The Yeti SB140 has been hands down the most interesting bike I have ever reviewed. Never have I learned so much about a bike, but been left with so much curiosity. It is a bike that only gets better the more time you spend on it, and seemingly has no limits to its riding potential. Similar to a high performance car, the SB140 is an amazing purchase. However the more you learn about the bike, the more insane of a riding experience you will have! So let’s learn!
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The SB140 is a 140mm 29er with a 160mm of travel up front in the “Lunch Ride” edition. It features Yeti’s tried and true “Switch Infinity” Suspension design, a relatively conservative 65 degree head angle, size proportional chainstays, and a very well balanced speed oriented geo.
During my time testing I remember running into a fan of the channel and they also had the exact same bike. When I asked them how they liked it, one of the first things they told me was that every time they walked by the bike in their garage, they looked at their Yeti and thought to themselves “man that's a great looking bike” inspiring them to ride more. I couldn't agree more here as the Yeti SB140 has to be one of the best looking bikes on the market. But let's talk about how it rides!
Climbing:
The Yeti SB140 has a very well balanced geo, making climbs feel very natural both in and out of the saddle. The size proportional chainstays allow you to find that balance spot with ease while powering your way up looser, steep fire roads. The bike itself has an awesome seat angle, wasting no power when seated.
This is also where you will first start to notice the magic of Switch Infinity. There is almost no pedal bob on the Yeti SB140 while climbing, even fully opened. It doesn’t matter how much power you put down, the Yeti has one of the most efficient pedaling platforms on the market currently. This is also true for out of the saddle sprints. The SB140 encourages you to give it the gas, and the acceleration from the bike under power is something that encourages you to go for longer rides every ride! But does this pedaling efficiency feel harsh on the downhills?
Downhill:
I'm going to go ahead and give the award for most magical suspension design to the Yeti SB140. Something insane goes down in that Switch Infinity hardware, where even though the bike has one of the most efficient pedaling platforms, it still manages to feel like one of the plushest bikes out of the test! Open up the Yeti SB140 in the chunk and the bike transforms into a monster, eating up whatever you throw at it. The scarier part is, the faster you go, the more comfortable the SB140 gets. It truly blew me away at how confident inspiring this bike was at speeds I didn’t even know I could go!
Now it's not just all bottomless suspension when it comes time for downhills with the SB140. The bike also rockets out of corners like a Tesla Model Plaid. The slightly lower BB height allows an insane amount of confidence when throwing this bike into sharp turns and it still has that playful feel upon exiting that you would want out of your trail bike! The SB140 also generates a ridiculous amount of speed off of trail features, another strong attribute of the Switch Infinity suspension design. This bike is a rocket disguised as a trail bike!
So What Went Wrong The First Time?
My first time owning a Yeti SB140 I noticed I was struggling with the speeds the SB140 wanted to go. I felt like the front end of the bike had a relatively low stack height and also I could not get the suspension to work for me. Now remember that “high performance race car” analogy I used?
The SB140 is an amazing bike, where the more you learn about it, the better it gets, with sky being the limit for its potential. After talking with Yeti and a few tweaks to the model 2025 year SB140, I learned a lot about this bike.
First the stack height was addressed with a stock higher rise bar for 2025. This gave me so much more control over the speed I was generating with the bike and really did help a lot with front end handling.
More importantly though I learned I was treating the Yeti SB140 all wrong in regards to suspension set up. I am someone who likes my suspension setup a bit on the softer side. During my first time on the Sb140, I was testing 3 other bikes (Ibis Ripley, Pivot Switchblade, and Ari La Sal Peak) where this made a lot of sense for them.
With the Yeti SB140 however, the Switch Infinity prefers a bit more compression to support it through its travel, giving the bike that bottomless feel. New for 2025 is also a bit stiffer of a shock tune, however this new tune, combined with my knowledge on how Switch Infinity rides, led to an insane experience. So much so that the Yeti SB140 has become one of my personal favorite bikes out of our Awesome MTB Trail Bike Buyers Guide!
If you like to go fast while having a huge smile on your face I can’t recommend the Yeti SB140 enough. Especially with how amazing that bike looks!
-Mo Awesome
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