Yeti Cycles

SB5 Turq LR X01 Eagle Race Mountain Bike

Yeti's LR series represents what the brand's own employees spec on their Lunch Ride bikes, so the SB5 Turq LR X01 Eagle Race Complete Mountain Bike is not only spec'd like a race bike, but its tires are a little smaller, its fork is a little longer, and its bars are a little wider. All told, the changes make the SB5 a little gnarlier, so it's even more well equipped for the kind of enduro shenanigans that we've already been engaging in on the non-LR model. So what they have created is a bike that still climbs and pedals with the urgency of the original SB5, but with the downhill chops that would have you questioning if you really need an SB6. Yeti even claims that its EWS teams will choose a build like the SB5 LR on courses like Rotorua and Tasmania, proving the bike’s range of capabilities.

While the forks on other LR specimens increase in stanchion size, the base SB5 Turq fork's is already a 36, so there's nowhere else to go. Except deeper. Which it does, adding a cool 10mm of travel for a bit more funkiness. That may be why Yeti specs the bike with slightly smaller tires, counting on the additional fork squish to keep the trail in check while the 2.5 and 2.3in tires in front and rear, respectively, reduce the floppy, sloppy feel of larger tires. The bar's 20mm of additional width makes for that much more torque on climbs and sharper handling at low speeds.

As the frame itself is identical to the SB5, the Switch Infinity remains the same, which is a very good thing. In short, Switch Infinity utilizes a patented translating pivot that switches direction as the bike moves through its travel. This provides excellent anti-squat characteristics for superior pedaling performance and ideal suspension kinematics as it gets deeper into the travel. The linear path of the patented Switch Infinity system has very little resistance as the shock moves through its stroke. This allows the system to achieve seemingly contradictory characteristics. In the early stage of the travel, it displays superior pedaling efficiency and excellent small bump sensitivity. As you move deeper into the travel, the suspension is well supported and responds effortlessly to square-edge hits. The mechanical advantage of this system couldn't be achieved with traditional link designs.

The SB5 Lunch Ride only comes in the TURQ carbon frame since that's what Yeti's employees ride. TURQ Series bikes are manufactured with the highest quality and best-performing carbon fiber available and offer the perfect balance of stiffness, durability, and compliance. The result is a bike that feels smooth, solid and aggressive. We are fairly certain that if the ride qualities and durability are sufficient for Richie Rude and Yeti's internal testing, they will plenty fine for what we can dish out on our local trails. The weight savings of around 350 grams help take back a little that is lost in the burlier build.

This is the kind of bike we would build from the frame up or eventually assemble in the way of upgrades. Yeti has perfected what it wants most in a bike, and it's tested it on countless laps in the Colorado Front Range and stops on the EWS circuit. The selected parts withstand the chunky, rocky trails in their backyard and we have to agree that we like it for our riding and think you will too. This rig is rowdy ready.