Bible Review: Yeti SB140 T2 Turq
While Yeti has made many different bike flavors over the years, much of the Colorado-based brand’s identity lies between course tape. Yeti has a rich history of developing not just some of the fastest racing machines, but the quickest athletes as well. More than a few elite racers throughout the last couple decades have broken onto the scene in turquoise kits. Driven by this passion to win races, Yetis are often more planted and stable than zesty and snappy.
Even the popular SB130 mid-travel 29er, a bike you’d think would be devilishly mischievous, really prefers getting down to the business of pinning it. There’s unfortunately not a race format that mid-travel 29ers are exclusively used in, but if there were, the SB130 would no doubt be on the podium. It’s the sort of bike that drinks a protein shake after rides. But Yeti has been focusing energy of late on a couple bikes that’ll smack the protein shake off the table, slam down a couple shots of tequila and peer pressure you into staying out late. The SB140 is one of them.
It’s just as serious about fun as Yeti’s 29ers are about speed. The SB140 is sort of like those people who brands like Jose Cuervo hire to travel around the country instigating a good time—it’s a professional partier. As an industry, it seems that we’ve finally sorted out what big wheels and small wheels are best for, and Yeti has done a stellar job building the SB140 around the inherent characteristics of 27.5-inch hoops.
Changing direction on the 140 is so effortless, it encourages one to never go straight for too long. Rather than lowering into an aero tuck, we were more likely to practice cutties, find trees to tire bonk or roots to pop off. It’s like a metal detector for hidden trannies. Cornering tended to be less precisely calculated and more of a run-and-gun sort of affair. Slide in, pedal out. Preload in, pop out. Whatever got the job done in the funnest way possible. The SB140 is the kind of bike that does not care that funnest isn’t a word. It’s too busy being awesome.
Thanks to Yeti’s Switch Infinity suspension, the 140 climbs well enough to make the bike perfect for huge rides. There are gobs of traction and non-bobbing efficiency with the shock left open. Sure, the 140 gets hung up a bit more in the techy bits than bikes with big wheels, but everyone already knew that and frankly, the people look- ing at this bike shouldn’t care. The SB140 saves energy elsewhere. Where the SB150 requires a heavy-handed approach to cornering, the 140 is easy and responsive without being nervous or twitchy. It jumps, too. The opener spread for this section ... that’s a 140. It doesn’t want you to get kitted up in a turquoise race kit, it wants you to shred in a T-shirt ‘til dark and hit up Chipotle on the way home.
But also, it’s not just made for total shredders. You do not have to be able to click the flattest table or crack the perfect whip to have a blast on this bike. It’s more about prioritizing rideability and maximizing smiles. You know that ridiculously overused cliché, “It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey?” It’s like that. There’s a lesser-known quote that I’m making up right now that goes, “It’s not about being the biggest, it’s about having the biggest personality.” That’s this bike, too. More importantly, it describes Kristin Butcher, longtime “Butcher Paper” columnist, potty-mouth, and resident shorty-pants. Kristin’s shortage of tall didn’t prevent her from accessing every bit of fun that the SB140 has to offer. This isn’t always the case with pocket-sized riders, especially as trail and enduro bikes get bigger, longer, slacker, and heavier. The SB140 is refreshingly effortless and fantastically amusing for riders of all levels. You just need to decide if you want to hit the gym or join the party.
Check out the rest of the 27.5 class
Q&A with Chris Conroy, President at Yeti
Little wheels have been losing the lime light since mid- and long-travel 29er categories have exploded over the past couple years, but Yeti had a big year with the release of a couple small-wheel stunners. Why can’t you just let 27.5 die already?
Little wheels just needed us to throw a little R&D love their way. We took what we learned on our 29’r development and applied modern geometry and updated kinematics to the SB140 and SB165 and came up with a couple of rippers. They are distinctly different from our 29r’s, but that’s the point.
We suppose that’s a good thing, because the SB140 is super fun. Did you design it to particularly suit a certain type of rider or terrain?
It’s a shredder’s bike. Someone who’s looking to hit every feature, jib, and jump will be stoked on how much fun this bike is. And, there are plenty of people who were die-hard SB5 and SB6 fans that held on to their bikes hoping we would update the platform.
Does a short offset fork have as much of an impact on the handling of a 27.5-inch bike as it does a 29er? How do y'all use short offsets to achieve the ride characteristics you’re looking for?
Short offset doesn’t seem to have as much impact as on a 29’r, but it does matter. We run the shorter offset because we run a relatively long reach and slack head angle. It helps the front of the bike track better and prevents it from being a monster truck on the climbs.
