28 Miles on Yeti's New Enduro Beauty
Step 1 - Find an SB6 In the First Place
In the months since photos of Jared Graves' stealthy prototype Yeti appeared, long travel fans everywhere have been excitedly waiting for Yeti's new superbike / enduro podium machine.
Yeti's first bike built on the new Switch Infinity platform was the shorter-travel SB5c. Released in the summer, this nimble trail bike received many sparkling reviews, including heaps of praise for the new suspension feel. Many reviewers observed the 5c performs like a bike with much more rear wheel travel. Oh boy.
What would this mean for the 6c— a bike with 150mm of travel instead of the 5c's 125?! Commence salivation.
I've been chomping at the bit to try out the 6c since laying eyes on it, but I hadn't been able to find one in person until the last few weeks. They've recently started landing in Colorado. Literally. There are so few built up that I haven't even seen one for sale yet. There are a couple demo's around, but they appear to not be for sale. Who could resist a demo of this mysterious, aggressive beauty?
Luckily, Sports Garage in Boulder, CO has two for demo— a medium and a large. As the SG employee lead me to the back, gesturing to the black size large hanging up, I could only answer with a huge grin.
I took a day off from work on Friday, scheduled a demo, and proceeded to get massively excited.
Step 2 - Profit (From the Shred-Gods-of-Gnar-Rippage, Bro)
The SB6 is ridiculously good.
I picked my stealthy demo up on thursday night, and once the tires, seatpost and suspension were proper I headed to the trail. Never mind that there were only 20 minutes of sunlight left.
Pulling into Heil Ranch, I sprinted up the fire road towards the singletrack. This thing pedals nicely, I thought! But climbing the first rock section, the day made a turn towards awesome.
First, the rear end smoothed a patch of sharp rocks into nothing, yet the bike's stance seemed to barely move. Not only that, but mistakenly bouncing the front tire off a rock, I pulled the bars up, and the whole bike hopped back in line. This was so surprising, I almost had to stop— how the in the balls is a 6" travel, low and slack enduro bike this nimble?
Initially, this was my biggest concern about the 6c's geometry. The head angle is 65.5˚, which is damn near downhill bike territory. Some reviewers of the Santa Cruz Nomad reported that its slackness was great descending, but quite a compromise for climbing, making it rather sluggish. Slack is good, but I want an adventure bike— something to take on all-day rides with massive climbs and descents, not something that yearns to be shuttled in a van or lift.
Luckily, the 6c excels at this. It climbs better than my Ibis Mojo HD— which is no slouch— and is super nimble at low speeds. When you lay on power, it instantly answers. Stand and sprint and BAM, the bike is up to speed. And it's fast, like: PSHEEW!
As it started to get dark I descended the little bit of Heil back to the car. The 6c felt great, the nimble feel made descending a delight, launching off rocks and blasting into corners were a dream. I was getting increasingly excited for Friday. A full day of riding!
Friday came and as the sun came up I prepared for the day— first an early mission to Hall Ranch “Rock Garden” in Lyons which is a great trail to put suspension through the ringer, and then a trip to Sourdough near Nederland, a longer natural rocky trail, with few other users. And hopefully no banjos.
Arriving at Hall, I climbed Bitterbrush up to Nelson, and did a few Nelson laps before descending back down Bitterbrush. As I got more comfortable with the bike (and bigger wheels) the characteristics from the previous day became clearer:
- Great pedaling and traction— I made it up many features on Lower Bitterbrush that I normally don't.
- Linear suspension—smooths all small and medium bumps, yet doesn't change any feel of the bike as it moves. It's like... hover bike.
- Composed at speed— no wait, it's not just composed at speed... there are many great modern trailbikes out there, and most are composed at speed. The SB6c is nonchalant at speed, and plowing through rock gardens. It's just not that impressed with you. Sorry.
- Playful and poppy— a life without gapping over rocks or hopping into water bars is a pale imitation of life. The 6c loves to be sprung over things, it does not soak up your joyful little kid bunny hops like some long-travel bikes.
Almost every section of Hall I rode (on an unfamiliar bike) faster than I ever have. That said, the Bitterbrush rock garden is punishing on any bike. The SB6 smoothed things nicely, and never felt nervous, but rider finesse still counts.
I stopped for lunch and moved on to Sourdough. I was a bit tired from the sprint of the morning, but Sourdough is a more flat, rolling trail, albeit with plenty of rocks. More suited to a leisurely pedal, and for me not so familiar.
I didn't encounter any problems, the SB6c still loved rocks! The Sports Garage guys had encouraged me to try running bad lines and generally “go hit stuff” so I tried that, climbing and descending. Yep, the wheels are still totally planted. Yep, bike is still markedly unimpressed with my speed. Since Sourdough includes many 2-300 yard descents in between shallow climbs, I noticed a few new things:
- Where's the dropper post lever?— I would be rumbling down a loose, rooty section of trail and notice I hadn't dropped the seat at all. There was just no need. Confidence of the 6c.
- Shifting?— Also at the end of some of these descents I went to pedal up a slight incline or flat spot and found I was spun out, still in a low gear from the previous climb. I hadn't shifted! You don't need to pedal the SB6 down things, you just let off the brakes and it accelerates.
Climbing lies onward, but our descent it will surely make!
The only drawback I can find with the SB6c is the low bottom bracket, which is pretty standard on long travel bikes, especially with bigger wheels. Just be careful with the crank arms through rocks. I also missed my 36 point DT Swiss freehub, over the stock 18 point engagement stock on DT hubs. But that's a quick fix.
As I got back to the car I was worked from the day's riding, but sad to take the SB6 back. It's an amazing machine. The suspension is so magnificent, and the build Yeti spec'd is perfect— Fox 36 fork, Sram X01 drivetrain, Shimano brakes, Thompson dropper, wide-ass bars and a short stem, as it should be (both from Easton) and Maxxis High-Roller II's set up tubeless. I honestly wouldn't change a thing. Ahem, besides the freehub ratchet.
If you are looking at new trailbike, definitely give the SB6 or its little brother the SB5 a try, Yeti totally nailed it with these. The SB6 is delightfully smooth and calm over the roughs, stable at speed, swift on the pedals and still very playful and full of pop. It is so choice... if you have the means I highly recommend picking one up (or just giving one a spin).