerned because it _has_ been done before, and the results weren't great, even on a "trail bike".
PS If you're going to be responding on forums, try and keep your tone a bit more professional, the post I'm responding to sounds like it was written by a defensive teenager.
videos.mtb-news.de/52987/ihr_fragt_wir_antworten_last_tarvo
It't been made for answearing some questions in the mostly german mtb-news.com forum but I think even without english subtitle it may be interesting to see how little flex there is. As I said above, its hard to argue that there is any influence on the suspension dynamics.
The cost per unit is likely a tad (Just a tad) Higher than a 4000€ Yeti oder 3500€ SC frame.
You’re seriously trying to compare expensive frames like Yeti to a $/pound 200 phone? No, the Yeti is like the iPhone 11 Pro. And this is like the iPhone 11 Pro with different paint on it, then marked up by a factor of 5
I'm not saying this one is the right price, just that some people seem to look not so much for a bike than for a price.
Our "modern" and "developped" societies have totally lost track of the cost of things, one of those things being the cost of life. This whole world is a mirage based on cheap energy and no one seems to be bothered. Amaizing.
Brands have to innovate, make new stuff and it isn't going to be for everyone but bloody hell, why don't you all post your attempt at a carbon super bike before you rubbish it. It looks pretty awesome to me. We just need a review to see how it rides!
The price of the tarvo has also been a topic in German bike magazine reviews: magazines that a few pages further present made-in-asia-brands costing 5 digit amounts without stating even a single concern about the price tag.
And yes: the company is rider owned.
And by now there’s at least 4 reviews I‘ve seen that prove the bike‘s excellence (10/10 FREERIDE; MTB Magazine „Outstanding“ etc.)
But it is what it is: haters gonna hate—and even if they have to refer to German history to do so…
Purely guessing here but surely you could drop it off to a custom painters and get a full, elaborate hand masked / painted job for that kind of money, or less?
So if I want one painted in red with the X2 shock, I will have to pay five thousand euros for the privilege.. it makes Yetis look decent value.
Not associated with this company, but I work in product development so figured I'd jump in and mansplain the crap out of it.
Sure we could do it for less in Bangladesh.
Those frames are custom Paintet by 70ID in Hagen, Germany.
If you want supreme quality custom paintjob made by hand in Germany thats quite a fair price
Yeti builds great bikes, cant deny that! But if you consider value its good to know that Yeti Frames (and most other boutique brands frames) are made in Asia while this Frame is 100% Produced in Germany.
Big plus for Yeit ist that you get 1kg extra material for free
Lovely frame though.
Still completely obscene to charge €400 extra to change just a single colour - starling charge £120 for custom colour, Stanton similar I believe? Neither will be ‘F1 light paint’ but they won’t be painted in Bangladesh either as Last seem to assume is the only other option....
That being said, in very real terms this frame is made in low volume, in the country with some of the highest wages in the world and does not cost THAT much more than a mass produced Yeti which is made by some of the lowest paid workers on the planet. While that in itself does not add any value/functionality out on the trail, at least it justifies the price - quite simply, Last employees have to afford to live in Germany from selling a small number of frames.
Think about it. That Yeti SB 140 just reviewed here, in terms of real world value and where/how it's made is closer to a Nukeproof Reactor (that's almost exactly £2000 cheaper for a similar build) than it is to the Last. Yes, the Last is more expensive than a Yeti, but quite possibly it's the Yeti that is more overpriced.
As I said above, I understand better than most the costs and issues involved with manufacturing on home soil, we make choices Last make choices - they chose a painter that charges an astronomically high sum for painting their frames in a single colour, that has nothing to do with Last employees affording to live in Germany, unless of course charging a ridiculous amount for paint they don’t sell enough to pay the bills that is.
I totaly understand that 400$ for a paintjob sounds a lot! But 70ID is doing a great Job in (hand)spraying those frames. If there was a painter nearby that could do it in the same quality and relability as Lars from 70ID is doing it we probaply would have chosen him.
Whenever we chose a suplier we ask ourselves if we were willing to work at that place and only if all of us can agree on that we will chose that suplier!
Those who have been to our showroom or know us from the trails may know that we are good guys and that engineering and riding bikes is our passion. And that passion is something that we always liked to share at a price that we (knowing about all the nice little details and the quality of the product) think is fair to ask.
Honestly, if any of us was after the big money we would probaply be in another industry
I think I find the comment about the alternative to a €400 basic paint job is one from ‘Bangladesh’ the most odd - a strange comment to make on many levels.
Let me ask this, if an absolutely identical product is made in ‘china’ V Germany - aside from more complicated concerns of economics and politics, what benefit will the customer see if one is 25% more expensive?
I’m not doubting your passion, the performance of the bike, the quality of the finish of the paint even, If you feel it is worth it and your customers will appreciate it then that’s great and I genuinely wish you all success, beautiful frame and probably worth the money, just maybe not the paint ;-)
Id rather a lifetime warranty Than a f*cking paint job...
But the completes are better value!
In the summer it's 95-100F with at least 80% humidity.
Add on a pack of horse flies dive bombing your head.
My skinny ass don't want any extra weight.
@nouseforaname I totaly agree with you, weight for itself is worth almost noting! But as I said above,
the bike was designed to be light not because we wanted to build the lightest enduro bike the wold has seen, but because we realized we could do it without any drawbacks.
