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In April 2023, the female-dedicated model launched the Intrigue LT, a long-travel mountain bike with essentially the most beneficiant suspension Liv has supplied but.
The bikes have 160mm of entrance suspension journey and 150mm within the again, which is regular throughout three carbon builds. These are the Intrigue LT Superior Professional 0, 1, and a couple of. (Although the Intrigue LT Superior Professional 2 is just not at the moment accessible within the U.S.)
There’s additionally the Intrigue LT 1 and a couple of, with the identical plush suspension however an aluminum body, much less glamorous parts, and a softer price ticket. The 5 fashions vary from $2,800 to $12,500, with the top-tier experience engaging in one of the premium builds for girls up to now.
Whereas we coated the preliminary launch, we wished to get the bike on filth for a full take a look at. For five months, I’ve ridden this bike in Southwest Colorado, principally the place I stay within the Crested Butte-Gunnison Valley. Right here, steep, steady climbs and descents and chunky trails can be found. I additionally loved loads of buttery singletrack and approaches through broad rural roads. The Superior Professional 0 and I rolled over greater than 300 miles and 45,000 ft of ascent/descent.
In short: The Intrigue LT Superior Professional 0 mountain bike is a light-weight, high-end enduro machine that comfortably rides the steeps and expenses rocky terrain. The standout options are Fox Reside Valve electronically valved suspension and three body configurations through the brand new Maestro 3 flip-chip.
In 2024, this bike’s title will likely be up to date to Liv Intrigue LT Superior 0, Liv Intrigue LT Superior 1, and many others. The know-how and specs will stay the identical.
Liv Intrigue LT Superior Professional 0
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Body
Superior-Grade Composite -
Fork
Fox 36 Manufacturing unit Reside Valve, 160 mm -
Shock
Fox Manufacturing unit Reside, customized tuned for Liv, 150 mm -
Seat Tube Size
16.5 in -
Seat Tube Angle
77.3 (Low), 77.6 (Mid), 78 (Excessive) -
High Tube Size
22.9 in (Low), 22.8 in (Mid), 22.8 in (Excessive) -
Head Tube Size
3.9 in -
Head Tube Angle
64.8 (Low), 65.1 (Mid), 65.5 (Excessive) -
Wheelbase
47.6 in (Low), 47.5 in (Mid), 47.5 (Excessive) -
Attain
17.3 in (Low), 17.4 in (Mid), 17.6 in (Excessive) -
Shifters
SRAM AXS Rocker, 1×12 -
Rear Derailleur
SRAM XX1 Eagle AXS -
Tires
29-inch tubeless Maxxis Minion DHF 3C MaxxTerra EXO (entrance), Maxxis Dissector 3C MaxxTerra EXO (rear), MX suitable -
Saddle
Liv Sylvia
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Lengthy-travel girls’s-specific enduro bike -
Adaptable, easy-to-change geometry with three body choices -
Digital shifter -
Digital app-controlled suspension with big selection -
Built-in storage compartment in body -
Tremendous mild carbon body
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Do not forget to cost your battery for digital shifting (or carry an additional) -
An enormous price ticket -
Bike personalization may be over-the-top for some riders -
Lengthy journey is not crucial for these centered on cross-country, much less steep, slower rides
Liv Intrigue LT: So Many Choices!
Liv presents the Intrigue LT Superior Professional 0 in an a wide selection of builds. Throughout all 5 of the builds, the small and extra-small frames are solely accessible within the “MX” configuration, which has a 29″ wheel within the entrance and a 27.5″ wheel on the rear.
Then, the medium and huge frames come inventory as a 29er association suitable throughout the three Maestro 3 flip-chip settings. You may convert these body sizes to a 27.5″ rear wheel. You simply received’t be capable of use the low flip-chip setting.
All variations have the brand new Maestro 3 flip chip to regulate body geometry, tubeless tires, Liv Sylvia seat, and storage within the down tube.
One of the crucial vital variations between the Intrigue LT Superior Professional 0 and 1 is that the 0 boasts the Fox Manufacturing unit Reside Valve digital suspension system.
