After months of speculation, Yeti has released a new cross-country race bike that’s fit to toe the start line with the latest crop of aggressive XC rigs. Although the reborn ASR may have a silhouette that looks strikingly similar to its counterparts, it has a ride quality that’s distinctly Yeti.
Yeti ASR Highlights
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The development of the ASR was an exercise in removing excess in every possible area. Yeti's design team created 36 custom carbon ply shapes to eliminate unnecessary overlap, the shape of the dropouts was scrutinized to remove material, a heavily machined 7075 aluminum link was used to drive the shock, and size-specific layups across the five-frame size range allowed each frame to be as strong as it needed to be without going overboard. In the pursuit of weight savings, Yeti also ditched its signature suspension system in favor of flex stays.
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The new ASR is the lightest full-suspension mountain bike Yeti has ever created. There are three carbon frames to choose from, with the dedicated wireless frameset intended for use with RockShox Flight Attendant coming in at a scant 1,448g without shock. The addition of cable ports on the Turq model adds 104g. Finally, the entry-level C-series bikes feature a carbon frame that is still respectably light at 1,727g.
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Yeti ASR Pricing
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First Ride Impressions: “Looks Like A Blur” Rides Like A Yeti
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I find it interesting that the demands of modern cross-country racing have become so stringent that nearly every bike in the category looks the same, and I appreciate that Yeti was willing to acknowledge this fact.
Racers want bikes with 110-120mm of suspension travel, the ability to carry two bottles inside the main triangle, and frame angles that would have been considered “aggressive” on enduro and all-mountain bikes a few years ago. Oh, and the bikes have to be as light as possible, hence the switch to flex-stay pivot designs by nearly all comers.
Yeti is no stranger to flex-stay suspension designs, having employed carbon and titanium flex pivots in numerous models dating all the way back to 2003. As mentioned, the ASR slots in with bikes such as the Santa Cruz Blur, and Specialized Epic 8/Epic EVO that ditch more complicated (and heavier) suspension designs, such as VPP, Horst-links, or, in this case, Yeti’s Switch Infinity system in favor of vertical seat-stay flex to achieve their designed suspension characteristics.
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Yeti’s design team noted that even on the crowded trails outside its headquarters in Golden, Colorado, the ASR was easy to hide because prototypes didn’t stand out from the rest of the field. Though the category's demands may funnel companies into making similar design choices, there’s still a lot of variability in how these bikes ride.
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It’s still early days, but it was immediately apparent that the ASR is a fantastic technical climber. The balanced frame geometry centers the rider between the wheels, and the active yet efficient suspension maintains traction when scrambling over loose rocks and roots. While some of the ASR’s competitors are designed to be run with less than 30 percent sag and struggle to achieve full travel in the pursuit of pedaling efficiency, the ASR, with its custom-tuned SID ULT shock, feels active, engaged, and efficient.
Thus far, I’ve found that the dual lockout spec’d on my $8,600 T3 XO1 Transmission test bike is nice, but not necessary when riding actual singletrack or even fire-road climbs. It does come in handy for riding pavement to and from the trailhead and would obviously be a prized feature for finish-line sprints.
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With initial climbing performance out of the way, any rider familiar with geometry charts would come away with the impression that, on paper at least, the ASR should feel more like a short travel trail bike than a twitchy cross-country racer. In this case, the numbers do tell the entire story and you would be entirely correct: Yeti’s take on XC is thoroughly modern. The ASR is carvy through turns and easy to handle at speed—attributes endurance racers are likely to appreciate.
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Stay tuned for a full review of the ASR after some more hot laps and maybe a visit to Moab to ride the White Rim in a day.
Yeti ASR Highlights
- 115mm flex stay suspension design paired with 120mm forks
- 66.5° head tube angle
- 75.5° effective seat tube angle
- Five frame sizes: XS - XL
- Dedicated frames for traditional and wireless drivetrains
- Claimed frame weights w/o shock: 1,448g (T-Series wireless), 1,552g T-Series, 1,727g C-Series
- Clearance for 29x2.4” tires on 30mm rims
- Room for dual water bottles in the main frame
- MSRP: $4,000 (frame only) $5,600 - $13,900 (complete builds)
- Available now
Yeti ASR Pricing
- T5 WIRELESS XX SL TRANSMISSION: $13,900
- T3 XO TRANSMISSION: $8,600 (Tested)
- T4 XX1: $7,900
- T2 XO1: $7,200
- C3 GX TRANSMISSION: $6,600
- C2 SRAM GX EAGLE: $5,600
- FRAME ONLY: $4,000 (Includes RockShox SID LUX ULT shock w/Twistlock remote
Racers want bikes with 110-120mm of suspension travel, the ability to carry two bottles inside the main triangle, and frame angles that would have been considered “aggressive” on enduro and all-mountain bikes a few years ago. Oh, and the bikes have to be as light as possible, hence the switch to flex-stay pivot designs by nearly all comers.
Yeti is no stranger to flex-stay suspension designs, having employed carbon and titanium flex pivots in numerous models dating all the way back to 2003. As mentioned, the ASR slots in with bikes such as the Santa Cruz Blur, and Specialized Epic 8/Epic EVO that ditch more complicated (and heavier) suspension designs, such as VPP, Horst-links, or, in this case, Yeti’s Switch Infinity system in favor of vertical seat-stay flex to achieve their designed suspension characteristics.
Despite ditching Switch Infinity, Yeti’s engineers sought to maintain what they felt were quintessential ride qualities inherent in the company's trail and enduro bikes. To achieve this, Yeti developed a set of geometry numbers the company thought would work as well on the climbs as the descents and collaborated with RockShox to spec custom-valved SID shocks on all the ASR models.Thus far, I’ve found that the dual lockout spec’d on my $8,600 T3 XO1 Transmission test bike is nice, but not necessary when riding actual singletrack or even fire-road climbs. It does come in handy for riding pavement to and from the trailhead and would obviously be a prized feature for finish-line sprints.
