There’s no denying that interest in cross-country bikes has returned with a vengeance. Modern race courses are more technically challenging than ever, and to match that, the bikes have become the answer for anyone seeking a light, nice-pedalling, all-rounder mountain bike to head into the hills with. It’s a category that trail mountain bikes successfully held, until those got increasingly heavier and slower.
Having started with bikes like the Scott Spark, modern race bikes are now trending toward progressive trail bike-like geometry with 110-120 mm front and rear suspension travel. Add in the dropper posts and 2.35-2.4" tyres and these bikes are vastly more capable than XC bikes of old.
That brings us to Yeti’s rebirth of its dedicated full-suspension cross-country race platform—the ASR—a model that had been missing from the Colorado mountain bike company’s lineup since 2017. Instead, recent years saw Yeti fulfil its cross-country quota with the SB100, which morphed into the SB115. Carrying the weight of the company’s more complicated Switch Infinity suspension system, it wasn’t a platform you saw raced too often at the sport’s top end.
With the re-introduction of the ASR, gone is the Switch Infinity system from Yeti's cross-country platform. In its place, sits a familiar design that has helped to produce one of the lightest frames on the market today. I’ve been testing the company’s new flagship "Ultimate" version of the ASR, a top-tier version that also provided an opportunity to test out RockShox’s new SID Flight Attendant electronically controlled suspension package. And to tease of how this test went, I’ll just say welcome back to cross-country, Yeti.
Lows: A 30% sag number makes the lock-out a requirement, tall bottom bracket height, stock stem likely too short for some, yet another premium-priced bike.
Total weight: 10.43 kg (22.99 lb) (as tested, without pedals or cages, but with tyre sealant)
Complete bikes from: US$5,600 / AU$8,590 up to US$13,900 / AU$19,990 (as tested)
Returning to its roots
Yeti Cycles is no stranger to the pointy end of cross-country racing, and I certainly have fond memories lusting for the turquoise brand’s lightweight ASR (full suspension) and ARC (hardtail) bikes in the early 2000s. The first ASR came in 2001, and by 2003, the production version was running a linkage-driven and top-tube-mounted rear shock with a flexstay pivot at the back end.
Flexstay designs lost popularity for nearly two decades, but they are now wholly back in vogue. Merida, Specialized, Cannondale, Giant, Canyon, Santa Cruz, Cervelo, Pinarello, Superior, and others all employ a familiar flexstay design for their respective cross-country offerings. And as you may expect, the new ASR has returned to it, too.
Yeti claims that unlike many of its competitors using a similar suspension layout, its bike will fully utilize its claimed 115 mm rear wheel travel (more on this in the next section). In keeping with current trends in cross-country bikes, that travel is intended to be matched with a 120 mm fork up front.
Matching that longer travel are some expected progressive geometry figures. Here the ASR aligns relatively closely with the figures of the equally new Specialized Epic 8 (at least with the Epic in its ‘High’ position geometry), although the Yeti is marginally shorter in reach. Across the five sizes (including an extra-small option), the ASR offers a consistent 66.5 head angle and 75.5 seat angle. Meanwhile, rear centre length (aka, chainstay length) grows with frame reach figures, something not so commonly seen amongst cross-country bikes.
As a premium carbon cross-country bike, you can bet the ASR has a light frame. According to Yeti, this new bike has the most sophisticated carbon lay-up in the company’s history, a likely hint of what’s to come for other bikes in the lineup. That lay-up isn’t so much about the specific materials used, but rather the shapes and orientations of the carbon plys. Meanwhile, Yeti claims to have paid close attention to putting all the main pivot points in areas that are already reinforced for other applications, such as the main pivot at the bottom bracket junction or the top pivot at the top tube and seat tube intersection. Further optimisations are done with each frame size having its own unique carbon lay-up and design; it's not a groundbreaking concept, but also not as common as you may think.
Like many of its other bikes, Yeti is offering two distinct tiers of the ASR. At just 1,830 grams for a painted medium frame (1,552 g without shock), the Turq – aka T-Series – is the lighter and more premium option. As Yeti’s lightest full suspension frame ever, it has a more advanced carbon lay-up that employs larger and more shapely plys in order to reduce material overall. Further weight is saved by forgoing the tube-in-tube (aka guided) cable routing through the downtube, rather that feature exists only in the chainstays. The T-Series frames also offer an impressively paltry rocker link that’s machined from 7075 aluminium and weighs just 78 g with its four bearings.
By contrast, the more affordable C-Series frame offers a simpler carbon lay-up schedule and the shock mounts to a heavier 6061 aluminium rocker. Assuming most riders will still be using mechanical cables with this frame, the frame adds the tube-in-tube cable routing for simple straight-shot housing installs and replacements. Yeti claims a C-Series ASR frame (medium, painted) weighs 1,985 g with a rear shock (without a remote lockout), and 1,727 g without the rear shock. Second-tier or not, it’s certainly a competitive weight.
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