This is not the intro I had planned for the new YT Decoy mark 2. But last week, YT took the painful step of entering self-administration, sending a shockwave through the mountain bike community. We covered as much as we know about the situation in the news story, so I’m not going to repeat it all here, but this was not the plot twist either I, or presumably YT, was expecting. In June, I was in Poland on the launch for this bike, along with CEO and founder Markus Flossmann, and everything seemed on track and everyone seemed upbeat.

The Core 4 Decoy is the top model and costs £8,999 / €8,999.

YT Decoy need to know

• YT releases its first major updates to the Decoy
• Switches from Shimano to the Bosch Performance CX motor
• Travel boosted to 170mm rear with 180mm fork, alongside MX wheels
• 800Wh internal battery is not removable
• Gets Bosch Kiox 400C colour display top tube display along with power update to 100Nm and 750W
• Full carbon frame with carbon link
• Flip-chip geo adjustment
• Only room for a 475ml bottle – no space to run the range extender
• Weights from 23.2kg
• Five frame sizes (from S to XXL) and four build options, with prices starting at £5,999

– Short of time? Click here to skip to the verdict –

A month after the Decoy launch, I’m writing about a new e-bike from a company with an uncertain future, but also one whose survival will depend, in part, on how this bike goes down. Quite apart from whether this new Decoy is any good or not, to a large extent, its success hinges on consumers being prepared to hand their money over to a brand that might not be around in a few month’s time. That’s a big ask. Even for a company with a loyal following like YT.

I really hope YT can weather the storm, not only because it makes great bikes, employs great people, and genuinely changed the face of mountain biking when it burst onto the scene in 2006, but because if YT can’t survive, how many others will fail?

And the irony is, this latest Decoy is one of, if not the best e-bikes I’ve ridden with the new Bosch Performance CX gen 5 drive unit.

Evolution not revolution: The previous generation Decoy (right) has hardly changed until now, and the new one (left) still bears a strong family resemblance.

Frame

You could be forgiven for thinking that the new Decoy isn’t really new at all. At a glance, it’s hard to distinguish the old from the new, but start to zoom in on a few areas and the differences become clear.

The Bosch CX motor is definitely bulkier than the old Shimano EP8 unit, but it gives way more power, range, and control.

The key change being that it comes with the Bosch Performance CX gen 5 motor, usurping the Shimano EP801 found on the outgoing version. Instead of a third party 720Wh battery, the Decoy runs the full Bosch system, with a larger 800Wh battery cosseted within the completely enclosed down tube. I’ll cover that in more detail in the motor and battery section, but the main advantage of the non-removable battery is that it minimises frame weight and complication. Compared to other bikes with the tubby 800Wh battery, YT seems to have done a better job of disguising the girth. So while nothing like as anorexic as the down tube on a DJI bike, like the game-changing Amflow PL Carbon, the Decoy’s belly doesn’t look overly pregnant.

Sips not gulps – there’s only room for a meagre 475ml bottle on the Decoy.

The whole bike has an imposing air of solidity, from the rhino-like neck behind the head tube to the well-fed top tube and hefty stays. This is a bike that has not forgotten its leg work. One flip side of all the puffed up tube profiles is that there’s only room for a stingy 475ml Thirtmaster 2000 bottle, and no chance to top up the internal battery with Bosch’s PowerMore 250 range extender.

The twist and pull charging port cover is well-engineered and worthy of a £9k bike. Other brands take note.

Large recessed cable entry ports dominate the front of the head tube – no headset routing here – and bonded tubes inside the frame make servicing a doddle. There are bolts for an accessory/tool mount under the down tube, and a massive armoured motor guard at the base of the down tube. A thick rubber chainstay protector is designed to keep chain slap and noise to a minimum. Best of all, there’s a well-engineered charging port cover, with a nice rubber seal, rather than a cheap flap that never closes properly. All the details look and feel substantial and built to last.

Sizing and geometry

It’s a full carbon frame, right down to the carbon swing link, and YT offers it in five sizes, from S to XXL. With reach options from 435mm to 515mm, YT seems to have all the bases covered. At 178cm, I rode a size large with a 475mm reach, and felt comfortable both seated and standing. Given the short seat tubes, riders on a medium could easily upsize to a large, or from large to XL, with minimal concern about dropper post insertion.

Flicking through the rest of the geometry numbers reveals a 64º head angle, 445mm chainstay length across all sizes, and a 32mm BB drop. I didn’t measure the BB height, but given the Decoy SN MX has similar travel and the same wheel size configuration, tyre spec, and BB drop, with a 333mm BB height, I’d expect the Decoy to be similar. That’s pretty low.

