All Things Bikes and Tacos! (...and every vehicle imaginable)

Not super easy to tell from a picture but nothing stands out to me as it needing much to be good to go. Maybe just some chain lube and call it a day, see how it rides.

cant go wrong with a new bike though!

 

Some controlled burns going on in quantico led to some smoky conditions at fountainhead. Maybe 10 miles away. The smoked cleared out by the end of my ride but that sucked.

 

Good day demoing. No clue why I didn’t think to take a pic of the SB130. Ran short on time and didn’t try out the Ripley, but I’m satisfied I got on the 2 I was most interested in.

 

And what'd you think??

 

Good picks! I’m hoping to demo a 130 in April. Would love to hear your take on both bikes

 

'ada boy. Hopefully the first of many

 

Atleast its superficial. My first Stumpjumper took a root ball to the chainstay like 3-4 months into ownership and put a nice dent in it.

 

it was worth it, too. that trail was amazing.

 

Demo demo demo!! I can't stress this enough to anyone looking to buy a bike, especially at the price of most bikes these days. I'm pretty sure I've ready every review/comparison that has been written for the V4 Tallboy, and most all for the SB130 as well. My experience with those bikes did NOT 100% parallel what I had read. By no means am I saying the pro reviewers are wrong. More that each individual will have their own personal takeaway, and going purely off of someone else's experiences could lead a buyer in the wrong direction for them.

Review Disclaimer:
I am in no way shape or form a pro so the below feedback is just my own personal perception of the Yeti SB130 and the Tallboy V4. Apologies in advance as I tend to be long winded and I love talking mountain bikes.


Yeti SB130:
Wow, wow, wow. Not at all what I expected. Right outa the gates I was shocked. This was the first Yeti with the SI I've ridden, and based on what I'd read I expected a pure race bike that needed to be ridden all out all the time to be enjoyable. Wrong. At least for me. This thing was a Cadillac. Butter smooth at all suspension stroke levels. I honestly couldn't tell you if I bottomed it out as I noticed little difference in the suspension curve, regardless of how much travel I was using. This could be good or bad, depending on your riding preference. I didn't really feel like it wanted to get up to speed quickly for me, but that perception could easily have just been the carpet ride smoothing things out and dulling my senses. The riding position was crazy comfortable and relaxed. Much more 'in the bike' feeling that anything else I'd ridden. It definitely can take some getting used to when pedaling seated as its just different. The long wheelbase ate up everything going down, and I did not at all feel hindered by this when going up either. The thing just flat out goes. Traction for days on techy stuff. Almost like you were just walking up stairs. It doesn't care if you took a bad line choice, just shrugs it off and keeps plowing. The rear tire feels like its always glued down and ready for more torque. Thats not to say that the SB130 isn't lively and nimble. It most certainly is. But its also quite content and capable of just going straight, up or down. If you want to be more choosy with you lines it will accommodate, but it really doesn't care. Its super easy to boost off of really anything. The SB130 feels natural in the air and is balanced. I noticed and appreciated the extra wheelbase and positioning in a few instances where I let a small drop/roller sneak up on me. On other bikes I would likely have gone over the bars or been fighting to recover.


Tallboy V4:
Similar to the SB130, the V4 TB was my first experience with a lower link VPP suspension bike or really any Santa Cruz. Again, what I'd read about this bike and what I experienced personally had some polar opposites. On paper the TB is heavy and not the most svelte uphill pedaler. I felt like it took a touch more effort to spin up to speed than some bikes, but overall felt more sprint-able (new word for $1k Alex) than the SB130. Some of this I feel is due to the rider position. The TB has a more traditional 'on top' of the bike feel when compared to the SB130. But is still very much more 'in the bike' than others. It just felt intuitive when hammering the pedals. The low slung suspension makes the bike very balanced and it seem to just love changing direction. A very zippy feeling, as dumb as that sounds. Oddly enough I felt like the TB gave up a little on the more technical climbs. I didn't feel it had quite the traction that the SB130 had, and required more attention to line selection. Still a very capable climber in my opinion. I think the two bikes differ most in their suspension kinematics and tune and is what really separates the bikes. The VPP is more firm on small to medium hits, and really softens up as the speeds increase or as the hits become larger. With the TB, you knew you were on a short travel bike, but in a really good way. You had that trail feedback and could just pop around pumping the bike from line to line. I would liken the feeling to a kid joyfully hopping from one side of the candy aisle to the other, not knowing if one side would be more tasty than the next. When the trail tips down, the TB was very happy to pin its ears back and rip with confidence, but at any time you felt like you could just skip over to another line without the bike blinking any eye.


