Yeti SB6C - Review

Mar 23, 2015
by Mike Levy  
Yeti SB6c review test Original photo by Paris Gore

The SB6C's predecessor was the SB66, a bike that wasn't long for this world before Yeti replaced it with the new machine reviewed here. Jared Graves then immediately took the 152mm travel SB6C out and won a handful of ridiculously hard enduro races on it, as well as the 2014 EWS overall title, which is pretty much a storybook debut for the company. Considering that he did a similar feat aboard the SB66 (minus the EWS overall), and that his speed might have little do to with how the majority of riders will be using the SB6C, I don't think we can put Graves' success solely down to Yeti's new design. Then again, it was Jared who penned the SB6C's geometry - the head angle is a full degree slacker, putting it in the mid 65° range, and it's also longer up front by half an inch compared to the SB66 - so saying that the SB6C is 'race inspired' isn't a stretch by any means.
Yeti SB6C Details

• Intended use: all-mountain / enduro
• Wheel size: 27.5''
• Rear wheel travel: 152mm
• Switch Infinity suspension
• Carbon fiber front and rear triangles
• Tapered head tube ((44/56mm)
• Internal dropper post routing
• Designed to accept Di2 batteries and cables
• ISCG 05 chain guide tabs
• Weight: 29lb 4oz
• MSRP: $7,399 USD


The redesign saw Yeti fit 27.5'' wheels, as expected, but the big thing here is a revised suspension design that doesn't look like anything out there right now. And while the two-rail Switch Infinity layout is very different from the bearing-in-a-bearing design of the older Switch system, it actually accomplishes a very similar thing. Why the change? There are completely unconfirmed rumors that the original Switch system infringed on another company's patent, but Yeti denies this, saying that the reason is three fold: it's much more impervious to the elements, it allows them to have more precise control over the suspension action, and it's around 100 grams lighter.

Our test bike is the 'X01' model that retails for $7,399 USD, and complete bikes start at a still pricey $6,499 USD with their 'Enduro' model. An SB6C frame with a FOX Float X CTD goes for $3,499 USD.


Yeti SB6c geometry review test


Frame Details

We've had some pretty sharp looking bikes in for testing lately, but I think it's the SB6C that takes the cake. I don't even like the color green (it also comes in black and turquoise) and I still think this thing is a stunner. Both the front and rear triangles are made from carbon fiber and sport some pretty curvy shaping, but it still manages to look more purposeful than artsy. And while it's not an uncomplicated bike, the Switch Infinity system sits low on the frame and nearly out of sight, while the carbon link that connects the two triangles together is tucked in between the two uprights and pretty much hidden from view. It gives the bike a super clean look, even if the cable routing does its best to upset that (notice how it travels just below the FOX Float X CTD shock), and the frame's lines remind me of their old ARC hardtail. I doubt very much that this is a coincidence.


Yeti SB6c review test Photo by Paris Gore
The carbon link slots in between the swing arm uprights, but the cables hanging out in mid-air detract from an otherwise sleek look.
Yeti SB6c review test Photo by Paris Gore
THAT head tube badge. There's something about this that a cheesy sticker could never match, isn't there? Classic Yeti.


Yeti SB6c review test Photo by Paris Gore
A bonded-on down tube guard protects the frame, and it's also the sole location to mount a water bottle.


Appearance aside, Yeti has ticked all the usual boxes that need ticking when talking about a 152mm travel bike intended for enduro racing. There's a tapered head tube up front, of course, and a sturdy looking down tube guard that shares its mounting bolts with those that would hold a bottle cage on. And speaking of water, there's no place for a bottle inside the front triangle, so you better not mind riding with a backpack on. You can mount up a front derailleur on the swing arm's direct mount, while a set of ISCG 05 chain guide tabs have been moulded into the frame around the PF92 bottom bracket, should you want to run some proper protection and/or chain retention. Are you the kind of rider who likes to use the big meat? Do a lot of bike park riding? The chain and seat stays offer room for a massive 2.5'' tire, so you won't have any issues there.


Yeti SB6c review test Photo by Paris Gore
  The bike's 152mm of rear wheel travel is controlled via Yeti's Switch Infinity suspension design.


The SB6c's Suspension Explained

Yeti's Switch Infinity design uses a bearing carrier that travels vertically on two Kashima coated tubes from FOX, with the setup controlling the bike's wheel path: initially, as the bike goes through its travel, the carrier moves upwards to provide a rearward axle path for improved pedalling. As the rear wheel goes deeper into its travel, the mechanism moves downwards, reducing the amount of chain tension for better big hit performance. Why the switch from the original eccentric bearing design?

Yeti's vice president, Steve Hoogendoorn, explained the difference: ''With the older eccentric we essentially have a really, really short link - something that's less than 15mm, whereas the mechanical analogy for the rail is the exact opposite. Instead of creating a short link, we're creating what's essentially a link that's an infinite length long. We're able to tune wheel path and anti-squat extremely precisely and accurately, which we couldn't do as easily with the Switch.'' It's also claimed to be 100 grams lighter than the original Switch design, and Yeti says that testing has shown it to be very impervious to any elements that a mountain biker would ride through.

While it may be obvious to some, it's important to note that the two Kashima coated tubes and the carrier do not act as a damper or spring in any way, but rather are solely used to determine the axle path of the rear wheel. Grease ports allow the lubrication for each tube to be purged and replaced with a fresh dose, and Yeti recommends a 40 hour service interval between re-greasing, as well as not to go overboard when doing so.
Yeti SB6c review test Photo by Paris Gore
The bearing carrier, which is also home to the main pivot, that moves vertically on two Kashima coated tubes. This allows Yeti to dial in the exact wheel path they're looking for.






Specifications
Release Date 2015
Price $7399
Travel 152
Rear Shock FOX FLOAT X CTD w/Trail Adjust
Fork FOX FLOAT 36 160 FACTORY
Headset CANE CREEK 40
Cassette SRAM 11 SPD
Crankarms SRAM X1 1400 32T
Rear Derailleur SRAM X01 11SPD
Chain SRAM
Shifter Pods SRAM X01 11SPD
Handlebar EASTON HAVOC 35 CARBON
Stem EASTON HAVOC 35
Grips YETI LOCK-ON
Brakes SHIMANO XT
Wheelset DT 350 W/EX 471 RIM
Tires Maxxis Highroller II
Seat YETI WTB VOLT CUSTOM
Seatpost THOMSON COVERT
Yeti SB6c review test Photo by Paris Gore







Climbing

The on-power expectations for a bike of the SB6C's travel would have been pretty low only a few short years ago. Making it slack and making it ''plush'' seemed to sit at the top of every engineer's list of needs and wants, which is likely where term ''mini-DH bike'' came from: as in, it sucked at absolutely everything except going down a hill because that's all we could make it be good at with 160mm of travel. The SB6C makes those days feel like they were a lot longer ago than just a few short years behind us, with Yeti building-in an impressive pedalling ability to the green machine that allows it to be impossibly efficient relative to its intentions. I put in a handful of five-hour days in on the Yeti and, save for a single long and boring gravel road climb, I left the bike's Float X shock fully open nearly the entire time I was on it.

Sure, you can throw your weight around and get the Yeti to roll through its travel, especially due to how supple both ends of the bike are, but it just always felt more coiled and ready to jump forward than most other bikes of similar travel. This works for a more set-and-forget approach to riding, which is not common with this type of bike, as so many ask that you push levers or fiddle with switches to keep them from acting like they're sucking your soul out through your quads. Take into account the roomy front-end on our large-sized test bike that only made things more comfortable during massive, grind 'em out days on the bike, and the SB6C is on a pretty short list of big-travel rigs that I'd happily pedal around for long periods of time.

Mike Levy
  The SB6C will get up anything, but it's going to take a skilled rider to pedal the bike over really tricky sections.


Tricky, complex climbs are where reality hits you upside the head, though, and it's here that the SB6C is more true to its colors. It's a big, slack bike that's meant to be ridden like a downhill rig on rowdy trails, and the tradeoff is that it meets expectations on technical, rocky and root covered singletrack climbs. The steering on steep climbs is more akin to pushing an overcooked spaghetti noodle around your plate from behind, and it takes some real technique to get the bike up and around tight switchbacks in closed quarters. A bit harsh? Maybe, but it's not an easy bike to ride on challenging climbs, even compared to other machines in the same class. The Canyon Strive is a good example of a bike that surprised in such settings, although the German bike can't come close to matching the SB6C's pedalling prowess. It's almost like the Strive and the SB6C need to go for a romantic dinner together at Red Lobster before consummating the relationship and delivering their offspring, a mid-travel bike that would slay all climbs without being a bore on the way back down.
bigquotesSure, you can throw your weight around and get the Yeti to roll through its travel, especially due to how supple both ends of the bike are, but it just always felt more coiled and ready to jump forward than most other bikes of similar travel.


Descending and Suspension

Past reviews have seen me blather on about the class of bike that the SB6C slots into actually being split between two different species of bikes, regardless of travel figures, and I'm going down the road yet again to help explain the SB6C. There are mid-travel bikes that have me questioning why anyone would need a real downhill bike but are clumsy on difficult climbs - the GT's Sanction, Santa Cruz's Nomad, and Trek's Slash being the most obvious examples - while similar travel bikes such as the new HD3 from Ibis, Cannondale's Jekyll, and Norco's Range do provide some concession for those who have to get up the mountain on a regular basis. The first group of bikes are basically pure enduro race bikes, while the latter are still very capable but lean more towards all around, aggressive riding. And where does Yeti's new SB6C fit into that picture? Unquestionably in that first category. Despite its outstandingly efficient pedalling, this is bike that feels very much like a near purebred descender when you get into that mindset where nothing matters other than getting down the hill quickly, and it's a confidence inspiring ride when doing exactly that.

Mike Levy
  The SB6C feels best on chunky, difficult trails that require speed and skill.


The SB6C was affectionately referred to as 'The Hulk' by any tester who rode it due to how its slack angles and seemingly invincible FOX 36 fork allowed it to punch through anything on the trail, and the answer to any and all doubt is to simply let off the brakes when on the big Yeti. It simply just goes through chunky ground like only a few other bikes can, but it can also corner like a slot car when at the same sort of speeds. This is a fast bike that needs to be ridden fast, though, because it doesn't have the playful, nimble attitude of an HD3 or Canyon Strive, regardless of what geometry charts will tell you. The tighter the terrain, the less The Hulk seemed to fit between slabs of rock and tight sections, but it always seemed worthwhile as soon as things opened up again and the green bike could breath a little. This isn't really a surprise given that the SB6C has been penned to be an enduro race bike, not a rig to slowly poke along some trail that could be ridden on a cross-country bike without feeling tested, so it's obvious that the steering will suffer when you don't have the space to let it run out. The one caveat to my issue with the SB6C at slow speed is how well it can be pedalled out of a corner - this bike accelerates quicker than it has any business doing. This was especially noticeable on flatter, less technical trails that you could still get going at a proper clip on, with there being a surprising amount of gas in the SB6C's tank on such ground.
bigquotesDespite its outstandingly efficient pedalling, this is a bike that feels very much like a near purebred descender when you get into that mindset where nothing matters other than getting down the hill quickly, and it's a confidence inspiring ride when doing exactly that.

