I have been riding the OHM XS 750 Electric bike, through most of the Winter, doing short commutes into work, and riding with the family on singletrack, and sundry trails. The XS 750 is quite a high tech piece of engineering, with excellent features and component selection, and it’s more than meets the eye. The Electric duties are performed by a proprietary Li-Mn battery, which powers a BionX 350 watt motor, and a trick BionX LCD command console controls the operational needs. The e-bike’s operation is quiet and smooth, making for an enjoyable riding experience.

OHM XS 750
The company is named after Georg Simon Ohm, a German physicist, who came up with Ohm’s law. Ohms’s law, in a nutshell, is that the current in a circuit is directly proportional to the applied voltage and inversely proportional to the resistance of the circuit (I=E/R or current in amps=voltage in volts/resistance in ohms).

The XS 750 is an Electric sport bike and is meant for commuting, cruising and mountain biking. The bike uses a custom made 7005 aluminum frame that is available in two sizes (18.5 and 20 inches) and two colors (red and black), and comes with a plethora of functional and useful components. The main portions of their e-bike technology are the Command Console, the Bike Motor and the Battery Pack.

Command Console
The Command Console (BionX G2 Console), is sort of like the e-bike’s brains, and it has a multi-functional display much like a normal bike computer. It displays the speed and battery charge level, along with either the distance, odometer, chronometer or average speed, which is chosen with the Crono button. It shows the level of Assistance (motor assist) or Generation (resistance) on the bar graph, which are set by using a combination of the increase (+A) and decrease (-G) buttons. You can arm an anti-theft alarm from the console, so that if the bike is moved a 1/4 wheel turn, it emits a loud noise, and puts itself into a level 4 resistive mode (maximum). There is a Throttle button system, which can do the increase and decrease assistance and generative settings (same as the console), and in addition, pressing the red throttle button itself bypasses any assistance level setting and provides maximum power, much like a scooter. The LCD screen’s backlight can be adjusted for either day or night usage.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Bike Motor and the Battery Pack
The bike uses the BionX 350 Watt electric bike motor (BionX 350HT L Power Series), which is a brushless DC motor (BLDC) that provides 9/40 Nm or 6.6/29 lb-ft of torque, and weighs in a 4.7 kg or 10.4 lbs. It’s a regenerative motor, and by either activating the brake lever (like on a steep downhill) or using the Generative mode in any of its 4 resistive levels, the motor transforms your momentum into energy, and stores it back into the battery, meaning it recharges on the fly. The motor is intelligent, and uses a torque sensor to measure your pedaling force, and then automatically provides assistance proportional to your effort.

Their proprietary battery is a rechargeable Lithium Manganese (Li-Mn), which provides 37V 9.6ah of power, and weighs in at 4kg or 8.8 lbs (measured at 8.95 lbs). It can ride up to 56 miles on a single charge, and can do a fast 20 minute charge to 90% capacity, and a full charge in 3 hours. It has a lockable quick-connect system, so that it can be removed for charging (at home or office).  It comes with a Li-Ion battery charger, that plugs into a port on the top of the pack.

Parts Spec
The XS 750 comes with a pretty nice accompaniment of parts, and is well suited for commuting and moderate mountain biking. It uses a Shimano Deore XT drivetrain (3×9), with cranks (3 chainring’s and chain guard), cassette, chain, front and rear derailer and shifters. Braking is provided by the excellent Magura Louise system, with a 180/180 rotor combination, and the larger rear rotor size is for regeneration purposes. Front suspension is the Magura Menja fork with 85mm of travel, and the rear is softened by a Suntour suspension seatpost, with a Velo saddle. The steering system is Ritchey setup, and includes a stem, handlebar and headset.  The wheelset is the Mavic 317, and is accompanied by the Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires, and everything is nicely covered by some polycarbonate front and rear fenders. For evening rides, it has front and rear Busch & Müller lights, which are powered by a Shimano Dynamo Front Hub (6V -3W). Last but not least is a kickstand, a rack, and flat pedals.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The bike is pretty fun to ride, after you get used to the upright position and its accompanying steering (which feels pretty quick), and the entire packages behemoth weight. The Command Console allows you to set the amount of assistance that the motor will provide, or you can set it to be in a resistive mode so that you are regenerating the battery and/or getting some massive exercise. It has four levels in either direction (assistive or resistive), all dependent on the usage or punishment you require. There is also a red Throttle button, which takes over everything completely (if one is so inclined), meaning you can almost stop pedaling, and the bike flies along like a scooter. Using the throttle or full motor power gives a maximum speed of approximately 20mph, which is a federally mandated limit. That red button is a darn hoot, and highly functional, and it was my favorite feature on the bike. Even with the additional assistance, on extremely steep grades you will have to mash the pedals hard to keep things going. The bike is surprisingly quiet, and the motor provides a very seamless feel, and gives a nice smooth ride.

