2024 catalyst

[turboless terry]

I saw the podcast on Youtube when it came out. With the exception of one guy, NONE of them were Cat riders. Was looking for insight from guys coming off Alpha's or even Proclimb's to compare them to the seat time on Catalyst. With no more demo rides listed on their site, I am sorely disappointed in finding any real reviews from guys on here who got to ride them.

Even though only one was a cat guy, they've all rode them a bunch. They all said the alpha felt like a dinosaur and didn't want to get back on it. They all said no comparison.
The sad thing, in my book, is im guessing March 7th is the only day to order and they are sold out so i am ordering sight unseen. Jackson is a month away i bet.
Also if doing demos, and they're that good, I'd want poo and doo riders riding them. Not just their 6 cherry picked winners that they made the video on. I'd put more faith in the snowest podcast.

 

[koolaid]

What happened to these "demo rides" we were all promised? Thing is I don't want to buy an 18k sled (25 Cat 800+) sight unseen when I've had the chance to be impressed on a Matrix. If the Catalyst is close, same or better, I'll stick with Cat just for reliability. But, not first without a ride to convince me.

 

[Griff]

Yep, Cat needs a demo program.

 

[turboless terry]

Who knows on rides. They weren't willing to spend the money i guess.
I think they have the potential to be better than the matryx. Just like they said in the podcast, all the new models felt like similar dna. Axys was an easier and better riding pro and all the way up the line. Same with cat and all the changes from the 12 up the line. They said the catalyst felt like nothing they had ever rode. You can see it's packaged or centralized tighter than the matryx. Handling on the matryx is a huge deal over axys even though they're really similar. Just ride a kaos axys and kaos matryx back to back. They even said it almost smaller than a matryx.
I still believe they are going to be behind. Just as the demos showed , they aren't willing to spend the money that doo and poo are. No turbo and i was told they have no intention of it. Who knows if that's true. Doesn't mean it's not a great sled.
The other thing is you're not getting any younger. If you love the matryx then buy it and get on with it. Sure deal vs. ???

 

[koolaid]

I might but two things:

1. My warranty is up at the end of 24 season. Want to keep Alpha till then and then decide what I am going to do.

2. I like being on the Cat team. I like being on the underdog. Have never left a situation in the mountains embarrassed by the performance of my Alpha compared to n/a Poos and Doos, just the opposite. I like that!

We'll see what happens.

 

[turboless terry]

I might but two things:

1. My warranty is up at the end of 24 season. Want to keep Alpha till then and then decide what I am going to do.

2. I like being on the Cat team. I like being on the underdog. Have never left a situation in the mountains embarrassed by the performance of my Alpha compared to n/a Poos and Doos, just the opposite. I like that!

We'll see what happens.

Shouldn't have to feel like an underdog. Should be being happy with what your on. If you're happy with what it does and where it takes you, that's all that matters.

 

[Vern]

I keep hearing about cat being behind or lesser than the other brands, yet I haven’t seen it on the hill, only online.

My buddies stock ‘22 matryx 850 with 600 miles on it blew up last weekend. Reconfirming my reasons why I gave up on Polaris so long ago and why I’ll gladly buy a catalyst in the future once they have a bigger engine option. Even without a demo ride. I never demoed an alpha before buying and it was fine. I just have far more faith in getting a reliable product from cat than the other brands.

 

[Turbo Thompson]

I keep hearing about cat being behind or lesser than the other brands, yet I haven’t seen it on the hill, only online.

My buddies stock ‘22 matryx 850 with 600 miles on it blew up last weekend. Reconfirming my reasons why I gave up on Polaris so long ago and why I’ll gladly buy a catalyst in the future once they have a bigger engine option. Even without a demo ride. I never demoed an alpha before buying and it was fine. I just have far more faith in getting a reliable product from cat than the other brands.

When you compare na to na cat is still close but starting to be outdated something the catalyst is hoping to fix. When you compare top of the line sled to top of the line sled it’s not close anymore poo and doo have great performance and cat is reliable. Sleds are all so good now handling has become more a preference than a better or worse. Cat is falling behind, go check out most parking lots in the west a lot more doos and poos than cats. I haven’t seen a 23 cat in person but I’ve seen countless g5s 9rs and 23 boosts.

 

[Vern]

When you compare na to na cat is still close but starting to be outdated something the catalyst is hoping to fix. When you compare top of the line sled to top of the line sled it’s not close anymore poo and doo have great performance and cat is reliable. Sleds are all so good now handling has become more a preference than a better or worse. Cat is falling behind, go check out most parking lots in the west a lot more doos and poos than cats. I haven’t seen a 23 cat in person but I’ve seen countless g5s 9rs and 23 boosts.

Cat still handles as good as anything on the snow and I’m well aware of what’s in the parking lots as most of my group is on Polaris, but those numbers have more to do with marketing than actual quality of the product. Case in point, Polaris has been building the least reliable 2 strokes for 20 years now yet people still buy them. Me, I’ll take a little extra weight and some durability any day.

