As i’ve done some fairly extensive searching & still looking for opinions.

It’s time for my wife to get a new bike. As a background, she rides and races DH, and has used a medium Blur 4X as a trail bike, which is a little on the small side for her (bear in mind they are tiny though!).

She is 5’7″ with a 32″ inseam, and looking at the above as her new trailbike. Normal trails, bike will be built as a 2×10, Reverb & a 140mm fork, 50mm stem & wide bars, will be raced from all angles of XC for a bit of fun/fitness, to Gravity Enduro series, right up to the Megavalanche next year.

The size guides are pretty crazy on the Yeti website, everything is fine, apart from the seatube height confuses me. I noticed the only differences between the small & medium is 0.3″ on the seatube height and 1″ on the top tube.

I ‘think’ the size of the medium would suit her better except the seat tube height worries me, as i’m concerned with her height if she will be able to get full extension on the Reverb (even with the knuckle slammed as low as it will go into the seatube?)

Any thoughts? We have looked at the 575 as well, but it seems the bike would be that little bit too much for 90% of the riding the bike will be used for.

I am 5′ 8″ but with a 30″ inside leg. I have a medium ASR5c. I ride with the reverb post fully into the seatube and that gives the correct riding position at full extension. It does mean I can’t fit a mudguard which is a bit annoying. I have had both a medium and small 575 before and both fitted, though again there was little seatpost left on the medium. I would think that a small ASR5 might be a better fit but both would probably work.

Yeti sizing is weird. After days and days of deliberating, I’ve gone for a Medium ASR5 (I’m 6′ with 34′ inseam), after realising that a Yeti ASR5 medium is actually larger in the top tube and seat tube than my current Commencal in a large.

I would think that if I’m on a medium, your wife should probably be on a small as Enmac says.

Having said that, from what you say there’s not a huge difference in the standover height going from small to medium, so I would just go with whichever one gives the appropriate top-tube length. Yetis come up very long size-for-size compared with ‘similar’ bikes from other manufacturers. Being a girl (lady?), it’s likely that your wife will have a shorter torso relative to her height than a man – another reason to go for the shorter frame (small). Of course you can always play about with stem length to get the fit perfect (A medium with a 75mm stem will give the same cockpit length as a small with 100mm).

There are some bike fit calculators (http://www.competitivecyclist.com/za/CCY?PAGE=FIT_CALCULATOR_INTRO) although for me they weren’t particularly helpful. They basically told me what I already knew which was than an ASR5 in large would be better for pure XC and for an ‘all mountain’ build I should go for a medium.

Obviously it goes without saying that you should try and demo the different sizes, may be difficult to find a small though. The Bike Tree in Sheffield has a medium demo bike if that’s any good?

I’m 5′ 10.5″ (it all counts!!) with 34″ inside leg and I ride a medium with 80mm stem and the reverb post is fully down bar about 1.5″ out of the seat tube, I do use a Brooks saddle which are quite high compared to your normal low profile saddle.

I’m just under 5′ 10″. I demo’d a small AS-R, which is when I fell in love with it. It was nimble, agile and responsive, but I assumed it was too small cos I’m never a small in anything

I eventually bought a Medium, and it’s a good fit from an old school stretched-out XC viewpoint. However, I do occasionally wish I’d gone for the small for the extra flickability of it.

As your good lady is 2.5-3″ shorter, I’d say the small would be the best fit. Where in the country are you? There may be people in your area that would let you (well, your wife) try their bikes for size.

Thanks for the replies guys.

Enmac – I did try & compare to the Carbon ASR5, but that has what I would call more ‘traditional’ sizing.

The small has a reasonably short TT (same as her Blur 4X) and she would benefit from the extra 1″ (blimey) of the medium & run it with a shorter stem.

It’s more the seat tube height thats throwing a spanner in the works on the decision process. The small is 18.5″ & the medium is 18.8″. My concern is really the Reverb extension more than anything.

I’ll have to try & find a dealer & take the Reverb along to see how the fit works.

Otherwise it’s back to the drawing board. There is a distinct lack of 5″ low, slack trail bikes out there annoyingly.

what about a morewood, or canyon…

Enmac – I did try & compare to the Carbon ASR5, but that has what I would call more ‘traditional’ sizing.

the geo on both ASR5 frames is the same…?

Anyway, sizing is odd particularly as soon as you put a ladies BSG into the mix, your mrs has the same inside leg length as me, but her torso should be (stereotypically) much shorter. i would think with the stand over being so similar a small would maybe be more suitable, just with a bit more post out of the frame.

Apparently they only make (made?) three sizes in the carbon (small, medium, large) so while the carbon medium is approximately the same size as the alloy med, the small carbon sits between the XS and S alloy versions (and likewise with the large carbon sitting between the L and XL alloy frames).

Having said that, there definitely are geometry listings for 5 sizes of the ASR carbon on the Yeti website, perhaps they’ve started making more sizes now.

If you’re near York or Nottingham, depending on whether it’s weekend or weekday, I’ve got a medium ASR5C, running a 70mm stem, she could have a sit on (I’m 5’11.5″ – 6′ and 32″ inside leg by the way)…

IIRC they do now do the 5C in the full renage of ASR5 sizes. I had the same debate myself over whether to get a medium or a large. Went medium in the end for that slightly smaller frame and hence chuckability, now looking at trying a 90mm stem just ‘cos I want to see what it’s like with a slightly longer TT though.

the carbon now comes in the same sizes as the alu, at least according to their website. I’ve been looking into ASR5 sizing and have just been comparing the dimensions against my current bike as a reference. Good news for me at over 6’4″ is yetis are nice and long for their size 🙂