Bike of the Year? Yeti SB165 T3 Review

[@UncraftedPlays]

Code RSC on a $10k bike is quite a bummer, but other than that, this thing is nuts. I'd definitely buy this if I were a millionaire 👍

[@TheLoamWolf]

Wouldn’t be our choice - a set of Mavens would feel more fitting these days - but they’re still solid performers. Definitely a killer bike overall even so

[@mutleyadamsracing2684]

​@@TheLoamWolf RSC brakes are perfectly fine 90% of the time when they dont need bled!

[@justsayin3600]

I'm 220 lbs running RSC with MTX red in front/200mm, gold on back/220mm. It's slows and stops me just fine.

[@GregorBlacksmith]

These are on sale now at the end of season for a lot less than $10K. You can get a good one for $6K CAD

[@Photosbydrew]

Spent a day on this bike in the whistler bike park. ID say its not best suited for garbo laps, felt pretty overwhelmed in the front end on in too deep. Could do with a slacker head tube and a higher stack. Couldnt hang off the back of this thing in steep terrain. Really supportive rear end, pedals well. More on the twitchy side of things compared to my dreadnaught. Jumps like a shorter travel bike. Would not buy if you ride lots of bikepark, would be a sick black trail bike, where you can take advantage of the out of corner speed it provides. i see how richie is fast on this platform i think he makes up alot in the truns.

[@danielray1558]

That’s good feedback. I was just up in Whistler and I rode 2 dh bikes and my enduro bike in the park on different days. To me- nothing compares to the dh bike in scenarios like you’re saying, I could ride everything I was riding on my enduro bike, but compared to the dh bike, I had to choose my lines more carefully, or go a bit slower, I do think the dreadnaught looks pretty amazing. But I imagine that super slack hta in the mx config, would feel pretty meh in anything but the bike park.

[@Photosbydrew]

@@danielray1558 I had the cascade link and Mx on my dread. I’d say it’s super good for things like dark crystal from anything to Duncan’s it’s business time. But I do miss some aspects of a more playful bike on blue/black flowy, poopy stuff. Honestly didn’t realize I was at 63 deg untill you said that. The yeti felt like it had a short, steep front end. I think it’s the ratios between foot and hand position that are more important than a reach numbers though. Swapped back to back with my friend on dark crystal and both were notablely quicker in the chop on the dread. What’s weird is both have a 63.5ha. 620mm stack .

[@danielray1558]

@@Photosbydrew just realizing you might be in the dreadnaught v1 which is not quite as slack. And maybe better. I was thinking of the v2 with the geo I mentioned.

[@philn9205]

i got this frame 10% off msrp. And yeah, you can find sick new Yeti's these days on sale. Built it off a few new parts but mostly swapped parts. I'm coming off the Dreddy high pivot to this.. took me a while to get used to. IMO the SB165 MX is 100% worth it. The smile factor for what it was designed for is real. She's a keeper.

[@RidingThruLife]

Thanks for the vid. The 160 would be a cool comparison. I could be mistaken, but I think they run the same front triangle, same travel fork, just a diff rear end for mullet vs 29er and 5mm more squish on the 165?

[@chrisarmstrong7622]

You can get very similar performance on the Commencal Meta SX V5 for almost 1/3 of the price.

[@dizzlef3760]

I feel like a shuttle guard is the least they can do with the price tag

[@sisufitness659]

Comparison to the sb160?

[@lilblaster22]

The banshee titan with the Rulzeman zeroback is hands down the best enduro bike on the planet, followed by the banshee prime with the zeroback being the absolute best aggressive trail bike ever made. Best suspension is intend, best wheels is pirope, best breaks are HOPE, best cranks, hands down eewings, best chainring and cassette is Garbaruk, best bars is SQ Labs 12 degree back sweep, best stem length is 15mm. Absolutely life changing, having the best of the best on both my prime and titan. This setup has turned me into King KOM🫡👍😯

[@erdawe66]

You sound like a rulezman/aston hired spokesman, probably fast, but ah well.

[@lilblaster22]

@erdawe66 who are rulzeman and aston are they bike companies?

[@letsgoletsgoletsgoletsgoletsgo]

pedalling efficiency and rear sensitivity is really at the opposite ends of the suspension spectrum right ?

[@TheLoamWolf]

Almost exclusively, yes. Some smart guy once said, “Every action in suspension pivot location movement has an opposite reaction elsewhere in performance.”

[@benwithrow5044]

So, did you like it?😜 Great review. I want one, but likely not good enough of a rider for it. Did the rear wheel hang up much?

[@TheLoamWolf]

Tried to hide it as much as I could ;) Wouldn’t say so. Certainly not a super harsh rear end, but prefers a little bit of aggression!

[@ericdelchiaro9502]

Any comparison to the Santa Cruz Nomad?

[@Nootznoot]

I wish I could get this bike

[@bfranco1519]

Does the infinity link still need to be rebuilt every 20 hrs.? If so pass…

[@johns9974]

Yes

[@Victor74391]

Is YETI still USA made?

[@logank1647]

yes

[@bfranco1519]

No, their frames are not made in the usa. Just designed and assembled

[@logank1647]

@@bfranco1519nope everything is made in golden CO and I got an email when I ordered mine and it said everything is designed and made there

[@Victor74391]

@@bfranco1519 Thanks! Then why are they still so expensive?

[@biker944]

Wow

[@fudganuld]

if you're spending over 9 GRAND on a 'pushbike' you should damm well get all the 'bling' available.....Ha!😎

[@TheLoamWolf]

You’re not wrong!

[@anthracitemafiaoffroad]

Do i atleast get a yeti cooler with my 9k? Lol

[@Shredding-q1f]

Way overpriced and no long travel bike should be the best bike. So many bikes out there that are just as good of a build and much cheaper and performs just as good or better.

[@Riley880]

They will sell an all of 5 of these, why do yall only review these insane builds.

[@vwgtiron]

The extreme builds always sell out.

[@rekamniar]

Yeti probably wont send a lower spec for review. Ever since I started reading the Bible of Bikes from BikeMag(2013), its always the highest spec yeti thats always been under review. Didnt change even now.

[@YongPark-g3h]

Bike brands know that reviewers compare bikes. If Yeti sent lower spec build and other brands sent top of line spec builds then Yeti's not gonna be able score well.

[@TheLoamWolf]

We actually try to test plenty of more affordable builds when possible. We do have a pretty small staff, so the amount of reviews we can do is limited, but we definitely love affordable bikes and products, it's why we do a big group test of bikes under 3k every year.

[@andyboy198577777]

I just don’t like the suspension layout. Look like a lot of bikes out there. Not very unique.

[@TheLoamWolf]

They use a suspension system that is exclusive to Yeti, how much more unique would you like? Haha!

[@northern4112]

Over priced bikes

[@TheLoamWolf]

They’re not cheap, but the quality is very high at least.

[@symmetricon1982]

​@@TheLoamWolfAnd yeti does have excellent customer support/warranty as they've warrantied 2 frames no questions asked for me.

[@ionious97]

Super hard to justify the cost.

[@mejne]

Cost is on par with the likes of Trek and Santa Cruz. And having rented a SB165 on my last 2 trips to Whistler, I would definitely buy one if I had the change.

[@joehoeper4648]

@@ionious97so don't justify it? Just buy it?