But hold on, there’s also a flip clip lowering the BB height by a claimed 7mm, and slackening the angles by 0.5º. Don’t forget this will also reduce the reach as well. Seat tube angles are noticeably steep, at 78º in the regular flip chip setting.

Angles and crisp edges redefine the new Decoy’s aesthetic, but it’s a very similar suspension layout to the old bike.

Suspension

YT’s familiar four-bar V4L design makes another appearance on the new Decoy. It’s interesting that YT didn’t move the whole linkage up a little, anchor the forward shock mount to the top tube, and enlarge the space inside the main triangle to fit a full-size water bottle or a range extender, but I guess, if it ain’t broke, don’t try to fix it. Actually, looking at the hundreds of design studies on show at the launch for this bike, I can see that the YT engineers did at least conceptualise this layout. Maybe they didn’t want it to end up looking too much like a Specialized Turbo Levo.

In keeping with the no-nonsense look of the Decoy, YT has upped the travel to 170mm at the rear with a wholesome 180mm travel fork. That’s serious territory, but I’m not sure it will scare off YT’s typical customer, who seem to like having the power tools to demolish any trail that they point it down.

The big down tube houses Bosch’s 800Wh battery, giving plenty of range, and while not as slender as a DJI bike, it doesn’t look as bloated as some Bosch e-bikes.

Looking at the kinematics, YT has kept the anti-squat low – almost entirely below 100% no matter what gear or position in the travel. This should keep the bike active and allow the suspension plenty of freedom, unhindered by the drivetrain at the sacrifice of some pedal efficiency. But when you have 750w and 100Nm, who cares? Not me.

The leverage curve is fairly consistent through the first half of the travel, starting high at 3.3:1 to keep it supple off the top, then tapering off at around 100mm to add progression. Of course this is only really important when studied in combination with the shock to give the wheel rate – what you actually feel on the bike. In percentage terms, the Decoy has a progression rate of a little over 30%.

On this Core 4 model there’s a Fox Float X2 shock combined with a Factory 38 Grip X2 fork, but other models come with components from Ohlins, RockShox, and Marzocchi, creating an unusually diverse range of options.

The battery is not designed to be easily removable. Bosch needs offer a fast charger to compete with DJI and Specialized for riders who like to do two-battery days.

Motor and battery

Fitted with Bosch’s flagship Performance CX motor, the Decoy is the first e-bike I’ve tried with the power upgraded to 750w and the torque to 100Nm. It’s also the first bike I’ve seen with the new Kiox 400C top tube display, and my first chance to try the explosive new eMTB+ mode.

YT’s sump guard is super sturdy and includes air vents for cooling.

Announced back in May, the new power update for the Bosch system is free to download and install for all existing owners, giving not only 750w peak power and 100Nm torque, owners can also enjoy up to 400% support. Meaning if you put in 100w, the system will give you 400w. The new Decoy comes with the upgrade already installed, and by hooking up to the Bosch Flow app, you can customise the power, support, torque and responsiveness of the motor in any mode. It’s also possible to change which modes are live, and even reduce the number of modes available while riding. So you could, for example, just run eMTB+ and Tour+, for a simplified experience.

Talking of eMTB+, this new mode sits between eMTB and Turbo and is an intelligent mode exploiting all the motor sensors to vary the output depending on the circumstances. But in this case the wick has been turned up noticeably higher than eMTB, with punchier support, faster reactivity and a new extended boost feature where just a little ratchet of the cranks will give the maximum 2m overrun.

Bosch’s Kiox 400C took too long to arrive, but I’m glad it’s finally here.

Bosch’s top tube integrated screen has been a long time coming, but it’s a really nice upgrade, even if it doesn’t feature touchscreen functionality. The screen is easy to read, gives you stacks of data, and what I really like is the dynamic display, adapting the data depending on the riding scenario. So downhills just show a massive speed reading, uphills show power and cadence and elevation gain. A USB-C port adds a touch of practicality, and there is also a navigation function giving turn-by-turn signals and basic mapping.

YT has been smart in opting for the 800Wh battery. With this much power and torque, the 600Wh is simply too much of a compromise. In our official range test, using a control loop and tyres, we managed 1,601m of climbing in Turbo with the 800Wh battery and power upgrade. On the YT Decoy launch, I got 2,185m of climbing (I’m 78kg) using mostly eMTB with one climb in Tour + and still had 15% battery left over. That’s pretty impressive.

One interesting detail is that the internal battery mounts incorporate rubber bushings. It’s intended to keep the battery somewhat isolated from jolts and impacts which can cause the system to shut down. I’ve had this happen to me on at least three Bosch bikes now, so it if they work as intended, they sound like a worthy addition,

Mavens help keep the 23kg weight in check.

