Bike Check: Robin Goomes' Slopeduro Yeti SB135 - Crankworx Rotorua 2024

Mar 21, 2024
by Mike Kazimer  
Robin Goomes Yeti SB135 Slope-Duro Bike

Robin Goomes has had a busy start to her season, kicking things off with McGazza Fest in Queenstown, NZ, followed by Darkfest in South Africa, and now she's back in Rotorua for the first Crankworx event of the year. Slopestyle is her main focus this season, since for the first time ever there will be a women's category at all four Crankworx stops.

Depending on the event and the course she'll either be riding her Yeti hardtail or the the bike shown here, an SB135 that's been transformed into a slalom / slopestyle machine.

Robin Goomes Yeti SB135 Slope-Duro Bike
Bike Details:

Frame: Yeti SB135
Fork: Suntour Durolux 36 / 130mm travel / 150 psi (max pressure)
Shock: Suntour Edge Comp / 275 psi
Wheels: Enve AM30 26" w/ Chris King hubs
Tires: Kenda Booster / 40 psi
Brake: Shimano Saint, 180mm rotor
Drivetrain: Singlespeed, 30 x 14
Bars: Deity Blacklabel, 38mm rise
Stem: Deity Copperhead 35mm stem

Robin Goomes Yeti SB135 Slope-Duro Bike
One Shimano Saint brake and a 180mm rotor provide all the stopping power necessary.
Robin Goomes Yeti SB135 Slope-Duro Bike

Robin Goomes Yeti SB135 Slope-Duro Bike
Robin's running a singlespeed setup with a 30 tooth chainring and 14 tooth cog for slalom; a taller gear ratio will be installed for slopestyle.

Robin Goomes Yeti SB135 Slope-Duro Bike
The 26" Kenda Booster tires are inflated to 40 psi and mounted to Enve AM30 carbon rims.

Robin Goomes Yeti SB135 Slope-Duro Bike
A 27.5" Suntour Durolux 36 has been lowered to 130mm of travel and inflated to the max pressure of 150 psi.

Robin Goomes Yeti SB135 Slope-Duro Bike
A Chris King headset and hubs keep things rotating smoothly.

Robin Goomes Yeti SB135 Slope-Duro Bike
Deity's Frisco saddle and Retina I-Beam seatpost.

Robin Goomes Yeti SB135 Slope-Duro Bike
A Shimano Alfine chain tensioner with a zip tie to keep it from slapping against the chainstay.

Robin Goomes Yeti SB135 Slope-Duro Bike
Robin's hoping to swap these 170mm cranks out for some 165mm ones soon, but apparently it's tough to find shorter cranks in New Zealand at the moment.

Robin Goomes Yeti SB135 Slope-Duro Bike
The Suntour fork and shock are both set to be as firm as possible. In Robin's words, "I just want it to feel like a hardtail, and take the hits if you overjump a jump or push into corner, but nothing more than it needs to use."

Robin Goomes Yeti SB135 Slope-Duro Bike
Robin Goomes, ready for a packed week of riding and competing.


Posted In:
Reviews and Tech Bike Checks Trail Bikes Yeti Yeti Sb135 Robin Goomes


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71 Comments
  • 62 0
 I love these super specific purpose-built bikes.
  • 37 1
 Name checks out
  • 50 0
 Nice bike Robin!
Back in the day you'd rarely see Shimano & Suntour together on the same bike...I'll show myself back to the old folks home...
  • 6 0
 Ah, the pre-SRAM days!
  • 20 0
 Zipties! Is there anthing they can't do?
  • 116 1
 Biodegrade?
  • 1 0
 There is duck tape for that.
  • 21 2
 As they say, 26" ain't dead.
  • 7 0
 No question the big brands continue to produce and sell 26" rims, inserts and tires though I must admit I wasn't aware ENVE is up there too.
  • 2 0
 I dont see 26" enve rims for sale though, and man, Id love to grab a pair
  • 2 0
 @Thegnarberries: Right now we're just offering them to select athletes. If there's enough demand, we'd definitely offer them to the market. Shoot over a product request to let us know you're interested! support.enve.com/hc/en-us/articles/360039262952-New-Product-Request
  • 6 0
 @ENVE: let's say enough of us request 69" rims...
  • 2 0
 @ENVE: sounds good, just submitted one. Any chance in industry folks can get their hands on some in the meantime?
  • 1 0
 With all respect, I only go for custom products or special requests when what I want isn't on offer already. As mentioned, more than a few respectable brands offer 26" rims, tires and inserts so I'm being served already. I have no doubt there will be some who will be looking for carbon rims in particular but in general there will be little request for an unavailable product when there are more than a few good alternatives available.
  • 14 0
 +2 pts for spokey-dokes!
  • 1 0
 came here to say the same thing
  • 7 0
 Sweet bike, reminded me of Connor's Brocess back in 2016.

