My new Yeti ASR 5 arrived last week, and I was finally able to get in a couple of shake down rides over the weekend. Friday's ride was really good - weather was good, trails were decent, bike felt great right out of the parking lot. Today's ride was also good, though the conditions could have been better. At the start, everything was just damp, with significant mud on Mud Flat. By the end of the ride, roots were really slick and the trails were greasy throughout. The bike was still awesome though.
The trails I rode don't have a lot of mileage, the quality of the trails is second to none. A couple of grinding hills gave me a reasonable feel for how the bike climbs, and a really fun descent let me stretch the bike's legs. All in all, I couldn't be happier with the bike. After riding my Niner all summer, I came to really appreciate how responsive and nimble it is. The ASR 5 isn't that quick by any means, but is noticeably more responsive than my 575 was. A slightly more efficient pedaling platform and ~2lbs less weight are probably why. On the flip side, the bike leaves nothing to desire on the faster/rougher stuff. All I have to go on is feel, but the bike feels faster than the 575 was... I'm getting air in places I wasn't too.
The bike feels perfectly balanced both climbing and descending. The CTD feature on the shock isn't earth shattering, but there is definitely a noticeable difference between the 3 settings. The bike can easily be ridden in trail mode full time, but switching to climb does firm things up just a bit for the uphills, and the descend settings opens things up for full plush downhills.
So far, I'm calling it the perfect trail bike for the type of riding I do.
Yeti ASR 5
Fox Float CTD shock
Fox 32 TALAS 150/130/110 fork
Fulcrum Red Metal 3 wheels
Nevegal rear/Mich All Terrain front (both tubed, going to switch to tubeless for the summer)
Sram drivetrain
Shimano XT brakes
The trails I rode don't have a lot of mileage, the quality of the trails is second to none. A couple of grinding hills gave me a reasonable feel for how the bike climbs, and a really fun descent let me stretch the bike's legs. All in all, I couldn't be happier with the bike. After riding my Niner all summer, I came to really appreciate how responsive and nimble it is. The ASR 5 isn't that quick by any means, but is noticeably more responsive than my 575 was. A slightly more efficient pedaling platform and ~2lbs less weight are probably why. On the flip side, the bike leaves nothing to desire on the faster/rougher stuff. All I have to go on is feel, but the bike feels faster than the 575 was... I'm getting air in places I wasn't too.
The bike feels perfectly balanced both climbing and descending. The CTD feature on the shock isn't earth shattering, but there is definitely a noticeable difference between the 3 settings. The bike can easily be ridden in trail mode full time, but switching to climb does firm things up just a bit for the uphills, and the descend settings opens things up for full plush downhills.
So far, I'm calling it the perfect trail bike for the type of riding I do.
Yeti ASR 5
Fox Float CTD shock
Fox 32 TALAS 150/130/110 fork
Fulcrum Red Metal 3 wheels
Nevegal rear/Mich All Terrain front (both tubed, going to switch to tubeless for the summer)
Sram drivetrain
Shimano XT brakes
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