Yeti has long gone large on 29ers, with its tons-lauded SB100, SB130, and SB150 masking the total gamut for folks that want large wheels from move-u. S. To enduro. But the Colorado business enterprise has just released its first 27.5in-wheeled motorbike for a while: the SB165. Yeti sees the massive-wheeled bikes as race-centered options, whereas the SB165 is aimed extra at what it calls “ripping.” This means having a laugh on a motorbike: jumping, hucking, carving berms, and – dare I say it – jibbing. It’s designed to be in its detail inside the bike park or bombing down technical terrain, whether you have an uplift or not.
To that stop, it’s got (you guessed it) 165mm of the rear suspension. All fashions are geared up with coil shocks and a 180mm-journey fork. The body has been examined to what Yeti calls “downhill requirements” for head tube electricity, and the pinnacle attitude is Yeti’s slackest at 63.5 ranges. But after I rode the SB165 in Slovenia for the remaining month, I located it far more versatile and pedal-friendly than the above description may lead you to consider. So read directly to discover how it rides.
Yeti SB165 frame information
As you’d assume, Yeti’s Switch Infinity suspension machine, which hhas a main pivot that moves up and down on a couple of vertical rails because the suspension compresses, is a gift and correct. Unlike Yeti’s other bikes, it’s been tuned for coil shocks. However, it stocks the same Switch-Infinity hardware, linkage bearings, and axles with all of Yeti’s different complete-suspension motorcycles stored for the SB100. So you need to assist with finding spares ought you need to.
The cable routing is mainly neat and completely internally guided, so, according to Yeti, while you push a cable in one give up, it has to slide out the opposite certainly. The frame has room for up to 2.6in tires (as does the fork), and there’s room in the frame for a general 550ml water bottle. There are body cloth alternatives: carbon or carbon. The Turq series carbon fiber is the pinnacle-stop cloth (which we’ve ridden), even as the C collection is decrease-grade carbon fiber, which, in step with Yeti, has similar stiffness properties but weighs 220–250g extra.
Yeti SB165 geometry
The standout figure on the SB165 is a downhill bike worthy 63.5-diploma head angle. That’s mixed with a quick offset (37mm) fork, which increases the path figure, making the steering sense even more settled and sluggish while descending than most DH motorcycles, which commonly use longer fork offset. Equally important is the steep, seventy-seven-degree, powerful seat tube attitude, which puts your hips nicely over the pedals while climbing. Unfortunately, the attainment is long too – 505ml in XL (tested) or 460ml in a Medium.
Interestingly, that is mixed with a 50mm stem on the long facet via present-day geometry requirements. I measured my XL motorcycle’s lowest bracket top, wheelbase, and chainstay duration. Encouragingly, my measurements agreed with those in the table below – that’s now not often the case while comparing spec sheet geometry to actual global measurements. What the spec sheet doesn’t inform you is the load. My XL test bike, equipped with a 500lb according-to-inch spring, weighs 14.8kg / 32.6 lbs without pedals — and that’s in keeping with my trusty scales.
Yeti SB165 suspension
To make the SB165 play properly with coil shocks, the suspension linkage is notably more progressive than the preceding Yetis. In other words, the leverage ratio between the rear axle and the surprise lowers as it gets deeper into its tour, thereby making the suspension more impregnable toward the cease.
