Reviewed by Brian Mullin aka Gram and MTBR.com Pastajet
http://www.gramslightbikes.com/

It was another fun and tiring Interbike. The outdoor demo portion was hot, dusty and windy, and I felt more like dried parchment than anything. The demo day was extremely busy at the bike booths, and it was difficult to get bikes, especially if you had an agenda for specific models, so I took it a bit easier than previous years and spent more time at the booths speaking with the vendors. The indoor portion was huge and overwhelming as it always is, so I concentrated on the booths I thought were interesting or more towards my tastes and readership. I got to meet a lot of friendly faces, and got to have some face time with people that I only had conferred with by email. Long days, sore feet and a tired back were the norm while sprinting around the vast Sands convention center.

Here were 5 of my top picks from the show, ones that I thought were innovative for the coming year.

Bike - Yeti ASR 5 C

The ASR 5 (5 inch suspension) is a brand new bike for Yeti, and this was the first time I had seen this model. The ASR 5 comes in an aluminum version, and a full carbon version, which is what I tested. The moment I started pedaling this bike, I felt its instant acceleration and laser like steering and handling. Its suspension was very compliant, and the directional rigidity of the carbon material was paramount in the feel of the bike.

Yeti Carbon!

I found myself sitting in almost all the terrain the XC loops of Boulder City had to offer, and was amazed at how well the suspension just sort of floated along the undulations and rocky sections of the trail. This did not feel like a 5 inch travel bike. On one of the very steep and very loose climbs the bike went up it effortlessly, and needed very little pedaling to get to the top. This is an excellent bike, that has a carefully thought out suspension system, with an incredible amount of compliancy. It is very neutral, climbs like a demon and makes the most of the carbon material’s directional rigidity and vibration damping qualities.

Yeti - Very nicely done cable layout

http://www.yeticycles.com/#/bikes/ASR5Carbon/

Specs:
Travel - 5 inch
Weight - 4.75lbs
Sizes - small. medium, large
Colors - black/turquoise or white/black
Rear shock - RP23 (7.875 x 2)
Bottom Bracket - 73mm
Rear wheel - 135mm with QR or 142mm with 12mm
Front Derailleur - 34.9mm with traditional mount
Seatpost - 30.9mm
Kits Enduro, Race, Pro

Features:
- High Modulus, hand laid-up carbon front and rear triangles
- Tapered headtube 1 1/8 to 1 1/5
- Gravity dropper cable guide
- Interchange dropouts
- Titanium hardware
- Internal cable routing on swingarm

Next -> Wheels/Rims - Velocity P35

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This entry was posted on Monday, October 12th, 2009 at 1:55 am and is filed under Daily Coverage. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.