Mike Levy s D ck face
  ''You got, like, three feet of air that time'' - Napoleon Dynamite


Our SB6C test bike came spec'd with a 36 Float Factory up front and a Float X CTD out back, both of which are FOX's top tier offerings at this travel bracket. The fork in particular was stunning compared to how the older 36 platform performed, and it absolutely annihilates nearly anything that you point it at. Tuneable bottom-out via volume spacers means that you can control the end of the stroke, while the opposite end is supple enough to take in the slightest of impacts. How FOX is able to balance the low-speed control to keep the fork from diving excessively while still having it be so forgiving in the top third of its travel is a mystery to me, but FOX's Race Program Manager, Mark Fitzsimmons, did divulge some details when I questioned him about the new 36 at an earlier date: ''It now has less compression through the entire velocity range, but we focused more on lightening it in the low- to mid-speed velocities. We also changed how the shims opened by reducing the amount of preload on the piston face shim.''

It might have been because the front of the bike is just so damn impressive, but the SB6C's rear-end felt great everywhere with one exception: high-speed, sharp impacts felt like they transferred more energy through the bike compared to other rigs of the same travel on the same section of trail. The difference is subtle, yet it was also noticeable enough for more than just me to notice it, with a few other testers having the same unprovoked comments. Other than that, the back of the bike was nearly invisible - supple and active, enough ramp-up to keep one from slamming into the end of the stroke, and the bike never felt like it was wallowing down into its travel.


Hold Up...

The SB6C is an impressive bike in nearly every way that you'd expect it to be and then some. Not only does it feel extremely efficient, it also hauls ass on a rowdy trail with very little effort, which makes it one of the few bikes of this travel bracket that I'd ride all day, every day. What I don't like, though, is broken frames, which is exactly what happened to the SB6C. A slow speed and awkward tip over at a near standstill saw the swingarm's left-side dropout area come down directly on a rock. The rock won, with a spiderweb of fractures spreading across the impact area and a rear disc that rubbed the brake pads enough to be annoying. Talking to a few peers at other media outlets revealed that we weren't the only ones who managed to go through a swing arm, and Yeti later revealed that we were given a pre-production SB6C frame, which is something that we were definitely not aware of when we took delivery.

Here's what Chris Conroy, Yeti Cycles President and Co-Owner, had to say about the cracked swing arm:

bigquotesWe design our bikes to be durable, even when wrecked, and this frame didn't perform to our standards. Nobody likes a broken frame... Nobody likes excuses, either, so we're not making any. We'll give you and your readers a little insight into what happened and let them decide for themselves. The frame you tested came out of an original ''press'' run of twenty frames. We were able to pull other frames from that initial run and, after measuring wall thickness and then burning down other frames to confirm the lay-up, we discovered that it was not made to our specifications. This resulted in the wall thickness being thinner and could explain why it didn't handle the impact as well as we would have liked. We have updated our process controls with the vendor to ensure our production parts meet our specifications. Additionally, we added material to our seat and chain stays for better impact resistance. This increased the weight of the rear triangle by 45 grams. All production parts have this updated process/layup.

The SB6C was tested to our gravity standard, so impact aside, it is the strongest frame we've made to date. Jared Graves and Richie Rude have recently demonstrated the frame's strength in DH racing by taking wins in the Oceanias and Toowoomba national round in Australia. We stand behind every frame we make, so if a customer ever had a problem, we'd make it right.


Technical Report

• Water Bottle Mount: I know that suspension design trumps water bottle placement, but I can't get over how the only place to carry a bottle on the SB6C is on the underside of the down tube. It takes all of ten minutes for the bottle to be coated in dust, dirt or mud, and having had giardia three times already, I try to avoid ingesting anything that might give it to me a fourth time. Great way to lose some weight, though.

• Thomson Covert Seat Post: I'm a big fan on the Covert dropper, enough so that I went out and bought one for my personal bike after using the one spec'd on the SB6C. It's relatively light compared to some, it's opposing-bolt head is always silent while holding the seat at whatever angle you put it at, and the tiny remote works well with my left hand and handlebar setup. I did find myself wishing that it would make a louder top-out noise when it reached full extension - ours was pretty much quiet - and I'm still not a fan of the nearly microscopic set-screw that holds the cable in place at the actuation arm.

• Easton Cockpit: I don't think that 35mm diameter handlebars and the stems they require are really worth upgrading to if you have a perfectly fine 31.8mm combo, but the Easton Havoc setup on the Yeti sure does look nice. It also feels just fine and is relatively light, so there you go.

• DT Swiss EX471 Rims: The 500 gram aluminum rims didn't require any straightening, nor did they suffer from any rock-shaped dents. There was also no burping of the Maxxis Highroller II tires that were mounted to them, despite running pressures around the very low 20psi mark, and these exact rims were on Graves' SB6C race bike last season... what more do you need from a set of wheels?

• Shimano XT Brakes: These stoppers never, ever lack power, and they have a firm feel at the lever that everyone seems to like. I did find that the initial grab onto the rotors was pretty abrupt when combined with Sedona's super dry and dusty ground that's always looking for any reason to cause your tires to slide, but it's hard to ignore the XT brakes' reliability and power.




Pinkbike's Take:
bigquotesThe broken frame is a worrying thing, isn't it? I can't say that our SB6C, which was said to be a pre-production version, is recommendable given that it failed during testing. But, if Yeti has in fact made the required updates to the effected area and the issue is remedied, which they say is true on both accounts, then it might be a different story. If so, I'd say that the SB6C is a bike for someone who rides fast, takes chances, and doesn't think much of poking around on a tricky climb. This is a bike for a rider who's a descender at heart, which is exactly what Yeti was going for, and I'd go so far as to say that you probably won't be doing the bike any justice if that doesn't sound like you. - Mike Levy


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About the Reviewer
Stats: Age: 34 • Height: 5'10” • Inseam: 33" • Weight: 165lb • Industry affiliations / sponsors: None
Mike Levy spent most of the 90s and early 2000s racing downhill bikes and building ill-considered jumps in the woods of British Columbia before realizing that bikes could also be pedalled for hours on end to get to some pretty cool places. These days he spends most of his time doing exactly that, preferring to ride test bikes way out in the local hills rather than any bike park. Over ten years as a professional mechanic before making the move to Pinkbike means that his enthusiasm for two wheels extends beyond simply riding on them, and his appreciation for all things technical is an attribute that meshes nicely with his role of Technical Editor at Pinkbike.


Author Info:
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Member since Oct 18, 2005
2,032 articles

322 Comments
  • 177 17
 "We discovered that it was not made to our specifications" - so, to sum up, you charge $7k for a bike, whose frame is made by some unknown vendor (in asia ?) and you have not checked if the first batch is manufactured up to your standards before giving bikes to testers ? Are you kidding me ?
  • 39 28
 Errors in production happen in every company. The problem is unless the vendor is crap the tolerance was too small and a little difference and a bad day at the factory can stand between you and a cracked frame.
  • 49 4
 But as I understand, all batch of 30 bikes was made in a wrong way. How is it possible, that such a premium brand could not simply cut one of these bikes into pieces to check if they are made properly ? I mean, it is not quality control issue, it is production standards issue.
  • 14 11
 It was a first pre-production run. If they cut that run into pieces they couldn't send them. It's not a production standards issue. It's actually what you say it isn't so QC. That or small tolerances in durability if 45g extra can make the rear end strong enough. That means small error in production makes a bike too weak. A bit like the first model evil dh bike which had too tight tolerances on the suspension and their factories couldn't keep up.
  • 10 2
 First Article Inspection.
  • 14 1
 You need that right through the process, Quality Control is not Quality Assurance. You can't just batter the supplier for your inability to check frames coming in, we have to supply full reports for every design change at every stage of the product, why shouldn't they
  • 56 3
 Carbon does not fail slowly, it is quick and drastic and could have huge consequences to the rider. No ethical bike company should ever release a pre production frame to testers who are going to be pushing the limits of the bike to give an honest review. Customers want to read about the final product of what they will be buying.
  • 43 2
 It's a shame really. They will need to do some damage control to re-instill confidence in their potential buyers. Maybe do some impact demonstrations like Santa Cruz?
I would really hope, that with what can quickly become a companies reputation in these reviews, they would really thoroughly test, cut up, and destroy their first batch of frames before sending ANYTHING out for review with the media. Calling them pre-production frames in hindsight just sounds like; Weeeell, we Thought these were going to be our production frames, but then this happened, so we went back and changed it. Now This is our real production frame, and what you had was a pre-production frame...
I wish I could have done that with some of my college exams after they had been corrected and graded; Nonono wait, I really meant to write This answer instead! See, now I have a better grade! lol

At the end of the day, that's the frame they sent out for review, and that's the one that was reviewed, and that's the one that has been breaking when/where/how it should not be breaking.
  • 8 0
 @ spaced evil's toleraces were not too tight. They just picked and did not manage their supplier well enough, the frames were massively out of line and Kevin actually stated this on many occasions hence the need to have someone out there for the uprising models. Unfortunately this did not seem to work very well either, you pay peanuts you get monkeys is the old adage
  • 17 1
 @spaced "If they cut that run into pieces they couldn't send them"

If, as you say, it was the whole batch of 30 bikes, then that's absolutely not true. Like zephxii said: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_article_inspection. You order a couple extra parts from the lot for destructive testing so you can catch the problem BEFORE assembly and shipping. That way you avoid the whole ordeal of assembly, shipping, warranty, etc.... and two disastrous product reviews. It's a pretty standard practice at any company that takes quality control seriously.

Plus, if PB and BR hadn't caught this problem it's doubtful that this would have been a "pre production" issue (if you even believe that). They would have shipped a bunch of these things, and all those customers would have shattered their frames and been off the bike, possibly for months, waiting for replacements.
  • 3 0
 QC occurs before and during mass production. There could be a weakness in their validation efforts.
  • 8 1
 It appears that Yeti disappoints @RichardCunningham on three items on his hoped-for-2015 wishlist (www.pinkbike.com/u/richardcunningham/blog/opinion-this-year.html) - weight, focus on superbikes, and that whole "sure it broke, it was preproduction, no worries, customers won't have this issue) excuse. And it's only March... Wonder if that's why @MikeLevy ended up reviewing this bike - might have broken RC's heart...
  • 4 1
 All this and they still can't make them fast enough to keep up with demand.
  • 17 7
 Dear Yeti, I still think your bikes are rad.
  • 4 2
 Jared Graves and Richie Rude definetely a good product tester. They even used it for downhill. Why the press review's frames didn't have the same production batch as those two fast and powerfull factory racer's bikes?
  • 32 2
 I recently experienced a frame failure on my sb66c and can honestly say they do not stand behind their products. They definitely left me unhappy and weren't too concerned.

