I’ve had my Carbon zesty 714 for 2 years and am very happy with it both going up and down, amazing bike! but am starting to get the new bike urge and fancy a change. This is my 2nd Zesty so am looking what else is out there and really like the Yeti ASR5 carbon fitted with a 130- 140mm fork, I have heard its super quick both up and down. The one shown in this month’s Dirt is super nice.

I was wondering if anyone had tried a ASR5C out and had any comparison against a zesty or any another good 140mm bike around trails centers?

I ride mostly Welsh trail centers and the odd XC enduro/marathon. I’m not too worried about getting less travel as have an Alpine160 for the bigger stuff and uplift days.

Any feedback welcomed.

hi dan45a I can’t comment on the C but will very much recommend the alloy. I built mine up as light as I could afford for xc/trail use and find its superb in every aspect. Not cheap mind… Take a look at the Yeti fan site for more pics and info on ASR 5s.

Scruzer +1, love my ASR5, just a beautiful ride…

I’ve got an alloy. I’m coming from a Commencal Meta 5.5 but I’ve ridden a few Lapierres and other bikes. Basically all the reviews are spot on, the suspension on the ASR5 isn’t as smooth as other trail bikes but the stiffness and geometry is great for going quickly downhill. I.e. you’ll get a bit shaken but it’s a more stable platform to point the nose in the right angle or flick it into a chute etc.

Kind of the opposite of the sort of magic carpet VPP rides where the suspension is working overtime but it never feels that controlled on really steep stuff.

I like mine a lot but I don’t think it’s for everyone. Get a test ride and see if you like it!

To add to Superficials comments though – read the bike radar review/yeti manual. Setting the sag to 30% rather than 25% (with the propedal still on “1” as per the manual) makes a huge difference to comfort levels with (IMO) no conceivable loss on the bikes performance elsewhere. Its much more “magic carpet” at 30%

I agree with the VPP comparison though, thats a good one. I owned an Intense Tracer and 5.5 before the ASR-5, and (the Tracer less so) they both felt much less controlled in the rough stuff than the ASR-5. For me anyway, i feel like I can just get on and ride and let the bike deal with itself.

Thanks for the valueable feedback guys. This helps a lot. I dont mind a more spirited if harsher ride if it results in more speed.

What size fork are you running? As I’m looking to move the parts from my 714 if i go for it which will be a 140mm fox float 32.

I’m hoping to have a demo ride around my local loop a afan in the next 2 weeks (waiting for demo bike to be built up), so that should give me a good comparison to my zesty.

I’m running an F120, but the bike is rated up to 140. It changes the head angle from 68 to 67 degrees but won’t change the balance of the bike that you’d notice.

I run a 120mm sid wc up front.

All i can say is
Ilove it

I did have Pikes (140mm) now on Revelations (also @ 140mm) which seem a perfect match IMO. I like the slackness so I was always buying it for the ability to run 140mm forks with 67 deg head angle – never even considered anything else.

I’m half-tempted to try 150mm on it, although there may be warranty issues. If you read the Pinkbike review, they were using 150mm forks.

Kryton – I think I need to try with a bit more sag. I’m still getting used to how it rides. Are they really suggesting you set up sag with pro-pedal on?

<I should read the manual, shouldn’t I?>

Nope – always setup sag without the pro pedel THEN switch it on.

The manual is here – http://yeticycles.com/11_Support/Media/2011_OwnersManualASR5C_LR.pdf

Running an alloy ASR5 with 140-110 32 Fox Talas upfront and to be honest, I should have just got floats as the bike will climb like a billy goat even left at 140mm. As others have said, its a firmer ride than some so you may need to ride with a little more gusto than before.
Out here I ride a mixture of XC/AM trail which can be very rocky and unforgiven if you get it wrong and the ASR-5 has improved my very amature skillset considerably.
As for Carbon over alloy, to be honest for the extra money its cheaper to loose the .34kg by going on a diet!

Review of just this bike in last month’s Dirt Mag. (the one with the guy riding through red smoke on the cover).

Basically the review said it was ace, and agreed with yeti’s claim that it is a ‘cheater’ bike; ie it is so good both up and down hill it feels like you are cheating.

Have you seen how much they are though? 😯

Love mine.

Some small still left at £1250

Mike Jones’ ASR5C was porn.

That’s all.

To those thinking of getting an ASR-5..go for it.
Not an expert, just a keen amature and owned a variety of wheels over the years (Specialized, Marins, Gary Fishers etc) but this is the best bike I have owned in 15 years of riding…just wished the RP23 had a kashima coating and the frame was torquise!!
Image

Leku – Member
Love mine.

Some small still left at £1250 must pay mortgage…

Just you stop that right now.

Just you stop that right now.

Only Small left.

