YETI SB160 T1

How will Yeti’s travel-enhanced enduro rig build upon its race-winning DNA?

£8,999 • 29in • silverfish-uk.com

Every frame design has a shelf life. In the past, brands would typically let the same model run for three years before a refresh. But in the current climate, it seems like two years is all you get from a design before it falls out of favour. Fast fashion? To a degree, yes, as the frame designs don’t actually change that much year to year. And when they do, it’s often more about making the new model standout from the noise, rather than showcasing a genuinely innovative design.

So the fact that Yeti managed to get four good years out of the SB150 platform goes to show just how right the original was. Thanks to Richie Rude, it also has the race results to prove it. And if everyone wasn’t expecting a new version to drop 12 months ago, sales probably wouldn’t have started to wane on the SB150. After all, no one wants to buy the outgoing model, especially when the frame price tops £4k.

And while we’re talking money, I would have bet the farm on Yeti switching to the six-bar Sixfinity suspension design that it recently introduced on the 160E. And I’d have lost it all, as the latest SB160, SB140 and SB120 all retain Yeti’s signature Switch Infinity design.

The obvious pattern to the evolution is that all three bikes get 10mm more frame travel than the models they replace, but there are also some subtle changes that run through the new SB range. Like the switch to threaded bottom brackets, shorter shock links and size-specific chainstay lengths. The bikes also have sizespecific seat angles, which should make a big difference to the climbing characteristics, especially on the larger frame sizes.

Yeti has long been a proponent of having more fork travel than frame travel on its SB bikes. And that’s because a 170mm fork that’s attached to a 64° head angle only gives about 150mm of vertical travel. So on the SB150, the 170mm fork balanced travel perfectly. So has fork travel increased on the SB160 to compensate? In short, no. And that’s probably because there’s a limit to how short you can make the head tube to offset taller forks. Also, given that you tend to run more sag on the rear suspension than the fork – typically 30% vs 20% – the new bikes should still feel very balanced.

All three bikes get 10mm more travel than the models they replace