 

[M7sleddn]

NA vs NA cat does just as good as poo and doo. Here is the issue, one of the local doo dealers has snow checked 15 sleds. 14 of the 15 are turbos. Most everyone wants a turbo. I went to the local cat dealer today and they are allotted 2 600 catalyst mountain sleds. 1 146 and 1 154. already spoken for. I have called another dealer to see what they have if anything. So they have a new chassis that is only a 600 that very few of us will get while doo and poo are selling a ton of the turbos.

 

[turboless terry]

Cat still handles as good as anything on the snow and I’m well aware of what’s in the parking lots as most of my group is on Polaris, but those numbers have more to do with marketing than actual quality of the product. Case in point, Polaris has been building the least reliable 2 strokes for 20 years now yet people still buy them. Me, I’ll take a little extra weight and some durability any day.

Don't short polaris. It been longer than 20 years. At least back to 2000. Sold my 800 to buddy and he blew it up.
I wouldn't say the alpha handles great. They are competitive would be a better term.

 

[MrIQR]

Is the alpha skid the same as the ascender?

No shock options?

 

[Vern]

Don't short polaris. It been longer than 20 years. At least back to 2000. Sold my 800 to buddy and he blew it up.
I wouldn't say the alpha handles great. They are competitive would be a better term.

20 was just a nice round number, but yeah, they’ve been failing to build a solid 800 twin since their first attempt in the gen 2. You’d think they’d have figured something out by now, but if people are willing to keep buying them why bother.

 

[NHRoadking]

My friends who ride Poo like the chassis and handling and motor when it works.

Cat’s new chassis may be great too, but they need a homerun on whatever bigger than 800 motor is supposedly coming.

I also agree that factory turbos have caught on and Cat will need to answer that challenge too.

Next few years should be interesting. Will Doo go with a big bore? Will Poo turbo the 9R? Will Cat offer a twin rail for its new mountain sleds?

 

[Dam Dave]

NA vs NA cat does just as good as poo and doo. Here is the issue, one of the local doo dealers has snow checked 15 sleds. 14 of the 15 are turbos. Most everyone wants a turbo. I went to the local cat dealer today and they are allotted 2 600 catalyst mountain sleds. 1 146 and 1 154. already spoken for. I have called another dealer to see what they have if anything. So they have a new chassis that is only a 600 that very few of us will get while doo and poo are selling a ton of the turbos.

allotted yes, but they can order more, just no floor plan anymore, thats been gone for years, the dealer had had the same deal last year, had order and pay for them just like you, nothing new here

and I don't want a turbo, i do just fine without

 

[summ8rmk]

888

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[goridedoo]

Big drivers. I like that. 9 tooth 2.86, and 7 tooth 3.5s

 

[goridedoo]

The one remaining Cat in my riding circle grenaded at around 400 miles. We’ve now seen more blown Cats in our group than Poos… and the Poos outnumber the Cats 10:1. I just fail to see the outstanding reliability of the Cats between exploding clutches, exploding monorails, snow ingestion, jackshaft issues and blown motors.

I laugh every time I hear Cat guys brag about reliability. Just personally have not seen it. I will acknowledge the Polaris Boost and Gen 5 Turbos have not been off to a great start ?The NA Doos and Poos have been REALLY good sleds since 2018 with the exception of a few early 2019 850 Poos- mine was great, thankfully.

 

[Vern]

My personal experience has been way better with cat. Most the cats in our group have seen 3-5k miles before being sold without ever having the engine opened up. I’ve watched numerous poos and some older doos get drug out due to engine failures over the years though. The latest being that buddies stock 22 matryx 850 last weekend with 600 or so miles. I’ll take replacing a clutch every 1500-2000 miles over an engine any day. We’ve only got two alphas in the group, a 19 turbo and my ‘20 na, but so far no real alpha rail related issues. Many of the poos in our group are on 600s because even they are skeptical of the 800-850 engines. I stick with what I’ve had better luck with and that’s been cat, that could change some day, but at this point I can’t say I’ve seen much improvement in the Polaris reliability over the years and I’m just not comfortable on the doo chassis.

 

[line8]

I’ve been on Cat since ‘08. Always reliable. Then the last one I had, an ‘18, was challenged with clutches. When it came time for new, I didn’t have that confidence I once had for a new similar cat. So I Tried a Khaos. It was a much better ride. Confidence in riding, less tired, etc. so I went step further and bought a Matryx. Even more refined and easy to ride. No real issues for 600 miles yet. I don’t have the worry of a clutch but I guess anything can happen. Cat has some work ahead to catch up. Hoping the catylist does it but I can see they are still playing with the same deck of cards. I don’t see the Point to be brand loyal these days. Cat does need to move faster though otherwise that brand will be lost imo.


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