The epitome of running with what you brung and never being worried that it will come un-done.
Started riding on South Mountain in Arizona back in 2015 on a Salsa Spearfish. Thought that 29er wheels meant it could ride all the black diamond trails. And it did: at slow speeds.
Have had over 105 full-suspension mountain bikes since then and have rode all over the country... Basically buying, riding, wrenching, and comparing multiple bikes at a time... Hoping the next one in would be better than the last.
Unfortunately, in about 2020, all the 'trail" bikes started becoming dumbed-down Enduro bikes. And to be honest, the bottom bracket heights started favoring bike reviewers who ultimately preferred electric-bike designs with their absolute real-world pedaling needs to ride with 165mm crank arms or shorter. It used to be 175mm and the long crank arms actually helped slow down the pedal arm speed when climbing hard technical rocky trails, which generated more power per stroke.
So, here I am today, now that that era is long, long gone, riding technical trails on a dumbed-down 2024 Pivot Firebird. Due to the lightweight carbon frame, PERFECT chainline design of SuperBoost 157mm, impeccable rear-wheel axle path, and wonderful DW Link suspension, I have finally found what I think is the best "trail bike" on the market.
If you're looking to buy a bike and keep it for years, it's safe to say the bike industry sucks and it has since about 2020. If you do not want to deal with a bonified stupid mountain-bike industry and you just want a totally awesome pedal bike, then "dumb-down" the Firebird. This bike can actually pedal up technical trails with 170mm crank arms: even when the bike is setup with a 150mm or 160mm front fork AND it can do it just barely when in the Low BB setting. This Firebird is SIMPLY the solution. Respectfully, I can't say it's as fun as the best "true" trail-bike, the Ibis Ripmo V2S. However, the Ibis really requires 165mm crank arms, or shorter, and it just can't really shine like the Firebird can when it comes to riding trails that use more than 120mm of travel. Frankly, this Firebird just simply means business.
I have it setup as a 150mm front / 150mm rear suspension and let me tell you, I now no longer will ever agree that the industry should have chosen to pair shorter rear-wheel travel suspension with longer front-wheel suspension. It creates a "stapler effect" and going down nasty hills while "stapling" the front-end is a recipe for going OTB. This makes your body constantly shift it's "neutral-riding position." That said, this Firebird is just so fast when putting down the power and it's not willing to be phased; not when everything is so well balanced. It's just so true to your body english and does so well rolling over the terrain without being held up. It has to be said that it's like pure efficiency, even though it weighs more than say a trail bike from 2017; again another era long, long gone.
So, going back to bikes of the past... going forward with bikes in the future... This seems to be the honest-to-goodness best pedal bike for real world non-Californian groomed mountain trails out there. It climbs as good as it descends, but it's not really a "Trail" bike. It's simply too BOLD for that.