Out there Builds
Right here’s a rundown of the gathering with a handful of the contrasts:
- Intrigue LT Superior Professional 0: Carbon, Fox 36 Manufacturing unit Reside Valve fork, Fox Manufacturing unit Reside Valve shock, SRAM AXS Rocker shifters, Shimano XTR M9120 brakes, Shimano RT-66 rotors $12,500
- Intrigue LT Superior Professional 1: Carbon, Fox 36 Efficiency Elite fork, Fox Float X Efficiency Elite shock, SRAM GX Eagle shifters, SRAM G2 RSC brakes, SRAM CenterLine rotors, $7,000
- Intrigue LT Superior Professional 2: Carbon, Marzocchi Bomber Z1 fork, Fox Float DPS Efficiency shock, SRAM SX Eagle shifters, Tektro M745 brakes, Tektro rotors, $3,639 — solely accessible in Canada at print
- Intrigue LT 1: Aluminum, Fox 36 Float Efficiency fork, Fox Float DPS Efficiency shock, Shimano SLX M7100 shifters, Tektro M750 brakes, Tektro rotors, $3,126 — solely accessible in Canada at print
- Intrigue LT 2: Aluminum, RockShox 35 Gold RL fork, Fox Float DPS Efficiency shock, SRAM SX Eagle shifters, Tektro M745 brakes, Tektro rotors, $2,800
Why Is a Girls’s Lengthy-Journey Bike a Large Deal?
At present’s Liv Intrigue LT is among the few full-suspension girls’s-specific mountain bikes with a 160mm entrance/150mm rear suspension. This quaint membership contains fashions just like the Juliana Roubion ($4,999-8,999) with an MX wheel combo. And the Scott Contessa Genius St 910 TR Bike ($7,600) can accommodate a 29-inch or 27.5-inch wheel setup.
Whereas loads of girls get pleasure from driving unisex or males’s bikes, few girls’s-specific enduro choices exist. Liv solely works with girls’s-specific bikes, a dedication it takes additional than most producers.
Bonnie Tu, feminine chairperson and former CFO of Large, which owns Liv, based the model. Many of the model’s workers — together with the designers, engineers, product managers, advertising and marketing, and PR — are feminine. And the bikes are rather more than only a completely different paint scheme on the body.
As we’ve coated previously, Liv’s body geometry is strategically constructed based mostly on compiled knowledge on the feminine anatomy. The lineups and top-tier parts prolong to small and extra-small body choices, together with 29ers and mullets, which many different manufacturers don’t make.
Liv Intrigue LT Superior Professional 0 Assessment
Liv has an evolving household of Intrigue bikes devoted to the path class. In 2020, Liv launched the Intrigue 29, an aluminum 29er with the model’s first flip chip know-how, providing two body geometries. That mannequin was an evolution of the unique Intrigue, a 27.5 platform. The Liv Intrigue LT Superior Professional 0 is its personal animal.
This body is product of a light-weight, high-performance, Superior-Grade Composite that Liv manufactures in-house out of uncooked carbon fiber and customized resin. The body is noticeably feathery — I’ve by no means loaded a hitch or cleansing rack with such ease. If anybody else picked up my bike, there was quick commentary on how cloud-like it was. However the bike felt sturdy on the path with out the additional grams.
I used to be on the higher finish of a small body dimension and went with the medium, which labored nicely for me. I’m below 5’6” with a protracted torso, so I might’ve felt crunched on the extra petite body.
Each element of this machine felt snug, clean, environment friendly, and speedy whatever the technical setting because the bike adjusted on the fly. This luxury enduro bike was a Ferrari of the forest.
Model New on the Intrigue LT Superior Professional 0: Maestro 3 Flip Chip
After all, I like lengthy descents as a lot as the subsequent rider. However I like the complete mountain expertise, together with climbs, particularly when the body helps me achieve this extra comfortably. The Maestro 3 flip-chip aided this by changing the body geometry.
Adjustable geometry isn’t new. The debut of the 2020 Intrigue 29 was an aluminum 29er with the unique flip chip know-how, which has two body choices — a excessive or low setting. That twin chip will stay on Liv’s analog Intrigue 29er vary and e-mountain bike.
Liv launched the Maestro 3 flip chip with the 2023 LT lineup, and the know-how permits riders to tailor the bike to 3 geometries.
How Maestro 3 Works
There’s a black-colored chip that I may simply pull out of the inside of the higher rocker arm of the suspension system. The bike got here inventory within the low setting, and turning the chip 180 levels activated the excessive setting. A second chip with the mid-level choice comes with the bike. If you need the mid setting, pull out the excessive/low chip and place the mid chip inside — don’t lose both of them!
More often than not, I loved driving within the low place, which is slacker and will increase stability when shifting quick. The place I most observed this geometry was how snug descents had been on super-steep terrain. The tradeoff was much less pedal clearance for rocky sections, which I didn’t love, particularly on climbs. And the bike felt much less exact.