It doesn't surprise me a small tip-over broke the swing arm, my frame cracked upon landing a small drop. Maybe my frame wasn't made to their specifications? They provided me with several "reasons" as to why my frame broke but none of them were their fault.

Make a quality product and have some respect for your customers. Without them you wouldn't be in business.
  • 10 15
flag ShreddieMercury (Mar 24, 2015 at 5:57) (Below Threshold)
 Buy a Warden. Carbon is sissy nancy boys who think they're the shit.
  • 10 2
 My rear chain stay broke from a lite rock strike on an ASR-5 after three months and they said I could buy a crash replacement. Uh, no, why would I buy another one to break for to much $$$? I had the carbon repaired and sold it immediately. I wanted to like them but.......
  • 4 0
 Is deeeight on vacation?
  • 7 1
 So I don't know if Yeti will be doing this with the 6c but on a lot of their previous bikes they classify the rear triangle as a "wear item," meaning it falls under the warranty package for components, no the warranty advertised for the frame. I dig that Yeti is a Colorado brand that is always trying to push mountain bike design but come on guys, that's a little shady.
  • 1 0
 @sewer-rat: quality control is actually quality assurance.
  • 1 0
 Sorry but it's not, quality assurance (and decent production engineering) prevents the defects from being made, quality control sorts good from bad , they are 2 different aspects of the process@Ryanrobinson1984:
  • 1 0
 @sewer-rat: sorry but it is, man. Take care and ride safe
  • 1 0
 Fair play buddy if that's what you believe you too ride safe my friend. Just for info I've been working in Quality in manufacturing for 18 years now and as a quality manager in automotive applying TS16949 techniques since 2011. At the end of the day though it's all opinion lol ride safe bro@Ryanrobinson1984:
  • 1 0
 @sewer-rat: I was only joking big pimpin! I was being a troll. If that's your background, you would definitely know more than me. It is good to know though because I never really considered the difference between the two, to be honest
  • 1 0
 Haha yeah ride easy bro Beer @Ryanrobinson1984:
  • 84 2
 is there any pics of that broken swing arm?
  • 42 5
 Maybe you could have a crack at finding some dude.
  • 4 3
 Ask Steve Hoogendoorn
  • 29 7
 At least its not a carbon copy of the old frame, but every fibre of me says don't buy a bike where the test frame breaks 'cause it fell on a rock.
  • 18 34
flag davidsimons (Mar 23, 2015 at 5:12) (Below Threshold)
 Tell you what, this kind of bike is a complete waste of money. Over US7k and it snaps?
  • 12 2
 this may prove a bad blow to yeti's reputation. for frames to break on testing and with a reply like that even arguendo that it is true...
  • 12 5
 Are there*
  • 89 3
 Ah, 'pre-production,' that's like the manufacturers equivalent of a Just Riding along.
  • 17 14
 I dunno... This resulted from a crash, and even the Bikemag article says, "To be fair, the damage that resulted could have shown up on any bike under similar circumstances" after they themselves say that they broke during a crash. The PB article says that the stay specifically had rock impact. Carbon is great, but it's not indestructible.
I'm sure the testers are pushing it to the limits and crashing crashes. Not enough info to say that this was a design error.
  • 46 1
 I crashed my Prophet maybe a hundred times before it snapped, I've crashed the Rocket that replaced it many times too (because I'm terrible), neither cost $3.7k. If multiple testers are breaking the same part it's not strong enough, it's a mountain bike, mountain bikers crash, a lot.
  • 17 20
 Fix-the-spade.....you crashed it with direct rock impact? on the rear triangle near the dropout? Carbon? All I'm saying is that there's not enough information to say that it's a design flaw or manufacturing problem.
  • 34 10
 The old pre-production bullshit answer , shame I thought yeti were cool guys , shame they have to lie like that , and if they arent lying then they are fucking stupid for giving out pre production kit to journos
  • 34 4
 So, these frames aren't all they were cracked up to be?
  • 15 3
 Probably be better to make the swingarm out of aluminum if possible.
  • 67 2
 Yeti must be the unluckiest company in the world - all those 575 swingarms that broke, and the SB66's tyres hitting the seat tube and the early bearing failures and the swingarm failures and the sheared headtubes and now their new bike has a snappy swingarm again.

Or ,maybe it's not just bad luck - a long history of releasing products with issues and needing to redesign them points to issues with design and quality control.

Yeti continue to push themselves upmarket ($500 more expensive than a Nomad frame), but not sorting out their quality issues is going to hurt them.

As much as this bike appeals to the heart, my head would never allow me to buy one.
  • 42 3
 Notice the review doesn't mention the warranty, which is surprising....only 2 years.... pretty poor compared to a lot of the competition.
  • 14 0
 @minotro Levy says the damage came on a low speed tip over at a near stand still. Bike Mag broke 2 triangles. Conroy's explanation essentially does boil down to a design flaw, because no one was making sure the producer was following procedure and laying up the frames to spec, and anyone knows that with hi zoot and low tolerance materials, as far as producing extremely thin walls all over, that execution is just as important as design itself, and really is part of design when you are talking about producing and entire run of the same frame. That being said, Conroy says the flaw has been remedied, and that this will not be a problem on frames for purchase, and one can either choose to believe him, or not. Only time will tell as people start to really ride the run whether they are really up to snuff, until them you have to go on their word. I've been riding Yeti for nearly 20 years now, and love the bikes and the company, but at this $ level, I'll be holding off for a little while before making my decision to buy one of these or hold off.
  • 15 3
 IDK, I've had 3 different Yetis and never had a problem with any of them. I don't deny that they've had their failures but personally not a problem for me.

That being said, I read this review as: Sexy enduro sled, one trick pony, very expensive, and failed during testing.
  • 32 2
 I have the Yeti SB6C frame, got it late December. I broke my rear triangle too, after 25 rides. Ridiculous. Sure I did not have a pre-production model. When bike is working, best bike I have ever had, way better than the 66 i just sold. Not a one trick Pony. Flies uphill, takes some skill on tight single track switchbacks. Amazing downhill. Yes, they did cover it under warranty AND are paying for the labor cost to fix it. But here I am, waiting a month for a replacement rear triangle because they have zero frame parts in stock. The front triangle has numerous paint chips too, in spots where no rock would hit the paint while riding. They are not covering that. My worries is that the frame is flexing and chipping the paint. I hope this whole thing get sorted out soon.
  • 11 0
 @ToddS456


I had the same problem with a US "boutique" bike brand frame a few years back. After the 3rd warranty claim, each taking months to fix, I got my 4th new frame and sold it outright, and put the money into a mass market "big brand" frame with a lifetime warranty and solid warranty support through a widespread dealer network Smile
  • 6 4
 @hampersteadbandit I have always loved Yeti. This is my 5th yeti. I just hope it gets fixe and I don't have any problems in the future. When I broke the rear triangle of my 66, they overnighted the new rear triangle so I would have it for a big trip I was taking. Great customer service so far. Hopefully this will continue. They just have the right geometry that everyone else seems to be aiming for.
  • 12 1
 So if I buy a $3500 SB6c and it breaks, will Yeti jump to admit that IT was a pre-production frame and eagerly replace it? Or will they say it was my fault? There's no way a consumer would know, much less prove, their bike was "pre-production" or not. I'm not comfortable with that.

The bike was produced, right? Then it was a production bike, Yeti.
  • 13 25
flag aoneal (Mar 23, 2015 at 9:50) (Below Threshold)
 Yeti designers are not crack-pots that smoke crack just to crack big smiles. They are a passionate and talented bunch that don't mind cracking a few jokes from time to time to crack down on the stress that comes from working hard. Although a cracked frame is nothing to crack up about, it just means that they will need to crack down on QC, crack the whip on the carbon manufacturer, and get crackin' on the PR side to ensure everyone that this is just an isolated incident.
  • 1 1
 @ToddS456 Did your sb6c rear triangle break from an impact or just general use? Are the paint chips on the front end concentrated in any particular area? I have an sb6c on order and I'm seriously worried..
  • 7 1
 Shop i work at sold 3 SB66c's during the short period we were a dealer. All of them cracked at the chain stays, one twice.
  • 4 1
 @Tomsn

Regular use, right under the rear brake housing on the seat stay. No damage to brake housing so that did not take the hit. Great bike when it works.

@b45her

The original 66 triangle was breaking at the bend near bottom bracket, at a weld. They got rid of that weld there and breaks stopped from what I understand.
  • 1 6
flag codypup (Mar 23, 2015 at 16:05) (Below Threshold)
 Maxlombardy, that's like saying you're not too hot, so global warming must be a hoax.
  • 2 1
 all carbon frames, no welds. all the alloy frames we sold are still intact to my knowledge.
  • 1 1
 @minotro, funnily enough, my very first crash on the Rocket involved messing up a low speed rock slab, falling over, landing on top of the bike and then sliding down the very sharp edge of said slab tangled up in the bike. Both me and the frame picked up some wicked scars from that little episode, but being thrown onto a sharp rock face, then having a 90kg weight fall on top of it did nothing more than a scratch and a dent (well, a couple of dents). That was in 2012 and that's how MTBs should be, I've still got the bike. Also, yes, plenty of crashes into rocks, the north of England is rocky.
  • 7 2
 It seems a little harsh to completely dismiss Yeti's explanation as a lie. The guys there appear to be genuinely good people admitting their mistake. Granted, I don't know the whole story; just my opinion.
  • 1 3
 It's not a "lie" it's marketing . . . oh wait. The problem at times is on our end. We all want these carbon superbikes that can blast through a brick wall yet weigh less than a feather. Looking at the weight of this build, I would bet Yeti was worried about the weight of the frame and tried to reduce it where they could to make sure they were under the magic 30 lb line. Like anything, wait a year for this stuff to hopefully get sorted.
  • 1 0
 @honourablegeorge: How about YETI is a horrible quality product? I have broken 3 yetis and 2 of those frames were used bikes.
  • 64 2
 Seems like the boys from Bike Magazine broke two prototype swing arms too. Damn shame.
  • 19 0
 Yeah, one broken in this review and two over at www.bikemag.com/videos/yeti-sb6c-2015-bible-bike-tests-roundtable-reels doesn't sound good.
  • 75 3
 Stick with my Nomad. No broke, No-mad!
  • 52 3
 ...plus the Nomad comes with a tried and true threaded bottom bracket, not a creak-fit.
  • 25 5
 Stick with my aluminium bike...
  • 11 26
flag tjbiker38 (Mar 23, 2015 at 7:47) (Below Threshold)
 it was only the prototype frames that cracked, Yeti fixed the problem before they started selling frames to the public
  • 7 4
 Yep my Nomad is a sick ride. I can take it down gnarly shit, no probs no cracks just eats it up
  • 7 1
 Another vote for the Nomad... just laughs at everything you throw at it and it's built like a tank. And living in the PAC NW, having a nice, THREADED, Chris King BB installed is a beautiful, silent, easy-to-maintain experience.
  • 56 4
 only $7399!!! ... hope they have multiple colours because I might buy 2 or 3
  • 36 10
 Obligatory YT comment in three... two... one... A Capra can be had for less than the Frame, plus the Capra comes with the less awful press fit bb standard (although that's like saying chlamydia is less awful than cyphilis) and they already fixed their swing arms!
.
After all their big talk about threaded bb's a couple of years ago not only have Yeti gone press fit, they've gone to the absolute worst press fit standard, all the creaking of the other version, but no scope for 30mm cranks or thread together semi-permanent bb systems, go home Yeti, you're drunk.
  • 10 0
 The good news from all this is we got one of the most entertaining bike reviews in a long time. Sorry Yeti
  • 4 0
 funny thing @Fix-the-Spade is that I am currently awaiting the sweet arrival of my new capra pro!!!
  • 49 1
 This is far from the first time a troublesome product gets the "preproduction" excuse when things go wrong without any forewarning to the tester, which makes it seem like an easy way out for any problem found along the way. I understand that in house testing will never be as throughout as having your product hit the market and tested by thousands of users but if a handful of reviewers get a whole bunch of problems, it screams bad testing/QC.