www.pinkbike.com/news/connor-fearons-kona-brocess-crankworx-whistler-2016.html
  • 8 0
 These are my favorite build checks. Customized slalom/4X type race rigs built from trail bikes
  • 10 2
 First Yeti i dig since '96!
  • 12 2
 No dig no ride!
  • 3 3
 @vinay: ^^ This
  • 5 0
 Alfine tensioner with zip tie, nice hack.
  • 3 0
 It's a Queenstown thing, saw so many DH rigs with that single speed & alfine / zip tie setup when I was last there.
  • 2 0
 Great to see a pro doing this. I had that on my corsair ducat dirtbike some years ago and it felt like a crappy hack. The alfine tensioner was way cheaper than any other so I bought it but the slapping was annoying
  • 1 0
 Ran the same set up for a few years. Wasn't the best, wasn't the worst. Was certainly cheaper than most other options.
  • 5 0
 I just like saying Rotorua for some reason
  • 2 0
 qualalumpaaaaaa is my favourite word
  • 1 0
 Umpalumpa :-D
  • 1 0
 Good to see the old Alfine mod of removing the piece which lets you run the arm slammed against the chainstay. They're a great tensioner if a little heavy and un-adjustable chainline.
  • 4 4
 Would love to get some useful details like any changes in shock length, offset hardware, fork offset change? Or is it just slap 26" wheels on there and watch your feet on the .75" lowered BB?
  • 4 0
 I was doing math and stuff, but skimming the article again, caught a look at her suspension pressure. I think the lack of sag should easily make up for the lost height.
  • 2 1
 @AndrewHornor: Very possible, even likely. Wouldn't it have been worth being mentioned in a bike check though?
  • 2 0
 @chrisfirth: interesting for us, yeah! Would it be in Yeti's best interest, maybe not... Can't see any brand encouraging the general public to take a bike way outside its intended purpose
  • 1 1
 @AndrewHornor: So now it's the media's job to think of what bike the best interest of bike companies might be and not to actually report anything? That would be sad, but it's most likely is just lazy.
  • 2 0
 @chrisfirth: it's a bike check for entertainment, it's not investigative reporting... What would you do with this information if you had it? As a fellow nerd, I absolutely don't mean to poop on your interest in the granular details, but I don't feel short changed by this article either.
  • 3 4
 DT is missing out. He could be the FW/privateer/or whatever other progressive alloy bike wizard/designer/farmer /bringing it out for all mtb disciplines, which are more and more established these days. if only the Portland hipster machinists would-comply w reason.
Such a bummer to not see Turnerbikes in this, lame but fun to use term, :”ecosystem”. Haha.
  • 2 0
 I miss full suspension dirt jumpers. It's expensive converting trail bikes.
  • 2 0
 remembering the days when brands actually made bikes fit for purpose an not bodging the same trail/enduhhhro frames
  • 1 0
 I guess whoever spec'd the tensioner missed the PB thread featuring the 'zinglespeed'; missed opportunity to showcase the hacked Zee derailleur.
  • 2 1
 Tall than 30/14 is going to be pretty damn tall...I guess I underestimated slopestyle speeds.
  • 3 0
 Cruising speed + super strong rider + only time for a few pedal strokes = Tall gear

But also 2:1 is a pretty normal single speed ratio for a 26" bike
  • 1 0
 @corporaltedbronson: was gonna say 30/14 is only 1 tooth harder than 2:1, not really that hard....
  • 3 0
 @naptime: and 2:1 is a standard “all around” ratio for a single speed. For a bike always pointed downhill, 30/14 would be a VERY easy gear. Almost unusable IMO.

To put it into perspective, I punched the details into a chainring calculator - 26 inch wheel with 30/14 gearing at 100 RPM is only 17mph.
  • 1 0
 26" wheels though. 2.1:1 is pretty standard ratio for dirt jumping, ~55 gear inches. 55" is pretty standard for most BMX bikes as well since they're a similar application, you just end up with 25/9 or 25/10 gearing on a 20" wheel.

Trail riding always ends up a little shorter, closer to 48-50 gear inches. As always gear inches are the great equalizer to compare how heavy a gear pedals regardless of wheel size.
  • 1 0
 Pretty much use 2:1 as a base to work from as, with 26" it's very close to 20" BMX racing start hill ratio.. 48:16 or 18? Can't remember been a while
  • 2 0
 I don't have money don't tease me. We all know that bike is like 9k.
  • 3 23
flag ethanrevitch FL (Mar 21, 2024 at 13:08) (Below Threshold)
 The Enve + SR Suntour should be a crime.
  • 5 1
 @ethanrevitch: Didn't the Polygon UR team bother you with Trickstuff brakes and Suntour suspension? Tracey was doing just fine. Quite a few Rampage wins on Suntour too.
  • 7 1
 @ethanrevitch: How so? SR forges plus a bit more for many what you seem to perceive as 'higher end' suspension brands. If I had throw away any of the two items on that bike it would be hte ENVE rims every time without exception
  • 2 0
 Anyone know the brand of chain guide on the rear cog? Seen them before….
  • 1 0
 Looks like SB one
  • 2 0
 That thing looks sweet!
  • 2 0
 Sure does look fun
  • 1 0
 That looks really fun to ride!
  • 2 0
 Hell yeah Robin!
  • 4 2
 that's no pivotal post
  • 1 0
 Came here to say this.
  • 5 0
 Oops, my eyes saw one thing and my hands typed another. That's been corrected.
  • 1 0
 Nice looking Yeti. 26 ain’t dead Big Grin
  • 1 0
 Rear brake only for slalom?
  • 1 0
 searches for “alfine chain tensioner” just peaked!
  • 1 0
 Bike looks like an absolute hoot! Would be a blast!
  • 1 0
 66 hta?
  • 5 5
 Shimano on a MTB is a dying thing sadly.
  • 8 0
 LOL X 10,000 if you say so chap....
  • 2 3
 This with a full drivetrain and dropper would be amazing
  • 1 2
 needs a better tensioner
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