Don’t open stewartc’s link…

Thanks all for the feedback. Really can’t wait to try one out now…the demo bike should be ready in 2 weeks. Come on Skyline cycles…
It’s the dirt review that really got me interested. As I’ve been so happy with my zesty I was waiting for something special to come along to replace it and it seems like this could be it.
I’m all for carbon frames though, I had an alloy zesty for 2 years before my carbon one and the difference was more than just the weight it was the chassis stiffness, speed and less trail buzz.
Also the carbon doesn’t mark like alloy, my 714 has been the best wearing frame material I’ve had. Still looks like new (almost)…and could be for sale soon 🙂

I have had my ASR5 (alloy) for about 2 months now.
It replaced a turner 5spot dw link (fitted with angleset and CCDB).

My goal for swapping was to achieve a lighter weight and something with less travel, with most of my riding being around the Surrey Hills.

So far, I am deeply impressed with it. I have a second bike (ragley ti hardtail). When I had the choice of riding the turner or ragley, I would more often pick the ragley, since getting the yeti I find thats my first choice, its got some hardtail like vibe going on, with 125mm rear travel and a set up that favours a firm suspension setting (the Yeti 575 is the bike to buy if you prefer plush feeling suspension).

I worried (wrongly) I might break the carbon swingarm, liking my jumps and drops (albeit I only weigh around 72kilos), but so far so good and have ridden a genuine 4-5ft drop to flat (Judges seat for anyone who knows surrey hills)without any breakages.

I use a 140 talas fork, but have never used the reduced travel setting.
The suspension design does bob when pedalling (single pivot design) which took some getting use to, you dont really feel it, but you can look down to the shock and see it moving loads. The turner DW link use to pull the chain taught under pedalling loads, so this does feel quite odd, but the bike climbs technical rooty climbs better as the rear wheel moves more to hung the ground and maintain better traction.

I recently took the bike to chicksands and it turns out to be an excellent 4x bike, manualled brilliantly over the doubles/tripples there and has a nice low BB for good cornering. The bike sits so low (even with 140 forks) that again this prompts a firmer set up with the shock to reduce pedal strikes.

I have 1×10 gearing, crossmax ST wheels, XTR brakes, xtr drivechain, carbon bar, dropper post and it weighs just under 26lbs which seems really good for what the bike can handle.
This is my first yeti frame, have always fancied owning a yeti and am well impressed. Sorry to waffle, hope comments are helpful.

stewartc – Member
To those thinking of getting an ASR-5..go for it.
Not an expert, just a keen amature and owned a variety of wheels over the years (Specialized, Marins, Gary Fishers etc) but this is the best bike I have owned in 15 years of riding…just wished the RP23 had a kashima coating and the frame was torquise!!
Image

That photo – thats one of the best uses of MBR I’ve ever seen… 😆

In case you missed it last time…

I absolutely love mine. It ticked every box when I was looking for a new bike a couple of years ago and it hasn’t disappointed. Even in Morzine it was remarkably confident whatever riding I was doing.

I would 100% recommend one to anyone wanting to go fast and have fun. Lots of it.

Right thats it **** right off with showning the white ones, thats just not fair.

Barstward

I checked with the importer and you can run a 150 on an ASR5 and not invalidate the warranty. Waiting for one more bit and mine will be ready.

just wished the RP23 had a kashima coating and the frame was torquise!!

No Kashima RP23 but my 2012 (alloy) frame is turquoise. Love it!

Buy one. I did. I love it. A black 5 Carbon, XTR drivetrain, DT XMM 120 fork with 15QR, Tech X2 brakes, Pro2 Evo on Stans Crest Hoops and RR/NN combo, Ritchey Superlogic carbon riser, Sumo carbon post, red Hope stem/rotor carriers/BB/seat QR/rear skewer, weighs in at 24 and a smidge pounds. Not quite as pimp as a white or turquoise one but hey… Had it 6 months and it’s brilliant – did TransWales on it, regularly ride Dalby Black, smashed it around the Lakes. Light enough for occasional racing, strong enough for some hefty trails. Photos are on the phone at the mo, really should transfer them over although they’re not brilliant as they were taken with the phone, in the shop, having just paid the cash – hands a bit shaky after parting with so much hard earned… Will try and do it tomorrow.

Here they are, got them sorted:

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here’s mine as soon as it came out of the box:

yeti by kryton57, on Flickr

I bought mine as ex-demo (3 rides around the car park according to the LBS), with the only issue being a barely visible scratch underneath the down tube. Note the slight “downgrades” of the wheels, stem & bar being Bontrager Race light instead of the oem items. It did come with a CBrothers droppy post also though.

Full XT throughout, with RT76 rotors, F120 FIT.

And the bit that will REALLY make you sick? I paid £2270 in total for the whole bike 😆 😆 😆