Yeti SB140 T-Series LR review

The SB150 T-Series Lunch Ride sits roughly mid-pack in the range of SB Yeti mountain bikes.

The brand’s latest trail bike has gained 10mm more travel than the Yeti SB130 it replaces, but that’s far from the only thing that’s new.

The ‘Lunch Ride’ version here uses a 160, rather than 150mm-travel fork and a Float X reservoir shock with more damper oil. Both are designed to add more capability and optimisation for charging harder than a regular trail bike.

On the chassis itself, the seat tube is shorter to fit longer-stroke dropper posts. There’s also a more compact iteration of Yeti’s unique Switch Infinity design with Kashima-coated rails that have new seals and bearings on the top-tier carbon Turq frame tested here.

Yeti SB140 T-Series LR frame and suspension

It’s hard not to drool over the slick and compact SB140’s lines and styling, but cosmetics aside, Yeti has paid attention to plenty of details you can’t see.

Higher-grade 'Turq' fibres in this T-Series model save weight, and across all frames, each size is laid up specifically so flex and torsional stiffness are consistent.

Continuing this equality theme, chainstays grow and the seat angle increases in increments too, so the rider balance and climbing position remain dialled regardless of height.

Yeti’s unique Switch Infinity suspension is essentially a single-pivot design with a pivot that moves up and down Kashima sliders – firstly to increase anti-squat to combat pedal bob, and then to reduce pedal kickback deeper in the stroke.

The bearing interface has been revised for reduced friction and longer wear life (presumably you still need to keep one eye on cleaning the Kashima rails because it’s not unheard of to wear out the coating).

Yeti has also made the zone above the (now threaded) bottom bracket much neater, plus there’s 34mm more rock impact clearance underneath, complete with a dual-density guard.

Thick, rubberised chain-slap protection extends all around the stays too, which, with the tunnelled cable routing, ensures the ride is silent.

Yeti SB140 T-Series LR geometry

The cockpit is very roomy and, with chainstays marginally longer than most, there’s a generous wheelbase in each size here.

The SB140 is a bit lower than most frames, with its stubby head tube and a reduced stack height (that’s exaggerated by a lower-rise bar). The head angle is slightly steeper too.

There aren’t any geometry adjustment features, however.

Yeti SB140 T-Series LR specifications

The spec is what you’d hope for on an £8,500 bike.

Strong, reliable DT Swiss XM1700 wheels roll with proven Maxxis tyres. Four-piston SRAM Code brakes have the necessary adjustment and power, and a proven SRAM XO1 Eagle 12-speed drivetrain has stiff cranks and crisp shifting.

You also get a nicely shaped Yeti 780mm carbon bar. However, with the shorter head tube, the ride position felt slightly stretched with a 50mm stem, so I swapped to a 40mm version to tune fit and tip my centre of gravity rearwards.

Yeti SB140 T-Series LR ride impressions

Rolling fast and smooth over chopped-up ground is the well-damped chassis’ signature move.

Roomy and stable, it really trucks along on mellower downhill gradients and excels at maintaining pace over small roots, embedded stones and lumps.

There’s a deep feel to the suspension for a 140mm bike and it’s active and lively, but also hard to bottom out harshly, even when really sending it off drops or jumps.

The flipside to this supple feel is having tons of traction and climbing bite, so it devours steep technical climbs with great grip and good pedalling efficiency.

The seated climbing position is sorted too, feeling very neutral. There's no sense of tipping off the back or being so far forward it feels awkward or less efficient.

In terms of handling, the SB140 encourages the rider to weight the front tyre more than other bikes and let the back tyre follow. This suits the bike’s personality as a smooth all-rounder that floats and slinks through terrain, rather than trying to be an enduro bike bruiser you hang off the back of.

When really cracking on riding steeper enduro tracks there’s a bit of a flaw in the Yeti’s performance.

In G-outs, the rear end used too much of its travel, making the front wheel go light.

Craving for a bit more support deeper down in its travel, I played around with air pressure and added low-speed compression damping. I also ended up trying a bigger volume spacer in the Float X shock.

These experiments didn’t really work though and added a harsher ramp-up that was noticeable on very rocky terrain.

The source of these feelings was likely the moderately progressive suspension and how Switch Infinity tunes anti-squat curves. This makes firstly for an efficient pedalling platform before reversing direction deeper in the stroke to dial anti-squat right off for freedom of suspension movement.

This could translate as a lack of tension through the pedals once chain forces stabilising and providing support drop off, but it’s hard to know for sure.

Overall, there’s a sense the Yeti is a bit harder to dial perfectly for all kinds of terrain and needs bit more control via body language than some bikes.

This is mostly nit picking though, because for the majority of trail riding the SB140 feels spot on. It’s a little quicker-steering than some more slacked-out rigs, but it always rides lighter than the scales suggest and the supple frame has a real quality, muted feel.

If you ride really aggressively, slam into and square off turns, and charge down steep hand-cut trails, this maybe isn’t the super-stiff bruiser bike for you.

However, it delivers as a sophisticated all-rounder that can dance through really rough ground at slacker pitches and also climbs and pedals with all the traction.

Yeti SB140 T-Series LR bottom line

Yeti’s latest SB140 trail bike is a class act that ticks the aesthetic and spec boxes with aplomb. It's also a well-refined smooth operator.

This Lunch Ride version is designed to hang with the enduro crowd, but the suspension isn’t quite supportive and stable enough to charge down the steepest tracks or bike park berms, jumps and G-out terrain.