stewartc – Member

Yeti SB66c owner, get a smile just looking at it
You should try riding it 😈

wwaswas – Member

has made me think that maybe mine could, perhaps, do with some re-organisation;
How did you get in my garage?! 😳

My Yeti SB66c, built up its just shy of 28lbs, can climb better than my old Stumpy FSR, downs are a hoot, I can take it anywhere and have good fun. Might not rip up hills, but it certainly doesnt slow me down and coming back down the hill it really does rip along.

Black and gold 😀

Have they removed the tape from the roll-in/drop at the end of Labyrinth? I have a feeling there were too many injuries there so they taped it off, but its never been an issue in the last 5yrs I’ve ridden Swinley until now apparently.

As the others have said, there’s not that much difference between them if you take your time and keep an eye on the trail properly. Its all rollable and no big surprises. Just take it easy on the fast swoopy bits as there are a few corners that could catch you out – seems to happen a lot on the red, most accidents are on the fast swoopy bits with people going too fast for their skill set.

Come back in ~15 years and see if we are still talking about Danny, that will be the proof of the pudding in my eyes. Two very different riders, and two massive skill sets. If you watch the vid of making of Imaginate when they met each other, there was stuff Danny could do which Martyn couldnt, and vice versa, both very impressed with each others riding.

They are both nutters!

TBH that sounds like overkill for 6c. I commute in a Gore Phantom all year round with varying levels of arms on or off and part way betwen as pit zips (of sorts). In 6c I’d be in the Phantom with arms part zipped off with a thin Helly Hansen base layer, not a thermal one.

I am a big fan of softshells though.

BPW blues are like BMX tracks (well they were opening weekend), would be great for getting confidence back up, theres nothing tight or technical on them. Only thing to watch is the speed you can carry into some corners may be more than you can get around them at 😯

PeterPoddy – Member
Sometimes you just need to talk about your problems for a while I guess!

We call this a Teddy Bear review at work, idea being you talk you Teddy through the problem and 9 times out of 10 you solve it without anyone’s help! Quite often I get so far as saying to someone “Quick question…” and no sooner have I said it, the answer pops in my head 😆

remoterob – Member

Talks about skill building due to lack of forgiveness in early bikes, then talks about how forgiving the modern rigid is…

The modern rigid with 2.35 20psi tyres, discs, bigger wheels and slacker angles is *probably* more of a ‘skills masker’ than any early 90’s era hardtail.

CXWorld would also argue that anything over 35mm is over biked.
Fully agree. The only reason I started my missus out on a HT w/flat pedals was so she could learn to hop/maunal the bike properly as its far easier to learn this on HT than FS. After she got that nailed we moved her up to FS and shes never looked back.

If you take the view you should start on a rigid bike, then you should really start on a BMX as you can learn far more stills from that quickly before you “progress” onto an MTB. Theres also far more young-uns on 8″ monsters that do far bigger and better things than us and they started on FS. There is some merit on learning some skills on rigid and flat pedals vs FS and clipped in, but once you have them theres no reason not to use a bigger bike if you are happy with it. This argument is far out of proportion these days.

Been using Conti Gatorskin 25mm for the past 2 years with no problems but this year is the first time I’m going through the winter so just ordered some Conti 4 seasons. Same layup pretty much as the Gatorskins but with softer rubber. Also gone to 28mm that just fit but will give a plusher ride 😀

Wiggle have 4 seasons on for £30 each too.

I’ve had 4 or more 2bliss tyres (mix of Ground Control and Purgatorys) on my Stans Arch and they’ve all inflated with no sealant and just a track pump. They do weep after a while but doesn’t seem to be detrimental to the sealing of them.

Here’s mine 😀

Still perplexed by the SB66 and chain growth issues, there cant be many things causing it, it should be quite simple to site down and work out. No problems where hammering it down the Beast in the Peaks and rather flat Swinley.

SB66c, bit under 28lbs. XX1 saved a good chunk of weight, this is still pretty light for having Float 34’s and a Reverb. Could save a bit by removing the Reverb and having Float 32’s but would totally ruin the bike IMO.

Even my missus picked up on the rear brake comment, where do they get these “coaches”?!

