Review: 2023 Yeti SB135

I've been testing the very nicely appointed LR T3 Turq, which retails for $9,500 USD. It comes kitted with a Fox Factory 36 fork and Float X shock, SRAM Code Ultimate brakes, a 12-speed SRAM XO AXS Transmission drivetrain, and DT Swiss EX 1700 aluminum wheels.

---

Frame Details

Yeti's frames come in both a standard layup and an enhanced Turq flavor. The Turq models shave about 190 grams off the frame weight while retaining the same strength and stiffness as the standard frames. Regardless of which layup you choose, the frame cuts a lovely silhouette, with relatively slim tubes compared to many modern frames.

For those in the Small and Extra Small bracket, a great deal of attention has been paid to the fit and usability of those frames, with very low standover, maximized seatpost insertion, and space for a bottle all baked in. This required the engineering of a completely different front shock mount, linkage, and rear swing arm, an effort that the team at Yeti is quite proud of.

Though Yeti has yet to integrate any sort of frame storage into their frames, there's plenty of room for a water bottle, with space to strap some spares to the top tube as well. The two-layer downtube protection is very effective, and also keeps things quiet thanks to the rubber insulation behind the plastic shell.

Though I'll die on the "all bikes should have external routing" hill, the clean and easy tube-in-tube routing on the Yeti is slick enough to calm me down for a moment or two. Not only do the cables glide through the frame beautifully, but they've added cleanly integrated clamps at the entry and exit to keep things as quiet and secure as possible. The routing is free of any weird bends or kinks, and handles the movement of the suspension without issue.

Geometry & Sizing

The SB135 has a modern, though not extreme, geometry chart that matches the character of the bike quite well. With a 160mm fork (as tested), the reach on the size Large is 475mm, and the head angle is an even 65°. Chainstays grow with each size, landing at 435mm on the Large.

The seat tube angle is a healthy 76.5° in the Lunch Ride setup, which gives a nice upright feel to the bike, despite the lower than average stack numbers. I added some higher rise bars to account for the stack, and a fresh build with a longer fork steerer might be nice for other tall folks.

We see so many geometry charts with values that reflect the changes brought on by 29" wheels that it can be hard to calibrate to a full-27.5" bike's numbers, but in this case things are fairly progressive within the category.

Suspension Design

The SB135 uses Yeti's patented Switch Infinity design, which utilizes a main pivot that translates position as the linkage cycles, allowing the 4-bar system to be tuned for optimal anti-squat and leverage values at specific points throughout the travel. As Yeti puts it: "In the beginning and mid-section of travel – when Switch Infinity moves up – a relatively flat and high anti-squat curve ­creates an efficient pedaling platform through the entire pedaling zone. When Switch Infinity reverses direction, anti-squat drastically drops for freedom of suspension movement."

The shock is tuned to work in conjunction with the Switch Infinity's range of motion in the last 1/3 of travel, giving the bike very good bottom-out resistance, especially considering the fairly linear 14% progression.

Climbing

The SB135 offers is composed and comfortable in the climbs, with a suspension feel that keeps things even and supportive while absorbing small hits along the way. The magic of the Switch Infinity system allows for the bike to remain active under pedaling without feeling too wallowy, giving a solid amount of grip for how efficient it feels overall.

Thanks to the fairly steep seat tube angle and balanced front and rear centers, the seated position is nice and upright, assuming you can account for the low-feeling stack height with a higher-rise bar.

It's easy to change line through technical climbs thanks to the relatively short wheelbase and little wheels. Those 27.5" wheels do get more hung up on some obstacles, but they have the flip-side benefit of being able to spin up faster to attack sections of a climb. I found myself giving tech climbs more of a stop and surge approach, compared to just motoring through like I might on a longer-travel 29er.

The sporty Yeti isn't geared towards XC racing, and the 32lb. weight reflects that, but at no point did it feel heavy on trail. The bike simply felt planted and predictable, and more than happy to pedal hard all day should you be up to the task.

Descending

A paradoxical little machine, the SB135. Small wheels are supposed to be slower, yet it feels fast. They're twitchier and easier to turn, but somehow you can still get things to calm down at speed. Turns out, a bike is a bike, and this little Yeti is a very fun one. From a geometry standpoint, the SB135 isn't exactly cutting edge, but if you've been riding long enough to have adapted to the shape of bikes 10 years ago, you'll quickly remember that there can be quite a bit of fun in swinging off the back of a smaller bike and making it work.