If you're going to cut corners, you should mention it to the reviewer beforehand that it's a preprod frame or actually wait to ship the final version.
  • 30 6
 It probably would have been the final version if it didn't break and received the expected glowing review. Hats off to Pinkbike for being honest. I like Yeti as a brand and believe the problem will be sorted. I still wouldn't buy one because the switch infinity, which while possibly a good system, looks totally wack! I mean, when it wears out you can't just go down to your local bearing shop and get fixed up for twenty quid. And is it just different for the sake of it. I bet it doesn't feel any different to a single pivot, but the added complexity and cost are total negatives in my book. I'd go for a Nomad or wait for a carbon Sanction
  • 13 3
 Probably. On the other hand, can't really criticize yeti for pushing new concepts when we criticize components makers for lacking imagination and milking us with fake new stuff. Almost bought a SB66 myself when they first came out but I doubted I could easily find a replacement bearing, which ended being problematic according to quite a few people.

I think the take home lesson is that innovation is great and it should be encouraged but if you cheap out on quality QC/testing, you're making everybody look bad. I understand that smaller brands probably don't have the same ressources the bigger players have but stuff like this tend to push people toward the bigger names and safer tech, which is a loss for the smaller brands and the consumers.
  • 2 0
 I don't see any good reason why Yeti even if its already late for them to inform pinkbike tester that it is indeed prepod. What i mean by late is that before it cracked but already with the testers.
  • 5 0
 I'm thinking what happened is that these weren't pre-prod, they were the first run of frames, run off so that they could get bikes out to reviewers, & that, combined with outsourcing often meaning you have to watch your QC like a hawk, caused the manufacturer to do a sloppy job on these 20 frames. However, that certainly makes me wonder who they are getting production through, as this problem becomes more common, the cheaper manufacturer you use. Especially for a frame that they think I should pay $3.7k for. The fact that I see a bunch of their frames on Steep & Cheap all the time at bargain basement prices makes me wonder exactly how much they're paying wholesale as well, & again, what that says about who's doing their production.
  • 10 0
 I visited a bike factory and the guy who made me do the tour said that the carbon molds are indeed expensive but if you produce a big enough run, the molds actually become cheaper than having welders do their thing with alloy frames. The problem is that when you outsource stuff to china (or anything not done in house, really), you have to stay on top of the QC game and hire more people to make sure everything is up to the standards and that eats your profit margin. So all in all, the costs for both producing an alloy frame and a carbon frame can be pretty similar, depending on how many frames of a specific model you get into production.

The fact that they shipped the test frames without making sure everything is alright beforehand makes it look like someone is cutting corners and wondering if they would have picked up the defects before sending them into production isn't far fetched.

I'm really not a yeti hater but if you're going to have such a high sticker price, people expect better.
  • 8 1
 If I am not mistaken, Yeti along with Cannondale, Trek, Canyon and several others are manufactured by Giant's parent company in their state of the art facility. That is certainly the case for the ally frames. Top quality. My guess is they designed the frames to be strong enough, the frames were made to spec and it turned out to be the wrong spec... well shit happens. At least they found out quickly before selling 3000 frames. They modified the layup and wall thickness, adding 45g. Why would they do that if the frames were simply not made to spec? I mean if the spec was right but they weren't made to spec, you wouldn't change the spec. You would simply ensure they were made to spec.

I've also been told by factory workers in Taiwan that carbon is cheaper to produce than ally on a big production run.
  • 45 3
 A cracked Yeti? Who would have thought it? Haha.

You would think by now, with the huge, vast, wealth of experience they have had with broken alloy & carbon frames, they might be able to make something that doesn't go snappity snap.
  • 38 2
 'I'd say that the SB6C is a bike for someone who takes chances'
  • 3 0
 LemonadeMoney; rather, for someone with lots of money without fear of losing it.
  • 4 0
 i would rather they just make a light alloy rear triangle to avoid this crap
  • 4 0
 @TFreeman I agree completely with you. However, a lot of people criticize Specialized and Trek for doing just this.
  • 5 0
 But Trek and Specialized has a life time warranty. After 3 years in a yeti. You are screwed if you lean your bike up against a rock. Sounds like the SB6 could be the boutique bike of the year.
  • 3 1
 not just that but Yeti's customer service is a BITCH i love the company, love the bikes they make, they perform great, but they need better quality materials and better customer service
  • 47 1
 7k bike and the brakes and drivetrain are still not xtr and xx1...
  • 4 0
 No kidding...
  • 4 3
 Granted, the difference is really just weight but still.
  • 6 1
 and it comes with alloy rims
  • 1 0
 lol, that's right, apparently the best frame out there and they assemble it with alloy rims, and Graves raced with the alloy rims as well, why would they do that?
  • 2 0
 Exactly! Also, how much more is the carbon X01 crankset?? I was also surprised by the weight. My bone stock enduro weighs 28.25 with xtr pedals with an alloy rear triangle.

The Yeti is sexier though...those curves.
  • 3 4
 @parallaxid those aren't just ANY allow rims, those are THE alloy rims. i'd rather have EX 471's laced to 350's over Enve 70's laced to Hope's. that wheelset combo is incredible and already SUPER light.

as for the drivetrain, why would you want an XO1 mech when it is EXACTLY the same as an X1 just not carbon fiber? you'll be happy after you clip it off on a rock and have to buy another mech. and the shifter is X01 and thats the important thing. the cranks could be better, i'd probably put RF cranks. but thats just me
  • 6 8
 Um...no alloy rim will ever compare to the ride quality, stiffness, quicker acceleration, etc of a carbon hoop. If you disagree you haven't ridden carbon wheels.
  • 28 5
 It's a broken frame that yeti have rectified. They've had alot of practice. Get over it.

What is hard to rectify is the fact that this "pure breed descender" sucks over sharp high speed impacts. Say what?

Fair play for trying new things yeti, but after owning 1 snapped yeti 5c and a unreliable sb66c I'm glad I've saved myself a packet and bought a tranny patrol.
  • 13 0
 Any pics of your tranny on a tranny?
  • 4 0
 Nice choice btw, I like alu frames and threaded BBs. That orange color they chose looks sweet too.
  • 1 0
 Same here! Haven't had any trouble with my previous Yeti (303-rdh) but i'm beyond excited for the durability of my Patrol (should be delivered soon!!!). Have any pics?
  • 2 0
 There is a Patrol thread in the Xc/Enduro forum with pics.
  • 3 5
 You say they rectified it but worked with a shop not 50 miles from Yeti HQ who refuses to do business with Yeti due to their poor customer service. When you call in as a shop on behalf of a customer for a broken frame and get blown off so someone can go on a lunch ride you aren't a happy camper.
  • 4 2
 I have had nothing but great service from Yeti. Just sayin.
  • 26 3
 Dear bike manufacturers,
When making carbon versions of the AL bikes, please feel free to use more than 1.5mm of carbon. Stop testing the limits of the material, it is stronger when applied properly, not just paper thin and done. Yes, cabon fibre is times tougher than AL, but why do you have to insist to make a frame so light, when it will be prone to so much snapping? I say if it is around 300 grams lighter, done! Don't go overboard with it. I would much rather have a bike that is 500grams overall lighter but tough as nails than simply a lighter bike that can't take a bit of shenanigans on a Sunday ride with my best mates.
  • 3 2
 There was never an aluminum version of the SB6 or the SB5... But otherwise, yes. Santa Cruz seems to do a good job in this regard.
  • 5 0
 Someone just last week was asking me why on earth I would spend $6k on a bike that wasn't carbon, and this is the reason why. Its not that I don't trust carbon, I'm fine with my SixC bars and cranks, I just don't trust the production standards of carbon coming from the lowest bidder in Asia. This is obviously not indicative of all carbon across the market, but if this is an issue for a bigger company like Yeti, I can only wonder how it translates across the board.
  • 6 0
 I did not mean that directly for Yeti, I know this is how the frame is. But they could have done a better job with it is all. A friend of mine also cracked and broke a Ghost AM bike 2 times since last year this time till late summer. Just make it out of the stuff but also make it tough, I want to ride harder and I know I can, I've been chucking hardtails at the worst of drops and rock gardens. Once I buy a carbon frame, I expect it to be not just rigid, but to also be able to throw grenades at it and not be afraid whether Bruno Mars will be there to catch them or not. Sure, todays bikes are really strong, but can you imagine not being able to kill one? I would huck everything if the frame could hold up! Make it tough and strong, kill the competition, yay!
  • 5 0
 They do the same with alu though. To my experience, when they pull the "Aluminium tubing technology that puts just enough material at the right places for extra strength" it means that if you hit a rock in the low stress areas, your frame is done.

If I get to pick between a 25-27lbs paperthin bike or a 28lbs sturdy one, I'll take the 28lbs one any day. The problem is that it's really hard to tell for the consumer which is which.
  • 4 4
 Giant make all of the Santa Cruz Carbon frames in Taiwan. Reason being they are the best at it
  • 28 2
 That's wgat you get for leaving downhill, yeti. THATS WHAT YOU GET.
  • 2 6
flag anchoricex (Mar 23, 2015 at 5:24) (Below Threshold)
 yeah um.. what***
  • 16 0
 I just want to say thanks to Mike Levy and Pinkbike for a candid review, the honesty to reveal flaws in the product, and for offering comparisons to other bikes that the reader would likewise also be considering. Please keep it coming.
  • 15 0
 Poor show supplying "first offs" for review.