Mobi’s are great, not so much pressure it will kill bearing either. 😀

XX1 30t up front. I would go 32t but the 2 teeth lower are a life saver on longer climbs with the missus where if I were on a 32t I couldn’t pedal slow enough to stay back with her 😆

Thats good news then.

Do you know how many links the shop added to the chain when sizing it? It should be 2 extra links when at point of compression of max growth (seemed to be about 70% of travel for me) or 4 extra links if done from resting (ie not compressed). I sized mine by 2 extra links at max chain growth and no problems at all now it has the bump stop in place.

Bit of an odd one. You should be able to see whats happening by letting all the air out from the shock and cycling the linkage. The eccentric should swing from resting place in my first pic, up and back, then hit a point of inflection and come back down again to just passed the original starting point at full travel. The only way I can see chain growth being excessive is if its not swinging back forward again.

For reference –

Switch eccentric right orientation:

Switch eccentric wrong orientation:

Missing bumper

*NOTE* Ironic QC sticker! 🙄

stewartc – Member

Bike shop fitted and they can’t figure out what is happening, the chain seems fine and I not heard any issues with XX1 and Yeti SB66c’s.
Currently have my 4th power link fitted, the last break literally saw a complete link just snap and go flying off into the bushes (never managed to lose a whole link before, they usually leave something left hanging in).
Gear changes seem to be fine generally but each break is usually preceded with the feeling that the chain is slipping seconds before.

Managed to also ‘pop’ a seal on my new Pike a few weeks ago in the 2nd ride, maybe need to review my technique, never had these problems with Shimano or Fox.
Check under the Switch eccentric and make sure the bump stop is there. My SB66c was missing it and when I went on a test ride the Switch managed to go from the usual 1 o’clock – 3 o’clock position to do a 180 and be back around the other way, which lengthened the chain growth massively! So much so when I was building it up the chain was the right length (via compressing a shock with no pressure in it) to a point where when I then came back after the Switch had 180’d that it would barely go on the largest cog. This is on a SB66c with XX1. If I had been in first gear when it popped around the wrong way (about 60-70% travel), it for sure would have bent the mech/hanger or snapped the chain.

Also chain growth is no more than my Stumpy FSR when the bumper is there, you need the shock in place to make it cycle correctly through the eccentric path, so let all the air out of your shock before checking for growth. I seem to remember max growth wasn’t in fact at max compression, it was about 70-80% of the travel.

Check the pump stop is there people 😉

johnellison – Member

I would have thought that carbon paste would have acted as a lubricant? Anything between to seat tube and seatpost will cause the seatpost to slip. Surely it would be better to degrease the seatpost and inside of the seat tube completely if you want to increase friction?
That assumes the post and seat tube are both perfectly flat and smooth so to get the most grip between them. Actually they are not, so the fiber paste will fill the gaps and give better friction between them thus requiring less pressure from the clamp to stop them moving. I was very surprised when I tried this on my bike how much less pressure it actually needs.

Invisiframe is great and does really blend in. I am looking for something a bit thicker to protect the down tube on my SB66c because I’m a bit paranoid, but happy it will protect the frame from scuffs and scrapes – in fact it already has!

Yeah just upload it and then crop it in the website 🙂

Had mine a few months, no problems so far, it’s awesome compared to the Spesh FSR it replaced.

Silverfish seem good, mine was missing a stoper bolt for the Switch and they had one to me in 2 days FoC. Can’t say fairer than that.

Sorry I meant to do Red 1 and tank traps then go left at the end of tank traps, you can then take the next fire road on the right, then a left and up to Jump Gulley. Gulley was runnig ok, a bit muddy at the bottom of a couple of transitions but rest is ok.

Did Baby Maker for the first time in ages today. It’s good fun but far from DH by today’s standards! Love the biggest table on it, it’s got a really good transition to launch off 😀

Probably a bit late now, but was there this morning and as the others report, its fine, few puddles in places. Skip from Red 1 up to Jump Gulley and on and you will miss the bog on the red.

