Firebird 29

To ensure the best sizing, we recommend that you visit your local Pivot dealer to get a professional fit and refer to our geometry chart to check your measurements. However, we can provide a rough guideline. These recommendations are based on our experience, athlete preference and customer feedback:
Small: 5‘2“ – 5‘8“
Medium: 5‘9“ – 6‘
Large: 6‘ – 6‘4‘
X-Large: 6‘3“ – 6’9”
We suggest that you pick your Firebird size based on your riding style. The Firebird features very progressive long reach geome- try with both short seat tube and head tube measurements per size – this geometry means that most riders can go up or down a size and should base their choice on riding-style, reach and stem length preferences. Be sure to also consult our dropper post fit guide when making your selection. You can always reach out to us on Live Chat for additional guidance.

We make it easy to get the best ride out of your Pivot bike with a simple sag indicator already installed on your shock, and this follow-along video featuring our own Bernard Kerr: https://vimeo.com/pivotcycles/sag
Then refer to our suspension setup guide, found in Tech Specs, for our recommended settings for your compression and re- bound adjustments.
Firebird builds with coil-over shocks do not have sag indicators. Refer to our suspension setup guide, found in Tech Specs, on how to measure sag for coil shocks.

The flip chip is a simple way to adjust the geometry on your Firebird. It allows you to either adjust the geometry for different trail conditions (using 29” wheels) or can allow for the use of 27.5” wheels and a 27.5” rear/29” front mixed wheel setup as well. The chip comes set up in the low BB setting. This is perfect for riding fast, technical and steep terrain. However, if your pre- ference is for a little more crank clearance and slightly quicker handling for tighter terrain with more climbing and/or roots and rocks, you may prefer the high BB setting. The high BB setting will raise the bottom bracket and steepen the head angle by
1?2 degree giving the bike faster turn in. The high setting is also
a great starting point for running a 27.5” rear/29” front mixed wheel setups. Additionally, if you want to run 27.5” wheels, you would also need to run the bike in the High BB setting combined with our 17mm extended headset cup (more on that below). The combination of the higher BB setting and the taller cup allow the smaller diameter wheels to be used while maintaining the same geometry and a slightly lower BB height to the bike set up with 29” wheels.

The Firebird’s flip chip geometry adjustment system is super easy to use. Simply loosen using a 6mm hex wrench (these are reverse, so you need to turn the wrench to the right to loosen). Partially back out the bolts – there is no need to completely remove the bolts. Then pull the chips out and rotate them to your desired position, tighten the bolts to 35 Nm and enjoy your bike’s new handling and feel. Please see the geometry chart for the numbers associated with the different settings.

No, all sizes of the Firebird use the same rear triangle design. The adjustments to chainstay length and pivot location optimization for each size are all handled in the front triangle so changing a rear triangle from one size bike to another will not result in any changes to the geometry or overall chainstay length.

The Firebird can run 29“ tires up to 2.6“ and Maxxis 27.5?? tires up to 2.8?? inches on 40 mm (inner)rims.

Yes, the Firebird can run 27.5” wheels in the high setting and using our 17mm extended cup. If you are running 2.4”-2.5” Maxxis tires, the BB will be lower compared to the set up with 29” wheels which may be perfect for riders looking for additional standover. If you are running 2.6”-2.8” (Maxxis) tires on wider rims, then the BB height will be similar to running the bike with 29” wheels. For other tires in the market, most will fit, but rim width and tire manufacture sizing call outs and tire inconsistency can result in huge difference among both tire brands and individual tires. We suggest you check the fit with your chosen rim and tire combination to make sure it has proper clearance before riding if you choose to use something that is not our standard specification.

The 27.5” wheels with Maxxis 2.8” tires have a smaller diameter than the 29” wheels with 2.4” and 2.5” wide trail tires used on the Firebird. This difference results in a lower bottom bracket height when running 27.5” wheels. To adjust the BB height, the Firebird comes with a flip-chip upper link mount with high and low settings. Pivot also sells an optional 17mm lower headset cup that when used in conjunction with the high flip chip setting brings the bottom bracket back to the same height as when using 29er wheels in the low chip setting. Some riders will just leave the 17mm cup regardless of the wheel size. Please note that we ship all complete bikes with enough spacers to allow for the addition of a 17mm cup. If the fork is pre-cut for the zero-stack cup and additional spacers are not installed, you will not have a long enough fork steer tube to run the 17mm cup option.

The Firebird uses a ZS (zero stack) 49.6mm top and can also accept a standard 1.5 external top cup. The lower (bottom) cup is a (zero stack) 56mm size. If you are running the zero stack option on the bottom (instead of Pivot’s extended cup) then a Chris King Inset 2 is compatible. If you are running the 17mm lower cup then it needs to be run in conjunction with the Pivot headset. You cannot press another brand of zero stack headset into the 17mm cup as the 17mm cup is the lower headset cup.

Yes, you can mount a water bottle cage inside the front triangle and put a large water bottle in it on all sizes - even the Small. There is also an additional water bottle cage mount under the base of the downtube for a second bottle for long rides, or a great location for a Pivot Dock Tool.

Yes. The Firebird features ISCG05 mounts on the frame and all Firebirds from Pivot come with a front chainguide. Most upper guides on the market will fit but compatibility is dependent on the Q factor of the crank. Narrow 168mm Q Factor cranks will have clearance issues with some of the more popular guides on the market.

The Firebird is built with 203mm rotors front and rear. The Firebird will fit a 180mm rotor without an adapter.

The Firebird was designed for a 170mm travel fork. We use a 170mm fork in all our complete bike builds. The maximum travel length that can be used on the Firebird is 180mm travel.