First offs are for breaking/testing/abusing in house and never to see the light of day outside of the company. They should know that.
  • 6 0
 Press deadlines are real, & cause people to make poor decisions.
  • 9 0
 I agree 100% with this. Why on earth would a manufacturer take the risk of sending out a rushed batch of frames, apparently at the expense of QC, to the very people who are going to be their most vocal, (and heard), scrutineers? It makes absolutely no sense to me.

Especially when you have the momentum of race-season success, and rave reviews of the previous bike (SB66c) to carry you until you get the manufacturing nailed down on the new bike.

Baffling.
  • 5 2
 Maybe because this was not a prepod frame. This was just the frame with a poorly designed rear end. Meaning, stating this was prepod is Yeti's way of trying to cover up a poorly engineered bike.
  • 14 0
 As a mechanical engineer, I have a bone to pick with Yeti.

I'm sorry, but the pre-production excuse does not make your company look any better. Any rookie engineering team would have tested that batch of frames before letting anyone swing a leg over a bike. The fact that your team did not test that batch of frames is quite shocking. Engineering mistakes do happen. However, it is your job as professionals to have 110% certainty that your products meet your design standards before letting anyone outside the company ride your bike.
  • 2 1
 110%? Not much of a safety factor there...
  • 14 1
 I started reading this thinking 'That looks alright, but Yeti's mostly snap' and low and behold, its snapped. Boy did I laugh! I was at a demo day once and someone came back from a spin on a SB66, the rep took one look, didn't say anything to the guy, and put it in the truck. It was broken and the rider hadn't noticed, but the rep didn't bat an eyelid... I would hate to import those. Even if Yeti have the greatest customer service in the world, thats still a lot of angry customers to deal with. I wonder how many Jared and Ritchie go through a year......
  • 15 0
 An entertaining opinion article could be written about all the "pre-production" frame failures during tests over the years. Seems like it's a common event.
  • 15 0
 i expect over 300 comments by tuesday.
  • 16 3
 No new standards with this one, so I would not expect more than 150 in total Big Grin
  • 11 0
 yeah, but cracked frame? that oughtta get the haters wound up.
  • 13 1
 Yeti seem to be running a cracking business!
  • 4 1
 Yes hampsteadbantid - I am reluctant to switch to Yeti. At the same time I have been told by some Pinkbike engineers here that carbon fiber is superior to aluminium so by such a high margin of superiority it should not crack. Everything cracks they said, and I said that aluminium is cheaper to replace... but you can repair acrbon fiber element with epoxy, yet... nobody does it!
  • 1 1
 Fis-sure they seem good, but they need factor the fracture!
  • 1 0
 Waki that's not quite fair. I ride with two people who ride repaired carbon frames (one a Rocky Vertex, the other a road bike).
  • 3 1
 What's not fair? We are after absolution here! Ultimate solution that is. RC is like that, with his articles like: Clipless pedals are better! Air shocks are better! Carbon is better! 275 is better! Wide rims are better!

Better is always better than depends! Are you going to land on something or you are going to wander in Dependsland? I have landed but not on someone's sht Big Grin
  • 4 0
 Possession of 45 grams of crack..
  • 1 5
flag codypup (Mar 23, 2015 at 16:13) (Below Threshold)
 Gee, if we're really on the "cheaper to replace" ethic, let's build frames out of plywood and I'll just fix mine with Gorilla glue. I have a carbon frame because I like it. If it breaks, I'll probably get another one.
  • 2 1
 hey waki, 300 comments. toldja!
  • 3 0
 You must be a Seer! What else do you know?! How will I die! Will Protour die first? Are our fates connected? What do the Gods say! Answer me!
  • 6 0
 i think its cuz i ride a cannondale prophet. i pull my powers from it. you and protour will die at the same time in an epic battle over what wheel size is better for fat bikes. sorry if that bums you out, the prophet has spoken.
  • 3 0
 comment of the day keystone
  • 16 2
 So they used journalists as dummies to test new frame layup. Ugh.
  • 14 1
 Plenty of other bikes on the market which don't cost anywhere near as much and perform very similarly.
  • 4 0
 I agree and lets face it spec a bike with similar geo and with on par components, it would probably just ride as good or with very or slight differences potentially for far less money.
  • 10 0
 They should know better… send out production frames for full tests!

Stills sounds like BS, "I don't want to make excuses but…here's a list..."

Pre production blah blah…

45g of extra material (glue to stick it back together)
  • 4 0
 ... and 45 grams is all it take to stop a frame from exploding?
  • 2 0
 Rear triangles are pretty damn light - another 45g is a decent amount to add.
  • 1 0
 im pretty sure every company that sends out a new frame for mags and sites to test comes with the "disclaimer" that it is a preproduction frame so if something goes wrong, they can blame that.
  • 12 2
 weak frames, weak excuses, and down right horrible customer service. great business model. why do people even buy yeti bikes? as if the cracking and the lousy warranty/out of warranty replacement stories of the sb66 weren't enough.... now you have REVIEWERS cracking frames and you come up with even more lame excuses? stop. just stop.
  • 12 0
 Looks nice but after cracking a SB66 C last month I wont be parting with any money.
Maybe better luck next time Yeti?
  • 2 0
 What size frame? Where and how did it crack?
  • 10 0
 Levy mentioned he put the stealth post on his personal bike, i wana know what his personal bike is? Since they get to test ride the most amount of bikes, you would think that they would pick the best bike out of the lot.
  • 1 0
 Could be this:
www.pinkbike.com/u/mikelevy/album/Fizik-Gobi
If you can guess the bike?
  • 1 0
 Could be the Devinci Spartan going from the colouring.
  • 3 0
 I think he has been riding a Knolly Warden unless he's recently changed it up.
  • 6 0
 That appears to be an Ibis Ripley.
  • 4 1
 +1 for Ripley.
  • 1 1
 Ripley or Santa Cruz 5010 possibly?
  • 13 2
 How was this not an issue with the prototypes? Glad I decided to go for the Nomad...
  • 7 0
 because proto's are often made in house. When everything is just right then they go off to production where quality control issues can arise.
  • 7 1
 But it performed so well in the finite analysis on the computer!!!! All the program test runs revealed no issues!!!!
  • 1 0
 @DARKSTAR63- it just seems like an issue that would/could have been identified with Rude and Graves beating these things around harder than any of us mere mortals could. If it was really an issue with the design you'd think that would have popped up. And why on EARTH would a company send out anything but what they knew was the very best frame? Finding things out the hard way in reviews seems like a dangerous approach.
  • 2 1
 I agree, not defending them at all. I was just saying that it could happen that proto and initial run differed from the final product. The reviewers should be sent production bikes or told that what they have is not- not only told if something bad happens. Otherwise this comes off as an excuse. Time will tell, this just doesn't look good for Yeti who already has a reputation for failures. I know others have quickly pointed it out but these is not even the only test broken. Other publications have broken them too. Bike mag I think went through two swing arms !
  • 9 0
 It would probably climb better and feel more nimble if he had tested a medium frame instead if a large, especially considering that he's 5' 10' and the medium frame was specifically designed for a 5' 10" rider (Graves).
  • 9 1
 I actually read the whole thing to see if they too had a swingarm issue... They did! Over at BIKE Mag, the bible issue, they had 2 broken swingarms... 2!! So 2 reviews and 3 broken swingarms.. I almost bought this bike.. glad I didn't. I don't crash very often, but I have some serious scuff marks on my chainstays from rocks, logs and branches. Maybe they fixed it, but come on, to give a bike to people that are going to ride it to the limit with a pretty serious issue? What if it cracked and let go in a 30mph g-out downhill section? btw, back in the 90's, nearly every broken frame I saw was a Yeti. Even now if I owned new one, I would always think about it breaking. Kinda sad..
  • 7 0
 been on a yeti sb66 alloy for 3 years now... ZERO problems. Rode a Santa Cruz for 6 months before the chainstay ripped in half. That being said, I would never buy this rig. Pressfit BB, 40 hr maintenance interval, cracked "pre production" frames... YETI are we making money or die hard mtb's? Cant show up to a tribe gathering on my cracked 7 thousand dollar rig.

still live yeti though
  • 8 0
 The 40hr maintenance interval is pushing grease through 2 fittings. If it were a tear-down, I'd agree with you, but what they're talking about takes less time than lubing a chain.
  • 7 0
 Owned an SB66 for 3 months before breaking the swingarm and rocker link..... I am trying to stay a fan of this brand, but the test bike breaking dampens that a bit. Yeti have had plenty of time to get frames ready for testers like Pinkbike etc - they should have supplied the best possible frame they have for these tests....
  • 3 2
 Did yeti take care of you?
  • 7 0
 So what you're telling me is that your $7400 carbon test bike that comes with X01, XT and a Cane Creek headset on aluminum wheels broke during testing but likes to be ridden fast and loose by someone willing to take chances?

It's a shame that a bike with such a high price and awesome characteristics isn't given more QC on the finishing end, or a better line up of components.
  • 7 1
 Cracked frame NOT surprised! They had problems with sb-66 al swing arms cracking as well. I had one crack in less than a year and had to deal with absolutely terrible warranty customer service. I am sure this bike rides well down hill but I highly doubt they are built to last. Buyer beware of this boutique brand and frames built to thin!
  • 6 0
 Wow, lots of these frames experience exactly the same issue, broken rear triangle.

The guys at Bike Mag broke two of these frames: www.bikemag.com/videos/yeti-sb6c-2015-bible-bike-tests-roundtable-reels.

That test was done over 4 months ago. Would you think the problem should be corrected by now? I find it very difficult to believe their "pre-production" excuse 4 month later to be plausible. Sounds to me as poorly designed frame, no matter how they try to spin it.
  • 10 1
 Very nice bike. Wouldn't buy one though. Not until we see what's happening with this boost bullshit.
  • 6 0
 Both Jared Grave's and Richie Rude's racing prowess is doing wonders to counter this negativity. Whether it is this new strange link, abandoning threaded BBs, and now having rear triangles break on multiple reviews, these warriors keep winning. Yeti had better be paying these guys a fortune as they frequently fall back on their results when negativity arises. This coming from a proud SB66c owner.
  • 2 1
 It's not at all beyond the realm of possibility that Graves and Rude's bikes may get a bit more of a once-over than the average frame... I have no idea if it's the case here, but certainly in other sports like skiing there are "special" runs reserved for the racers.
  • 5 0
 I fell over once on my 08 575 clipped in on a climb and unfortunately the rear swing arm hit a rock at what I thought was a fairly low impact. Soo bummed to see a crack, 450$ Which was half price on crash replacement and about four months later for delivery I guess, I was finally riding it again. Super bummed about that since I had the previous generation 575 before that. That's how much I loved that frame.
  • 5 0
 I own an SB66c and have cracked the frame 4 times and had the switch link replaced under warranty as well. The first time the direct mount for front de cracked, then it snapped both sides at the chain stays near bb almost breaking clean, then it broke again in the same spot on one side, then the aluminium dogbone cracked in two places. A 2 year warranty is disgraceful for a bike that costs this much. I was told by the dealer that the wrong/cheaper bonding tape was used at the chainstays by the manufacturer, sounds like a similar story. It's the best bike I've ever ridden but looking to find something more durable.
  • 6 1
 I took a flop on my 6c today. The rear triangle is fine, but my SI link is a little dirty. According to the internet, this renders my new bike useless, as it is impossible to clean and service. Pinkbike users, please advise.
  • 6 1
 Review its brutally honest, but so many ignorant comments follow the review.

