I have just bought (and almost finished building) a Yeti asr-sl frame which has a carbon rear triangle. This is the first bike i have owned with a substantial amount of carbon on it, which i must say looks scarily thin.

I was hoping to make it an xc (possibly do some races on) bike that will be a bit of a speed demon, but as i cant stand long stems and skinny handlebars, i have put on some 710mm wide sunnline V1s and a 50mm stem and first ride round the car park chainless, it feels soooo nice. I am thinking i will be wanting to ride this as a bit of a trail/xc bike but scared if i ride it harder than light xc it will snap into a million pieces :S, thoughts?

My mate snapped the carbon rear end on his yeti, cant remember which model, probably the 5

ive got a mojo sl full carbon trail bike. I ride it like I would any other bike and take no account of its material. (at least while its in warranty)

doing anything else is just stupid IMO, treat it like a trail bike, rag it and enjoy

+1
-1
for confidence in carbon there

what about doing ‘sweet jumps’ (allbeit small ones)

Isn’t there a recommended rider weight limit for the ASR, or am I dreaming that? Assuming you aren’t a ridiculously huge bloke, I reckon you’ll be okay 🙂

Just smash it about a bit, you need to find out if it’s going to brake or not ASAP! Otherwise you run the risk of it snapping out of warranty.

It won’t break though, don’t worry.

Just because it’s carbon, don’t assume it’ll snap. Carbon can be made to be very strong indeed. Having said that, if it’s poorly designed, it can snap just as aluminium or steel can crack.

o it’s second hand… no warranty for me 🙁
what scares me is that i can bend the seatstay/chainsays in towards each other with one hand.
im a slinky fella only 11stone

meh id still rag it, whats the poin in having a nice bike if you dont decide to ride it as you wish.

I decided when i bought mine that i would not worry about carbon, i think id still decide that even if it was second hand

what scares me is that i can bend the seatstay/chainsays in towards each other with one hand.

It’s ‘designed flex’ isn’t it, one of the good attributes of carbon is that this can be built in to the frame? So I wouldn’t be worried about being able to do this…

At the end of the day, it’s an XC racer bike, so use it for it’s intended purpose. I occasionally ride my older ASR-sl (now my wife’s bike) when I want a light/fast/comfortable off-road mile muncher, but if it’s a ‘bigger hit’ ride I’m planning then I have better/more suited bikes for this (Mojo HD nowadays 🙂 )

I’ve got a carbon 456 (hardtail).

I ride it harder than I ever did my aluminium XC frame because I trust it more. Highest I have got so far is about 3ft but working on that one.

It’s got a warranty doesnt it? Make sure you find any defects before the warranty runs out 😀

Anus?

yeah good point, why not ride it the way i want! 😀
i have a dh bike also if i decide i want some hardcore
unfortunately no warranty as its an 07 model unless yeti have some kind of awesome warranty deal they do?

Dancake?

A mate of mine had an ASR SL a couple of years back, He loved it, found it made a really good XC race bike and a very capable trail machine, but had to acknowledge he was getting more and more “Enthusiastic” in his riding and the frame was not going to last much longer if he kept it up, he eventually flogged it and got a Reign X (as an indication of how mean he was being to it)…

I think it is a “Save for Best” type bike really, the flexy carbon stays work well enough, but just remember it is an XC bike, if “Rad^Sick” is becoming your thing than maybe a 4X would suit better…

You can flex seat and chain stays on most bikes by hand, i can do it on my cotic, and its steel. The stays get a lot of strength from the Quick Release and Rear Hub. The rear swing arm can be made from even less carbon then hardtail carbon bikes because the rear has a shock that absorbs large impacts. I had a carbon hardtail which i was convinced was going to crack on me because the carbon down tube could be compressed with my thumb. It never broke, and i only sold it to get a longer travel hardtail.

I’ll take it off your hands if you’re worried.