No. Although the Firebird is a longer travel bike capable descending the steepest and roughest trails, it is only designed for use with single crown forks.

44mm

Yes, the Firebird features a rising-rate design that functions well with coil-over shocks. Pivot offers a range of Firebird builds that come stock with a coil-over shock. We recommend and spec Fox DHX2 for their best in class performance, reliability, and adjustability.

The following sizes come with these spring rates standard:
Small: 400 lb.
Medium: 450lb.
Large: 500lb.
XL: 550lb.

Standard spec springs cover the average rider weight for the frame size but some riders may need a lighter or heaver spring to achieve the recommended 30% sag. Listed below are the recommended spring rates based on rider weight as well as coil length and spring stroke specifications for the spring required to run on FOX shocks used on the Firebird. Refer to our suspension setup guide for how to set sag.

The Firebird’s metric shock has a trunnion style upper mount, 205mm eye-to-eye length, and 65mm stroke.

The Firebird’s metric shock has a trunnion style upper mount, 205mm eye-to-eye length, and 65mm stroke.

The Firebird shock uses M8 through bolt hardware on the bottom mount. Shock spacer dimensions are 30mm wide on the bottom mount. We typically run medium valving on the com- pression side (depending on rider weight) and medium rebound damping.
While we wish we could, we can’t test every shock on the mar- ket and therefore we cannot guarantee that they will all fit our frames. If you decide to use a different shock than the original specification, please ensure that you have proper clearance as it moves through the travel as well as the appropriate amount of damping and bottom out control. Frame damage caused by an unsupported model or brand of suspension will not be warrantable.

Larger volume spacers will resist bottoming, allow the bike to ride higher in the stroke and generally make the bike feel more “poppy”. If a rider is not getting full stroke or they feel that the bike is riding too high in its stroke, even with sag set properly, then they should go to a smaller volume spacer.

The Firebird builds with a Float X shock use a .4 cu in volume spacer. The Firebird’s Float X will fit volume spacers from 0.1 - 0.8cu in in 0.1cu inch increments. The Float X uses a primary volume spacer that comes in 0.2cu inch increments like normal, and you can also “piggyback” a small 0.1cu in spacer to make smaller adjustments. The shock can handle larger spacers for a more progressive feel or smaller spacers for a more linear feel. For a more linear feel, a .2-.3 cu in volume spacer can be installed. For a more progressive feel, a .5-.6 cu in volume spacer can be installed.

Please see the chart below for spacer P/N’s.

P/N Description
803-01-725 Float X Air Volume Tuning Kit

The Firebird X2 shock comes without any volume spacers installed. The X2 uses 0.25 cu in volume spacers. The maximum number of volume spacer that can be run in this shock are 2. The spring curve of the Firebird is progressive, but you want an even more progressive end stroke you can and up to 2 volume spacers. Please see the chart below for spacer P/N’s.

P/N Description
233-00-240 Float X2 Air Spring Volume Spacers

The Firebird LIVE shock uses a .2 cu in volume spacer. The maxium size volume spacer for this shock is 0.6 cu in. The shock can handle larger spacers for a more progressive feel or a smaller spacer for a more linear feel. Please see the chart below for spacer P/N’s.

P/N Description
233-00-341 Float DPX2 0.40in^3 Plastic, Grey
233-00-342 Float DPX2 0.60in^3 Plastic, Light Blue

The FOX 38 Grip 2 170 mm fork comes stock with 2 spacers and can handle a maximum of 5 spacers.
P/N Description
234-44-189 Float 38 10cc yellow

The Firebird frame uses a 31.6mm seatpost.

The Firebird frame uses a 36.4mm or 36.5mm (as some manufacturers call it) seatpost clamp.

The Firebird has short seat tube lengths and deep insertion depths for compatibility with long travel dropper seatposts. Please see the dropper seatpost guide for common dropper post model compatibility. You can check the maximum insertion depth of other seatposts per frame size below:
S – 280mm
M – 320mm
L – 320mm
XL – 320mm

The Firebird uses the new universal rear derailleur hanger standard developed by SRAM. This derailleur hanger is compatible with all derailleurs on the market – not just SRAM. We spec this hanger because it has some clever derailleur saving features and is more likely to be found at any shop as it becomes more widely adopted.

The Firebird uses an axle for a 157mm rear spacing designed for the new Universal Derailleur Hanger (UDH) standard. The rear axle supplied with all frames is designed is a Pivot specific design using a 12mm X 1.0mm thread pitch. SRAM also makes compatible 157mm UDH axles.

Pressfit BB92 bottom bracket

The Firebird uses a 157mm rear hub spacing in a configuration called Super Boost Plus 157 (SB ). The rear hub spacing is the standard 157mm spacing available from every hub manufacturer in the world so any 12mm x 157mm hub is compatible with the Firebird.
Super Boost Plus 157 retains narrower Q factor and heal clearance while providing for more tire clearance, a stronger frame and a stronger rear wheel. Super Boost Plus 157 builds on the idea of wider flange spacing pioneered by Boost 148 by spreading the flanges even wider (up to 14mm wider than a 142mm hub) which increases spoke bracing angle resulting in a huge wheel strength increase on 27.5” and 29” trail, enduro, all mountain, eMTB and trail category wheels. Most hub companies have already adopted the wider spoke flange to their DH 157mm hubs because of the added benefits. So, there is already a wide range of hub brands with optimized 157mm spacing available (even if they don’t specifically call it SB ) some examples include: DT Swiss, Industry 9, Stan’s, Onyx, Chris King, White Industries, Race Face, SUNringlé, Shimano, Stealth, Tune, Newmen and Hope.