It's much longer, slacker and designed around a coil sprung shock, but somewhat surprisingly, Yeti's new, all-carbon SB165 enduro race machine sticks with 650b wheels rather than the big hoops in a search for Enduro World Series glory.

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The new bike follows in the fashion started with the new big wheeled SB150 enduro and SB130 trail machines, but with everything amped up in order to take on the ever more technical courses that make up the enduro race scene.

Yeti's unique, slider mounted pivot Switch Infinity suspension design is shared with the shorter travel models, but the 165mm of rear wheel travel has been given a much more progressive linkage. That allows the use of a coil shock for more consistent performance on long, burly descents while retaining bottom-out support, though it'll still work just fine with a high-volume air shock. There's also a whopping 180mm of bounce up front.

“The Switch Infinity platform provides us the ability to manipulate the bike’s kinematics and tune leverage rates within a wide range while maintaining the same proven anti-squat properties.  At 27.5%, the SB165 leverage rate is the most progressive in the line, optimized for the linear spring rates of a coil or high-volume air shock.” said Yeti Director of Engineering, Peter Zawistowski.

The geometry is progressive, with a 480mm reach in a large sized frame paired to a nice and steep 77º effective seat angle and 63.5º head angle in conjunction with a short offset fork. The 433mm chainstays and 345mm bottom bracket height aren't overly short or slammed respectively, but that's probably a good thing when you need to keep pedalling over rough ground.

There are plenty of smart details, with space for water bottles in the frame triangle and a shock shuttle that neatly sandwiches the shock eyelet for easy removal. Cable routing is all internal.

Pricing

As there's only a carbon fibre frame option, prices are definitely at the premium end of the spectrum, with three separate build kits on offer in the UK. All use Fox suspension, with X2 coil shocks and 36 forks across the board and drivetrains range from SRAM GX Eagle on the C1 bike up to X01 Eagle on the top model.

• SB165 C1 C-Series Bike - SRP £5,399
• SB165 T1 T-Series Bike - SRP £7,399
• SB165 T2 T-Series Bike - SRP £7,799
• SB165 T-Series Frame - SRP £3,799
   

There are four sizes from small to extra-large and two colour options; raw or the classic Yeti turquoise. We're rather keen to go and have a spin on this, so keep your eyes peeled for a First Ride when we manage that...

• www.yeticycles.com
• www.silverfish-uk.com

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