Canyon Nerve AL 8.9 or YT Jeffsy AL

[Irish_Tom]

Hi everyone,

Following the destruction of my Cannonade Jekyll swing arm, I'm exploring the idea of selling both of my current bikes (the 2001 Jekyll and a 2012 GT Zaskar) in order to part-fund a new bike.

I'm looking at 29ers, and I think I've narrowed my options down to the Canyon Nerve AL 8.9 or the YT Jeffsy AL.

Both are around the £1,700 mark, and they seem to have a fairly similar spec.

The Nerve has an 11 speed XT groupset with three chainrings, while the Jeffsy has a 10 speed SLX groupset with two chainrings.

The Jeffsy has 140mm Rockshox Pike forks and 140mm Rockshox Monarch rear shock, while the Nerve has 120mm Fox Performance forks and 110mm Fox Performance rear shock.

They both have a Reverb Stealth, and they both have SLX brakes (although the Jeffsy has a slightly bigger front rotor). The Jeffsy has more aggressive geometry than the Nerve but it is also 2Kg heaver.

I guess these two bikes are built for slightly different purposes. I know that really, the Jeffsy should be compared to the Canyon Spectral, but the Spectral AL 8.9 is just a bit out of budget at £2,100.

My thoughts are, I probably won't need the extra aggressive setup the Jeffsy provides. As much as I enjoy going down hill, I doubt I'll ever use it to it's full potential. I also think I'll find it easier to get up hill with the additional gears and lighter weight of the Nerve.

However, there's something drawing me towards the Jeffsy. I'd just have to man up when it came to going both up and down the hills to get the most out of it.

The ideal solution would be to test them both, but it's a bit tricky as they are both online only. A mate of mine has the 2015 Nerve and loves it, but I don't know anyone with a Jeffsy.

If these were the only two mountain bikes in the world, which would you go for and why?

 

[Irish_Tom]

Now that is a beast. A little out of my price range and I definitely don't need that much travel, but it bet it's awesome.

I'm thinking of stretching to the Nerve 9.9 - it's only a small increase but the bump in spec over the 8.9 seems worth it.

 

[Irish_Tom]

Thanks Mr-White.

In all likelihood, I probably won't be maxing out its DH potentially any time soon anyway. By the time I'm at that level, I might look at a more trails oriented bike, but this should definitely be a good stepping stone for the foreseeable future.

 

[Irish_Tom]

Ordered the Nerve AL 9.9 in the end.

Should get it in the first week of September. It works out quite well as I'm currently only holiday so wouldn't be in to receive it if it arrived much earlier anyway.

 

[Irish_Tom]

Really pleased with it, thanks Mr-White.

At the expense of sounding cheesy, it's taken my riding to a new level.

No doubt there's some placebo effect going on, but I've definitely had more confidence through the technical stuff and I carry much more speed through the 'easy' bits, especially up hill. I'm not sure how much this is down to the Nerve specifically or just going from 26" to 29" wheels.

However, within a very short space of time I'd smashed all of my Strava PBs. I've even taken some high Strava rankings from friends I consider better riders than me (who are riding older versions of the Nerve as it happens).

If anything, it's made me over confident - there's been times when I've been pushing a bit too hard or testing lines above my ability. Since getting the Nerve I've had my three biggest crashes so that must say something. My Mrs. has insisted I get elbow and knee pads, and a full-face helmet, because I'm taking on bigger stuff and that's purely because I have the confidence in the bike under me. The thing is, even with those crashes, the bike is still like new - it just eats up the punishment.

It may be buyer's bias, but I think the higher spec of the 9.9 over the lower models does make a difference. The Fox 34 over the 32 for example and the Deore chainset and brakes over SLX.

With all that being said, I'm sure I'm still not utilising the bike to its maximum potential and there's a long way to go before I outgrow it.

It's difficult to say whether the Jeffsy would have been better or would have affected my riding in a different way without testing it.

Suffice to say, i'm thrilled with the Nerve and I would highly recommend it for anyone in a similar position to me.

 

[Irish_Tom]

Nice one ranger, that's the new model that replaced the one I went for (although I couldn't stretch to the LTD model).

Let us know how you get on with it when it arrives.