Sizing plays a critical roll here, as I've been spending time on the size Large, with a relatively short 475mm reach. I could just as easily get along with the XL's 505mm length, but that would take away some of the spunky nature of the bike, biasing instead towards overall stability. If I were trying to race this bike for some reason, I'd probably go with the bigger frame, but that's really not the SB135's purview.

What the smaller bike does offer is a tight wheelbase that slots nicely into corners of all sizes, pumps effectively anywhere on trail, and catches backside in a way that longer and bigger bikes may not be able to. Many of the trails I regularly ride were built deep in the prehistoric era of the triple chainring, so modern wheelbase numbers and wheel sizes were hardly considered when constructing features. That rarely poses a problem, given how capable modern bikes have become, but the SB135 provides a very cool sensation that I haven't felt on some of those bigger sleds: the perfect two-wheeled backside. Smaller undulating features and one-off bits of tech suddenly offered an opportunity to generate a bit more speed, thanks to the shorter wheelbase and smaller wheels. Obviously there's a tradeoff when you encounter a feature that's more significant, but that pumptrack feeling is one that kept me keen to ride the Yeti on more and more of the local trails I know well.

I found the SB135 to be very easy to ride, especially if you have an active style on the bike, moving machine and body around to make the most of the trail ahead. The additional feedback you get from the smaller wheels and tighter numbers just goads you on to mess around even more, turning mundane sections of trail into a hoot and a holler.


All this talk of fun and exciting handling has to reach its limit at some point, and the SB135 does a good job of letting you know when you've hit that ceiling. Over the course of long rides that ranged into gnarlier terrain, I found that the Yeti found its limits before I did, in steep and janky terrain where you're fighting to stay in control of the bike anyway. It's very easy to change direction and pick smaller patches of lines, but the smaller wheels and tighter geometry can get pinged out of your desired path quite easily if you're not on point.

Though the handling gives less room for error than a big truck of an enduro bike might, the suspension performance remains impressive through thick and thin. The team at Yeti did a great job of packaging the smooth and predictable feel of the Switch Infinity system into the smaller travel bracket. Grip is plentiful and support seems to be there whenever you want it on trail. This is a tricky sensation to describe, but the bike manages to pump in a way that feels efficient, while still absorbing the bumps and chatter along the way.

The harder-hitting parts spec of the Lunch Ride kit is key to some of the mannerisms I've come to enjoy on the SB135, with stronger brakes, more fork travel, and burlier wheels all playing a critical role in the end product. If you're really trying to make the most of mellower trails, then the standard spec might be enough, but for those with more serious steeps and features, the LR kit does push the Yeti a bit closer to the capability of bigger bikes on the market.

As a Mullet

Since this is going to be a chief curiosity amongst folks, I figured I had to try the SB135 with a big wheel out front. The team at Yeti is more than okay with people opting for this setup, though they stand by their choice to keep the bike full 27.5". In order to preserve geometry as much as possible, I chose to run a 140mm 29" Pike Ultimate, though you could run a 150mm fork without things getting too weird.

The handling was generally unchanged, though I did notice that the bike lost some ability to dive into pockets with quite the same oomph as it had with the smaller wheel up front. Part of that is due to the larger diameter wheel keeping the front end up and out of smaller compressions on trail. Another element is likely the fundamental difference between the Pike and the 36 - not the ideal comparison, I know. The 36 on this bike was delightfully active, tracking well and moving quite a bit as you pumped the bike. On the other hand, the Pike is a bit more hesitant to push through its travel, valuing efficiency and chassis stability. This made for a slightly imbalanced feel, given that active rear end feel I mentioned prior.

Ultimately, this will be an experiment for SB135 owners to carry out themselves, as the preference is going to depend a lot on your terrain and how you ride. For the jumpy flowy trails here in Bellingham, the full-27.5 version felt more balanced and exciting; whether it was faster and more stable, I'm not so sure. For those who want to turn this bike into a downhill-focused enduro bike, maybe consider getting an SB160 before raking out the front end and sticking a long-travel 29" fork in there.

How does it compare?

With a dwindling crop of full-27.5" bikes on the market these days, the options are a little slim when it comes to exact comparisons for the SB135. Pivot's Shadowcat comes to mind, though the geo and parts spec are a bit more conservative than the harder-hitting Lunch Ride-equipped SB135. Pivot touts the 140mm DW-link bike as one that caters towards fast pedaling, and I wonder how it would stack up against the smooth and active 135mm Yeti. The Transition Scout is a bit more descent-minded, with geometry and build kits biasing towards steeper and heavier terrain.

