Long travel 29er's are oh-so 2018, and Yeti has joined the party with the SB150, and long(er) travel, enduro focussed 29er designed to help get riders such as Richie Rude down an EWS stage as fast as humanly possible.
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Yeti Cycles has just pulled the covers off its latest enduro-ready ripper. The new SB150 builds on the success of the popular SB5.5 with additional suspension travel and boundary-pushing geometry. The Golden, Colorado-based brand has also refreshed two of its popular 27.5in-wheeled mountain bikes to keep them current.
Yeti SB150 highlights
- 170mm front, 150mm rear suspension
- Designed around 44mm offset forks
- 64.5-degree head tube angle, 77-degree effective seat tube angle
- Fits a water bottle inside the mainframe
- Full carbon internal routing
- Offered in small, medium, large and XL sizes
- Available now
Yeti developed the SB150 in cooperation with its sponsored athletes, including former Enduro World Champion Richie Rude as a replacement for the SB5.5.
"Richie was pushing the 5.5 to its absolute limit," said Rude's mechanic Shaun Hughes.
Yeti set out to develop a next-generation long-travel 29er able to cope with the demands, and well as the abuse, dished out by top enduro racers. The new model features 150mm of rear wheel travel paired with a 170mm Fox 36 with 44mm of offset.
Geometry is longer and slacker, as you'd expect, with 480mm reach (Large), 64.5-degree head and 76.9 seat tube angles, 433mm stays and a 624.8mm stack (Large).
In addition to being appropriately long and slack to handle high-speed racing, Yeti incorporated one key feature absent on the 5.5, space in the front triangle for a water bottle.
The SB150 features 150mm of rear wheel travel, controlled by Yeti's now signature Switch Infinity Link suspension system, whereby the main pivot is mounted on a shuttle that moves up and down two Kashima coated stanchions deep in the frame.
This gives a rearward axle path in the initial stroke (with the shuttle moving up the stanchions), said to improve pedal performance, before the shuttle moves downwards when the bike is deeper into its stroke, to give improved big hit performance, with less pedal kickback.
The suspension now has slightly more progressivity to work better with modern air and coil shocks. Yeti claims that there is now also better small bump sensitivity, more mid-travel support and improved bottom out resistance, all while still providing a stable pedalling platform.
Yeti SB150 pricing and availability
The SB150 is available at Yeti retailers now.
The frame with Fox Float X2 shock retails for £3,400 / $3,800. US builds range in price from $5,199 to $10,399. UK kits start at £4,999 and top out at £7,199. AU and Euro pricing are both TBA.
Yeti SB6 updates
Yeti's Enduro World Series-winning SB6 receives several updates to keep it up to speed.
Like the new SB150, the SB6 now comes with moulded carbon tubes through the frame for easy cable routing. This 27.5-wheeled racer also sees a bump in front suspension from 160 to a 170mm Fox 36 fork with the shorter, 37mm offset.
The 2018 SB6 frame retails for $3,800 with Fox Float X2 shock. Complete builds range from $5,199 with GX Eagle to the $10,399 model equipped with XX1 Eagle and DR Swiss XMC 1200 wheelset upgrade. (UK and Australian pricing TBC.)
Yeti SB5 updates
The SB5 was the model that introduced Switch Infinity to the world. This 127mm-travel trail bike shares the same full internal routing as its longer-travel counter parts and gets updates that make it more versatile.
The latest SB5 gets a redesigned rear triangle that can accommodate 27.5in tires up to 2.8in wide. This rear-end refresh also signals the retirement of the SB5+ from Yeti's line.
In addition to adding a rear end that accepts standard and plus-sized tires, Yeti lowered the top tube on the XS and small sizes. Yeti claims the SB5 now has the lowest stand-over clearance in the category.
This low stand-over is particularly important for the Yeti's women's specific Beti Series of bikes, which feature lighter shock tunes and handlebars that are narrower than the unisex Yeti models.
Yeti and Beti versions of the SB5 start at $3,400 for the frame with Fox Float DPS shock. Complete builds range in price from $4,999 to $9,899. (UK and Australian pricing TBC.)
Improved warranty
All 2019 Yeti bikes, form the SB100 launched this April, will be getting a lifetime 'no-B.S' Lifetime Warranty.
