Words by: Jimmy Smith

I built up this ASR with XC racing on proper mountain bike trails in mind with events like Breck Epic and Little Sugar on the schedule. I wanted a build that wouldn't hold me back on the way up with the robust enough brakes and suspension to keep me flying on the downhills. The 4 piston SRAM Level Ultimate paired with the HS2 rotors provided me with all the stopping power I needed this year, especially on the long descents at Breck Epic. I initially spent some time on the Maxxis Aspens when I built this bike up, but found myself struggling to find grip in many situations. I ended up loving the Maxxis Rekon Race as they seemed to unlock the bikes descending potential while still being plenty fast rolling resistance wise. The cockpit setup on this bike is quite unique, I knew I wanted to run lockouts on my Ohlins XC suspension, so I utilized the Zirbel Shifter/Dropper combo to clean things up. I was a bit weary of this aftermarket component that pairs seamlessly with Sram's AXS system using a blip box, but after hundreds of miles everything has worked flawlessly.

This build absolutely delivered for me this year and brought me to a top 10 at Breck Epic, a top 20 result at Little Sugar. With my enduro racing background I was almost always the fastest on the descents at both of these events. Outside of racing I took this machine on plenty of all day missions in the mountains of Colorado, where it felt like it was right where it belonged. It is pretty amazing how capable XC bikes have become over the last few years, and I find myself reaching for this XC machine in situations where I would have previously preferred to be on something with a bit more travel. For a bike with a relatively small amount of travel Yeti has found a way to really squeeze everything out of it. It was a bit odd setting this bike up with Yeti’s recommended 30% sag on the rear shock. I am usually around 20% on other XC bikes I've ridden, but as soon as I got it on trail it made so much sense. The rear end feels absolutely glued to the ground allowing you to apply power to the pedals through almost anything while maintaining a ton of grip, crucial for staying efficient and fast. Pairing these plush on trail suspension characteristics with the utility of the Ohlins front and rear lockout I felt I was really able squeeze all the speed I could out of the bike.