Yeti SB-66 - First Look
On a sunny day in early April, the crew at Yeti brought together select media sources to have have a look at their all new SB-66 bike and suspension platform. In true Yeti form, the SB-66 is an all new suspension platform for them (more details below) and this new 6 inch bike is set to take trails by storm.
Yeti was approached at the Sea Otter Classic two years ago with a suspension design that some would say is outside the box and for that reason alone, the engineers felt that Yeti may be willing to take an innovative risk and help them progress the design into what we see today. Yeti added two of their own engineers to the mix and together the 4 engineers took the project forward - that concept has seen several prototypes in the past 2 years.
The result of all this work is the new SB-66 that uses Switch - Technology (more details below) in a 6 inch chassis. The new six inch bike is not replacing anything in the line up, rather it is adding to it. Yeti makes different genres of suspension for different applications and doesn’t limit itself to one particular design or style. Rail on the DH bikes, Single Pivots too etc. Read on to learn all about this new platform from Yeti Cycles.
Switch Technology:
Switch Technology uses an eccentric assembly to create a micro link (12mm link equivalent) that continuously repositions the lower pivot of the swing arm throughout the range of travel. This dual link design allows for a bike with great anti-squat characteristics for efficient pedaling, but maintains suspension independence throughout the bike's travel.
Pedaling Efficiency -
In the early stage of travel the micro link is guiding the lower pivot of the swing arm rearward. This rearward direction counteracts chain forces and gives the bike excellent anti-squat characteristics.
Plush, Controlled Travel -
As the bike moves past sag, the micro-link rotates in the opposite direction. This switch in direction controls the rate of chain stay growth, which is necessary to eliminate pedal feedback and allows for uninhibited suspension performance.
Suspension Rate -
The suspension rate has been optimize to work with Switch Technology. The rate switches from falling to rising to falling (dual inflection point) in order to achieve ideal anti-squat and suspension characteristics. Yeti has worked extensively with Fox Racing Shox to tailor the rate and shock tuning. In its current configuration, it is optimized for six inches of travel, but can be modified for different travel.
• 2 years of field testing
• Yeti has a 3 year exclusive on the technology
• The BB / pivot area is first forged and then post machined to get the tolerances needed for this all to work accordingly
Frame Details:
• Weight - Alloy - 7lbs with shock
• Weight - Carbon - 6lbs with shock
• Custom butted hydro-formed 6000 series aluminium
• Tapered inset head tube
• Oversized pivots (Top link pin - 17mm thru axle / Enduro Max angular contact bearings, Main pivot pin - 15mm thru axle / Enduro Max Bearings)
• Fully sealed eccentric system
• Switch Technology - Patent Pending suspension system
• Yeti Chip System - Drop Outs (9mm x 135mm or 12mm x 142mm)
• Internally routed cable guides on rear triangle
• Seat Post dropper guides
• Direct mount front derailleur
• Custom elastomer chain slap guards
• Post Mount Disc Tabs (160mm rotor size)
• Keyed mounts for ISCG 05, Old and no guide options
• Black, Turquoise, White and Yellow production colors.
Yeti SB-66 geometry:
Additional Information:
• Yeti recommends 25% sag on the SB-66 for optimum efficiency
• High Anti Squat
• Very linear = easily tuned (works well with both coil and air shock options)
• Fox Racing Shox has been involved from initiation of the project
• MSRP in USD; Frame Only - Fox Factory RP23 - $2200, SB-66 Enduro (X9/X7) $3500, SB-66 Race (XT Kit) $4500, and SB-66 Pro (XTR Kit) $6150.
• Carbon will be available in December and will shave a pound off the total frame weight. Price TBD.
• yeticycles.com
Photo by Tyler Roemer
Author Info:
Member since Mar 27, 2001
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Yeah, this would be a sick rig to pull out for any style. F*ck, that's sexy!
I think you may have something, apart from the shock stuff, to me it looks like giving it a shorter stroke would mean changing that eccentric link quite a bit to give it the leverage ratio and chainline length curves they were looking for. but maybe with a more compact verson of the link they could manage to 'chop' the top bit of the seattube off and use a gusset underneath the toptube to give it that super low standover. but have yeti ever made a slopestyle bike? its more likely they will make a 4X bike with this linkage as they are a racing brand.
There's also this sick video on the Yeti site showing errone what this bike is all about - hardcore AM/light freeride trail.
don't be fools to the marketing.
(i now i will get neg propped by those who do no understand why this is not new but just get sucked in by marketing and the shininess of it)
It may do a similar thing to other bikes, but it does it in a different way. In the end it just gives riders more choice. So why complain? :L
www.skipass.com/petites-annonces/divers/rockrider-9-2-comme-neuf-.html
I remember seeing one of these in France last year - look familiar?
I think its safe to say that the Yeti wins on looks and marketing though ;+)
Mechanically, I think its a great idea (and I would be interested in owning one), but innovative it obviously isn't.
(abp and split like are EXACTLY the same thing but have different patents, the right words make magic)
Thank you mackeroo, proves me point even further.....
I wasn't aware they had got one yet, merely applied, they don't state which part of the system they are applying for a patent for either, it could be one tiny little bit, all they do it for is to write it on their posters :L
evidently, however, it is not a new design so yeti are not the innovators, but decathlon it seems, so I think we'll just keep quite about that, especially when the final product looks like it was dropped out of the plane and welded back together by the local DT teacher
My personal opinion is the less pivots the better, less bearings, less friction (normally) so less energy lost (although that is marginal), less wear, less maintenance, less running cost, longer life. Unless the performance is greatly improved, simplicity is best for your everyday rider.
