Competitive Cyclist

YETI 303R DH TAPERED

It's difficult to imagine a more profuse bunch of fiddlers than downhill racers and their support teams. It's not that they want to tweak the bike all the time, it's that they have to in order to stay in the game. In contrast to varying levels of fitness playing the key role in XC events, gravity is a constant in downhill racing. On some courses, pedaling plays a very small role. What then, sets the champions from the also-rans? Bike setup. Suspension tuning. Tire selection. These things become the deciding factors and something as simple as incorrect spring preload could cost you a tenth of a second…and the race.

With Yeti's storied racing heritage, it's no wonder that they have a top notch downhill race bike like the 303R DH. It uses Yeti's Linear Rail technology. This is what makes it different from any other bike on the market. There are pivots of course, but the linear rail defines the bike's leverage rate. In effect, the linkage pushes the shock at a consistently progressive rate as the suspension cycles through its 8"(203mm) of travel. The advantage is apparent in the team tent, as the mechanics fine-tune the spring and damping characteristics for each course. With the linear rail, there are no bizarre changes in leverage rate to defeat compression or damping settings that work throughout the shock stroke.

Another small detail with a big impact is the eccentric rear shock mount. With a 5mm hex wrench, you can raise or lower the bottom bracket from 14.35 - 13.85 inches and subsequently change the head angle from 65 - 64 degrees. These changes create different ride qualities to accommodate the demands of particular courses whether rooty and rocky or flowy and jumpy. The best part of the design is that any changes made at the eccentric shock mount have a negligible effect on the leverage rate at the spring and your shock tune isn't automatically thrown out the window. The Yeti 303R DH comes with the Fox RC4 coil shock as standard equipment and the linear rail features laser etched sag and bottom out measurements to help make tuning easier.

The chassis on the 303R DH is crafted from 7005 aluminum for strength and durability. The tubing is butted to shave weight so the bike feels lively and neutral once airborne. It has short chainstays (for a downhill bike anyway) at 17.3 inches. This keeps the wheelbase in check and makes the bike pop off of jumps better and pump berms easier than their original 303 DH. There is an integral ISCG '05 chainguide mount and it is designed for a single ring only.

The Yeti 303R DH is available in Small, Medium, and Large and comes in two colors -- Black/White and Turquoise/White. It features an 83mm bottom bracket shell and 12 x 150mm thru-axle rear dropouts. It requires a 30.9mm seatpost and accepts single ring cranks only. The tapered 1-1/8" - 1.5" headtube will allow the use of a zero stack lower bearing or 1.5" press-in to allow changes in front end height. 10.5 lbs (4772 grams)

For more information on Yeti's 2 year frame warranty coverage on the 303R DH, click here.

US Yeti dealers are prohibited from shipping Yeti bicycles outside of the United States.

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2010 Yeti 303R DH Tapered Pricing