As a impartial all-around alternative, the mid place introduced extra pedal clearance and was comparatively snug for climbs. The excessive setting amplified each variables, lowering pedal strikes — sure, please — and higher supporting the climbing physique place and dealing with.
I loved all of the geometries relying on my temper and the route of alternative. I most well-liked to set the flip chip at house to attenuate trailside downtime, however others wish to flip it between sections to optimize efficiency for every terrain kind. All it took was a couple of minutes with a 5mm hex wrench.
Digital Suspension
As acknowledged earlier, lengthy journey particularly designed round girls isn’t anticipated. On the Liv Intrigue LT Superior Professional 0, there’s 160 mm of journey up entrance and 150 mm of the distinctive Maestro suspension on the rear. Each are tailor-made to girls’s physique positions, peak, and weight for max traction, velocity, and management. The suspension tuning course of was led by Ludi Scholz, the Liv off-road class supervisor, in collaboration with the model’s suspension companions and feminine testers.
Whereas I steadily bottomed out the Liv Embolden — with 120mm rear, 130mm entrance — on the paths round Crested Butte, the Intrigue’s suspension wasn’t ever a limiter.
How Fox Reside Valve Works
One of many causes the Liv Intrigue LT Superior Professional 0 is so top-shelf is it’s suitable with Fox Manufacturing unit Reside Valve, an digital suspension system. The Liv Intrigue LT Superior Professional 1 is just not and has the Fox Efficiency Elite system. Fox claims Reside Valve adjusts the forks and shocks 100 occasions quicker than the blink of a watch. The sensors collect enter from the terrain and rider 1,000 occasions a second — that velocity isn’t even understandable.
Utilizing the Reside Valve app, you could have 5 canned choices for the suspension settings: Climb, Agency, Sport, Consolation, and Open. More often than not, I used Sport, a impartial alternative. Inside every mode, you possibly can alter the sensitivity on a scale of 1 to five.
The Consolation tune permits the suspension to provoke suspension motion with much less bump power and keep open longer, whereas Agency is the other. Climb retains the fork valving open and closes the rear, which aids traction on technical climbs.
You may also manually swap suspension modes utilizing the selector button on the controller mounted beneath the bike. Lastly, the app tracks rides and repair dates to your suspension, a unbelievable function.
The Reside Valve system makes use of a chargeable lithium-ion battery, which lasts between 16 and 20 hours when on. The battery expenses inside a few hours or much less. The system mechanically goes into Open mode when the battery is low or dies. This wasn’t the very best for climbs, however it means you’ll be golden for the down observe it doesn’t matter what.
Fox Reside Valve Impressions
Principally, I didn’t discover any funky points with the system on rides. Whether or not I used to be on a climb or descent, Fox Reside Valve appropriately and rapidly adjusted. Typically, I’d use the Agency mode for lengthy ascents and swap to Open for steady descents. I usually put the mode on Sport and never give it some thought once more.
Whereas I wouldn’t need to be caught in Open mode within the uncommon occasion this technique went down mid-ride, total, the e-suspension was constructive. I fine-tuned how the back and front of my bike responded to the terrain. And I didn’t want to show a knob when the stream switched from as much as down on the path. Set it and depart it. Reside Valve mechanically adjusted compression and rebound damping.
Digital Shifting
Many riders stopped to touch upon the sunshine purple sparkle of the body. However simply as many individuals requested me how the digital shifting labored.
Splendidly. Once I pushed the controller paddle on the SRAM AXS Rocker shifter, the derailleur servo motors immediately executed the specified shift. In comparison with conventional shifters, the expertise was smoother, quicker, simpler, and fewer clanky. The chain didn’t get caught or dangle. If I knew a climb or descent was forward, the system may rapidly, easily shift by way of a number of gears concurrently.
Riders can program and customise the SRAM 1 x 12 system utilizing the SRAM AXS App. The app shares the battery standing and means that you can customise the controls, arrange upkeep reminders, and replace firmware. The small, mild SRAM AXS battery on the rear derailleur charged in lower than an hour. The setup goes into energy save mode when the bike doesn’t transfer. A CR2032 coin cell battery powers the AXS Rocker shifter.
Many issues can intervene with mechanical drivetrain efficiency; cable stress and contamination are frequent culprits. Digital shifting isn’t vulnerable to these points, nor did the efficiency change in harsh terrain, circumstances, or climate. I discovered the system to be constant.
In the long term, there’s additionally much less upkeep. Cyclists usually swap cables a few times a yr on a conventional setup. One other benefit is that the digital drivetrain can share knowledge like present gearing and battery life to a head unit.
