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Building the Perfect Yeti ASR: Jeff’s Custom MTB [Video]

Jeff's new Yeti ASR isn't your average XC bike. Built with the perfect blend of lightweight yet capable components, Jeff built this bike for a unique purpose in mind... to be the best adventure racing mountain bike the world has ever seen. Tune in for all the tasty details on this swift, speedy and grin inducing steed.

Jeff's Yeti ASR

Suspension

While this bike was built to be lightweight, it still has to be able to perform on the descents. What's the point of getting to the top if you can't have fun on the way down? The geometry and travel numbers of this bike (120mm front, 115 rear) give it permission to absolutely haul buttocks on the downhills, and that requires some capable suspension. For this bike, Jeff has chosen the latest Fox 34 Step Cast fork with the GripSL damper paired with a Fox Float rear shock for their ability to easily lock out when needed and he also chose them for their downhill performance when he's looking to have a good time. This suspension combination has a balanced feeling of suppleness and support that is rare in lightweight XC oriented offerings and suits this bike very well. He's opted to forgo the remote lockouts on this bike and we can't argue. It's perfect as it is.

Jeff's Yeti ASR

Wheels & Tires

The theme of this bike requires some lightweight and strong wheels... enter the Zipp 1Zero HiTop carbon wheels. Yes, Jeff made a video about how he will probably never run carbon wheels ever again... and that video has obviously not aged well. But that's ok, because carbon wheels are 100x better than they were when he made that video... including these incredible Zipp wheels. Weighing in around 1325g with a 30mm internal width, these wheels are the cream of the crop and have the perfect blend of stiffness and compliance that you'd want in a wheel for a bike like this. He's chosen to wrap these wheels with the new Maxxis Forekaster tire in the front in the 3C MaxxTerra/EXO variation with the Maxxis Ikon EXO MaxxSpeed rubber in the rear. A nice and fast combination that still promotes grip and confidence up front, exactly what you need when you're trying to navigate singletrack trails 3 days into an adventure race and you're falling asleep while riding.

Drivetrain and Brakes

Jeff doesn't just slap your average copy and paste drivetrain on a bike and call it a day... That would be too boring, heavy and unoriginal. When you are looking for the lightest drivetrain with the most gear range possible, that's when things get interesting... like the setup you see before you. Starting with the cranks, Jeff's using his favorite RaceFace Next SL G5 carbon cranks with the new ERA carbon chainring. Spinning in a Wheels Manufacturing Bottom Bracket, those cranks and chainring are driving an 11 speed E*Thirteen 9-46t cassette with a black XX1 Eagle chain while shifting duties are performed by a SRAM XX1 11 speed shifter and rear derailleur. Slowing the bike down is a set of SRAM Level Ultimate 2 piston brakes paired with Galfer 180mm & 160mm rotors in the front and rear, respectively. As far as modern drivetrain and brake setups go, it doesn't get much lighter and cleaner than this.

Cockpit & Contact Points

Would you expect anything less than a totally dialed Trail One cockpit setup? If you know anything about Jeff you'd know he takes pride in the incredible components that we've been able to create with our own personal touch with Trail One as well as the incredible amount of support we've been able to share with trail organization across the world with the money we've raised. Here he's using the Crockett carbon bar paired to a 40mm Rockville Stem and Hell's Gate grips. Pedal wise, he's running his favorite Crankbrothers Mallet E pedals with the Titanium Spindle upgrade. Did you think those were just going to be off the shelf pedals too? Shame on you.

When it comes to his saddle and dropper post situation, Jeff has chosen his favorite WTB Silverado Carbon saddle paired to a OneUp v3 dropper post linked to a Wolf Tooth ReMote Pro dropper lever. It's a setup that is tried and true and we don't blame him. The OneUp v3 dropper post is the lightest full travel dropper post in the size that he is after, and the only lighter ones are of the likes of the Fox Transfer SL dropper post that is either in the dropped position or the fully extended position. See, there is sometimes a method to his madness.

Frame Strap & Essentials

What might be in Jeff's mysterious frame strap you ask? Well you probably didn't think to use the word mysterious but maybe it is. Taking care of inflation is his Lezyne Pocket Drive frame pump and just in case he suffers a puncture he's got a Dynaplug tool handy to quickly take care of it. If we're talking a flat that requires a tube, no sweat. He's got two Tubolito lightweight MTB tubes in that little bag right there. He's also got a DaySaver multi tool to take care of any loose bolts, as well as a spare chain master link in case to avoid a Neko Mulally snapped chain situation. He's got everything safely secured to the bike with our very own Occam x Worldwide Cyclery BOA frame strap, something that any and every self respecting mountain biker should own.

If you are one strange human that would like to read a transcript of the video above, continue reading below!

