YT Industries Decoy SN 29 Core 4 first ride review
Super Natural goes trail, and we've spent some time on the bike ahead of the launch.
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The Decoy SN MX marked a new direction in YT Industries’ e-mountain bike story, but today, the brand has added a well-timed sequel, the Decoy SN 29. Despite using a similar moniker and the general aesthetic, the Decoy SN 29 gets a bunch of changes made to make it appeal to a wider, trail-going audience. The result is a bike that takes the same values as its bigger-travelled brethren but provides a tangibly different, more versatile, and more easily approached ride. Here are my early impressions.
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YT Industries’ recent e-MTB, the Decoy SN MX, brought something different to YT’s e-MTB-flavoured table. Namely, that’s the silhouette of a regular mountain bike, but with the assistance of Fazua’s Ride 60 drive system. That very same formula has been applied to the brand’s latest e-MTB, the Decoy SN 29, but with 160mm of travel up front, 140mm at the rear, and 29-inch wheels at both ends, it’s poised to appeal more to those of an 'aggressive' trail persuasion.
2025 yt industries decoy 29 sn motor close.jpg, by Liam Mercer
Not only does it get a drop in its suspension figures, but thanks to a new seatstay, the brand has altered the geometry again, to suit its new trail guise better. The Decoy SN 29 welcomes a longer 447mm chainstay, 5mm longer than the Decoy MX, in fact, and that’s been added for more support at speed and improved climbing performance. There’s then a 78.6-degree seat tube angle, which is the steepest measurement to grace a YT bike, as well as a 64.4-degree head tube angle. The reach of the large frame tested comes in at 477mm.
2025 yt industries decoy 29 sn controller.jpg, by Liam Mercer
As alluded to before, this bike runs on Fazua’s Ride 60 motor and battery that knocks out 55nm of torque and 450 W of peak power. However, this bike benefits from Fazua’s 2025 updates, so, importantly, on an e-MTB like this, it gets the new and larger 480Wh battery that represents a 10% increase over the old units. That’s without affecting the weight, according to the brand. Those new updates also include a new controller that allows the user to select modes while also providing access to the new Nitro mode, which gives a quick boost in power for ascending technical sections.
2025 yt industries decoy 29 sn flip chip.jpg, by Liam Mercer
The Decoy SN 29’s frame features all the usual YT facets, including a geometry-adjusting flip chip that slackens the angles and drops the BB, top tube storage mounts, and a carbon fibre V4L link. Speaking of V4L (YT’s suspension kinematic), it’s been tweaked for the Decoy 29 SN. We’re told it’ll be a little plusher at the beginning of the stroke. The leverage ratio has been reduced, as well as the end progression.
Elsewhere, there’s tube-in-tube internal cable routing, and there is no opportunity built-in to accommodate a smaller 650b rear wheel. For more details, check out this story – The Decoy SN 29 joins YT Industries' Super Natural family
YT Industries Decoy SN 29 Core 4 - Componentry
As the Core 4 build sits at the top of the range, you can imagine that YT hasn’t cut any corners. However, it’s the rest of the lineup that gets pretty interesting. Each bike is built around the brand’s ultra-modular carbon fibre frame, but they all feature pretty killer builds.
2025 yt industries decoy 29 sn fork.jpg, by Liam Mercer
Let’s stay with the Core 4 for a moment. It’ll set you back a round £9,000, but for that, almost every component that can be carbon is, and it’s mighty fine kit. Up front is a 160mm Fox 36 Factory with the GRIP X2 damper, and that’s joined by Fox’s Float X Factory shock. The bike is then driven by SRAM’s XO AXS T-Type drivetrain.
2025 yt industries decoy 29 sn mech.jpg, by Liam Mercer
Moving onto that heft of carbon fibre, this Core 4 build gets Race Face’s ERA crankset with 160mm crank arms and the handlebar from the ERA range built to reduce vibration. That bar is fitted with a pair of ODI Elite Motion V2.1 grips.