Components

As the top model in the range, the Decoy Core 4 comes with full Fox Factory-level suspension, SRAM X0 Eagle Transmission and DT Swiss HXC 1501 carbon wheels. For £9k it’s a solid build, but it’s telling that the original Decoy top end build with a similar spec (no wireless drivetrain) was £6k just four years ago. While a similar build from Santa Cruz or Specialized is has actually remained fairly static, or even come down in price in a similar time. And that’s probably a case of traditional brands cutting margins and becoming more competitive while direct-sales marques have simultaneously been hit harder by things like Brexit. The upshot being that YT’s value is good, but the price advantage is nowhere near as wide as it used to be.

DT Swiss HXC 1501 carbon wheels with 12º engagement.

On the Core 4, I’d like to see grips with more padding than the ODI Elite Motion V2.1s fitted, and a bar with more compliance than the Renthal Fatbar 35, but those minor points aside, the spec is pretty sorted with Continental Kryptotal tyres in the right compound and casing, and heavy-duty SRAM Maven brakes to keep the 23.2kg mass from running away. Wait, there is one major issue with one of the components, but I’ll cover that in the Performance section.

And if the Fox/SRAM spec doesn’t float your boat, how about an Ohlins spec with TTX22 m.2 coil shock for £1k less? Or a Zeb Select+ and Vivid Select+ equipped Core 2 with mechanical SRAM Transmission for £6,999? And the range starts with the Marzocchi-suspended Core 1 with Shimano Deore for £5,999.

For a chunky full power e-bike, the Decoy is impressively chuckable.

Performance

Last time we tested the previous Decoy was 2023, and we were impressed by the agility given the amount of travel on offer. History has a tendency to repeat itself, and in the case of the 2026 Decoy, adding extra travel front and rear, growing the sizing, and installing a bigger, heavier battery has done nothing to blunt the playful, reactive handling.

A steep seat angle helps on steeper gradients.

Climbing

One of the few problems with the old model was the slack seat angle, that sunk you deeper into the suspension travel on climbs and compromised your body position. With the steep 78º seat angle, this is no longer a problem, and I didn’t have any problems maintaining traction while controlling front end lift on the climbs.

On the old bike it was worth using the compression lever on the Fox Float X2 shock to help counteract that additional sag on ascents, but that’s not necessary on the new Decoy, which helps with finding grip and traction on damp, loose, or rough surfaces.

Even with the new power upgrade, the Bosch motor is really controllable.

And with a big increase in power and support over the old Shimano EP8 motor, I could breeze up climbs with barely any effort, or dial back the assistance and endure more of a workout.

The Decoy was always a superbly fun and capable bike, that felt at home on almost any trail, and even with more travel, bigger sizing, and added weight, the new Decoy hasn’t lost any of that panache.

Descending

Better still, where the old Shimano motor rattled like a pea in a tin can, the Decoy is now totally silent, thanks to that Bosch CX motor, securely tied down cables, and well-positioned rubber frame protection. It’s a blissfully peaceful ride, even if the bike continually urged me to get loose and rowdy and let the chaos rein around!

It’s on steep, chunky terrain and high-speed tracks that the Decoy really excels. The rear suspension is beautifully active and responsive, with bags of support to push against for generating lift and speed. For such a big, capable bike it’s surprisingly precise and easy to place.

There’s also rock-solid stability in the air and on landing.

Nor does it feel dull and lethargic on more mellow trails – there’s still a dynamism that keeps it rewarding and increases the versatility.

There’s no shortage of stiffness and solidity either. Which inspires confidence on rowdier terrain and big features, but I did struggle to hold lines on some off-camber sections, and noticed a subtle background firmness, verging on harshness, through my hands. Which is partly down to the skinny grips and stiff handlebar, but also the Fox 38 Grip X2 fork.

Get the Decoy on mellower trails and it’s still a blast to ride.

Remember that issue I mentioned earlier? Well it’s the Fox fork. There’s just too much binding and friction internally to let the Grip X2 damper move freely, and that results in less control and more transmission of spiky impacts to the hands. How do I know it’s the 38 chassis? Well the new 36 chassis has been redesigned for this year, and given a new Glidecore airspring, and transformed as a result. Likewise the Podium inverted fork, which takes plushness to a whole new level.

The Decoy needs a better fork along with a softer bar and grips to let the front end match the back end.

So while the rear end on the Decoy is totally sorted with a fantastic shock tune, the fork lets the side down a little. It’s a shame, but I’m sure Fox will sort it out with a new chassis for the 38 next year.