Wheel Configurations and Tires
The additional-small and small sizes of the Liv Intrigue LT Superior Professional 0 are solely accessible with an MX configuration with a 29-inch wheel within the entrance and 27.5-inch rear. This configuration optimizes rear wheel journey and nimbleness whereas offering a steady, quick entrance wheel.
A medium or massive body comes with an entire 29er set, which I rode and fist-bumped for the chunky trails and obstacles in Gunnison Valley. It may well nonetheless make use of a 27.5-inch wheel within the again. Riders can even run as much as 2.5-inch tires for stability. If bikers put an MX association on the medium or massive frames, they can’t make the most of the Low setting on the Maestro 3 Flip Chip.
My 29er got here with the Maxxis Dissector 3C MaxxTerra EXO tire within the again, which supplied unimaginable cornering management on dry, unfastened filth. On the entrance, the Maxxis Minion DHF 3C MaxxTerra EXO supplied traction by way of corners and good velocity. Total, the standard tires and tread type thrilled me, particularly for the lengthy intervals of drought we skilled this summer time.
Further Liv Intrigue LT Superior Professional 0 Highlights
An built-in storage system is within the down tube with a low-profile latch, and a water resistant bag is included inside. To maximise the small nook, I opted to not use the bag. I slowly snaked a spare tire tube inside, making my hip pack lighter.
I appreciated the 2 protecting layers of plastic on the down tube and the chainstay. They give the impression of being smooth and helped protect rock strikes and chain slaps, stopping injury.
After all, who doesn’t love inside cable routing and water bottle cage mounts. On a extra aesthetic notice, I (and everybody else) cherished this shiny purple colour known as Mirage.
Intrigue LT Superior Professional 0 Negatives
Whereas I loved the problem of getting speedier, hauling down rock-scattered trails, exploring new zones, and weaving technical terrain — all of which this bike helps — I used to be initially a bit intimidated by the complexity of the digital and app-controlled customization. I respect simplicity — like a hand-operated swap for “open” or “closed” for my suspension. I used to be hesitant to transition away from analog.
Particularly, don’t neglect to cost the battery or deliver an additional for the digital shifting. No matter gear you had been final in, you’ll be caught there in case your battery dies — I solely made the error as soon as. Additionally, Reside Valve awakens if the bike is in transport, so swap out the battery with a brief block throughout lengthy trailhead commutes. The Reside Valve mechanically shuts off when the bike isn’t in movement, however solely after 1.5 hours of being stagnant, so it’s vital to recollect to show it off.
As with every software program, Fox Reside Valve wants updates. Additionally, Bluetooth syncs more often than not with the digital suspension, however I’ve had the connection drop throughout experience breaks, so double-check earlier than you restart.
However total, there have been huge and exquisite advantages to all this know-how.
Liv Intrigue LT Superior Professional 0: Conclusions
As soon as I began tinkering with the Intrigue, the alternatives to finely tailor the bike to the terrain felt countless. That sturdy menu was thrilling. I made minute changes to the digital shifter, suspension, and body geometry. It was a playground of choices on a single bike.
One of many largest questions I ask when deciding on a motorcycle is, does the geometry assist the place I most experience? There’s quite a lot of steep terrain within the Elk Mountains. However I additionally like driving from my home on lengthy approaches. So, I dug the flexibility to alter body geometry and located every of the three ranges notably completely different in how they addressed numerous terrain.
I additionally preferred the long-term choice of having the ability to customise and play with suspension by way of many choices fairly than solely having open, closed, or half-open choices. The app was tremendous easy, and I all the time carry my cellphone, so it wasn’t additional weight. So far as charging the batteries, I constructed the step into my routine, alongside charging my cellphone and watch.
Total, suppose you’re a gal who enjoys hitting the bike park, racing enduros, and going quick downhill, steep slopes, or charging comfortably over obstacles huge and small. In that case, the Intrigue LT Superior Professional 0 is an in depth, well-built, svelte enduro bike — constructed for girls — and ought to be on the high of your checklist.
When you would possibly use the identical settings for the suspension and body geometry 90% of the time, you’ll have numerous mixtures to discover, a singular type of leisure.
Is the Liv Intrigue LT Superior Professional 0 well worth the price ticket? Sure. However the top-shelf construct might be an excessive amount of, with bells and whistles that aren’t a precedence or within the finances. If that’s you, however you’re keen on blazing down rock-tossed and perpendicular trails, take a look at the opposite long-travel fashions on this assortment. With out shedding the carbon advantages, the Intrigue LT Superior Professional 1 drops the digital shifting and automatic suspension, paring again the battery-powered tech and {dollars}.
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