2025 yt industries decoy 29 sn bar.jpg, by Liam Mercer
Importantly, and perhaps my favourite component on this bike is the Hayes Dominion A4. They’re solid stoppers that emphasise ease-of-service with the cool Crosshair feature and a caliper that can be bled independently of the lever. They provide decent power and modulation, too.
2025 yt industries decoy 29 sn brake cali.jpg, by Liam Mercer
YT Industries Decoy SN 29 Core 4 - First impressions
Aside from a couple of issues, namely problems with the motor and the frame’s overall stiffness, the enduro-focused Decoy SN MX is a bike I gelled with. It suited its intention to a tee but without overstepping the mark in terms of geometry. To find that YT has taken a lot of that bike and boiled it down into a trail-friendly build is a move that’s certainly raised eyebrows, but I’ve been seriously impressed with how the Super Natural formula runs as a trail machine.
2025 yt industries decoy 29 sn riding 4.jpg, by Liam Mercer
Firstly, I’ve ridden the Decoy SN 29 over 75km during a weekend with the guys at YT and the odd blast at the Forest of Dean, so up to this point, it’s seen a good variety of tracks from steeper and more technical through to the mellow and flowy. Versatile, it certainly is.
One thing I need to get out of the way is that the bike I’ve been riding doesn’t run the new 480Wh battery, but rather the 430Wh unit that was standard before Fazua’s 2025 update. Even then, its range is impressive. The motor is fairly frugal with the battery’s power as it has dispatched 35-40km jaunts with around 1,300-1,400m of climbing, which in my books, is plenty. That is mostly in the ‘Breeze’ and ‘River’ modes. Add another 10% of battery capacity to that, and there’s little to complain about in the range department.
2025 yt industries decoy 29 sn riding climb.jpg, by Liam Mercer
In the grand scheme of things, there’s not much that sets the Decoy SN 29 apart from the mixed wheel enduro bike. The only difference in the frame itself is that seatstay, but with that extra 5mm in length, there’s a whole new ride character that brings some much-needed compliance to the party. Because of that alone, it’s a super approachable and welcoming ride that’s not quite as aggressive on the body.
The lengthier chainstay does worlds of good in other areas, too. At speed, it adds stability to the ride, as well as support and an abundance of traction uphill, especially when combined with the very steep seat tube and the suppleness of the suspension early in its stroke.
2025 yt industries decoy 29 sn riding roots.jpg, by Liam Mercer
YT’s tweaks to the V4L suspension platform do great things for the bike's air of confidence. It allows the bike to use its 140mm freely, bringing smoothness and composure to a bike that ends up feeling like it's got more millimetres at its disposal. That doesn’t mean there’s not a decent level of support within those millimetres, though. It’s quite the opposite. When pushing the bike into heavy compressions and corners, the bike remains taught and spritely. And due to its rear-centre/front-centre ratio, it’s very receptive to adjustments in weight distribution when cornering. Load the front in tighter corners to swing the rear around, keep things centred on flat corners, and the grip it conjures is predictable and easily manipulated to the advantage of the rider.
2025 yt industries decoy 29 sn jump.jpg, by Liam Mercer
So far, the Decoy SN 29 is a story of balance, as any good trail bike should be. And with that, its front end isn’t stepping into unfamiliar territory for the brand. It’s not too long and not too slack, but it’s just enough to keep the bike responsive without sacrificing the confidence to hit all manners of trail at full chat. With that, it carries a strikingly similar vibe to the older Decoy 29 but ups the ante with simply more.
We’ve got the YT Industries Decoy SN 29 in for a full review, so keep your eyes on the site for a final verdict coming soon. It’s becoming clear that YT has done an excellent job in broadening its Super Natural recipe with a bike that brings the heavy-hitting goodness of the enduro bike, but in a more appealing, more welcoming, and easier-to-ride package.
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