The YT circus had rolled into Swinley for the next three days, obviously to let prospective punters the chance to swing a leg over the internet only brand Capra, Jeffsy and Tues models. I must admit that during a black period when I was waiting for replacement chainstays, I very nearly brought one in a moment of weakness. Nevertheless I was there and ready for the advertised start time of 9am, but Hans, Claus and Heidi were clearly not. Being on a tight deadline I cheekily asked if I could just sit on a couple of the Jeffsy 29ers to gauge the size. This was agreed, and a couple of prospective bounces on the large and extra large had me veering to the grander size.

Suddenly it was announced they would be commencing the sign in very soon so being about 6th in line I hung around. A mere 30 minutes laters I was astride the AL One Jeffsy in XL.

A quick tweaking of the shock and fork, and it was into the Blue run that elevates you up to the more interesting parts of the forest. The voluminous 2.5 in Onza Ibex tyres looked odd to my eyes, but they provided a massive level of grip on the man made trail surface and this proved to be the case on the later natural tracks too, so tyre choice seemed good. There was noticeable lack of pedal bob, even when out of the saddle, and spinnng the bike up the hill all seemed efficient and comfortable, so another tick there, and not once did I feel any kick back through the pedals under braking.

The first few mini-downhill sections came and went with no real drama, it does carry speed very well and with good grip can be quite forcibly corrected when necessary. As I started to get away from the start point and heading towards the more interesting sections on the red route I was looking forward to see how it coped. Short answer is extremely well, it does give you confidence to attack and know that, the brakes and suspension are all well up to the task if you overdo it.

At the top of (Labryinth) I was joined by a younger like minded soul who was on the 27.5 version, we were both grinning and exchanged positive vibes about the bikes before we ran down Babymaker where it was an opportunity to try some tight berms and get some air under the wheels. Another tick, exiting here we bumped into a couple more locals, also on demo Jeffsy’s, who invited us to join them on more off piste areas (some of which I hadn’t ridden in about 6 years) so riding kind of blind but following someone who knows the line and speed makes a massive difference and I had the confidence that it would only be my own shortcomings and not the Jeffsy’s when navigating drops and jumps.

Reluctantly it was time to head back to reality and a client meeting so dropped the bike off (passing the still sizeable queue) and retired home.

So, conclusions?

There are so many monetary reasons why this bike makes sense. You get a do anything bike, with all the ‘right’ bits, it pedals well, it descends well, it makes you smile, but… I still have misgivings with what happens when things go wrong.

I can barely stand not having my bike for a week when technical disasters strike, so when you consider you will have to ship it back to Germany and wait for it to come back I just don’t think I could handle it.

Sorry YT, but I think I’ll be looking elsewhere for my next ride.