This bike is made in Taiwan at one of the best factories in the industry (but not saying this factory makes all yeti models). This factory also makes some of the other bikes mentioned in this thread as "worthy choices instead of the sb6c", and also some of the bikes mentioned in the review. Yeti is not "cutting corners" regarding cost, because Taiwan is expensive compared to China or Vietnam and - in general - these good factories are also relatively pricy.

Now, if it failed because there's not enough material, I'm sure it will get addressed. If it failed because there is a design issue, it will take a bit more to address.

Not going to comment any more - probably already said too much...
  • 2 1
 @biff2bart which factory is it, sorry? humour me please?
  • 1 0
 Biff2bart, help us make educated buying decisions by telling us more. People are skeptical about Yeti bikes because their track record over the last 5 years has been abysmal. I'm surprised anyone would roll the dice on $3500 USD frame at all.
  • 9 0
 This review is a crack up
  • 26 2
 Where can I buy an $8,000 Super Broken with 6 Cracks?
  • 7 0
 Mate of mine snapped his yeti, yeti didn't offer him any kind of replacement or even a crash replacement discount. Lovely bikes but wouldn't touch them with yours.
  • 5 0
 It seems like all the "Enduro" reviews rave about how great a climber the bike is. But, I've yet to read one that actually exhibits what these reviewers claim is their expectation, a la "sucking your soul out through your quads"... Why would you keep propagating this notion that you expect them to suck at climbing, yet never say any of them actually suck at climbing?
  • 5 1
 My SB6 freakin rips. I haven't crashed it yet so fingers crossed. As far as climbing. I don't do a lot of technical climbing, mostly fire roads to get to trail heads but I've never felt like I was pushing a noodle. Climbs better than the SB66 for sure.
  • 2 0
 Same here. This bike is fast. Very fast. I'm glad Mike Levy pointed out the speed out of corners and the rate of acceleration because it's something that I noticed instantly. I think it does everything better than the SB66. It's obvious the primary purpose of the bike is descending, which Levy pointed out, but it also climbs very well.
  • 4 0
 I have 110 miles on my green SB6c and here is what i know so far:

-it climbs WAAAAAY better than my SB66c did over any type of terrain. My experience hasn't been the same as the review stated about climbing. But I would say its a bike that has been designed to get to the top well to go downhill even better.

-it's very easy to clean the switch infinity and the switch infinity is well worth any extra time and maintenance in my book because it's an incredibly stable and efficient platform.

-it absolutely wants to be ridden hard and aggressive downhill. It chomps up everything I have thrown at it and does it well.

-I've ridden it hard for those 110 miles and the rear triangle's glue seems to be holding. I haven't crashed yet either. I am not worried about it because my LBS Reed Cycle in Eagle, ID is 2nd to none in customer service and so is Yeti in my experience.

So far so good! I agree with everything in the review except I would highly recommend the bike.
  • 7 0
 Maybe it's a good thing you aren't able to purchase one right now considering they're on "backorder"
  • 9 1
 wont be buying one of those then
  • 7 1
 Poor form from Yeti. PR should have got new frames out to everyone as soon as they could. All the reviews are going to be negative now. Awesome bike, but bad PR.
  • 7 0
 40hr service intival?

Sounds very impervious to anything a mountain biker can throw at it.
  • 5 0
 Isn't it a bit unresponsible to send a pre-production frame whitout mentioning it to the tester. What would Yeti say if Mike Levy would have hurt himself due to cracked frame?
  • 6 1
 Pressfit BB, Fox Bling with no discernible function, carbon rear cracked, lack of quality control, untrue statement of marketing dep. Awesome riding on dumbed down dh-tracks. Yeah - want - not.
  • 4 0
 Yeah I actually find it pretty concerning that Yeti gave what they say is pre production frames to these magazine and online testers. Surely their well being and safety should be top priority along with every consumer. I think they should be ashamed of themselves for that.
  • 6 2
 So if a contractor can't properly make - or Yeti can't properly spec, a test frigging batch, how will they be sure they will not Jeff up some random batch that you will end up riding?

They can't. Neither can other outsourcing shops. Your life and limb depends on some minimaly paid asian lady doing fiber layup not having a brain fart.
  • 6 2
 So how about this:
For future reviews, ask the manufacturer BEFOREHAND whether the bike is a prototype/preproduction model. Make this question a standard procedure for every bike you get to review.
As it stands now, this is just another so called "review" claiming to be objective while still relying mostly on the manufacturers claims and information, even in hindsight to the test. We the readers can get absolutely no information out of this, because the reviewers didn´t do their job properly.
I´m not hating on PB, but it would really improve the quality of your reviews, because there would be no second guessing whether something like this is just an excuse or not.
Also would improve safety of your testers!
  • 3 0
 I agree. At the end of the day, it's the responsibility of the journalist to keep the manufacturers honest. The only thing companies can be trusted to do is seek out profits. For bike production companies, that may not fall inline with the customers needs. For websites like pinkbike, who rely on page views, giving us the best and most reliable advice will keep us coming back giving them ad impressions.
  • 4 0
 I just demoed the 5c and 6c and they were awesome! They were so stiff that I felt no deflection off of rocks and the bike followed the exact path you pointed it down no matter what you ran over. The switch in the rear end did reduce the pop or preload so the height or amplitude of some of the side trail kickers wasn't as much as some bikes I have ridden but it did set you up perfectly. There was never a bucking feeling or awkward jump like the switch reacted in a way to set the bike on an even straight path. We did have one problem on the 6c's we rode. The derailleur stop on the hanger was not long enough so the XO would move past it while riding, getting rid of any tension and having the chain fall off.
  • 4 1
 ... Or you could buy a nicely specced Capra, for less (if you don't live in Canada that is, where the dollar tanks like the Titanic).

The SB6C is a cool bike, but broken swing arms at that price aren't exactly confidence inspiring. Sure, YT had a bit of a shaky release with the breaking rear mech hangers, but nothing of this level. I guess Yeti does't really care for the safety of the folks reviewing their bikes. Bunch of crash test dummies!
  • 4 1
 There's no shortage of ways to add bottle cages to bicycles. Look at what's made for TT bikes and expedition touring bikes. Mounts that'll replace stem spacers (for 1 1/8 threadless steerers) and extend forwards (and can also feature Go-Pro mounts), under the saddle, attached to the seatpost, etc. I wouldn't discount a frame choice just because its only got an under-the-downtube mount.
  • 4 1
 I've been a huge Yeti fan being a prior owner of a 575 and 66c. Never thought I'd leave the brand but after being screwed over trying to purchase a 6c I decided to jump ship and try something else. I eventually landed on a Ibis HD3 and couldn't be happier. I'll always be a Yeti fan and root for them but with the prices of there bikes/frames it makes sense to go elswhere. Especially when you can get a loaded HD3 with 741 wheels for only a couple hundred bucks more then a xo1 6c build.
  • 4 1
 Tour-de-force review. Pinkbike is at the top of its game these days, and its a fun thing to see. The insight and confidence to explain, clearly and readably, why you'd want to buy the bike -- and why you wouldn't. My hat's off.
  • 1 1
 And Levy revealed his "Take her to Red Lobster" move...
  • 3 0
 I can always deal with rear triangle failures, they have happened on many frames that I have owned, nearly all. As long as there is no head tube failure it doesn't matter. You won't break your neck with a broken swingarm, but you will if the headtube fails... Every manufacturer has failures and I think Yeti responded as well as they could. Riders demand light and capable bikes that don't break...Not really a possibility.
  • 6 2
 How do they take these bike shots? Do they hold the bike and then quickly run away while the photographer takes a photo of the still standing bike?
  • 7 0
 The vortexes in Sedona keep all bicycles upright. Except mine whenever I am there.
  • 2 0
 As honourablegeorge wrote - all those 575 swingarms that broke, my friend and I are a big Yeti fans, but after both of us suffer a break in the swing arm and we realized that we need to pay a huge amount of money to buy a swing arm, we decided to move to another bike manufacture, it's sad that I my friend and I after long years on Yeti decided to move on, we had a great time on Yeti, hope your modification will make the swing arm durable to side impacts, regards, Dan
  • 4 2
 I'm really disappointed in Yeti for dropping aluminum from their production. I understand that carbon has a place.. But it's mainly for racing and rich people. But they alienate 90% of their potential customers by doing this. I currently own two aluminum Yeti's, both have had to have been replaced due to cracks. But I wouldn't hesitate to buy another. Bikes take a lot of abuse and I don't know anybody that hasn't broken a frame, It happens. But making frames that are worth a fortune isn't the right thing to be doing. It would be nice if companies would make a moderately price bike that is durable. Myself, and the group I ride with would much rather have an aluminum frame that weighs 30 - 31 lbs when built than an ultralight aluminum or carbon frame. what's the point of shaving 4 - 5 lbs of a bike for the everyday mountain bike rider in this range of products? I'd be better off taking a dump before I ride shave a little weight.
  • 7 2
 oh, i forgot to let you this is a pre-production, hahah, small detail. nice work on the back pedal Yeti.
  • 4 1
 Demoed one, review is pretty spot on. Great for wide-open, high speed smoother stuff. Tight trails and climbing were terrible; bike just felt clunky. Not the correct bike for my local trails.
  • 4 1
 Unreal all the risks people are willing to take on (financial, safety, etc.) over saving a 1/4 pound. How the heck are bullet proof American made bikes like Turner not more prevalent?
  • 2 0
 Carbon is in fashion, US made carbon is all but nonexistent, even Turner went to the far east for their carbon models.
  • 2 3
 Turner had no choice but to go to China for their XC bike the Czar (their one carbon model) and that was after years of researching US manufacturing feasibility. They went for what the market would bear and no one wants to pay 5k for a US made DW-Link carbon frame. Unlike Yeti, Turner isn't a marketing driven hype machine.
  • 4 2
 As long as they handle it better than the Giant Reign X/Glory debacle (the one where Giant wouldn't recall the bikes, instead waiting for your suspension to break while riding) then Yeti will be just fine. A FR/Enduro (and yes I equate the two since enduro bikes are as capable at descending as the 7" travel bikes of yester-year) rig can afford to have a shaky start as long at it runs better than the competition in the long run.
  • 4 2
 Yeti f*cked up with this run of bikes, that seems clear. But as for the claim that they have some sort of "systemic" failure issue-- I'm not so sure. I really don't know of a popular carbon bike that doesn't return a bunch of horror stories if you Google search "broken" next to it. Giant trail bikes from the past few years come to mind, and they should theoretically have the best Quality program on the planet, since they own the Asian manufacturing site.

