First Look & Ride: Yeti's New SB135
Although their lineup contains a wide variety of bikes for just about every off-road discipline, Yeti is a brand most people strongly associate with racing. They've put an immense amount of work and time into their racing programs over the years, and have the wins and speedy rigs to back it up. But fast times aren't the only thing going on there, and no bike embodies that better than their newest: the SB135, "the dopamine machine."
The most eye-catching feature on the 135 won't be its sporty travel and clean lines, but the fact that it has 27.5" wheels in the back and the front. Rejoice, all you folks bemoaning the dominance of the big wheels, as this is one of the few full-27.5 bikes still available from a major manufacturer.
The most eye-catching feature on the 135 won't be its sporty travel and clean lines, but the fact that it has 27.5" wheels in the back and the front. Rejoice, all you folks bemoaning the dominance of the big wheels, as this is one of the few full-27.5 bikes still available from a major manufacturer.
Yeti SB135
• 27.5" front and rear
• 135mm frame travel, 150mm fork
(160mm on Lunch Ride)
• 65.4° head angle (65° Lunch Ride)
• 400-504mm reach
• 429-437mm chainstays
• Size-specific seat tube angle
• XS-XL, MD-XL Lunch Ride
• Weight: 32 lb / 14.5 kg
• Frameset: $4,300 USD
• MSRP: $6,400-$10,300 USD
• yeticycles.com
• 27.5" front and rear
• 135mm frame travel, 150mm fork
(160mm on Lunch Ride)
• 65.4° head angle (65° Lunch Ride)
• 400-504mm reach
• 429-437mm chainstays
• Size-specific seat tube angle
• XS-XL, MD-XL Lunch Ride
• Weight: 32 lb / 14.5 kg
• Frameset: $4,300 USD
• MSRP: $6,400-$10,300 USD
• yeticycles.com
Closing in on 40 years of Yeti.
With the classic head badge.
Frame Details
Like some of the other high-end brands on the market, Yeti's design language is starting to look more and more similar between all of the models in the lineup. The SB135 follows this trend, with the shock orientation and frame shapes slotting handily into the trend set by the SB160 and SB140 released late last year. The frame also went through the same slimming and stiffness optimization that the other updated models have seen, resulting in a very svelte form factor. There's quite a bit hiding under the hood though, as the 135mm of travel sports very similar curves to its longer-travel siblings. With 14% progression, it's bang-on the same as the SB140 29er, with similar geometry to match.
On the geo front, things are firmly trail-focused, with pretty modern lengths and angles. We're pretty conditioned to full 29 and mullet geometry charts these days, so it's important to remember that 27.5" frames don't quite compare exactly on all fronts. Reach and angles translate, but otherwise you have to account for the different wheel sizes.
With that in mind, the size range on the SB135 is carefully scaled to suit each point in the fit spectrum. One point that the folks at Yeti were keen to highlight was just how well-sorted the Small and Extra Small sizes are. They gave those smaller frames a completely unique rear end, shock link, and shock mount, with a slightly different kinematic tuned to match the larger models.
Lunch Ride vs. Regular
As with all of their frames, this new little Yeti comes in both Turq and C-series construction, with the two differing only in weight and price. The Turq is a few hundred grams lighter on average, with stiffness remaining the same. All frames feature fully-guided internal routing, with nicely molded cable clamps to keep things quiet. The UDH standard allows you to either run SRAM's new Transmission system, or simply get an easy-to-find hanger from pretty much any bike shop.
Frame protection is similarly upgraded to the longer-travel models, with a dual-density plate underneath the downtube to keep your fancy carbon frame safe from any hard hits. Dropper post length has been maximized across the lineup, allowing for 150mm on Small frames, 175mm on Mediums, and 200mm+ on Large and up. Lastly, we can celebrate the inclusion of a co-molded threaded bottom bracket, with integrated ISCG-05 tabs, allowing folks to run bash guards and guides if they so please.
Build Options
Spec is well chosen, albeit expensive, with a decent array of options to suit your desires. Prices range from $6,400 to $10,300 USD, with a decent range of build options in there for different preferences and budgets.
In classic Yeti tradition there's a Lunch Ride version, which gives the bike a slightly slacker profile in addition to the more capable specs. These spec changes reflect what Yeti employees opt to run on their personal bikes, with better brakes, wheels, and tires, as well as a longer-travel fork. This parts selection makes the most sense to me, as the lighter-duty spec holds the bike back a bit from its full capability.
