Today sees the launch of the brand new Yeti SB130 – a 130mm travel big wheeler that looks like a hell of a lot of fun.
The Yeti SB130 is brand new to the range and replaces the old SB5. It’s launch follows the SB150 (Yeti’s new big travel EWS machine that we looked at here) and is designed to be a bit more playful and a bit more versatile than its big brother.
The SB130 has, as you’d expect, 130mm of travel and is designed around a 150mm fork. Like the SB150 it’s built for 29″ wheels and uses Yeti’s Switch Infinity link.
Geometry
Yeti have made a real effort to bring the geometry of their new bikes a bit more up to date. The SB130 isn’t quite as long as slack as the 150 but for a shortish travel bike it looks super fun.
A slackish 65.5° head angle, shortish 433mm chain stay length and steepish 77° seat angle all look like they’ll add up to a well balanced, playful bike that’ll climb nicely and still be fun to chuck down your favourite steep and nasty trails.
The size of the bikes is interesting. Where most brands hover around the 460mm reach on a large, the SB130 whacks this right up to 480mm with a whopping 505mm extra large option.
Despite the roomy sizing, standover is still low (728.2mm on a large) giving riders options to get on a longer or shorter bike without risk of getting bashed in the arse by the seat.
Infinity Link
Like the SB150, the SB130 sports Yeti’s Infinity Link. The Infinity is a neat little bit of technology that was designed with the help of Fox’s off-road car team.
It is – we’re told – “essentially a carriage that replaces having a small linkage. It moves up and down freely and the idea is that Yeti can control the bike’s rear wheel axle path as it moves through its travel.
As the bike hits a bump and the rear axle moves upwards the carriage slides upwards and meets an inflection point and the carriage moves back down the other way towards the bottom bracket.
This means the bike can climb really well and really bite on the climbs but as it reaches the end of its travel it gives a bottomless feel”.
Want one?
If you’d like one, the Yeti SB130 will be available in a couple of different versions.
There’s the T Series (T stands for Turquoise) which is made from a higher end, more premium carbon. That’s available as a frame only for £3299 or as a SRAM XO1 build for £6999.
There’s also a lower spec C Series version with a slightly heavier, slightly less expensive carbon used. That’s only available as a SRAM GX spec bike for £4999.
Both versions are available in Turquoise, Spruce and Raw colours.
You can learn more about the new SB130 over on Yeti’s website here.