Anecdotes in forums and comment sections always portray a negative bias, because it's only the people with problems who speak up. I've been riding an SB66 since it was released in 2011. I had an alloy 66 for two seasons and I've had a carbon 66c for the past two. The carbon bike has been been through full blown DH runs on the pro line at my local lift, and I've crashed it hard enough to destroy 3 derailleurs now. The rear triangle has all kinds of chips and scars. The bike has been fully rag dolled down fall line trails at high speed.

I've never once had a crack, a squeaky bearing, or anything of the sort, and that goes for both bikes.
  • 3 1
 I bought an SB66c a year ago and I've dropped the thing on it's side way more times than I'd like to admit. Many times while trying to clean very tricky, sharp rock steps, etc. Bike's still going strong. The way I look at it, they rushed to get SB6 out while EWS was happening to maximize exposure for their latest offering. But this is also bleeding edge boutique bikery here, so adopting this stuff early seems to carry obvious risks, as evidenced by their past troubles. Santa Cruz and Specialized have far more resources and the ability to take their time with production, while Yeti has to take more chances in order to compete on the same stage. Bottom line... In perfectly happy with my one year old SB66c and I'll be perfectly happy buying an SB6 in a couple years once the wrinkles have been ironed out.
  • 5 0
 unfortunate, but how do we know any other frame would survive the same impact?
we don't.. and we wont
  • 2 0
 This is what you MUST do Pinkbike. A bike shootout. Put all the latest and greatest bikes with the best components in a balls out test. The Best and then the rest... I want ranks no ties or pussed out phrases. Do it DO IT!!!
  • 5 0
 Hey Mike, You ever take that thing off any sweet jumps?
  • 1 0
 I broke my 2012 gt force seat stay same way. And also a fall on my new range c scratched up same area, but didn't break. Seems to happen on slow, technical terrain, climbing or descending when ya tip over and can't get a foot out.
  • 2 0
 Yeah, those are the crashes that really make me cringe. Was climbing a steep rock garden yesterday. Didn't clean it and fell over. Couldn't unclip in time. Basically pinned and scraped the bike over a bolder. Took some pretty good scratches myself, but the whole time I was worrying about the bike because I was essentially leveraging it agains a rock with my whole body weight. Couple of scratches got through the protective tape to the frame but it was OK. But that weight on carbon fiber leveraging against a rock really makes me worry. At speed in crashes I just seem to unclip from the bike and at worst it just tumbles without the weight from me though it seems to never even take a scratch.
  • 3 2
 Please don't try and justify that a bike that costs this much and cracks on its demo ride is worth a punt. I've seen a few carbon bikes (local to me) that have cracked now so for me I'm just not willing to take the risk of sinking that much £ in something that I'm not 100% sure on
  • 1 0
 I don't always crash when I ride......but when I do I don't expect my bike to spider web crack and fall apart. I dab too many elbows and knees to buy a bike that has issues with marginal abuse. My time is too valuable to me to wait for a warranty return. Definately a first world problem. Nice bike, though. A TALUS would probably take care of some of the climbing issues. That bottle mount is a bit cheeky.
  • 1 0
 My question is, does the Fox shock blow through its travel like the CTD unit on my SB66? My other question is what is a good alternative that has a bit more positive ramp up for the bigger hits without sacrificing too much of the small bump sensitivity.

(this is with a little under 25% sag)
  • 3 0
 I monarch plus would be much better.
  • 2 1
 Carbon bike = for pros who ride them a handfull of times and at the start of the next race have a brand new one ..lucky them.. but for the rest of us it is just sooo extremely unecessary considering how much more we get to ride them. If you have the money and want to look faster than you really are... well good for you. Shame on Yeti for building some prototypes for graves and richie but failing to live up to their standards that they supposedly represent!
  • 2 1
 I would still be riding my alloy 66, except I had to take advantage of the 26" fire sale and upgrade to the carbon bike. That said, please see my anecdotal evidence. I've completely trashed my 66c, and I generally ride/race it very hard. I weigh 175lbs kitted. No problems whatsoever.

Another interesting point is many impact tests result in carbon bikes sustaining hits better than alloy. It's probably less likely to spec an alloy build with tubing that's too thin than it is to get a layup with a few thousandths less carbon than you asked for.
  • 2 1
 Trek Slash 9.8. Lighter, Cheaper, aluminum chain stays, just as slack and a lot sharper looking. Game over. I've cracked three or four frames over my twenty years in this sport, including a Trek after 6 abusive seasons. They verified my warranty and offered me cash within the hour of the claim.
  • 5 2
 "Here's what Chris Conroy, Yeti Cycles President and Co-Owner, had to say about the cracked swing arm:"

blah blah excuse crack blah enduro
  • 1 0
 "VERY" impervious?
So the Prez/co-owner states that NO production frames had/have this problem(thin swingarm/drop-out walls), yet CLEARLY they weren't 'aware' of the problem until PB brought the broken frame to Yeti's attention.
Taking this into account, that means that PB would've had to 'test'/crash this bike, and bring said broken frame to Yeti's attention BEFORE ANY PRODUCTION SB6C's were made.
I'm not wise to Yeti's productions schedule, but having dealt with the same kinda magazine 'testing' with motorcycles, I don't think I believe that.
"we discovered that it was not made to our specifications"
"We have updated our process controls with the vendor to ensure our production parts meet our specifications."

So obviously Yeti is blaming the 'vendor' here, but the next statement has me question the validity of this:

" Additionally, we added material to our seat and chain stays for better impact resistance. This increased the weight of the rear triangle by 45 grams. All production parts have this updated process/layup"
Why even mention that the frame gained weight?
Furthermore, by saying this, it makes me seriously question the 'BLAME' Mr. Conroy clearly places squarely on the shoulder of said 'vendor', and I'll tell you why.
IF these so-called pre-production frames were light on the amount of material needed in the affected area, WHY didn't Yeti's quality control discover this little tid-bit 'O info before they turned these frames into complete bikes?
One would think an easy way to determine/confirm their frames have the proper amount of material used THROUGHOUT, would be to WEIGH them after they're built. Conroy seemingly went out of his way to bring up the weight these frames would gain in order to 'fix' the problem, and by doing so his [IMO] intention was to give [US] the reader(s) the impression that Yeti is ALL ABOUT paying attention to detail(s).
But by doing so, IMO he shot himself in the foot by creating the HUGE question of WHY then didn't they discover the missing material when they WEIGHED the frames at the end of the production run.
  • 1 0
 Owner in the past of a 575 , ASR5, sb66 carbon, and recently used 2016 green xo1 SB6. Had 3 bikes break!! 3 out 5 yetis owned. My recent sb6 x01 built was purchased preowned, so I guess I am out of luckFrown ... Yeti makes horrible quality bikes, and please do yourself a favor and NEVER buy a used Yeti carbon bike.
  • 3 2
 Once I stumbled upon cracked swing arm issue while skimming through the article, I stoped reading it altogether. Why spend 7, 8 grand for something that force you to take a chance?
  • 5 1
 Bummer about the broken frame Frown
  • 4 0
 BikeMag also broke 2 SB6C frames. Seems a bit worrying to me.
  • 5 1
 Was considering a Yeti as my next bike, will now reconsider.
  • 2 0
 This review certainly dispels some of the suggestions that PB only writes glowing reviews that are glorified ad copy. Glad to see the honesty.
  • 1 1
 People do seem to run away with the idea that Asia means poor quality. Taiwan is home to several very well regarded companies who specialise in research, development and manufacture of mass production high performance composites. To my knowledge there aren't really any cowboys producing composites in Taiwan, China on the other hand...

Obviously there is a problem with the swingarm's construction and/or design. Yeti have quite clearly pointed the finger at their manufacturer, yet have also said that they have revised the design, adding 45g (which is quite a lot) to the swingarm. If it was the manufacturer not adhering to the layup and construction spec, then why alter the laminate design? What I would do for a chance to get my hands on the offending swing arm and do an investigation of my own.

Now for my armchair composites engineer bit:
A burn off is rarely used just for finding out what the actual lay up is (especially for carbon), there are various NDT (non destructive testing) methods for that. Resin removal testing, whether chemical or via burn-off, is usually used for the investigation of the fibre volume fraction. A lower fibre volume fraction means a higher percentage of matrix (resin) and/or void content. With a higher matrix content, the composite could be more brittle and susceptible to impact damage. This is speculation, I may be very wrong however.

No matter if its a design problem or a manufacture problem, the buck stops with Yeti. After all, they do their own testing and inspection do they not? I know we are only talking about bikes here, but most other uses of composites for critical components employ NDT testing prior to use. If bike manufacturers don't NDT their frames before being sold, then really they have very little idea about what is actually going out to the customer.
  • 1 1
 Hmmm. Yeti said pretty much the same thing to me when not one, but two rear ends cracked on my SB66 and a sheared dogbone shock/pivot link on another occasion. Stating that my first rear end was from an early production run that was prone to failing and the second crack they stated that were not happy with their production plant overseas and has since changed plants, All with no crash damage or big drops or hits within a few months time. My Bronson which I ride just as hard, if not harder has been frame crack and problem free in a solid year now. Yeti's frame manufacturer and design process is just not up snuff like some other well designed, proven steeds out there, but Yeti charges more than anyone in the US to it's competitors. I am a bit baffled by this.
  • 2 2
 Oh and everyone has miraculously forgotten all the YT Capra's that have cracked?