The build kit naming scheme is nothing if not complicated, but the parts specs and prices are as follows:
TLR Transmission T3 ($9500 USD)
Lunch Ride, 160mm fork, Fox Factory suspension, SRAM XO Transmission, Code RSC brakes, DT EX1700 wheels
CLR C2 ($6900 USD)
Lunch Ride, 160mm fork, Fox Performance suspension, SRAM GX, Code RSC brakes, DT E1900 wheels
TXT ($7500 USD)
Fox Factory suspension, Shimano XT drivetrain, XT brakes, DT XM1700 wheels
T2 ($8000 USD)
Fox Factory suspension, SRAM XO1 drivetrain, SRAM G2 RSC brakes, DT XM1700 wheels
T4 Transmission ($10300 USD)
Fox Factory suspension, SRAM XX Transmission, SRAM G2 Ultimate brakes, DT XM1700 wheels
C1 ($6400 USD)
Fox Performance suspension, Shimano SLX drivetrain, SLX brakes, DT M1900 wheels
C2 ($6700 USD)
Fox Performance suspension, SRAM GX drivetrain, SRAM G2 R brakes, DT M1900 wheels
The SB135 is also available as a Turq-level frame retailing for $4300 USD, should you want to build it up with parts of your own.
Riding the SB135
I've been riding a Large TLR Transmission T3 build SB135 for the past few weeks, and boy has it surprised me.
The last full-27.5" bike I rode was a 2019 Ibis Mojo HD4, so it's safe to say I've been away from the platform for a minute. That said, I've ridden plenty of small wheels, but only in the form of the recently popular mixed-wheel setups. Needless to say, the industry has pushed pretty decisively towards the 29" wheel, despite some holdouts in the smaller-diameter camp. It's hard to say what the primary driver has been on this trend, but an industry-wide drive towards making all bikes more capable might be the broadest reason I can come up with right now. Regardless, I expected to enjoy the novelty of the SB135, but didn't think it was going to impress me as much as it did.
The beginning of my test period on the 135 fell right as our weather in Bellingham was turning to spring perfection, so the Yeti was treated with some pretty heroic conditions. That helped the cause, but realistically the bike didn't need a ton of help to shine. The wheels may be small, but that wasn't really the first thing I noticed in the broader equation. One of the main standout features was of course the Switch Infinity rear suspension, which continues to impress with just how predictable it is throughout the the travel. I really enjoy the ride on the SB160, and the 135's back wheel just feels like a scaled-down version.
Sadly you can't fit a large water bottle with the piggyback.
But the rear end fits up to 2.6", maybe more.
Now for the elephant in the room: little front wheel (insert spooky music). It still works! It's definitely not quite as capable on steep or chunky terrain, but this bike handled delightfully well on a solid variety of trails. On my typical home trails, the combination of the smaller wheels and shorter wheelbase made the tightest turns just a bit quicker, and allowed me to pump backsides to sections of trail that I usually just speed over. This made the SB135 a little faster in the right areas, though that equation flipped when then trails got rough.
The small front wheel does get gobbled up a bit by holes and roots, which can slow the chassis down where I'm more used to maintaining speed. Luckily, this didn't make for an uncomfortable ride, as both the fork and shock provide a really nicely controlled damping that moves when it has to and gives plenty of support to avoid harsh hits.
The Lunch Ride spec really suits this bike, especially for my purposes, and I don't think I'd want to ride it in any less capable a package. The expensive drivetrain and factory suspension can easily be downgraded without much in the way of performance loss, but the Code RSC brakes and enduro-ready wheels feel critical to the equation. The only parts I swapped out were the cockpit and tires, and that was just to better suit the bike to my home terrain. DH-casing Continentals and a higher-rise bar with a 40mm stem made the whole package feel a lot better in the steeps and g-heavy turns.
What it feels like to ride the 135.
The SB135 has been one of my more frequently chosen bikes for the past few weeks of riding, and I think that speaks volumes to how fun this bike is. It's definitely not the most capable in my garage, but on trails where playing around and feeling fast are key, I've had nothing but good times on this little whip. I'm looking forward to more time on the fun-forward Yeti, and can't wait to see how it works in the long term.