Rider:
37yo, 5'7" ~155lbs (with all gear), strong intermediate to advanced rider that likes to pedal the ups just as much as going down. I could care less about jump lines, massive drops/hucks. I enjoy goofing around and jumping, but it’s not my primary focus. Current primary bike - 2018 Trek Fuel EX 9.9

Trail:
Big Creek in Roswell, GA. Its a small network of trails but a good sample of the standard metro Atlanta stuff; singletrack with lots of short (some steep-ish) ups/downs, rocks/roots, as well smoother flowy stuff.

Demo Disclaimer:
I spent an hour or so on each bike (~6-8 miles each), and this was only my second time on these trails. I note this detail as I feel that demoing a bike in an unfamiliar area can somewhat shape the overall experience. I base this theory in that of the two occasions I've demoed bikes here, I ended up having a more enjoyable experience on the second bike ridden each time (only slightly more enjoyable for the second bike on this demo). So either I 'got along' better with the second bike each time, or after being more familiar with the trails I was better able to focus on the bike rather than the trail

 

bruh, you're 155 with all gear?

I must fall into "fatass" category when it comes to being a MTB...I weight 225lb no gear lol

 

Fawk. I gotta work on my editorial skills if that’s the first detail a reader picks out.

 

I read it all! but I just bought a bike so didn't necessarily need to comment on the rest of the info...

your rider section just stood out to me because it's so vastly different than myself..

 

yeah really made me conscious of my weight compared to most MTB'ers when I read about a bike having suspension adjustments for weight ranges and the top setting was 225lbs and greater. like oh cool...I'm part of the "and greater" section of weight adjustment...

 

Good review. I don't think you can go wrong with either bike for the riding down here in the Southeast. The most important part is making sure you fork and shock is configured to your weight and riding style.

BTW- Did you find the Freeride Area at Big Creek? That would've been a great test for both bikes.

 

First enduro race of the year signed up for! Gonna hit the 2020 edition of Fears Tears and Beers! Such a fun event and one I've been looking forward to since two years ago when I did it last.

 

Yea both bikes are sweet, still two very different machines for me.

I did find it, but didn’t go in at all. Perhaps I should have just to get a look at it. Typically anything freeride I just bypass as it’s not my thing. I fully acknowledge it’s a skill set deficiency that I’ve stubbornly refused to develop. Maybe someday.

My frame that is cracked is the result of my attempts at freeride zones. I either roll through everything too slow to be enjoyable, or I wreck my shit.

 

You might dig the SB100 (with a 120mm fork). That is what Christy is riding and she LOVES it. Way lighter than her Evil too. She still rides the Insurgent for Pisgah or DuPont however. And the Evil is her bike of choice when we're out west.

 

Did you go Expert or Pro?

I signed up for the Sport class. Also planning to do the Carriboo Jack Enduro in the fall, registration opens on the 20th of March. 2 Day blind racing sounds fun!

 

I did intermediate. You can level up during the race so if I feel like doing the extra sport stage I can on the fly. You wanna join us at our camp spot? We'll be preriding saturday and headed home on sunday.

 

Perfect apres beer if anyone comes across it. Not a bad ride in @paleh0rse 's squandered realm after work today.