Skulz

1) Gwin, 2) Mullaly, 3) Vergier; 1) Seagrave, 2) Nicole, 3) Hannah

@mrpilsen- agreed. The riding all over central to south Chile is phenomenal. It's been great to see the riding scene develop over the past decade, and explode on the global scene over the last couple of years. The whole mtb scene in Chile deserves it. Minus a few, I've ridden all those spots, and can't seem to ever choose a favorite. When Cabuco blew its top, it broke my heart for that area, for the people who lost so much, and for those beautiful trails too. The Cohaique/Aysen trails have been on my radar for awhile. I'm currently recovering from a surgery, but am hoping to do the loop around Antuco for my next new trail quiver addition. What do you know of the trails above 7 Tazas? EWS '16 is coming... at least that's the rumor mill. Exposing the world to the rest of Chile's awesomeness would only boost the whole riding industry in Chile that much mas. Saludos!

Been living in Chile for 9 years. The riding all over the Andes and in the coastal range is phenomenal. Those trails in Chillan are as good as it gets. I head down to Chillan at least once per year to go ride. Garganta del Diablo, Fumarolas, Aguas Calientes, the bike park... all ridiculously fun. Nico and the gents are doing an excellent job with the bike park and scene there. Nevados de Chillan is rightfully getting the world's attention over the past few years. Folks who are looking to ride there won't be disappointed.

I too babied the bearings... Especially after the first rebuild. Ive seen comments that Yeti has addressed the bearing issues on the 66 from the '11 model, but my rebuild kits were from '12 and those kits always had 1 to 4 bearings go all grindy sloppy after 3-4 months. The riding here is dry without absurd dust... No muddy weather riding as the soil turns to Velcro each winter. Under these conditions, I expect more from bearings. I fully expect to rebuild bearings once every season or so- if I get more time out of a set, I consider it bonus time, so I don't believe my expectations are very high. In short, a bike can be the perfect bike, angles, stiffness, etc, but if you have a major problem like this... Forget it.

Solid write up. I just returned my SB66 to Competitive Cyclist (where I bought it... For a full refund no less. Definitely recommend buying from them!). Reason for retun: 4 pivot rebuilds in 11 months of use. The review points out that their bike didn't have any pivot problems, and I'm assuming I was unlucky... 4 times. If it weren't for the bad bearings (which aren't cheap- $150 per rebuild kit), the bike would have been almost perfect. I liked the geo and measurements a lot. Stable at speed for sure. the mid stroke suspension feel was not ideal. I've replaced the 66 with a Nomad c, and can say that, for where I live/ride (Andean big mt riding galore) the Nomad is a much better bike for my riding preferences. Obviously the SC carbon is a huge plus for the Nomad (vs the 66), but I also really appreciate the Nomad's/VPP's ability to eat up square edge hits and carry speed. I like it more in the air too. A huge + for SC is their lifetime bearing warranty, $50ish dollar cost per rebuild kit, and ease of swapping bearings vs the 66 (which requires much more di's and re- assembling than the Nomad). Solid review of a great bike, but load up on bearings if you plan on buying a 66.

All the tools out there getting so fired up about a change that they don't have to make (your choices aren't going away, they're simply expanding) are confusing to me. Seriously?!? More options that allow you to match your ride with your local terrain... How's that a bad thing? Go ride your frickin bike to get some of that pent up stress OUT!