We got an amazing opportunity to get our hands on a Yeti media bike pre-release for testing, thanks to our long partnership with Yeti. They sent us an early media bike to put through its paces. For this review, we took it to Sedona and tested it on Highline and the hardcore-only Hardline.
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The new Yeti LT (full details) replaces the SB160 (full details) as Yeti’s long-travel enduro bike. There are some major changes, including the move to Sixfinity suspension (!), a stiffer rear end, adjustable suspension progression (!!), modular dropouts (!!!), and in-frame storage.
Airpark team rider Amias Gomez had already put a couple of rides on the bike before the Sedona test, but this was our first chance to really see how it handled bigger hits, technical climbing, loose terrain, and lines that some of the rest of us, who weren't on LTs or on camera, might have skipped behind the scenes...
Sixfinity Comes to the LT
The biggest change is the new Sixfinity suspension platform. That's right, Sixfinity is no longer ebike-only!
If you're a Yeti fan, you'll recognize Sixfinity as being the biggest news from Yeti from a few years back when they first launched it. It’s a six-bar design that has so far only been on heavier e-bikes like the 160e. In short, Yeti has had several years to develop and prove it on heavier, harder-hitting ebikes, and now the LT brings it over to a pedal-powered enduro platform.
Compared with the SB160, we found that the LT felt smoother and generated even more traction. It was a little smoother, and a little quicker to accelerate.
That was especially noticeable while climbing in Sedona. The loose-over-hardpack surface makes it easy to break the rear tire free, even when you’re trying to be careful with your power.
However, the bike didn't really feel like it was slipping out on which is impressive in that terrain.
The suspension stayed active over small bumps and trail chatter without feeling soft when it was time to pedal. It also accelerated well out of corners, which was one of the more noticeable differences from the first few rides.
Plenty of Support When the Hits Get Bigger
The LT also has an adjustable progression link, allowing you to change how much the suspension ramps up near the end of its travel.
Amias rode it in the more progressive setting for his first few rides. That gave the bike plenty of support through harder compressions and helped keep it from blowing through its travel when things got rough.
He definitely felt it during the Sedona test, including a couple of moments that used nearly all the available suspension. The bike stayed supportive rather than dropping straight through the travel and delivering an unpleasant reminder that suspension does, eventually, have an end.
We’d still like to try the less progressive setting and compare the difference. The progressive setup worked well for Hardline, but the other setting could give the bike a slightly more open feel on trails where maximum bottom-out resistance isn’t the main concern.
Even in the progressive setting, though, the LT didn’t give up traction or small-bump sensitivity. It still felt active on chatter and hooked up well while climbing.
A Longer Rear End That Doesn’t Feel Long
The LT has a slightly longer rear end than the SB160. Its modular rear dropouts also allow you to extend the chainstay length by another 10mm.
One correction from our original video: the dropouts don’t convert the bike to a mullet setup. They change the chainstay length. A separate flip chip at the top of the seatstays handles the mixed-wheel configuration.
There are a lot of chips, links, and removable parts involved here, but thankfully, you don’t have to adjust all of them before every ride; instead it could be more logical to change them when you travel to a particular destination based on the trails you plan to ride there.
A longer rear end should give the bike more stability and help keep the rider better centered between the wheels. The possible downside any bike designer faces is making the bike feel slow to turn, difficult to lift, or generally a little too much like a limousine. That wasn’t the case with the LT, though.
Despite the added length, it still moved where we wanted it to move. It didn’t feel stretched out or awkward, and it was easy to get comfortable after coming from the SB160 and SB165.
The rear end also felt noticeably stiffer, which was especially clear while pushing through corners, where the bike hooked up harder and held its line more precisely.
It accelerated well coming out of turns, too. The suspension stayed active enough to maintain grip without making the bike feel like it was absorbing all the effort Amias put into the pedals.
First Time Down Hardline
For the main test, we took the LT down Hardline.
It was Amias’ first time riding the trail, and he’d only had a couple of rides on the bike before this trip. Hardline also isn’t exactly a gentle introduction. It’s one of Sedona’s harder trails, with steep rock, technical moves, and several places where you really need to commit. Despite the limited time on the LT, Amias felt comfortable enough to give it a shot.
The bike handled everything he threw at it. There were a couple of moments where his line or body position wasn’t completely perfect — as occasionally happens when you’re riding Hardline for the first time — but the bike stayed underneath him and remained predictable. In the end, that was the most impressive part of the test. The LT didn’t require absolute perfection from its rider to feel good, it also gave Amias room to recover when a move wasn’t perfectly clean.
It kept him feeling in control and gave him enough confidence to try lines he hadn’t ridden before. That’s high praise for a bike he’d only ridden a few times. Sometimes bikes take a long sequence of suspension adjustments, cockpit changes, and “getting used to it.” The LT felt comfortable almost immediately.
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Small-Bump Grip Without a Mushy Feel
There’s quite a lot happening inside the Sixfinity linkage, but the bike didn’t feel complicated on the trail.
It was very good through small braking bumps and trail chatter. The rear wheel stayed connected to the ground instead of skipping around, and the suspension remained active under braking.
At the same time, the bike didn’t feel soft or vague when pedaling. It climbed well and accelerated quickly out of corners. Plenty of long-travel bikes feel great while descending but become noticeably less enthusiastic when gravity stops helping. The LT remained responsive when climbing and putting power down.
Compared with the SB160, it felt a little smoother and quicker to accelerate while offering at least as much traction—probably more.
In-Frame Storage and More Adjustability
The LT also adds in-frame storage underneath the water bottle cage.
This isn’t the most revolutionary feature on the bike, but it’s useful. You can keep a tube, tire plugs, a compact tool, or a snack inside the frame instead of discovering that all of those things are still sitting in your garage after you’ve already started walking.
Combined with the progression link, modular dropouts, geometry adjustments, and wheel-size options, the storage makes the LT a very configurable bike.
We didn’t have enough time to try every possible setup during this first test. That’ll require more rides and some back-to-back comparisons.
The bike worked extremely well in the setup we rode, though, and nothing about it felt like it needed to be changed immediately before heading onto serious terrain.
First-Ride Verdict
The new Yeti LT feels like a real step forward from the SB160, and a completely new bike. Sixfinity gives it excellent climbing traction, smooth performance through chatter, and plenty of support when the hits get bigger. The stiffer and slightly longer rear end improves stability and cornering precision without making the bike feel slow or difficult to move around.
Most importantly, it was easy to trust. After only a few rides, Amias felt comfortable taking it down Hardline for the first time, recovering from a few less-than-perfect moments, and trying lines he hadn’t ridden before.
There’s still more testing we’d like to do. We want to compare the progression settings, experiment with the different geometry and chainstay options, and spend more time riding the bike on familiar terrain.
Even so, we love this bike already! It climbs better than we expected, stays composed when things get rough, and gives the rider enough confidence to start making questionable line choices surprisingly quickly.
In Amias’ words, “I think Yeti did it again.”
You can check out the new Yeti LT at AirparkBikeCo.com or stop by one of our locations to take a closer look.
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All photos and video were produced by Airpark Bike Co.