Great idea in so-cal, didn't work in the UK winter!
I worry that this Yeti will have the same issues, but I really like the idea of reduced chain growth at the end of the stroke (reduced chain impedance).
www.vttnet.org/2003/dkt92/Exentrique.jpg
read more (article from 2003!!!) : vttnet.org/article.php?id_article=132
The ones they sell today still use the same principle.
This is hardly any different than what Specialized/Fox did to Ricor, except of course Ricor's patent didn't specifically say "bicycles" though it did cover motorcycles and other "vehicles". Specialized/Fox had approached Ricor to license their patent for bikes, then went behind their backs and filed their own patents specific to bikes to try and lock up the technology exclusively to them. Meanwhile Ricor had also been licensing the patent to Stratos for forks not realizing Specialized was being deliberately deceptive with them and the US patent office (when you file a patent, you're supposed to include all known prior art in the application, even similar technology ones already held and valid, so the patent office can determine if your invention is sufficiently unique to qualify for patent protection.... and specialized did not do this, which is patent fraud).
Felt Bicycles did a similar thing a few years ago... their Equilink suspension linkage is stolen outright from its actual inventor, who displayed a prototype at Interbike a number of years ago, was in talks with Felt to license his design, which he didn't have the money to file a patent on himself. Felt claimed they were not interested in it, then filed a patent for it themselves.
You can read more about that fiasco here...
news.thylacinecycles.com/2007/04/ideas-are-worth-defending
I've been involved with a few bicycle related patents and it is a minefield!
This is particuarly the case when you start looking internationally, because you have to file in individual countries and then it gets very expensive and complicated. I would suggest that Yeti have considered the Rockrider NEUF design in their develop-ment which may only have a limited patent range and they have put a 'pending' status on it for US sales. Furthermore, the 'pending' status buys them time to make an impact in the market in Europe before Decathlon contest it - by which time Yeti recede and the design is old hat anyway?!
Unfortunately, the patent system is weighted in favour of the big organisations. They have the legal clout to get round patent law (as you describe in your example of Ricor). Furthermore, trying to defend a patent is a costly business. If you are a small enterprise all a patent represents is a deterent, because you can't afford to enforce it!
My view on this bike is that I think mechanically it is actually a sound idea. It is also really good looking (viva Yeti). I also think it will sell a load because a vast majority of the rider market is ill informed about the mechanics of bikes and they are willing to buy into marketing hype. Joe public may think that a quirky suspension linkage that he can't understand "must be doing something good because it is beyond my level of comprehension - I'll buy one!"
Its all fun and games isn't it?! ;+)
Best option is to go the way Ibis goes: choose between different finishes for the linkage.
Right now there's a war of ''ours-is-better'' between brands that all have half-@ssed designs because they're trying to work around each other's Bull**** patents.
My opinion as a bike designer is to share info. Call me a socialist, but you'll make more money working with other manufacturers to perfect your product and expand your client base than to pay lawyer fees. You attract more bees with honey than with vinegar.
This is the bike biz. With people riding bikes. Not Apple computers VS Apple records.
Is Bob Sugar an ingredient for sweet tea party?
The Haro Virtual link is another floating BB design, using a pair of short pivoting links off the main frame which are then concentric to the BB shell which is part of the swingarm to not only float the BB but also the swingarm. It differs from unified triangle designs (the Rocky Mountain Pipeline is probably the only one the kids on here would understand or know about, aside from walmart bikes) in that the swingarm and bottom bracket don't move together in exactly the same direction/arc around a single fixed pivot point.
I have only owned a Blur, Blur 4x, Nomad, VP and V10 as well as a Azure, 6 point and Sunday so am in no real place to comment about pedal feedback from Vpp and DW. But in comparison to my other bikes (and the list is a big one), the Sunday is the best pedaling bike out there (when you can pedal it because of the low BB). The Vp is one of the best ever made AM bikes if you set it up for that mainly due to its lack of pedal feedback in the climbs when it gets technical (mine was under 32lb).
Then there is a picture of a guy climbing on this no feedback bike and he is out of the saddle hahahaha
Looks sharp. Can anyone essplain how the micro link rotates first one way, then another? Is there a gear inside?
imageshack.us/photo/my-images/111/1709061850ig2.jpg/sr=1 - Decathlon Rockrider 9.2
I'm liking this Yeti though, really nice lines.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjB7zaLELMk
nothing new.....
I wonder what the differences are in the ratios from this design to yeti's designs? Either way its always good to see new designs and thought processes even if they eventually fail because we learn from them and move forward.
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Surely that is a bit excessive ?
Pictures of the specialized concentric pivot.
First of all, if I wasn't at work, I would have said what kingfish666 has said. Decathlon designed that, or bought the patents.
Secondly, no, it isn't the same tech. Placing the linkage on a eccentric pivot point, or placing a solid rear triangle on that same pivot point are two totally different ways of suspension design. Speclialized mainly used the eccentric system to reduce bottom out stress. In this case, Yeti designed some eccentric suspension design that combines a few positive factors all in 1.
So in the end, Specialized isn't pioneer in this design at all, and I appear to know a little more than a little about it.