Pivot's Switchblade has held down the fort as one of the most popular trail slayers recently introduced to the mountain biking world, and while we love the geometry, powerful handling, and super boost spacing, there's consistently been one gripe we've had about it -- the price. Fortunately the designers at Pivot haven't forgotten those of us with a tighter bike budget, and the release of their new Switchblade 29 Race XT Complete Mountain Bike is proof. This sturdy aluminum rendition of the carbon enduro-slayer comes to us like a breath of fresh air in a world of pricey rides, offering the same geometry and ride quality of its carbon brother, at a much more palatable price. While Pivot has long held down the fort when it comes to top-tier carbon construction, you may be wondering how its alloy holds up in the mix. Instead of kicking alloy to the curb completely its designers claim that working with carbon actually changed the way they built aluminum bikes, opting for new techniques, and avoiding sticking with the standard old welding process. The new technique -- hydroforming -- allowed Pivot to maintain the same advanced tube shaping, while maintaining precise wall thickness. This paired with multi-axis tube shaping to dial in an aluminum frame with nearly the same strength and stiffness as the carbon Switchblade, but with a price drop that places it into the budget of many more riders. The Switchblade's DW-Link suspension is a tried-and-true platform employed on all of Pivot's full-suspension machines. This comes as no surprise, seeing DW-Link's ability to claw up the steepest, chunkiest climbs and smooth square-edge hits on the descent. The Switchblade's 5. 3in of DW-Link travel remains quick to surge forward with every pedal stroke, yet it's surprisingly confident on the descent, mainly due to the DW-Link's unflappable composure on successive hits and burly rock sections. Another thing to note, the Switchblade's DW-Link suspension uses a Phoenix-inspired, doubl..