Throughout the test, the bike that kept coming to mind was the newest Santa Cruz 5010. No longer a full-27.5" bike, the 5010 now sports an MX setup, though many of the characteristics of the bikes were quite similar. Sizing hits a bit differently between the two, with Santa Cruz's numbers catering towards me a bit better - the 495mm XL fit me quite well. On other fronts, the geo of the 5010 is a bit more progressive, with a much higher stack number (even when balanced for the larger front wheel), a 0.5° slacker head angle, and 5mm longer chainstays per size.

On the descents, the nature of the bikes are both geared towards jumping, cornering, and jibbing around, though the 5010 edges slightly ahead when it comes to handling gnarly terrain at speed. That larger front wheel certainly helps, but the suspension also mutes hits a bit more, as opposed to the poppier feel of the SB135. Climbing prowess goes to the Yeti, with a more neutral feel through bumpy climbs and under harder pedaling.

Both are very expensive bikes, with the build kits I tested hovering around the $10,000 mark. Both have excellent frame quality, solid warranties, and beautiful finishing touches. All told though, I'd go with the 5010, as the added convenience of the Glovebox, the fuss-free suspension, and the slightly more capable feeling geometry made it a hard bike to beat. The SB135 may suit those with mellower terrain better, especially if you're valuing the climbs and descents evenly.

Which Model is the Best Value?

If you've decided to commit to the 27.5" lifestyle and that the SB135 is the bike for you, then it comes time to decide on the parts package that best suits your wallet and your preference. With the frame alone costing $4,300, there are no budget-friendly options in the lineup. That said, there are a couple models that offer decent value, especially considering the quality of the frame itself.

For $6,900 you can have the LR C2 model, with LR connoting the Lunch Ride spec. I'd bias pretty heavily towards those more-capable parts choices, because I found the longer travel fork and stronger brake spec key to the performance of the SB135. The Fox Performance Elite 36 and Float X are excellent suspension items, offering the same on-trail performance as the Factory models, with simply less brown on the stanchions. The GX mechanical drivetrain is tried and true, as are the DT Swiss wheels. SRAM Code R brakes require a bit more maintenance and care than the RSC variants, but offer plenty of power and adjustability.

Again, you aren't going to be associating the Yeti brand with price-conscious models anytime soon, but they've done a good job of speccing the models with sensible parts that should last for years to come, and not require too much in the way of instant upgrades.

Technical Report

As with all of their other newest frames, Yeti has consolidated the bearings into the linkage hardware itself, making it easier to work on and replace the bearings when the time comes. Santa Cruz has been beating this drum for a while now, and it's great to see other brands follow suit, as it really does make the process easier and less stressful - there's nothing quite like banging a seized bearing out of a carbon frame to get the fear sweat going.

On the suspension elements topic, I do have to point out one critical flaw that I've experienced with the Switch Infinity on my personal SB160. While the hardware on the bike is generally well guarded from the elements, the heart of the system - that Kashima-coated Switch Unit - is susceptible to quite a bit of wear, especially in wet environments. Yeti recommends a 20-hour service interval in wet and slimy conditions like we have here in Bellingham, which is far more frequent than most home mechanics will adhere to. This leads to premature wear and tear, with my personal bike's Switch Unit needing replacement after only a few months this winter. Obviously, my environment and ride volume is a unique use case, but this is definitely something to be mindful of. If you're riding in dry and dusty conditions, that interval is 75-100 hours, so it'll fall in line with that regular shock service that you're probably putting off.

Through the test period, the SB135's Switch Unit didn't experience too much wear, though a mysterious creak did develop in the linkage, likely due to water and grime ingress. After cleaning the linkage, and thoroughly re-greasing, I was able to chase the creak away, but it ought not occur after only a couple hundred miles of riding.

Fox Factory 36: I've had mixed results with some of the 36s I've had on test recently, but it's worth pointing out just how flawless this copy was. No CSU creaking, no extra grease in the air chamber, and fantastic performance for the duration of the test. I think the ability of this fork to handle chop at speed made up for some of the inherent rollover setbacks of the smaller front wheel, keeping the front of the bike tracking just a little bit better when things got rough.

SRAM Code RSCs: Little bikes deserve excellent brakes too, and I'm happy to see them here. That is all.

---

Pinkbike's Take

---

---

Posted In:
Reviews and Tech Reviews Trail Bikes Yeti Yeti Sb135