Yeti's are great bikes, this article is pretty much an invite for all the PB users to shit on Yeti. You could have been mature and left that out but nah, let's just ruin a company's image on the internet. No wonder this f*cking website is so shit these days.
  • 2 0
 I noticed that most of Yeti's new lineup consist of carbon. Will we ever see them use good ol' aluminum again?
  • 5 1
 they can't get aluminum right either. there were more broken aluminum sb66's than carbon
  • 2 0
 maybe those were preproduction runs too? Yeah sad to say for the hefty buck they ask they're not that reliable.
  • 4 0
 yeah... preproduction that lasted their entire production run. google "broken sb66 rear triangle"
  • 4 1
 I own a carbon "superbike" today and have sworn to myself that I will never buy carbon again (unless it's some sort of uber-tricked-out graphene composite that is nearly indestructible. I've had broken carbon bars, shatter rim, and crack in rear triangle, all within a year. I'm 160lbs geared up and don't do jumps.
  • 2 1
 i own a 2013 nomad carbon and i have total confidence in the bike. when carbon is done right, it's great. when manufacturers skimp on material or don't have good QC, shit will happen. there are certain applications though where i will stick to aluminum over carbon: cranks, wheels, and seat posts. everyone knows once carbon takes a good whack, its only a matter of time until you have issues. cranks are constantly bashing into rocks, rims get smashed into rocks, and seat posts are usually run pretty high creating a nice high stress snapping point.
  • 2 0
 I agree with your points. So far, I think carbon is best suited for those racing and having their parts checked after every race by sponsors. Sure the average joe loves carbon, but they can't beat wear and tear.
  • 3 2
 Sb6c-snapped broken six chainstays. For 7400 it should have better parts. It does have a nice headtube badge though, SANTA CRUZ.
  • 7 4
 I don't care if the frame cracked. that is the sexiest bike ever made
  • 2 1
 I do love that every time something breaks it's suddenly a "pre-production" model. It is now, because they better be going back to the drawing board.
  • 3 0
 How does that look like an old Yeti ARC???
  • 1 0
 Well this put a damper on my newly purchased 2014 sb66 frame. aluminum but carbon rear. Looks like I may have bought a lottery ticket.
  • 1 0
 I did the exact same thing. Fingers crossed, I guess...
  • 1 0
 I own the same bike and have put it through some nasty terrain with no issues. I wouldn't worry if I were you.
  • 3 2
 I see Jared Graves had a bit of a crash that's meant he is no longer riding the EWS (www.facebook.com/jaredgravesmtb)

I wonder what shape his bike is in......
  • 2 0
 Are they still planning to make a 29er? If so then I hope they learned from the 20 so called prepro frames!
  • 1 0
 What value is there to be gained from reviewing pre-production frames? Good or bad, they're reviewing something the public won't use.
Sounds like a BS excuse to me.
  • 3 0
 It's the wrong colour.
  • 1 1
 Stand by their frames, yeah for the 575 that was 2 years and 0 days, then it suddenly was no support at all. Just not professionalFrown
  • 2 0
 Would like to see a SB5C review
  • 4 2
 Lack of water bottle cage in no go for me
  • 4 4
 They've been making water bottles with covers for over a decade now, not sure why Mike Levy has never thought to use one. For that matter most people riding these sorts of bikes use hydro-packs of some sort.
  • 1 0
 going up a technical climb and struggling to open the water bottle cover is not an scenario I want to see myself doing, no water bottle cage is also a big nono for me.
  • 2 1
 How hard is it to open this?

www.ebay.com/itm/BETO-650ml-PP-Material-Cycling-Bike-Bicycle-Riding-Sports-Plastic-Water-Bottle-/381071600745?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item58b9a32c69

If you're holding the thing its a simple thumb flip...takes no effort and no thinking (for most of us anyway).
  • 1 0
 Haha. Fair enough. I have one of those. Opening it isnt hard. Closing it is.
  • 1 2
 Smack against shoulder... closes the thing fine.
  • 4 1
 Am I the only one who uses a Camelbak 100% of the time.
  • 1 0
 I have a collection of camelbaks for different rides. Only time I don't bring one is for initial test rides of new bike builds on the home trail loop. Not much point in carrying water when I'm at most 3kms from my door step should something mess up on the bike.
  • 2 0
 I prefer not to use the camelback, I have a very small one and it is comfy. I see 2 problems with camebacks, 1.washing the container everytime you ride is a pain, it definitely needs more attention than a bottle. 2.You can buy the most comfortable and most expensive camelback in the market but it will always be a burden on your back which definitely affects riding style, specially if you like jumping or bunnyhopping. The only guy that uses a camelback 100% of the time of my crew is the only one that cant jump, not even a centimeter and he uses clips, every time we build a jump he wants to destroy the landing to turn the jump into a drop, which is the only thing he can do.
  • 2 1
 Why do you need to wash it everytime? What are you using in it other than plain water? The current trend in camelbaks is actually lumbar reservoirs, so around your waist.
  • 1 0
 hehe, you are a persistent man aren't you? no problem, I agree I could put water back in it and then into the fridge for my next ride. Not sure if those lumbar reservoirs could solve the jumping issue though, additional to that there is the weather, I ride in year round 30+ degree weather, I just got used to ride without one since it gets warm and uncomfortable on the back, no pun intended. I prefer the liberty of not wearing one, simple. Every body and every mind is different, and that definitely weights in at the time of buying a bike. Personal preference Smile
  • 1 0
 If you look on the camelbak website, the hip reservoir models are labeled LR or LR+. Mike Levy reviewed one a year and a half ago as I recall.

www.pinkbike.com/news/CamelBak-FlashFlo-LR-Hip-Bag-Reviewed-2013.html
  • 1 0
 Mike Levy- I hear you brutha. My SB66c has the lone lowboy bottle. I just unscrew the cap on my WB to drink . My dog gets the squirt mode. I often say that I am only 2-3 intestinal parasites from my ideal weight.
  • 2 0
 Narro2 - Yeah kinda funny I don't usually do jump trails hahaha. Not saying I cant, but usually don't.
  • 1 0
 Oh man i am definitely Not wearing that.

@brandaneisma haha at least you are honest with yourself. This guy just wont listen. We tell him to let the bag go so he can start bunnyhopping then he takes an attitude saying he can bunnyhop already and is not interested on doing it cuz bunnyhoping is for kids. It is just annoying.
  • 1 0
 If I can bunnyhop a flat pedal bike with 40 pounds of ammo and grenade stuffed tactical vest and several guns on, anyone else should be able to do it with just a hydro pack and clipless pedals.
  • 2 0
 didn't know you were trolling until now.
  • 1 0
 I'm not.
  • 3 0
 Sedona
  • 4 3
 Yeti are the opposite of Orange, new model every year, new problems every year EPIC FAIL
  • 2 0
 Id have a HD3 werx over this any day.
  • 3 1
 Aluminum has always worked for me!
  • 2 0
 Bike looks awesome but nomad
  • 9 12
 I don't get all the negativity? A review isn't everything, sure it's a good start, but you need to RIDE a bike to know whether it's suitable, and I think if it's suitable for Jared Graves then it should be suitable for most of us.
  • 10 2
 The negativity has nothing to do with the ride of the bike, moreso to do with the poor practises of Yeti themselves. I think we can all agree that this bike would ride sweet anyway
  • 5 1
 I agree. This bike had one of the most impressive debuts in history. Graves and Rude have been winning DH races on this thing and ride way harder than anyone involved or commenting on this article.
  • 8 0
 Jack-If Jared breaks his, they'll have a new one under him in less time that it takes you or I to open a beer. If I break one, it might take as long as it would to build a brewery.
  • 1 0
 Sure, if you get the frames for freeSmile
  • 1 0
 I don’t ride that hat and this thing just broke on me, and couldn’t be more pissed a out it @shawnca7:
  • 4 7
 Well I think Yeti made a sick Bike. And you know what, I respect that Pink bike reported how it broke apart. I would Still By a Yeti because I am a smooth rider and even though I am 6'1 and weigh almost 200 lbs... I glide up and down the hills like a perpetually rolling bag of water. And in fact. My dream bike is still an SB6C, in lime effing green, (though I hate Fox rear shocks), so I will throw that into the ocean as I cross georgia straight on a BC Ferry) ... And get a DB air CS or maybe one of them new fangled push shocks.

My dream build would be to buy this bike, sell everything on it that it comes with stock. Get XX1 drivetrain. An Xfusion metric fork with the new bladder piston, XTR trail brakes, Ibis 40mm wide carbon rims, King hubs, Raceface Sixc s35 x 10mm rise bar and 35mm stem, rock shox 150mm stealth post, wtb high tail carbon saddle, maxxis minion DH Front tires for both front and back (best for wet loamy west coast riding as I ride), and canfield cramp on magnesium pedals. Oh, and a hope seat post clamp. And probably just use my camel pack and not use a water bottle because I drink more than 150 ml of water on a ride. I drink about a litre or more. But when you are as fast as I am, you would too.

Don't worry Yeti. Most of the people on here are broke, underage kids who can't afford to lube their chains, let alone buy your bikes!
  • 1 0
 Anyone know where this is?
  • 25 0
 It's the internet.
  • 3 2
 That was... Underwhelming
  • 1 1
 "Intended use: all-mountain / enduro " - why am i seeing so many of these with 40s on them and graves/rude DH riding them??
  • 6 0
 The Yeti team is riding em because Yeti doesn't have a current DH bike. Looks like the SB6 is pretty damn good descender and rides well with a DH fork.
  • 1 0
 cool... thanks
  • 2 1
 Always wanted a carbon 303. I guess we know why that never happened.
  • 3 3
 A complex system like Switch Infinity is what is required to get a Fox shock feel close to a DBAir.
  • 1 1
 ouch that stings. I was kind of holding out for a solid review of this bike.
  • 5 2
 It is a solid review. They tell you what it's good at.
  • 3 0
 The review tells you that the bike is actually quite good at what it does. Just a pity that they were honest about what happened when the chainstay landed on a rock.
  • 2 1
 $3,499 for a frame. I just threw up in my mouth.
  • 2 1
 Here in the UK, It's £3000, that's $4,500!!!
  • 3 6
 Their bearing carrier with fancy Fox Kashima tubes wreaks the stench of high maintenance. 40 hours is not much ride between servicing, and who actually services anything on their bike at the required service time? Sorry bro, can't ride today...hit my 40 hour maintenance schedule service, gotta lube my tubes. Plus, those are not going to be cheap to replace. Some bearing/bolt kits are spendy enough for full suspension rigs. Good luck with that proprietary bearing carrier.
  • 2 0
 I'll keep my bromad
  • 1 0
 Mmmmmmmmmmmm
  • 2 2
 That color ruins the bike!
  • 1 0
 Test
  • 2 1
 Did it crack?
  • 1 1
 I don't always crash, but when I do, it's on a bike that doesn't break.
  • 1 0
 Been waiting for this
  • 1 0
 well.. that sucks.
  • 2 2
 Yeti has some explanation to do or they are fackd
  • 7 8
 this made my day....so glad that bike broke. Maybe this will slow the hype machine.
  • 3 3
 Glad I bought an alloy Range.
  • 2 4
 Cracked..of course...carbon fiber. I still have a 2011 enduro..taken many falls..ridin hard. Still in on piece. All this expensive carbon fiber hype.
  • 1 0
 As with any material, you've got to build it right, and if you do, it's fantastic.
  • 2 2
 its a 'meh' from me. and that goes for all things Yeti
  • 1 2
 Thank you Pinkbike. I almost place an order on the SB6C. You saved my hard earned $$$.
  • 1 2
 2008 gt sanction anyone?
  • 3 4
 Tubing looks awful
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