Kashi Leuchs from Yeti distributor Black Seal breezed through Wellington and popped in to the Spoke office with his spanking SB5c for us to take a look at. By now you’ve probably seen and heard all about the latest incarnation of the Colorado company’s ‘super bike’ and its Switch Infinity suspension. We took a look at the workings of it back here…
We didn’t get to ride the bike, but its capabilities are obvious from the results on the EWS circuit under Richie Rude, and Kashi gave it a good run on Rata Ridge the next day.
The heart of the Switch Infinity system is the Fox mechanism sitting above the BB. It’s surprising how much it actually moves under compression, not a lot but more than we thought would be noticeable. How does it work? Watch this…
Cable routing for either a front derailleur (remember them?) or an external dropper post cable.
Internal dropper post routing is clean and there’s even a Spoke x MRP Decapitator mount!
The parts kit is top notch. Thomson cockpit, Cane Creek headset and a real proper head badge.
That’s a lot of carbon around the BB area and the little home for the Infinity mechanism. There’s been a lot of speculation about this area being a mud trap, but it seems fairly well protected from the rear tyre at least, and Kashi says that there’ve been zero issues with it so far.
A Thomson Cover Elite internally routed dropper post provides 125mm of infinite travel and features the famously functional two-bolt seat clamp.
Down-tube bash guard keeps the carbon protected, and you can even mount a bottle cage (remember them?)
Clean lines around the head tube junction and neat little cable rub grommets are a nice touch.
A Yeti just has to be turquoise, right? The SB5c is a looker, especially when shot by Caleb’s son Elliot!
The first shipment is almost sold out, and the second lot are are about two weeks away, so if you want one you’d better give your local Yeti dealer a call and get in line! Find a dealer here…
The 5c is only available as a complete bike in this first shipment. The second shipment will offer frame only options too, while the big brother SB6c order is almost completely pre-sold!