I just built up a new bike for myself

and it's something very different than

what I've had in the past and what I've

ridden in years and years come to think

of it I've actually never ever built up

a World Cup XC race worthy CrossCountry

lightweight machine of a mountain bike

because historically they've always just

been either too flexy bad Geo or just

they don't really seem fun but as cross

country racing has evolved in the world

cup scene so have the bikes along with

it and now they're actually really

really desirable and interesting and

unique and uh yeah let me show you what

I did with mine

this is it the yeti ASR this is the Turk

series and I did a custom build on this

for a very particular use case I'm going

to be using this bike for adventure

racing and specifically for Expedition

Oregon also known as America's toughest

race it's a 6-day multisport Non-Stop

Adventure Race that covers roughly 300 M

and 30,000 ft of ascending and

descending if you're not familiar with

adventure racing you're trail running

hiking pack rafting mountain biking rock

climbing and navigating with no GPS

whatsoever no electronics allowed you're

doing all your navigation with map and

Compass um I've doing adventure racing

for a few years now and kind of enjoying

the sport even though it's brutal and

crazy and uh extremely hard on the body

and I might just quit because it's so

hard but by the time you're watching

this video hopefully I will have

finished and survived that race oh my

God I almost died um my team is called

the jackalopes we've actually done

pretty decent this year so we're going

to be giving it our best out there and

this will be the Steed that I'll be

riding for the mountain bike section and

I really wanted a super fast light cross

country bike but I wanted it to actually

handle well and those things exist now

and this bike is that 115 mil travel in

the back 120 in the front uh Fox 34

stepcast uh with a grip two damper and

then or maybe it's grip SL I can't

remember uh float SL rear shock and then

zip 10 Z High toop SW Carbon wheels

that's kind of the the meat of this

thing and you might be asking what is in

my water bottle that would be element an

incredible simple minimal ingredient

electrolyte drink mix that has all of

the stuff you need and none of the

garbage that you don't predominantly

sodium potassium magnesium and they pack

it all into these tiny little sachets

which I think is very impressive because

putting 1,000 milligrams of sodium and

this much potassium and magnesium and

this little guy is quite impressive when

you compare it to all of their

competitors these also taste absolutely

fantastic watermelon salt is my favorite

flavor to have whilst on the bike and

mango chili is the best for an after big

day exercise sweaty ride get home pour

it over water and ice cubes and it's

incredible it's kind of like a mocktail

I truly respect element for not only the

quality of their product but also the

research that they've done if you go to

their website scroll down there's a

little link called science and they've

got a bunch of papers where they've done

really extensive research and study on

electrolyte intake and sodium

replenishment right now you can get

eight sample packets of all the

different flavors with any drink mix

order all you have to do is go to drink

element.com worldwide

d r i n k LM nt.com worldwide Cyclery

also link below in the video description

if you click that it genuinely helps us

out and uh also helps out your hydration

so you might also be wondering why does

it have 11speed and why are there no

batteries on it there's a couple answers

for that a lot of my bikes I haven't

done anything electronic on them for a

few reasons in this case for sure I

didn't want to mess with electronics and

batteries for a 6-day long Adventure

Race and it made much more sense to do

cable actuated everything and keep it

simple and clean there I also just

really like 11speed I run this e13 Helix

r rear cassette which is a 9 to 46 51%

gear range so almost as much actual

range as a full-on eagle cassette or

transmission cassette from SRAM but more

Compact and works with a more compact

11speed rear derailer which has a

shorter cage and yeah I just really like

the feel of mechanical and it doesn't

bother me by any means transmission has

definitely got me stoked on electronic

drivetrains because it works so well

especially the shifting under load and

all of that and how quiet it is yeah I

just like love this setup I don't feel

like there's anything really wrong with

high-end xx1 suram 11speed and this e13

cassette like it all just works really

well and reliable and feels good feels

so good so um I love it it's perfect for

adventure racing which is what I'll be

doing with it xx1 sham chain of course

on there Race Face next

SL 5 gen 5 I can't remember what

generation they're on in these things

but the latest lightest cranks from Race

Face that are full carbon they're era

chering which is a feet of engineering

stainless steel teeth for longevity

carbon main carrier for uh weight and

then an aluminum spider which is what

connects to the spindle pretty

incredible chain ring that they designed

there Crank Brothers Mallet e pedals

with titanium spindle I still like

although this is an XC bike and you

probably not see people running Mallet

Ease on this Frame I just like these

they're just my favorite pedals and I

use them on all my bikes whether it's a

gravel bike or an Enduro bike or a cross

country bike good platform good

functionality fits all my shoes that I

like these shoes so yeah that's my

choice of pedal when it comes to that

cockpit of course Trail one stuff decked

out I normally run a 32 mm stem on all

of my bikes but in this case for this

use case in this bike I have the

Rockville stem in the 40 mm length 35

mil bar clamp with the beautifully

matched CNC top cap on top of it and

paired with the Crockett carbon bars in

