Yeti SB150 Comparision

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Yeti SB150 Comparision
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flag austenselk
Posted: Mar 3, 2019 at 21:35 Quote
Curious to compare this to my daily and my only bike, a 2018 Intense Carbine with a Works angleset 2 degree headset and an assortment of other goodies. My one gripe with my Carbine is the slack seattube angle and I’m really wanting to try and make up for it just for comfort on those longer daily rides that I enjoy doing. I actually had a Yeti 5.5C and rode that for a time, but in the end I decided that I disliked the seattube angle and felt the headtube angle was too steep and never felt comfortable on the descents.

Riding my Carbine with its now

63.5 degree headtube angle
44mm offset 160mm fork
1244mm wheelbase
445mm chainstays
74.25 seattube angle
341mm BB height

30mm length stem, slammed saddle, Eagle GX/X01 drivetrain, truvativ Carbon 175mm cranks, HT X2 pedals, DH casing DHF front and rear and ENVE M930 rims it is a phenomenal bike. Weighs 33 lbs so it’s no feather weight but I can get to the top with enough umph left to rip and tear on the descents and have fun. It’s not the most comfortable when climbing on those longer rides but as long as the descent is worth it then I’ll keep going to get to the top. I’m just left wanting something a little bit better.

For reference, this is my one and only hobby and passion. I’m 5’8 and my Intense frame is a size large As I enjoy the large cockpit and sprawling wheelbase as at speed it is stable and sturdy. I’ve been considering selling my frame to swap my parts over to a new frame. What does scare me about the SB150 is actually compromising and losing that degree in the headtube versus my Carbine and not having that same level of comfort on the descents. This weekend I actually emailed Works UK to find if they make a angleset headset of theirs that would work in the Yeti SB150 headtube to have that same headtube angle or even go so far as to slacken it even further and go to 62.5 degrees. I’m also considering upstroking the rear shock to get more travel out of it and then to compensate have to then use a slightly smaller rear tire.

photo

Thoughts?
flag Sparkula
Posted: May 21, 2019 at 7:59 Quote
FWIW- I owned a size LG Carbine for about a year and loved it! I really had nothing to compare it to with regard to the amount of travel and descending capabilities of the bike. However, I just got a GX-Build SB150 last Friday and can tell you with confidence that it is superior to the *Carbine(edited- oops) in both climbing and descending capabilities. I live in Western Colorado and spend most of my time riding the Lunch Loop trail system (Ribbon/Free-Lunch/Gunny Loop/Pucker, etc.) I have an XC background and am venturing into Enduro territory now that I have the SB150 (I had a bad crash when I owned the Carbine (broken bones, etc- ) the bike was fine though! Haha! So, I have 53 miles in on the SB150 with some long climbs to the Ribbon, some Free-Lunch sessions and a ride out at the Kokopelli trails. There was a learning curve for me as I have never ridden a bike with such a crazy seat tube angle- in spite of the wheel base (not too different than the Carbine) climbing is a joy and the bike never hangs up like VPP bikes sometimes do- I can roll over everything going UP! Most of my "easy" rides involve at least 3,000ft of climbing so I am pleased with this aspect of the bike! Descending on the SB150 compared to the Carbine is no contest- the SB150 is the superior bike- I have never had such smooth and fast runs on the chunky upper section of Free-Lunch- you just point the bike and let it rip! If you haven't demoed one I would recommend it for sure! I loved the Carbine when I had it and rode a lot of long rides with big climbs on it and always had a blast- but the rear suspension would sometimes kick-back or hang up on me on high speed descents and I went through a lot of rear tires on Free-Lunch alone... the sensation is Night/Day on the SB150. I climbed Mack Ridge yesterday which is a very chunky climb with tight switchbacks and large rocks embedded in the trail that you have to ride over while keeping momentum- on lesser bikes the obstacles create the need to get creative with body positioning and wheel placement- on the SB150 it just chugs along and I remain seated and laughing!

The SB150 rewards aggressive descending and a forward body position- elbows out, chest low- you gotta ride one!

 


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