For long-haul rides over challenging terrain, we trust the Pivot Shuttle LT Team XTR e-Bike as our steed. As the longest travel option in Pivot’s eMTB lineup, the engineers took hints from the enduro-focused Firebird to create an eMTB that is a beast of a descender with 160mm of DW-Link rear travel while still being a highly capable ride uphill thanks to the extra pedal-assisted range of Shimano’s EP8 drive system. The DW-Link rear travel offers a progressive ride feel and exceptional traction to help us clean lines of slick wet roots in the PNW to jagged slickrock in the Southwest and everywhere in between. Pivot specs a beefy eMTB-tuned Fox Factory 38 with 170mm of travel up front for added torsional stiffness to help us tackle chunky terrain and seemingly endless descents. 29in wheels front and rear make navigating technical terrain and carrying momentum over features effortless, while the slack 64-degree headtube angle in the low setting ensures we have tons of stability when we send it downhill. The premium Shuttle LT Team XTR build is all about tackling bigger rides and sending new lines. The high-quality carbon frame construction provides us with a responsive ride and a lightweight starting point for the build. A 12-speed XTR drivetrain brings the ultra-smooth, reliable shifting while shaving a little bit of weight to keep the build at sub-50lb. Sending new features sometimes means finding ourselves in a sketchy situation needing to stop on a dime, and when that’s the case the 4-piston Shimano XTR brakes bolstered by a 233mm rotor up front and a 203mm rotor in the rear provide plenty of stopping power. Pivot rounds out this premium eMTB with a Fox Factory Series Transfer dropper post for ultra-reliable dropper modulation and tons of travel even on the small frames. The Pivot Shuttle LT Team XTR just begs us to get out there and go big.