Yeti just dropped in on their slackest mountain bike ever – the new 165mm full carbon enduro SB165 with their unique Switch Infinity sliding main pivot and a coil-specific suspension design. Developed with multi-time EWS champ Richie Rude, the new SB165 was developed to build a playful trail bike without any limitations – built DH tough with Yeti’s lifetime warranty to back it up.
2020 Yeti SB165 carbon, coil-shock enduro mountain bike
Yeti built the new SB165 as the “slackest sled” in their line-up to match DH bike descending to trail bike climbing – a bike built “for steep descents and technical, big consequence riding”.
The heart of the bike is the Switch Infinity sliding main pivot, scaled up for 165mm of enduro rear wheel travel.
Geometry
Not just slack for marketing’s sake, this new 63.5° headtube SB185 is really meant to shred super steep & technical trails. But the efficient pedaling of the Switch Infinity system and a steep 77° seat angle (plus short offset forks) means the bike still climbs well, giving it progressive trail geometry to create an all-rounder all-mountain trail bike that doesn’t need a shuttle to the trailhead.
Tech details
The SB165 gets 165mm of rear wheel travel from the new carbon frame, paired to a significantly longer 180mm fork to balance the bottomless ride feel. Two levels of carbon are available, Yeti’s lightest top Turq series layup or the C-series that adds about 220g while retaining the same strength & stiffness at a fraction of the cost.
The bike was developed around coil shocks, with all new suspension kinematics to marry the best of supple coil chock feel & the efficiency of the Switch Infinity platform
By doubling the shock ratio for the SB165, Yeti says the new bike keeps the same supple feel & while retaining the anti-squat performance of the shorter air shock bikes.
Plus, the Switch Infinity system let them create their most progressive kinematics yet to get the most out of linear spring coil or modern high-volume air shocks. According to Yeti Director of Engineering, Peter Zawistowski, “In layman’s terms, it climbs great (even for a big bike) and crushes the downhills.”
Yeti stuck with 27.5″ wheels for the new long-travel bike to keep the playful nature of the new bike. This isn’t meant to be a DH racing rocket on a straight race course, but a big, versatile trail bike to shred the most technical terrain.
The carbon SB165 features a water bottle mount in the main triangle, internal cable routing, the Kashima-coated Switch Infinity by Fox slider, integrated headset, a pressfit BB92 bottom bracket, ISCG05 tabs, Boost 148 rear end, sealed Enduro Max bearings, and molded rubber downtube, seatstay & chainstay protection, plus an optional shuttle protector.
Pricing & availability
The new SB165 is available now in several complete bike builds in turquoise or black (three Turq & two C-series) plus a $4000 frame only option in the top-tier Turq carbon with a Fox Factory DHX2 shock.
The highest $8800 stock SB165 T3 build features a Fox Factory 36 & matching DHX2, with a SRAM XX1 Eagle build and DT Swiss EX1700 alloy wheels – claimed weight 14.1kg/31.1lb. But even that can be upgraded to AXS for another $600 or DT XMC1200 carbon wheels for $1400, or both for $1900.
The next down SB165 T2 build keeps the same suspension but swaps to X01 Eagle to drop the price to $7700, adding just 320g. In September, another $7100 SB165 T1 will be available, still sharing the same top Turq frame and basic spec, but with a new XT 1×12 groupset & 4-piston XT brakes adding another 230g.
The more affordable (and remember, just 220g heavier) C-series carbon frame is available in the $6200 SB165 C2 with Fox Performance 36 & Vanilla rear shock, plus an X01 Eagle build and the same DT EX1700 wheels – claimed weight 26.3kg/32.58lb. At $5600, the SB165 C1 is the most affordable build swapping in a SRAM GX Eagle group and heavier DT E1900 wheels (14.89kg/32.83lb.)
The SB165 (as are all 2019 & newer Yeti bikes) is covered by Yeti’s “no-B.S. Lifetime Warranty”. Ride it like the gravity sled it is, and if something goes wrong Yeti will make it right. Just register your bike, first. They even do a discounted crash replacement program too it you accidentally smash it into a wall. “You CAN race, jump, ford streams, shred the gnar or ride it hard. Don’t worry, you don’t need a lawyer to decipher how it works.”
