Ok, I admit it's not a very exotic build. The plan is to eventually fit Alfine 11 but for now here it is.
I wanted one of these ever since I saw the Sea Otter pics. I have been 29er curious for about a year now, but not even seen anything I'd want to own and worryingly never even slung my leg over a 29er!
I've always ridden big bikes, I'm only 5'11" but I must have odd proportions because I'm a 58cm road size and 19"on most MTB's.
I love the look of it, It doesn't seem to look like an MTB with big wheels, more like just a big MTB if that makes sense?
The parts were surprisingly difficult to source I thought, especially rims. Tyres still seem thin on the ground, (I wanted Nobby Nics but they don't come out til November in the UK). The 29er Rebas with tapered steerer and Maxle were also pretty difficult.
First ride is tomorrow night, but it's passed the block paved cul-de-sac test and to my huge relief, it doesn't seem weird.It is a good fit first time.
I'll update this thread with first impressions after my ride.
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Thanks for looking, and thanks to fellow STW'ers for their input on sizing and fit.
Beautiful! Good luck keeping those grips white though, I had some on another bike, pretty sure the "Yeti" logo is the 'palm' bit of the grip though?
I don't think you're sizing is odd at all, I'm 5'11 too and ride an 18" charge with a long stem and layback post, and a 58cm road bike.
Love that top tube logo
Couldn't you find a white bottle cage? 😀
Looks great!
Looks great.
I see what you mean about it not looking weird, looks totally in proportion. Makes me want a 29er even more!
Enjoy!
You've got some good fun to come...
Looks V V nice... 😛
You'll be wanting to put some flat bars on that soon though, and a zero rise stem. I was quite amazed at the extra front end height I gained when I got a 29er, the cure was flat bars and zero rise stem to combat it.
And don't know where you ride, but you might want to save those Maxxis Aspen's for April-September next year, don't look the most grippy of things considering how soft the ground is getting already!
Yeti grips on a Yeti though... Nice attention to detail... 😉
sooper sweet there Ed 🙂
Presses imaginary 'like' button
I wasn't sure about the tyres. I think I'm clinging to the vague hope that the bigger contact patch will make up for the not very aggressive tread! Still they've only got the Lincolnshire Alps to contend with.
Thanks for your comments guys.
Very nice indeed. Black shiny cranks would make it near perfect 😉
Looks pretty fabulous, I am sure it will be truly brilliant to ride. I love the way my wagon wheels get over stuff, esp multiple logs, rock as and stuff that would hold up wee wheels.
Interested to know how the carbon rear takes some of the sting out of the ride, esp compared to my VERY rigid chumba.
Aspens are great, easily my fave tire for soft and muddy. Racing Ralph for the summer are great in mahooooosive 2.4 size.
Look forward to the updates, great job on the build. Go get it muddy!
Kev
nice! get the 29er nobbynics from bike24.de they are cheap and deliver very fast.
looks good, although as 13thfloormonk says above the grips are on the wrong way round and the wrong way up - the oval yeti logo goes under your palms for comfort and then the yeti text goes under your fingers for grip.
Looks really good, finishing touch would be straight bars and zero rise stem for me. Still I bet its gonna ride real good. 🙂
really really nice mate!!! 😀
:lol:Sorry for the fail on the grips guys, I was expecting stick for the setback Thomson and long grass, but you've all shown tremendous restraint. I've just been out and tweaked the grips!!!! Sleep easy.
LIke!
Bike 24 out of stock of NN when I tried them
yeah, sort the grass out and remove the leaves next time 🙂
Where did you get it, its lovely and I didn't think they were out yet?
Beautiful 🙂
lovely.
i love the look of the Big top but my only concern would be with the mud clearance on the rear ? But if it rides as good as it looks enjoy 🙂
Saw a big top at the cycle show and thought then it looked the 'rightest' 29er I've seen. Wasn't wrong that's very cool looking.
Nice build
Mud clearance is a tad stingy, but I read somewhere that they (Yeti) wanted to keep the wheelbase quite short. Bromley bike got them in a couple of weeks ago but I think maybe they were keeping it quiet until the bike show.
Have Yeti called it a Big Top cos they really think it's a clown bike?
Yes, exactly that reason...
The OP's does look great though.
[i]The OP's does look great though.[/i]
Agreed!
I bloody hate this forum. Now there's a 29er I like. Bum!
looking again, have you got a close up pic of the front mech/cabele, it looks like a straight through run?
Beautiful bike.
rOcKeTdOg - Memberlooking again, have you got a close up pic of the front mech/cabele, it looks like a straight through run?
Go on the Yeti website and zoomify the pictures.
It is.
http://www.yeticycles.com/#/bikes/BigTop/1/ <
Direct mount front mech with a cable stop just above it. Not sure I can really see the point FWIW, I reckon that a cable stop in the more conventional position is better - shorter run, further out of the firing line of the rear wheel.
Yes, straight through run to a direct mount mech. The direct mount was to keep the chainstays short and the wheelbase.There's a really nice Yeti man embossed blanking plate included with the frame for the front mech mount if you run it singlespeed or 1x9/10 etc, but the horizontal "chip" dropouts aren't available just yet.
Awwwwwwww crap.
Now I want another Yeti.
