Pros Best bike I have ever ridden. This nails the climbs better than my 10kg Cube hardtail, makes my old Stumpjumper look silly on the trails and inspires confidence on fast fast downs with bigish jumps.
I went for a custom build mainly because a friend sorted an excellent deal but even the standard builds are truly excellent.
This for me is a ride everywhere bike, I can take it to a downhill track without worrying about tailing out, I can ride all day without exhausting myself and I can embarrass the hard tail fanatics!
Love it!
Cons None really, I guess price isn't as cheap as it could be for the standard builds but it is a fantastic bike, so...
Unless you ride at the extremes of the spectrum (XC race vs DH/freeride) you're left trying to match your terrain and riding style to bikes that must compromise between climbing and descending. I think there are several great bikes out there that close this gap offering a great pedaling platform and great downhill capability. Is the the SB5c the best? Well, I haven't ridden them all so I won't say that it is. What I will say is that this bike absolutely rips! It climbs incredibly well (you might actually enjoy the climb). It rips downhill. Granted there are a few sections of my local DH trail I do wish I had "more bike" but not enough to give up everything else this bike makes up for. From climbing to DH, it takes everything the mountain throws at you. I do like Yeti geometry which is long, low, and slack for each given genre. I would classify it somewhere between trail an AM (call it aggro trail). The only thing I might change is a 150 up front vs the Fox 34, but you must consider your terrain as this is no fault of the bike. I ride intermountain west (ID & UT) and the PNW and probably had the most fun on fast, wide open terrain where pushing this bike at speed results in the biggest smiles. Long wheelbase is super stable descending, but demands some rider input (skill) in tight twisty terrain. FWIW, I'm 5'8" with normal proportions on a medium. 50 mm stem but I could still ride the 70 stock stem. I recommend this bike if you need something to do everything (or you only have room for a one-bike stable).
Pros Great do-it-all bike covering the widest range of riding with the least compromise.
Try one for yourself. Go see your LBS.
Pros
Best bike I have ever ridden. This nails the climbs better than my 10kg Cube hardtail, makes my old Stumpjumper look silly on the trails and inspires confidence on fast fast downs with bigish jumps.
I went for a custom build mainly because a friend sorted an excellent deal but even the standard builds are truly excellent.
This for me is a ride everywhere bike, I can take it to a downhill track without worrying about tailing out, I can ride all day without exhausting myself and I can embarrass the hard tail fanatics!
Love it!
Cons
| ThankNone really, I guess price isn't as cheap as it could be for the standard builds but it is a fantastic bike, so...
Unless you ride at the extremes of the spectrum (XC race vs DH/freeride) you're left trying to match your terrain and riding style to bikes that must compromise between climbing and descending. I think there are several great bikes out there that close this gap offering a great pedaling platform and great downhill capability. Is the the SB5c the best? Well, I haven't ridden them all so I won't say that it is. What I will say is that this bike absolutely rips! It climbs incredibly well (you might actually enjoy the climb). It rips downhill. Granted there are a few sections of my local DH trail I do wish I had "more bike" but not enough to give up everything else this bike makes up for. From climbing to DH, it takes everything the mountain throws at you. I do like Yeti geometry which is long, low, and slack for each given genre. I would classify it somewhere between trail an AM (call it aggro trail). The only thing I might change is a 150 up front vs the Fox 34, but you must consider your terrain as this is no fault of the bike. I ride intermountain west (ID & UT) and the PNW and probably had the most fun on fast, wide open terrain where pushing this bike at speed results in the biggest smiles. Long wheelbase is super stable descending, but demands some rider input (skill) in tight twisty terrain. FWIW, I'm 5'8" with normal proportions on a medium. 50 mm stem but I could still ride the 70 stock stem. I recommend this bike if you need something to do everything (or you only have room for a one-bike stable).
Pros
Great do-it-all bike covering the widest range of riding with the least compromise.
Cons
| ThankCable rub on SI link arm