Pivot is one of the plethora of brands launching a bike with the new Avinox M2S motor today, as it unveils the Shuttle AMPD. The new Shuttle is an all-mountain style eMTB, with 150mm of rear travel, a 160mm fork and 29in wheels, sitting between the Shuttle SL and Shuttle LT, a model Pivot released earlier this year. I attended the bike's launch in Finale Ligure, Italy. If you've ever wondered what happens at the launch of a new mountain bike, heres how it unfolded. Read more: I tested DJI Avinox's new 1,500W ebike motor against the jaw-dropping original there was a clear winner Friday 3 April 8.02am The Ligurian Coast is a stunning place to go and ride. Tom Marvin / OurMedia Ive got a flight from Bristol to Nice to catch, so Ive slung a couple of days' riding kit, a few spare casual clothes, my lid, shoes and pedals in a bag and jumped in my van for the all-too familiar drive to BRS. Over-priced coffee and croissant consumed, its a quick(ish) flight, slow(ish) passport control, and cruisy drive to Finale along the stunning Ligurian coastline. 5.35pm The bike of the moment, the Pivot Shuttle AMPD. Tom Marvin / OurMedia Once there, its straight to one of Pivots biggest test-bike fleet operators in Europe, Evolve in Finale. These guys have helped the brand with launches for years now and always have a huge number of Pivots bikes on the shop floor. Theres a row of bikes here, all under wraps from prying eyes. Fortunately, Im allowed to take a peek at the new AMPD as expected, its a DW-link bike, full-carbon, with the new Avinox M2S drive unit bolted into the middle. Pedals are whipped onto a Large-sized bike and we do a quick setup of the new RockShox suspension fitted to both ends of the new bike sag, rebound and then compression. Its only a cursory setup fine-tuning will happen tomorrow on the trail. 7.20pm Product presentations are a key element of any launch. We had two on this trip. Tom Marvin / OurMedia While going away and riding bikes is a cool way to spend a few days, theres quite a lot of work to be done. This kicks off in the evening with a 45-minute presentation, detailing the what, why and how of the new Shuttle. The AMPDs positioning is interesting its very much an all-mountain bike, with 150mm of travel and a 160mm fork, placing it between the longer-travel Shuttle LT launched earlier this year, and the lighter-weight Shuttle SL. Pivots long-standing relationship with Dave Weagle has been maintained, with Weagle having his input into the bikes design from the very start. As per every full-suspension Pivot, his DW-link suspension system sits at the centre of the bike, both physically and metaphorically. 9pm Presentation and follow-up questions done, its time for a bit of dinner at a very European time, with Evolves owner Stefano and, somewhat surprisingly, his lawyer, there to offer up some Italian hospitality. Saturday 4 April 9.20am Name a more iconic spot in European mountain biking. Tom Marvin / OurMedia From various hotels and apartments, our group assembles at Evolve ready for an uplift to Finales iconic Nato Base. This is the third group Pivot has invited concurrently to see the bike, and Im the only media representation in this tranche alongside me are a couple of distributors, including Oli from Saddleback UK, and Ben from MB Cyclery in Surrey. While it seems odd chucking an 800Wh-battery eMTB on an uplift, by doing so well be able to comfortably tick off 45-50km of riding with tons of elevation in our day especially as well be stopping off to fast-charge our bikes and bodies at lunch in the hills. 11.05am Finale's dry and dusty trails are a lot of fun, but you've got to leave a gap for the dust to settle. Pivot Once weve been herded into the vans and up the hills, the important work begins riding the bike. Our guide, Vito, takes us on a range of trails, starting in fairly chilled fashion with a flow trail to get the blood pumping and us used to the bike. While my initial setup on the shop floor did a fair job, I spend a bit of time fine-tuning the fork over the course of a few trails adjusting the hydraulic bottom-out level, adding support via the air spring and damper, and eventually dropping the bar a touch to ensure Ive balanced front-end compliance, control, feel, grip and comfort. Its a juggling act and one that can only be done with a bit of time on the bike. 2.15pm How do you fast charge a dozen eMTBs mid-ride in the mountains? A generator of course! Tom Marvin / OurMedia Post-lunch, a punchy espresso perks us up ready for the afternoons ride, while the bikes have been fed by the restaurant's generator. Its fun blasting around in Turbo, but its important to toggle between modes to get a real feel of the bike and motors performance. Trail is the most all-round mode in my eyes, with plenty of kick that balances performance and battery management well. The stock Eco setting is a little bland (although it can be tuned in the app), while Autos slightly lethargic power delivery on short, sharp rises disappoints. Were directed to a long, super-loose, steep climb to give the bike and its Turbo (and Boost) modes a proper test. Loose, rocky climbs provide a chance to test out the power on tap. Pivot While the torque of the motor gets us up to speed, the 1,300W of power in Pivots version of the motor enables you to maintain that speed for as long as you can hang on. Its a wild ride up the long, loose, straight climb, with rocks pinging off the front and rear wheels the ease at which speed is held with the M2S motor is, frankly, ridiculous. The DW-link suspension is one of my favourites it hunkers down, with tons of anti-squat for an efficient, stable feeling that almost digs the rear wheel into the ground when youre powering up hills. The motor is so powerful, though, that Pivot had to re-engineer the prototypes when it received the test unit, boosting frame stiffness to cope with the speed this bike can achieve. 