Hot off the heels of the recently launched SB160 comes the Yeti SB120: a bike at the very opposite end of the riding spectrum. The brand's short-travel trail bike gets a progressive geometry and burly build. Here's everything you need to know.

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Yeti has given the SB120 many of the same tweaks as the big SB160 enduro bike has received. That means that the brand has altered its geometry to make it a bit more capable on the downs. As such, there's a 66.5-degree head tube angle, and a steep 76.5-degree seat tube angle. That's paired with a 475mm reach on a large and a 1217mm wheelbase.

2022 yeti sb120 rear.jpg, by Liam Mercer

The new bike also gets a size-specific chainstay that starts at 433mm and stretches up to 443mm on the XXL frame size. Then, the seat tube length has been massively shortened which lets riders run dropper posts with longer travel. Yeti says that small riders can fit a 150mm drop, medium a 175mm dropper then large and extra large can run droppers with 200mm or more.

While on the subject of frame shape, the SB120 looks very similar to the previous SB115 but the lump, knuckle or kink just ahead of the bottom bracket has been raised, and its angle increased. This has been done to offer more clearance. There's also been a clever downtube protector installed which is made up of a hard plastic cap with rubber underneath.

2022 yeti sb120 routing 1.jpg, by Liam Mercer

Onto the SB120's suspension kinematic and its leverage ratio has been refined. The difference is subtle but it gets an 11% progression rate. It also gets a specially designed shock tune.

Yeti has put a lot of work into its Switch Infinity system for the SB120. This time around, it benefits from a floating bearing design that ensures alignment and the bearing races are linked radially and axially which Yeti says boosts bearing life and the linkage's stiffness. The bushing back has been made to be more durable, and there's a fresh gliding material that's said to reduce friction. The bearings are black oxide coated and each bearing comes with aluminium dust caps to help keep dirt out.

2022 yeti sb120 headtube.jpg, by Liam Mercer

It's also backward compatible with older Yeti SB bikes unless it uses the old SB100 and 115 Switch Infinity assembly - and it'll be available aftermarket.

The bike's linkage has been changed, too, now featuring standard bearing sizes and all bearings are pressed into the linkage. Yeti's wishbone link has then been made smaller which increases standover clearance and offers more space in the front triangle for a water bottle.

2022 yeti sb120 routing 2.jpg, by Liam Mercer

Yeti has left very little of this bike untouched as the brand has gone so far as to fettle with the internal cable routing, gracing the SB120 with solid internal tubes. This reduces rattle and cable rub, but also overall maintenance faff. Even the bike's bottom bracket has seen changes as it's now co-moulded into the frame during carbon layup, making it cleaner looking and easier to service.

The Yeti SB120 is available in two different builds with prices ranging from £6,800 up to £8,200. Both builds get Fox suspension with a 34 fork and DPS shocks. The cheaper of the two benefits from a full SRAM GX Eagle drivetrain while the top-end model gets a mix of GX and X01.

• yeticycles.com

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