Yeti SB-66 Review
Ride has received a very special preview of Yeti’s new SB-66 all mountain bike as the first shipment of the codenamed “super bike” stole into the UK.
Yeti’s UK brand manager, Stu King, chose Ride to show off his spanking new, custom built SB-66 just one day after Yeti’s revolutionary new trail monster hit UK shores. Fitted with custom blue Chris King hubs and bottom bracket, a Renthal Fit handlebar, and a RockShox Reverb suspension seat post, Stu’s new machine brought proceedings at Ride to a halt as mechanics downed tools to stop and stare. “I’ve been in this game for so long, and there’s never quite been the perfect bike, but when I rode this, it was pretty special. I rode one in Afan and it was awesome uphill, but even more awesome downhill. There’s no pedal ‘bob,’” said Stu.
The secret of the SB-66’s super-stable pedaling lies in the “switch technology” link and eccentric pivot that controls the rear suspension, delivering crisp cadences on the climbs, without comprising the ‘bottomless’ feel of a six-inch travel bike on the descents. “In the first part of the suspension, the eccentric bearing rolls backwards for really crisp pedaling. After about 100mm, it turns the other way. It’s amazingly clever,” said Stu. “Essentially it’s two bikes in one.”
His analysis was backed by Ride’s own Jon Hayes, a man whose long experience and exacting standards have made him notoriously difficult to impress. Johnny rode an SB-66 in the Purbecks last month and returned with his Giro lid tipped to Yeti’s new contender. “Normally a long travel bike like this wouldn’t float my boat. I prefer racier bikes with shorter travel. But the SB-66 was pretty awesome. It really could be your only bike,” he said.
Boasting a whopping 152mm of travel from its Koshima-coated Fox shocks, the SB-66 might generally be considered “too much bike” for the relatively modest demands of local trails.
But with a total weight of around 28lbs, and (according to Stu) climbing abilities similar to Yeti’s ASR-5C trail bike, the SB-66 is equally at home in Dorset and Wales.
Stu revealed that Yeti had been testing ‘bare metal’ prototypes of the SB-66 at the company’s Golden, Colorado HQ for two years. “There was a room at the factory that even I wasn’t allowed in to,” he said “The SB-66 has great mud clearance, which is unusual for a US bike. A lot of the British journos were surprised, but it’s been through two Colorado winters.”
After blasting a demo SB-66 around the W2 trail at Afan last month, he plans to put his own machine through its paces over some rugged French terrain.
“At Afan, it was almost as good uphill as the ASR-5C and even better when the going was looser, which is impressive for a heavier bike with longer travel. There’s so much grip at the back. When you drop the Reverb seat post, it’s like a downhill bike,” said Stu.
Dave Whild, account manager for Endura cycle clothing, took delivery of his SB-66 on their first delivery to the UK. He tested his turquoise machine (“Of course. It’s a Yeti. There ought to be a law,”) on the Purbeck trails, and returned pleased with the results. “It’s a fast bike. I ran out of gears. I flashed down hill over some bobbly bits as fast as I’ve been on anything,” said Dave.
But it was on the steady climb of Purbeck’s “May Trail” – a narrow track surrounded by dense foliage – that the SB-66 impressed him most. “I expected the bike to be good downhill, but coming up the May Trail it climbed steadily and I gapped both of the riders I with. The May Trail is technical and overgrown, but the bike allowed me just to sit and tap away,” he said.
Expect to see the SB-66 at Ride very soon. The frame and shock will cost around £1,800. A carbon version is under development, according to Stu, and expected to hit the UK market place in the new year.
For more on the SB-66, visit yeticycles.com.
Timothy John
Post your comment
Comments
No one has commented on this page yet.
RSS feed for comments on this page | RSS feed for all comments