7.20pm Dust + sweat = monobrow. Tom Marvin / OurMedia Ride completed, dust showered off, and were in a second presentation, where Pivots team run through the bike's specifications and geometry. This is also a chance for us to give feedback. While I tend to reserve judgement on a bikes performance for my reviews, the discussions are broad and interesting. We cover everything from the use of plastic headset spacers to the lack of chainstay-length adjustment (as found on the Shuttle LT, for example), while touching on the effective ethics of riding such a powerful motor. Pivots product team take detailed notes on every aspect, ready to feed back for any future developments. Pizza most definitely was consumed (along with tiramisu). Tom Marvin / OurMedia Sunday 5 April 9.15am Chucking an eMTB on an uplift might feel odd, but it expands your day's riding range. Tom Marvin / OurMedia Were back at Evolve for our second ride, which will take us through to lunch, when the guys from Bulgaria need to pack up (and Vito needs to go for Easter lunch with his nan). The focal point of today will be a trail called Roll Up a 6.5km climb that promises to put bike, motor and rider through their paces. If there's ever a situation where riding uphill is fun, its one where theres 1,300W and 150Nm of torque strapped between your legs, and a steep, tight, technical singletrack in front of you. While the power was on show yesterday, its all about torque today. Slow-speed crux moves show how impressive the torque figures are although you need to stay on top of gear selection, because if youre in too high a gear, the motor can get bogged down and doesnt release its torque. Launch group rides often descend into long on-trail discussions about the bike being ridden. Tom Marvin / OurMedia Once again, the DW-link does its business. While the seat angle of 67.5 degrees isnt particularly steep, the bike doesnt squat and slacken under power, so it doesn't feel lazy. The trickiest section of the trail is a series of tight uphill corners, set on loose loam, and interspersed with roots in just the wrong place. Truth be told, I get to the top in a sense of awe. The all-mountain focused Shuttle AMPD blends all-day riding capabilities with plenty of attitude when the fun stuff hits. Pivot Casting any moral judgements of the motors power aside, there is no doubt that this is the best ebike motor on the (mainstream) market, paired with an incredibly capable chassis. The control enabled via the updated software, with its traction-control capabilities, and the 42 points of speed sensing per wheel revolution (compared to Bosch and Shimanos one sense per revolution), and the 130Nm of torque on offer make for the most delicious, intuitive, impressive power transfer Ive ever experienced. This thing is game-changing. 11.42am When there's a good crowd to ride with, party trains are inevitable. Pivot Climb done, theres not much else to do other than descend. Were at the top of Roller Coaster, so it would be rude not to indulge in this super-fast twisty and turny track for the next section of our ride. While bikes with higher anti-squat figures can feel harsh on trail chatter, the Shuttle AMPD doesnt feel like a rough ride. The suspension filters out enough of the hits to enable you to go full-gas and not worry about your ankles getting blown off the pedals or eyes being rattled out of their sockets. Its not a sofa-like ride there is some trail feedback, but clearly Pivot and Dave Weagle have managed to find the balance between climbing and descending capabilities. 12.17pm A common theme in Italy good, authentic food. Tom Marvin / OurMedia Were onto our final trail Mini Champery. Its a fast blast, but with plenty of chunky features to test our suspension and limbs capabilities. By this point, my arms are somewhat blown to pieces, and so the supple feeling of the new RockShox suspension and the power from the Maven brakes fitted to this second-tier model are welcome. Ive previously found RockShoxs kit to be very quick to set up, but this latest generation needs a little more time not because its harder to set up, but its different. I haven't got a few years of experience on it under my belt. It is, though, excellent, with the new ZEB up front and the Super Deluxe shock at the back. As with any test, I would need time on local trails with a close competitor bike to write a full review. 2.45pm Finale is a mountain biker's haven, but please respect the local rules when going through its streets push your bike! Tom Marvin / OurMedia While the riding is done, my work is not. I need to head to a pretty spot in Finale town to grab some photos and video assets. I use my DJI Pocket 3 to grab the assets needed, and will use official images from Pivot to finish off my pieces. Theres a bit of talking to camera to be done, too always a little awkward in a city centre, especially as you have to turn it up to 11 for the camera. Job completed, its time to pack up, go home and start typing (from the airport). Done and dusted Cruising back into town after a day on the trails. Tom Marvin / OurMedia As with any industry that has product launches whether its cars, airline seats or coffee machines, the process is important for everyone involved. Brands have the opportunity to tell their story in a focused manner, and are able to furnish media (and dealers) with any additional details. From a media point of view, the relationship is important. We get access to bikes earlier than some of our competitors, and are able to tell a better story than if we had only a press release. We also have access to engineers and product managers, which gives us better insight to the bike being launched and potentially future releases. We cant attend every launch, and so we need to be tactical in those that we do is there a good story? Will our readers be interested? Product launches can, clearly, be a lot of fun to be involved in. But theres a huge amount of work thats unseen, in order to bring our audience the best content possible from them. Hopefully this has given you a little insight into the process. Pivot Shuttle AMPD details The Pivot Shuttle AMPD launches with three models, ranging from $9,499 to $14,499. The Ride model (9,999 / $9,499 / 9,699) features a Performance-level suspension package from Fox, with a 38 fork and Float X shock, along with a SRAM GX Eagle Transmission groupset, alloy DT Swiss E532 wheels and Continental tyres, with the Enduro casing and soft-compound rubber. The 11,999 / $11,999 / 11,999 Pro model uses RockShoxs new ZEB Ultimate fork and Super Deluxe shock, along with an X0 drivetrain. Unlike the Ride model, the Avinox fast charger is provided. The top-end Team model has Factory suspension from Fox and carbon wheels from DT Swiss. Praxis carbon cranks finish the package, which costs 13,499 / $14,499 / 13.999.