Howdy

I am thinking of getting one of the above…….any thoughts?

Many Thanks

They both seem to be good bikes, why do you want one?

I want to get a half decent full sus. bike which can do a bit of everything. It will be a first time bike for me……

If you are local to swinley you can get a test ride on a bird (they also do demos elsewhere)

YT gets you a higher spec bike for your money, but less support should anything go wrong

I’ve got an Aeris and it’s a great all rounder IMO. It does well at everything from cross country to the downhill at Hamsterley.

I finally went Aeris because they’re UK based and have great customer care.

Where are Yt based guys, out of idle curiosity?

Germany.

Cheers mate!

Based purely on reported frame issues and customer service…. Go for the Bird

Both bikes are a lot more than just half decent. But they’re quite focused and while you can do all sorts of riding on them, you wouldn’t want to race xc (for example) on them. I have a Capra and love long day rides on it, but there are better bikes for this and if I wasn’t quite fit I might not enjoy it as much as I do.

Personally, if it’s your first bike, I’d get something much cheaper and work out what sort of riding you enjoy. Then spend the money on something more focused for that. You’ll always need a backup bike so it’s not wasted money.

This time last year a friend got a YT and loved it. He definitely rode a lighter/shorter travel for many rides though.
But, a wheel warranty problem left it on the sidelines for a whole month during late spring/early summer and now the frame has cracked.

They’ll sort it eventually, I’m sure, but communication seems slow and losing that month over summer and another month or so now would be a dealbreaker for me (my friend has multiple bikes, whereas I only have a CX).

Meanwhile, my Aeris (which I love) has been in constant use since last April. The headset bearings have worn, so I emailed to order a replacement set. Turned up next day FoC with a nice Happy New Year message.
They’ll get my money again, if I save up enough to buy a hardtail.

For a first time do it all full sus pretty much any mid priced bike will do.

Wait till you have ridden it for a few years, developed your skill and sorted out what you like, then get a more focused or more expensive one.

Most mid priced bikes are way better than most of us can make use of.

Real life mountain biking is not like all those videos we watch of riders back flipping 50 foot canyons and shredding switchbacks in the Alps.

I don’t think either are particularly suited to do everything, they’re very good at the pointing downhill bits and OK at the all day riding but if you’re doing longer or flatter rides, xc or commuting they’ll be a bit of a drag. I’d suggest for a truly do everything bike you’d want something a bit less burly than either, 120-130mm travel.

But assuming you want a versatile descent biased bike, of those two I’d have the Bird, mainly because everytime I’ve looked at a YT the delivery date has been months off, but everything I’ve heard About Bird has been positive. The capra rides well but there are enough rumblings about issues that I’d be wary.

Mate has the 20105 YT Capra CF Pro Race. In 3 rides this has happened, we don’t ride too hard or much, the rides consisted of 2x Afan Whites & 1x BPW.

1.The Mavic Crossmax Enduro wheels made of cheese, buckled and rim dented.
YT accused him of riding it too hard and they are not covered by warranty. So he ordered LB Carbon 38mm Wheels. Look online a lot of people have the same problem.

2. The lockout lever broke, sent shock to YT who sent it to Boss.
It took just under 5 weeks to get it back.

3. I discovered he has the Capra Crack, or BOSS crack, steerer/crown crack.
Emailed YT 2 weeks ago, no response yet.

4. On further inspection the frame upper headset cup is oval, bearing rattles about. It is also just carbon fibre frame, no metal insert for the bearing to sit in. Also the headset has scored the frame where they did not install it correctly.
Again emailed 2 weeks ago, no response yet.

Would I buy a Capra, nope! Really nice bike, but some of the details just ain’t right.

Capra do sell a version with Rockshocks, so you wont have fork issues like the ones you get with BOS.

Agree with the wheels though, Id sell them as soon as I got it and buy some better ones.

But, as mentioned above, get a XC bike for about 1.5k. It will do fine.

I thought I would give an update on the Capra… So the BOS forks went back over a month ago now.. Have just been told they will be at least another 4 weeks! 😯

Two completely different bikes, give both of them a try. The Capra is a big bike probably a bit over kill for all day riding the bird is probably better all round. Have you tried one of the newer 29er’s like a transition of evil? They are very fast and you can ride them all day.

On the flip side. The BOS units on the GF’s Carbon Pro Capra are working spot on and better than anything else we’ve tried. The Bro -in-law has the RS kitted out Alu version and it’s all most people will ever need for a bike (although the Pike and Monarch are no match for my 55RC3C, CCDB or her BOS Devile and Kirk performance wise). I won’t be getting one solely because having 3 of the same bike family would be a bit boring. Also I’ve heard good things about the Bird bikes and like to buy good products from British companies wherever possible.

Tom KP.

Both very capable bikes but I would edge towards the Bird for more everyday riding. The rear travel adjustment on the Aeris means you can pop it to 140mm travel giving it an improved pedal platform and this is really a 2 min job.

Performance aside I would be going for the Bird purely form a customer service perspective. If anything goes wrong you may lose the bike for a few days with Bird rather than weeks or months potentially with YT.

I’ve been considering these two and with the issues and customer service it look like bird might be the way I go.
Does anyone know if bird do the cyclescheme?

Yes they do!
Answered my own question in between kids breakfast and trying to get them dressed for school.

The Bird Aeris is probably a really nice frame. Personally I went with a Commencal Meta AM V4. It gets glowing reviews for good reason 🙂

The V4 doesn’t have glossy nice colours like the Bird but then my V4 gets battered, covered in grit and used, uncared for. Its a mountain bike toy not a trail centre weapon 8)

I test rode 2 aeris’s on Saturday. The Guys at Bird were fantastic and the bike was brilliant too. I am def going to get one.

From what I gather there are a few shops or workshops scattered around the country that work with Bird so if you have any issues and you are near one you can drop your bike in there. There is one near me so that make the choice even easier.