Our first bike review of the Awesome MTB XC Buyers Guide is the new Yeti ASR. This is a 115mm single pivot flex stay race bike from Yeti Cycles. Now this is a pretty big deal because Yeti is known for their tried and true “switch-infinity” suspension design so putting that aside in the name of weight savings was a big deal for them! Was it worth it though?
Check out the Yeti ASR at Pro Bike Supply, your local online bike shop! https://www.probikesupply.com/collections/all-new-yeti-asr
After riding the Yeti ASR for a month I can say yes it was! Everything about the Yeti ASR screams fast when you are out on the trails. It has a very light nature feel to it and it inspires long days int he saddle, especially knowing you are not wasting any power! At the same time too the bike is plenty capable downhill with some of the most active feeling initial strokes out of the single pivot flex stay option bikes in the test!
A lot of this downhill confidence can be attributed as well to the suspension choice, as going with a full RockShox Sid Ultimate / Luxe set-up gave the bike the muted plushness needed to keep this bike planted to the ground given how light it is on the trails. Yeti has a very close relationship with Fox however I think straying away from that for their venture into XC in 2024 was a very good move as I think the Rockshox offering compliments this bike well.
Now the suspension does utilize Rockshox grip twist remote lockout, which while not the most comfortable grip option on the market, the lockout itself is probably one of the more user friendly options availble currently for remote lockouts.
The Yeti ASR also features size proportional chainstays, which means each size has slightly longer chainstay lengths as we go up in sizing. This gives the Yeti ASR a very stable feeling at high speeds, something that once again was very appreciated given the light weight nature of the bike. The overall wheelbase does stay very manageable however, due to Yeti shortening the reach slightly.
Now this did lead to a little more of an effort needed to find the sweet spot cornering wise as it can feel slightly unbalanced there, however the maneuverability of the bike was much appreciated out on the trails.
It's very clear that Yeti went for light weight XC race machine when speccing the bike as there are so many small details that contribute to it being the lightest bike of the test! The Fox Transfer SL 2 position post and Bike Yoke stem and seat collar are just a few of those.
The Yeti ASR also has room for 2 water bottles in the frame, something that is a must for a bike that inspires all day pedal rides. I couldn't help but notice how much I wanted to keep riding every ride and the Yeti ASR would be the first bike I would reach for if there was an all day epic on the horizon!
Conclusion
The Yeti ASR is a bike that truly defines the spirit of XC. Light, fast, capable, and mose importantly fun! The ASR also was one of the most comfortable frames of the test, and I constantly found myself impressed by how little riding fatigue I had after long tech trail filled days. This is a bike that I would highly recommend to anyone looking for that classic XC race feel from a bike that also wants to make sure they can still have fun at the end of the day.
Stay tuned for more and watch the review here:
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