That's easily the best, niceset 29er I've ever clapped eyes on. **drools**
😀
Go on, how much for the frame?
£700 ish from Jenson (not inc taxes, etc)
£999.99 but don't tell the Missus please!
UK price?
When I bought my 575 it wasn't worth importing one, and the Pound is weaker now...
EDIT
Didn't see that before I posted. Still not worth importing one then really.
It's warm, the trails are dry, why can't it be 5.15pm? Today is really dragging
Love it! Definitely need to see it with some mud on it though :-). I recently built up a chumba hx2. No more 26er for me.... Where did you source the forks from if you don't mind me asking?..
Slight hijack, but hurrah to awesom-o for being another HX2 owner. Hurrah!
Kev
Still like the look of that big top though!
Cheers big_scot, there don't see to be too many around. I tried to order one through Si but due to lack of stock (and my impatience) I ended up sourcing one from Australia...will post pics soon... apologies for the hijack... how do you hide the receipts from the wife redted? 🙂
Right guys,this is coming from a "never ridden a 29er before" perspective so I might be stating the obvious to some of you, so forgive me. It was mega,I really, really like it. It feels so fast on the flat, there is a definite flywheel effect on the wheels. I didn't really notice the wheels taking more getting up to speed unless you make a standing effort, but being a "twiddler" I didn't notice it so much when seated. Once the wheels are up to speed it is alot easier to maintain it.
It also seems to roll quicker over bumpier ground too. The difference is like being reminded of when you first went from a rigid bike to front suspension.(if some of you are that old!) You find yourself suddenly getting away with more. Cornering wasn't really any different. twisty singletrack wasn't really any worse, just different.
On climbs, the flywheel effect seemed to help, it felt smoother and easier to stay on top of your gear. Descents were really fun, you get a bit carried away and have a bit of a feeling of invincibility!
I wouldn't say it's better or worse but I was surprised how engaging it was to ride, especially having never ridden 29" before, but I didn't feel I was having to learn to ride it. Put it this way, if I had demo ridden it, I'd have bought one there and then.
I would say that it definitely feels like a race bike compared to my Soda. I wouldn't say that the carbon back end made it that forgiving, but on the flip side it feels like your effort is certainly being transfered very effectively.
The woods were a bit claggy in places but the "mud shelf" behind the BB didn't seem to happen although the Maxxis Aspens are a roundish profile as opposed to squared off,and seem to fit through the chainstay area a bit better than a squarer one would. I think I'll definitely be hunting down some Nobby Nics for winter though.
The only thing I didn't like were the grips. I run Oury's normally and found the Odi Yeti's a tad skinny for me but I'll stick with them for now. As it stands at the moment I could definitely become a convert to big wheels.
As a side note, The 10 speed Dyna sys seemed to work well. I couldn't say whether it is any better or worse than the 9 speed stuff as I was trying to get my head round how the gearing translates to the bigger wheels. I seemed to spend more time on the big ring than I would on my 26" and had a bit of a head fart trying to figure out if it was the bigger wheels, my giddiness at being on a new bike or the bike overall.
Interestingly, I had to tell nearly everyone it was a 29er most of them didn't notice straight off.
I just read all of that 🙂
Still not getting a 29er! So there! 😛
Ha-ha, it's a Dr Pepper thing I reckon, Try it, what's the worst that could happen?
Blimey, think what you'd be like on a proper 29er! 😉
Cracking bike. It's bang on how I'd uild it (except for the bars). Been toying with the idea of buying one of these and feel a little more convinced.
I love the look of it, It doesn't seem to look like an MTB with big wheels, more like just a big MTB if that makes sense?
Just with a really tiny chainset.
First time I've seen a 29er and actually thought 'I want one of those.'
First time I've seen a 29er and actually thought 'I want one of those.'
ditto. damn.
I really like the look of this! Very nice! Been thinking of a 29'er next but holding out for a while. This is one of the best i've seen! I'm offen out attacking Lincoln's alps so drop us a message bud 😆
RedTed, do you mind if I ask what the seatpost diameter is, please? Wondering if I could go for a frame/fork/rim swap with my existing 26er.
Oh, what BB format does it take?
it takes a 30.9mm seatpost and has a 73mm BB shell ....
Stu
I've gone a got one now too !
Love it 😆
Hi Redted,
Was wondering what size you ended up getting for the Big Top? I'm about the same height and very keen on these models (after some extensive research on alternatives). I think at 5'11" it'd be a medium, based on the 19" 26er bike I currently ride. The TT length is 23.4" with standover height of 30". Based on the size frame you've got, how's the ride? Thanks for your help!!
6ft 4" and ride a XL.
Top frame and how many have you seen out on the trails.....none !
Love mine 😆
Lovely bike. And happy to see you are so happy with it.
29ers roll, and indeed rock
That's one more of us and one less of them.
Ps: plenty of 2.4 Nobbly nics in stock with 2.25s due next week
That's one more of us and one less of them.
Yeah, it's great trying to self-impose classifications on riders based on the size of wheels 🙄
Lovely looking bike though.
Very nice indeed!
That's one more of us and one less of them.
Yeah, it's great trying to self-impose classifications on riders based on the size of wheels
i don't think charlie could get anymore tongue in his cheek
OK... I'll let it pass then 😉 Hard to tell these days - there are too many stupid evangelistic types around...