the 20 mil rise and the hellsgate grips

um absolutely love that cockpit setup

and also had a large hand in designing

the whole thing which is partly why I

love it so much um cockpit I think is

dialed on this thing that's also paired

with a wolftooth remote Pro dropper

lover and Sham level ultimate two piston

brakes I think those brakes are powerful

enough for this bike and also just

lightweight and I think they're good I

do wish that these levels had the

contact point adjustment but such as

life they don't at least they have a

reach adjustment that's toolfree and

they're super lightweight those brakes

are paired with Galer pads and galfer

wave rotors 180 in the front 160 in the

back I just think that the galver pads

and rotors are working better for me

these days than the SRAM pads and rotors

so that's what I've been running on all

my bikes and really enjoying it in terms

of just their power their consistency

and how quiet they are that kind of

covers main elements also yeah tires so

icon 235 in the back not the not the uh

grippiest tire but it is one of the

fastest tires um forecaster up front and

a 2.4 Max Terra I wish they made that

thing in a Max grip but I understand why

they don't um I think this is a good

setup in terms of balancing what I want

this whole bike to balance in general

which is still be really capable on the

downhill but yet be a rocket when it

comes to pedaling it uphill and in fire

roads and being just a fast efficient

bike it really is um this thing feels

like a rocket ship and I love that I've

never ridden a bike that's been this

fast that's been a full suspension

mountain bike before and also been this

capable on the downhill so there's a lot

a lot of comparisons I could draw to

other bikes drop a comment below if

you're curious I'm happy to answer those

in the comments I think where World Cup

cross country race bikes have gotten to

in the modern day is that they really

have just finally balanced what it takes

to be a super fast bike that's efficient

and when you put the Power into the

cranks the thing just moves and it

weighs essentially nothing and it also

still has the geometry pretty slack head

angle steep C tube angle low bottom

bracket longish wheel base comfortable

reach it's got all of those things

nailed that it feels comfortable and

fast and like a trail bike when you're

riding it so you can still be playful

and quick and slap corners and do things

on this bike that you would expect a

trail bike to do yet it's really really

fast still when you're pedaling this

thing and really really lightweight of

course I really am impressed with sort

of where cross country bikes have come

theyve really kind of now feel like to

me capable trail bikes that just happen

to be super lightweight sure they're not

full-on trail bikes they're still a

little bit more flexy than a trail bike

the suspension kinematics of a design

like this is not going to compare to

something like a revel Ranger or even

Yeti's SP sp120 which is just like a

slightly longer travel version uh 29er

compared to this thing slightly More

Travel than this that bike's 120 and

then 140 I think in the front this is

120 and 115 so there's still not trail

bikes but they're so close and for how

fast and light they are and how close

they are to trail bikes it's actually a

really really fun enjoyable bike to ride

hopefully I survive that Adventure Race

and this thing is reliable for me the

whole time I do have the aam strap with

a boa with all my spare stuff in here

some Tu bolitos day saer multi-tool uh a

dino plug on the other side there um I

don't know if I mentioned WTB Silverado

carbon saddle I think I got everything

on here water bottle cages don't know

don't really care I just uh think that

these ones are light they look decent

and most importantly you can grab them

from both sides which I normally run a

side load cage I think they're easier

the lasag one is really good um but I

wanted them to be able to entry and exit

from both sides cuz in adventure racing

you're often always eating food

sometimes you have a compass or a map in

your hand or something in your hand and

it's just kind of convenient for that

quick little tip if you have one of

these bikes or you're curious Yeti says

you can't fit a large water bottle um in

this spot and you actually can at least

on the large size frame which this is

you just Dremel out your water bottle

cage to lower it down and get it really

really close to the frame and then you

got just enough clearance there um at

least on the large sence frame that you

can do that and obviously the XL and

whatnot yeah this bike another thing

that's interesting is the reach on this

is quite a bit shorter than the rest of

all yetis normally yetis I kind of right

in between their medium and large in

terms of what I prefer for the reach of

a bike this bike the large is actually

kind of short surprisingly I mean it's

much shorter than the rest of Yeti's

larges and then another reason why I put

the 40 mil stem on it so anyways

something to consider if you're looking

at this cuz it is very different in

terms of Geo when you compare it to all

of the rest of the Yeti lineup yeah I'm

loving this thing so far it's been a

super fun and fast bike to ride and I'm

looking forward to racing it drop a

comment down below if I'm replying to

him that means I survived which would be

a good sign that's all I got for now see

you guys later

September 23, 2024

Video › yeti cycles ›

Building the Perfect Yeti ASR: Jeff’s Custom MTB [Video]

Jeff's Yeti ASR

Suspension

Wheels & Tires

Drivetrain and Brakes

Cockpit & Contact Points

Frame Strap & Essentials

If you are one strange human that would like to read a transcript of the video above, continue reading below!

Suspension & Wheels

LMNT

Drivetrain

Cockpit

Brakes

Tires

How it Rides

Accessories & Essentials

September 23, 2024

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