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Or in a couple weeks from the, "Bought a bike, turns out I hate biking.... and Line Of Credit payments" crowd.
That and over stock has made for the season of deals. Just wait until it corrects next year and everyone complaining about getting ripped off because prices went back up halfway
You can keep on downvoting, but deep inside you know this is true. That extra $3500 isn't doing shit for you.
You need to ride with some BMX dudes that can get on a cheap bike with bone stock components, set their suspension to what you would consider "harsh", and absolutely destroy trails. I still can't believe that people think that you need to spend money to ride better with mountain bikes.
As for things wearing out, the only thing that will really wear that will need replacement is the drivetrain at the rear, at which point you can replace it with a $200 microshift one. It will shift better new than a worn higher end shimano or sram groupset.
Or its so unbelievably accurate I rode bmx park and dj from when I was like 12 to 20 years old.
Could 360 bunnyhop, barspins, tailwhips landing fakie, all that untill I tore my acl, got more into moto and then dh and then enduro, so I don't need to ride with anyone.... also I don't know what you weigh but I'm 6'1" and 190lbs. And further being into cycles for 25 years, I know how I want my stuff to ride, I like nice stuff, I'm particular to the point of machining my own some of my own components, so it's not like I started riding 3 years ago and think jeez an extra 3 grand will make me better.
Go climb 2k+ ft over 5 miles then come down over 1.5 miles, oh wait not possible. You have no idea no wonder.
The main reason to chose 27.5 is really freeride - for the same travel, you get a shorter bike and shorter chainstays, which start to matter once you start jumping steep lips and throwing tricks. For everything else, a 29er with the appropriate geo for the riding that you have to do.
But a short travel trail bike is for having fun. 27.5 wheels are great for that. I rode a V1 Bronson as my every day bike for years and loved it for messing around in the woods (and would have bought a 5010 if the Bronson wouldn't have been cheaper due to a sale). I still have the Bronson and it feels quicker than my V2 Ripmo, which I also love, but in a different way. If I still lived in the woods rather than the desert, I would certainly consider a bike like this even though I'm 6'3".
I hope this genre of bikes is successful. It seems like it would be a good pairing with a big enduro 29ers for a lot of people. In my dream world, I'd have a 120mm 29er, this, and a 160-170 29 or mullet bruiser. If only my wife would work harder....
Overall, the differences are about what you would expect. The Bronson us more agile. There is one, really tight, wiggly spot on a climb up one of my favorite trails that I still haven't made on my Ripmo, but did on the Bronson. I wouldn't say the Bronson necessarily feels poppier, but it feels lighter and easier to toss around a bit. I assume it is lighter, but I've never weighed either and it might just be shorter.
The newer Ripmo is better in most other ways. The front end is a degree slacker, the wheel is larger, and it has a 38 instead of a Pike. My home trails are about as desert chunky as there is, and I feel notably more confident rolling over holes and big rocks, especially when it's steep. The pedaling platform is a bit better and that is added to by the better seating position for steep seated climbing.
The new Bronson incorporates a lot of what makes me like my Ripmo over my original Bronson, do I think the comparison would be a lot closer in good and bad. I have buzzed my butt a few times on the Ripmo, do it would be fun to try a mullet.
Life is good over here
Trying to boil bikes down to weight when they have completely different build purposes has to be one of the stupidest things I've ever seen mountain bikers do, and for god knows what reason they do it like clockwork.
Now it just means an extra 10mm travel and bigger brakes and applies to every bike in the range, from the xc racer to the enduro tank.
Ha!
That paragraph has me spinning circles lol. Long live 27.5". Fun & fast without compromise.
Glad they arent dead!!
It’s all so tiresome
The paint job on this Yeti is really nice though. I love that gloss red.
I loved my old SB5c, the only carbon on it, other than the frame, was the bars, yet it weighed only 12.6kg (27.8lb) with pedals. This SB135 weighs almost as much as my 170/160 Enduro bike.
Or any 27.5 bike from 2018 or 2019 lol.
Perhaps not a race bike but neither is this. Spech just had the balls to do it right.
probably the fact that it's killed 2 headsets in 4 months (one CK hellbender one Ti nukeproof set, always the top set going first) and also the fact that the seat tube was defective and creaky from new
what if how a bike jumps was included in reviews?