This is the most modern mountain bike that I own. Before this, my main ride was a Dekerf Team ST (which I still have; the link is below). I waited until 2007 to hop on the full-suspension bandwagon, and now that I have, I'm perfectly happy to have options. I enjoy having a full-suspension bike, though I'm not religious about it. (I recently rebuilt my Dekerf because I missed it, and just like having many children who are unique in their own ways, I love all my bikes.)
When I started thinking about a full-suspension bike, my typical values guided my search:
- XC riding
- performance and durability instead of bling for its own sake
- simplicity instead of complexity
I've been very pleased with my Yeti AS-R. I bought the frame separately and selected all of the parts. The frame is aluminum, except for some unique carbon pivots at the end of the seatstays, and it has about 3.75" of rear travel. I set the Fox Vanilla fork to 100mm. I like having mechanical disc brakes and a plush coil fork that won't leak. (I'm happy to say that the Fox RP3 rear suspension has also never leaked air.)
For obvious reasons, I sometimes think of this as my "Darth Vader" bike. :twisted:
The build:
Shimano M951 XTR shifters, 8-speed
Shimano M951 XTR cranks & BB, 46-24-34, 8-speed
Shimano M951 XTR rear derailleur, rapid rise
Shimano M750 XT front deraileur
Shimano M737 XT cassette, 11-30, 8- speed
Shimano IG90 chain, 8-speed
Fox Vanilla RLC front suspension - 100 mm
Fox Float RP3 rear suspension
Avid BB7 disc brakes, 160mm rotors
Avid SD 2.0 brake levers
Easton Monkey Lite carbon bars, low-rise
Cane Creek S-3 headseat
Thomson Elite stem, 120mm
Thomson Elite seatpost, 27.2
WTB Yeti Race V saddle (Boy, was it hard to find!)
Mavic X717 disc rims, black, DT swiss spokes
Shimano M756 XT disc hubs
IRC Mythos tires
Yeti Speed Grips
When I started thinking about a full-suspension bike, my typical values guided my search:
- XC riding
- performance and durability instead of bling for its own sake
- simplicity instead of complexity
I've been very pleased with my Yeti AS-R. I bought the frame separately and selected all of the parts. The frame is aluminum, except for some unique carbon pivots at the end of the seatstays, and it has about 3.75" of rear travel. I set the Fox Vanilla fork to 100mm. I like having mechanical disc brakes and a plush coil fork that won't leak. (I'm happy to say that the Fox RP3 rear suspension has also never leaked air.)
For obvious reasons, I sometimes think of this as my "Darth Vader" bike. :twisted:
The build:
Shimano M951 XTR shifters, 8-speed
Shimano M951 XTR cranks & BB, 46-24-34, 8-speed
Shimano M951 XTR rear derailleur, rapid rise
Shimano M750 XT front deraileur
Shimano M737 XT cassette, 11-30, 8- speed
Shimano IG90 chain, 8-speed
Fox Vanilla RLC front suspension - 100 mm
Fox Float RP3 rear suspension
Avid BB7 disc brakes, 160mm rotors
Avid SD 2.0 brake levers
Easton Monkey Lite carbon bars, low-rise
Cane Creek S-3 headseat
Thomson Elite stem, 120mm
Thomson Elite seatpost, 27.2
WTB Yeti Race V saddle (Boy, was it hard to find!)
Mavic X717 disc rims, black, DT swiss spokes
Shimano M756 XT disc hubs
IRC Mythos tires
Yeti Speed Grips
