Some ace deals about now for these frames, so will one be suitable for gentle (wheels on-ground but picking through rock gardens etc) Alpine riding with some 140-travel forks fitted. The main attraction for me is the light Hike-a-Bike weight but with more comfort than my LT HT…

should be more than capable, great bike, shame its not a 29er!

I am also interested in a ASR 5 frame. Is chain reaction doing the best deals or is there other retailers doing similar deals?

I got an insane deal from Delta Bikes in Dursley. I think mine was the last carbon one but there was an alloy version (2013) in medium too… Might be worth a call?

Seems like SupercededModel+ObsoleteWheelsize(other opinions are available)=BargaintasticDeals. Very desirable kit at a relatively (my Northern Tightwad genepool allowing…) affordable level. I’d imagine your local Yeti stockist would be making shelf space.

Yeah it will be fine, nay ideal, for that sort of stuff. I took my ASR5a to the alps a couple of summers ago (Meribel) and it was fine – never out of its depth in Meribel. If you go somewhere like PDS with Dh tracks and braking bumps, you might feel under-biked at times but that should be fairly obvious (and the same would apply to any ‘trail’ bike I’d imagine). Great bike.

It’s a great bike OP. I love mine. Like Superficial said, it’s more than capable in the Alps. Especially the natural singletrack but you sometimes have to work harder and be more considered. I also felt a little underbiked, out of depth and beat up on the DH runs. Then again for 50-51 weeks of the year it’s a perfect UK trail bike.

I had one and really enjoyed it. The geometry is well suited for technical terrain. On dh trails I found it depended on fork, wheels and axles to how it felt.

Get the 12 mm rear bolt through chip kit, make sure your fork has at least the 15mm axle and a good set of wheels it’ll be spot on.

Great bike…here’s a picture of the setup I had.

Cwmcarn by dan45a, on Flickr

Currently considering moving to the Stumpy Evo 29 to replace my ASR5C but before I do I’d like to try a Float 34 or the latest Pike set to 140mm to beef up the front end as my Float 32s are probably the component that let’s the bike down. Certainly something to consider if you’re spec’ing your build.

Kingifbiscuits- totally agree about the fox 32. Well worthy try with a pike fork. It was the main reason I changed from my asr5. The fox 32 fork wasn’t up to gravity enduro racing and fox 34 was silly money and known to be poor (even if stiffer) and pikes weren’t out.

Just had a looky at one in a shop and not too sure about the really low chainstay, just bothered about the rock clumpability factor on natural trails in the Alps (where i’m looking to spend more time this summer). My Dawg has the same feature and the aluminium shows the scars but it’s coped so far – but carbon…

I wouldn’t be worried. I’ve had rocks try and bite the carbon and only left tiny scratches to show for it. This is in the peak by the way. I know it sounds daft but trails in the alps are less rocky IME.

Cheers Superficial, how have you found the lower bearing sealing with the testing conditions of the Peaks?

The bearings look very exposed (you can see the bearing’s rubber seal) but mine have been fine. I replaced the lower bearings after they developed play at 2 years (literally a 15 minute job with the correct tool), and I haven’t needed to replace the dog-link bearings yet.

I’m not sure whether any frame would fare any better than that. Certainly my last frame used bearings every 6 months, but I suspect that was down to flex/design problems (Commencal Meta 5).

The bearings look very exposed (you can see the bearing’s rubber seal)

…that was my thinking, but as yours have been fine i’ll have a closer look at the frame again. Ta 😉

Golden CO (where Yeti are based) doesn’t have the typical American dry/dusty trails a la Santa Cruz. It snows and rains a fair bit so I think their bikes can cope with a bit of wetness.