Yeti Cycles

SB165 Turq Mountain Bike Frame

If you follow trends in the mountain bike world, you've probably noticed the surging popularity of 29ers throughout the sport. Sure, the wagon wheels hold their momentum better once you're up to speed, but many riders still prefer the fun factor of 27.5in wheels, as well as the way they handle trails that are steep, tight, or contain jumps and other features. Considering that the last three bikes Yeti released were all 29ers, some of us were left wondering if Yeti's beloved 27.5in bikes were going the way of the dodo. Fortunately, just the opposite is true, as the Colorado-based firm has been working on a long-travel brawler of a bike and it's finally hit our shelves. Featuring 165mm of coil-shock-driven Switch Infinity suspension, a 180mm fork up front, super slack geometry, and of course, 27.5in wheels, the SB165 Turq Mountain Bike Frame is made to handle the rowdiest, most technical trails you can possibly find while still being able to comfortably pedal back to the top for another lap. It's a bike that's equally at home ripping laps at the bike park as it is racing gnarly enduro courses, and it's just as willing to air over rock gardens as it is to plow straight through them. If this sounds to you like a recipe for pure fun, you'd be absolutely right, and the SB165 might just be the right bike for you.

The SB165 is essentially the replacement for the SB6, a bike that dominated the Enduro World Series for a number of years at the hands of Richie Rude. The SB165 builds on that foundation, but Yeti pushes the geometry into fully modern territory to stay ahead of the current crop of long travel sleds. The reach has grown by 40mm in size large compared to the SB6, landing at a whopping 480mm, and the head angle was slackened by a full 1.5-degrees down to 63.5-degrees. These numbers are pretty close to what you'd find on downhill race bikes, which means riders can enjoy absolute confidence carrying speed through treacherous rock gardens and steep, washed out chutes. The longer reach and slacker angles mean the wheelbase has also grown considerably compared to the SB6—a full 1.6-inches to be exact—but Yeti keeps that in check with a short offset fork that maintains excellent steering precision, ensuring you'll have no trouble threading the needle in tricky terrain. Yeti also did the requisite steepening of the seat tube angle, which at 77-degrees puts the rider in a nice forward riding position to help keep power to the pedals and the steering quick and nimble while climbing. While the SB165 is certainly a big bike, Yeti's progressive geometry and the remarkable efficiency of the Switch Infinity suspension platform means this bike climbs with the best of them (if not the best) in the uber-long-travel 27.5 category.

A Yeti wouldn't be Yeti without their undeniably awesome Switch Infinity suspension platform. It's plush throughout the 6.5-inches of rear travel, soaking up everything from chattery brake bumps to harsh landings and square-edged hits with a smoothness and composure unmatched by most designs, yet it remains supportive when you're hammering on the pedals or pumping rollers to gain speed. The key to its performance is the translating main pivot, aka the Switch Infinity link, which switches direction as the bike moves through its travel, providing excellent anti-squat characteristics for superior pedaling performance, and ideal suspension characteristics as it gets deeper into the travel. For the SB165, Yeti tuned the leverage ratio for coil shocks, and considering this bike is meant to be ridden hard, the SB165 is equipped with one right out of the box so that riders can enjoy better heat management and more consistent performance on long descents. The refined leverage ratio also gives the bike better small-bump compliance, quicker ramp-up in the midstroke for a more playful and supportive feel, and better bottom-out control while still allowing full travel usage. Yeti was able to achieve this ideal leverage ratio in part due to the wishbone shock extender, which also allows for a lower standover height and room for a water bottle in the front triangle.

This model's frame benefits from Yeti's TURQ Series carbon fiber which consists of the highest quality materials Yeti can get its hands on and it offers up the perfect balance of stiffness, strength, and compliance while saving about 220g of weight over the Carbon-series frames. This contributes to a ride that's more composed over chunky sections of trail and surefooted in high-speed corners or anytime your stepping on the gas. For the 2020 model year, Yeti modified the carbon layup of the TURQ-series frames to increase stiffness and durability, giving riders greater peace of mind when putting the bike through its paces on rugged trails. Yeti is so confident that they've perfected their carbon manufacturing process that they offer a lifetime warranty to the original owner of the frame.