A Megatower XO1 costs 7499€; a very simililar build Last Tarvo (for my taste even better components) costs around 7300€ (8000€ with dhX2, Fox 38, XO1, Code RSC and carbon cockpit).
So why the hate?!
Awesome bike made by two excellent brands!
If you are really interested you should check the pricelist: www.last-bikes-shop.com/epages/62262325.sf/en_GB/?ViewObjectPath=%2FShops%2F62262325%2FProducts%2F161
????
Me to.... claiming first to roll in last!
Boom, nailed it!
Though, that smallest size, 165, gets shafted on this: its chainstays are only 2mm shorter than the next size up while the rest change by 8mm. Maybe should have done 27 or mullet on that size...
Super well engineered and thought through. Will probably buy a Last att some point. Looked att the Clay V2 and Glen but landed in A Knolly Fugitive. Well engineered bikes ftw.
In all reality, this is really cool engineering, but at that price you can get a Scott Ransom with a frame weight of 2.6kg, barely heavier but with a solid reputation for durability, ride quality, and customer support.
m.pinkbike.com/news/racing-rumors-2019-and-beyond.html
...and follow up to Randy
Also I'm not really a big fan of flexible seat stays. The flex/characteristics of your rear shock can be adjusted to your liking, whereas you obviously can't adjust frame flex for compression- and rebound damping. I guess thats not really a problem on short travel XC racing missiles like the Trek Supercaliber or Canyon Lux, but on these longer travel bikes it's basically as if your rear shock was kinda limited in its adjustable range.
Might just be me, but I prefer a frame that feels rock solid instead of flexible.
Actiually I can totally understand your concerns, because it's new, because it's something that has not been done before on a gravity orientated bike.
But does that mean it's bad?
If you look at the numbers of leverage ratio, anti squat and even anti rise we could hardly have created a kinematic that was more suitable for a full on enduro racing machine. Even if we had added 28 more bearings and a slider (which sure would have looked super awesome and therefore would have made it a way more reasonable discussion with your wife Big Grin or your husband to be fair to all the fast girls out there❤️)
So the only remaining worries could be that the flex is so strong that it negatively affects the spring curve of your rear suspension and that the flex is so strong that seatstay may break. But neighter is the case.
You may not belive me but actiually we engineered the kinematics with a flex needed so little that once you have removed the shock you can push the swingarm through its travel by just slightly touching it with your little finger. I'm pretty sure some of the magazines will demonstrate that once they have the bike
And because the fiber layup is made in a way that supports this flexible movement only in the desired direction the swingarm remains stiff and 100% play free in the sideways direction. You will also never nerd to service that Pivot.
The bike was designed to be light not because we wanted to build the lightest enduro bike the wold has seen, but because we realized we could do it without any drawbacks.
If thats true, that is amazing! As far as i know the are the first company to do so.
I would feel a bit less like a Planet destroyer if im on a Recyclabel Bike, riding aroumd on 2kg of hazardous waste.
Correct Toptube length are : 581 for Medium, 604 for Large , 633 for XL and 666mm for XXL
I’d be interested in one, but because of my personal proportions the seat angle is too slack for me. 74 actual like on my Raaw Madonna is fantastic for me. Do you offer custom geometry of some sort?
Giant alu and carbon frames are really light, my Trance Advanced 29 in XL comes at around 12kg without pedals and that's with 1800gr wheels, GX gearing, Fox performance grip fork and dpx2 shock (but with light cockpit, nobby nics and carbon cranks), with proper tires, Code brakes and larger rotors it's still under 12.5kg.
Awesome frame, thank you for making this!
No.I will keep my Last Ffwd, steel forever no plastic superlight build. I dont need that, even If it would be my last bike (seriously). And NO: trunnion mount, flexing chainstays....
I mean, for 4kEuro, I'd expect _everything_ to be immaculate.
Why not vary the cranks all across the line? Or just put the short ones on every size? Changing just one size's crank length doesn't make any sense. They are implying that it matters more for the shortest riders than the tallest riders...Does it matter or not? (It doesn't, for the most part. This has been shown with empirical data.)
I would say shorter cranks makes more sense in overall bike park/trail riding
For the street bike, just too lazy to find 165
Took me too long to realise they weren't suggesting cables were increasing the stiffness of the frame.
geometrygeeks.bike/bike/last-tarvo-2021
f*ckING NOTHING.
Life risking landfill trash is what that shit is.
The problem would be that the frame is to slack with that seat angle to get a nice and easy ride to the top.
Compare the Privateer, Pole or something else who really think about long reach numbers and compare the seat angle.
Correct Toptube length are : 581 for Medium, 604 for Large , 633 for XL and 666mm for XXL
www.pinkbike.com/video/516968
That's a hella light bike.
Its gonna be all over Eurobike this year.
enjoy your day.
Correct Toptube length are : 581 for Medium, 604 for Large , 633 for XL and 666mm for XXL
Our Website is WWW.LAST-Bikes.com
One of the two heads of company is Prof. Dr. Ing., teaching cad and construction engineering at the University of applied sciences in Osnabrück...and is ripping riding downhill.
Just saying...
- one of the few advantages of carbon over metal tubes is that you can simply reinforce that area around the void
- is not that Last would carve a hole in the frame without doing all the testing