Agreed with the crown of the trail, I’ve never liked the feeling of that personally, and it does feel worse in the wet, you just have to stay on the inside half of it and make it work in your favour. Its swings and roundabouts as its the crown that makes it drain well.

Phantom is great, I have 2, a yellow one for commuting and a red one for MTB. I end up wearing them all the time as its waterproof enough for most adventures bar torrential rain and zip off sleeves make it tunable enough for most temperatures 😀

Double post 😕

You cant expect a 1×11 to completely replace the whole range of 2×10, but it does come damn close and the fact you lose the front mech is more worth it than you think. I can from a 2×9 setup (36/22 x 11-34) and with a 30t on XX1 I lost a top end and a bottom end gear. I dont notice that at all but coming from X0 9sp, the shifting is so much better, there is no noise/chain slap, I dont need a chain device any more. It really is amazing. I did get it from a German site with decent discount so it was only ~£700 all in which isnt that much when you think that level of 2x and a chain guide would be way more.

My Yeti SB66c came with the frame wrapped in open cell foam, maybe 5mm thick, then in big cardboard box. At either end of the box there was extra cardboard for the headtube and dropouts to fit into and there was a spacer between the dropouts. So maybe a bit more than SC uses, but not by a huge amount. Frame was spotless on arrival, but it hasnt stayed that way 😀

They are long in the TT, just run it with a short stem. I’m only a short ass, so fit a small whereas I’d usually be a medium, with a short stem it feels perfect to me.

Jason – Member

I know it is too late now, but the locks on all the roof rack bike carriers really are rubbish.
Agreed! We have a Thule tow bar rack and I would never trust the lock on it, they are crap! We use a 1.5m 14mm to secure the bikes, with an alarmed padlock, wrapped around the tow bar mount itself.

Not had mine long, only had it out on one ride in Swinley and 3 over in the Peaks this last weekend. Love it! Climbs better than my old Stumpjumper FSR and I love the supportive feeling the Switch platform gives you to be able to pump the terrain. It takes a little to get into the suspension because of this, so its not as plush feeling as the FSR, but I much prefer it like this.

Agree with what the others have also said, especially InvisiFRAME, go for the matte one if you get an SB66c, its blends in wonderfully, can hardly tell its there.

Up on Shatton Moor yesterday:

That looks like the old Maxle 135×12 (http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/hope-pro-2-conversion-kits-12mm-thru-rear/rp-prod21849 ) and not a proper 142×12 (X12) (http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/hope-pro-2-conversion-kit-x12-rear/rp-prod47535)

Right code on the bag by the looks of it, wrong product in the bag. I hope this isnt a sign of things going down hill at Hope, as I recently had an a standard X12 end cap labelled as XX1/XD X12, which then didnt fit my XD body. LBS sorted it no probs but shouldnt have happened.

^^^^^ I used to ride with 2 of them, that was proper night riding!!!! ^^^^^^

roverpig – Member
Kashima on its own is not worth it, but the damping on the Factory CTD-A shocks is way better than the basic Evolution CTD versions.

This. I assume its not just Kashima that you are getting but an upgrade to the Factory level from Evolution. Having had Factory and Evolution versions of shock and forks, they are worth the extra. If it was just Kashima then I’d say wait until service time and get it done then as it will only cost ~£100 extra.

Thick/thin and clutch mech will do it. I went the expensive way and did XX1 but no looking back now. I run no guide and no dropped chain in a good few hundred off road miles. With my old 2×9 and MRP guide I used to lose the chain fairly frequently, so happy to report thick/thing and clutch mech do definitely work.

The full face is more likely to cause problems if you fall on it, now people say why would you fall on a transition, they’re usually dead simple. To which I agree, and say that’s why you shouldn’t have to wear a helmet on transitions That rule’s got to discourage fullface wearing.

How dare you use common sense sir! But I fully agree, falling on a full face helmet on your back will likely do more damage as they are not designed to crumple on impact which an XC lid would.

That said if I give Enduro racing a go next year (which is the intention), I will likely have 2 lids, XC for transitions and FF for the stages if the course is at a DH site, but if its just in some local woods, I’d probably just go with a XC lid only.

Expecting my SB66c on Monday. No 650b for me 😛