The CAPRA is probably YT Industries' best-known bike and back in May of '21, it received quite the makeover. Now, it comes with an updated geometry, a refined suspension kinematic, and a host of fresh frame features. We've managed to wrangle the Core 4 model for testing and it looks absolutely primed for an enduro stage or two.

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Even the newest of riders will know of YT's CAPRA. For those who've yet to have the pleasure, it's the brand's enduro bike, and this iteration, while retaining its instantly recognisable 'CAPRA' aesthetic, has gotten a tonne of changes.

The most glaring change comes in the form of what the brand calls the 'Wing' that links the downtube to the seat tube. YT says that it's an essential feature that boosts the frame's strength and stiffness but it's nothing new, having been built on previous CAPRAs. This time, however, it's been pushed to one side of the bike, now allowing space for a standard-sized water bottle.

There's been some work done to the CAPRAs headtube too. First off, it comes with a ZeroStack headset standard, promising an optimized load transmission, upping the frame's durability. Then, the area around the headtube, the head box, has been widened for even more stiffness.

Along with space for a bottle, the CAPRA gets handy top tube rivets that allow riders to attach spares and tools using bolted kit straps.

Tweaks to the frame don't stop there as the optical weight and volume of the bike have been shifted from the top tube and seat stay towards the downtube and chainstay. It's said that this change has resulted in a better weight-to-stiffness ratio while creating a slacker bike.

As the top Core model in the range this particular bike, the Core 4, benefits from an Ultra Modulus Carbon frame, which is the lightest frame on offer. Other CAPRAs are built around a High Modulus carbon frame that balances price with performance.

YT Industries has taken the time to take a look at the bike's suspension kinematic with the hopes of making the CAPRA a more playful machine. Helping the cause, the anti-squat and anti-rise have been refined with the aim of improving the bike's behavior under pedaling and braking. Almost no part of the bike has been untouched as the axle path is now reward orientated, improving the bike's ability to roll over tech and boosting rear-end responsiveness, says the brand.

Speaking of the rear end, it stretches on the XL and XXL sizes to offer taller riders the same ride characteristic of the smaller sizes.

If you're one for a mullet bike, there are now three MX builds on offer with the Core 4 getting the very same kit and frame features of this bike. However, MX builds get their own rear end that offers 170mm of suspension travel that's more progressive to help deal with bigger hits.

Moving onto the geometry, the changes keep on coming as the CAPRA gets a steeper seat tube angle, a longer reach, and a slacker head angle. We've got a large frame on test that comes with a 467mm reach, a 64.2° head tube angle, a 77.6° effective seat tube angle in the bike's lowest position, and a 438mm chainstay.  Yes, you've heard me right, the bike is kitted with a flip-chip, offering .3° of adjustment to the angles and five millimeters to play with at the bottom bracket that sits at 27mm at the lowest drop.

At £5,712.79 (including duties) this is the top Core model in the range and as you would expect, it's graced with plenty of top-shelf kit. 

Handling 170mm of suspension at the front is a burly Fox 38 fork in its shiny Factory guise. It's sorted with a GRIP2 damper offering high and low-speed compression and rebound settings. Of course, this fork gets that super slippery Kashima coating.

At the rear, there's Fox's Float X2 Factory shock damping 165mm of travel with that Kashima goodness. This one gets an adjustable low-speed compression and low-speed rebound.

There's plenty more mouth-watering high end goodies on the bike including the SRAM X01 Eagle drivetrain, featuring that extra handy 52t big cog and SRAM's Descendant carbon crank. That's matched to a pair of SRAM Code RSC brakes with 200m rotors at both ends of the bike. 

A nod to how rowdy this bike is ready to get, YT has been kind enough to fill its ISCG 05 mounts with an e*thirteen chain guide and bash guard.

The 29" wheels come from Crankbrothers in the form of the Synthesis Enduro Alloy and these are pretty interesting themselves. Each wheel is specifically tuned for use at its specific end of the bike, with the front designed to be more compliant thanks to a lower spoke count, spoke tension, and the use of lighter spokes. Enhancing grip, it also gets a wider inner rim width.

The rear wheel is then built to support a narrower tyre profile with a narrower rim width to improve rolling resistance while pronouncing a tyre's shoulder knobs. It's also intended to be stiffer by using a higher spoke count that is set up at higher tensions. Those spokes are then heavier duty for more support at peak loads. Essentially, it's designed to put up with an awful lot of abuse.

Those come wrapped rather nicely with a 2.5" Maxxis Assegai with an EXO+ casing and the brand's 3C MaxxGrip compound. At the rear, there's a 2.4" Maxxis Minion DHR II with the same casing but a harder wearing and faster rolling MaxxTerra compound.

Finally, and a very cool touch, is the Renthal cockpit made up of an 800mm Fatbar 35 and a 50mm Apex stem. That finds itself home to a pair of ODI Elite Motion V2.1 grips, and the remote for the YT Postman dropper post with 150mm of drop on this size.

So that is the YT Industries CAPRA Core 4 and we reckon it's begging to be raced. Now, it's time to get this bike tested and we'll be back with a full review soon.

• www.yt-industries.com

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