I used the bike often on my commute’s into work, which during the winter meant dealing with darkness. While the dynamo lights are functional, and quite nice on some rides, they just didn’t have enough spunk for my taste (or is that spark?), so I supplemented things with a helmet and handlebar/seatpost light setup. It gave additional light to make it easier to see and be seen. I would have preferred an integrated light system that operates off the battery instead (of course what if it goes dead?), as it would be more functional, and not drain much power, and would save the slight drag of energy that the dynamo extracts. The rear rack was quite handy, and I frequently would attach a small bag or package when I would go down to the store or work. The path that I take to my office has a combination of paved roads, sidewalks and a short section of an unmaintained gravel trail. I got to test the suspension (front and seatpost) quite well when I was flying down hill through this stuff, and although the tires weren’t the best for deeper gravel, they did a decent job, and I could hold a line with the bike. The low center of gravity and heavy weight did make the bike surprisingly stable at speed through the gnar that I occasionally tossed it into. The fenders were highly functional in the rain and snow, so debris and junk didn’t fly up at me, and it was especially nice when wearing normal clothes (non bike), and it lessened the need to wear rain and/or exotic foul weather gear.

I took it on some longer jaunts from my house up to Monument on the Santa Fe trail (gravel path), for a round trip of 25 miles or so. I really enjoyed all the benefits of the system, as I could use the pedal assist on the climbs and long flats, and adjusts the level depending on the effort needed to maintain the same speed. On the return portion, I used the generative mode on the downhills to power up the battery.

What I really like about this bike, was that I could ride into work or back home in my normal clothes, and not feel like I sweated to death. It was especially welcome on the way home, where most of my climbing occurs, and I frequently used the throttle to assist on the uber steep hills, and one of the assistance levels for some help on other portions of the ride. I get my major exercise elsewhere, so it was a nice tool to get into work, with the added benefit of not perspiring in my everyday clothes. If you wanted, you could vary the resistance, and make it more difficult, and the higher generation levels will certainly give you a good workout, and in addition it charges back to the battery, as does braking on a steep downhill. Regardless of whether you use an assistive or resistive setting, the bike is just darn fun to ride, and the low center of gravity, nice balance and comfortable seating position, and great part selection, make it a joy to use. My Wife rode it around, and was surprised how it felt. The assist mode makes it feel like the bike sort of flies out from underneath you while pedaling, and especially when increasing the assistance level to the maximum, Mach 4!

I took it to a local trail system (Fox Run) with my kids, and my daughter rode her bike, and I hooked up the WeeHoo i-Go recumbent kid trailer, and loaded up my son and hauled him around. I really appreciated the assistance and the throttle button, since some of the hills had loose deep gravel, and were wickedly steep. Without the help, I wouldn’t have been able to get up some of the hills, due to the weight of the bike, trailer and child, and of course the lack of pedaling input from my Son. My daughter got mad when I kicked in the After Burners with the throttle button, and I left her far behind, but it was a hoot to do that, but it does suck up and drain the battery quickly. I got used to Mr. Big Red Throttle, and he was a close and personal friend. The bike does pretty well on mellow singletrack, but when tossed into anything remotely rugged or ugly, it shows some weakness, though the bike wasn’t designed for this functionality (I did test it).

Recharging the battery was very easy, just plug the charger’s power cord into the wall socket, and the other end goes into the battery’s charger port. If needed at work or home, you can detach the battery, and bring it inside to charge. The battery has a pretty decent life, and I rarely drained it (short commute), although pressing the throttle with my happy finger can suck it dry pretty quickly. For the average usage, the charging time is sort of insignificant, and with the approximate 56 mile range, it might not need to be done after every ride.

Bottom Line
The OHM XS 750 is a high quality electric bike with many features, and has a well built and sturdy frame, and a plethora of great components. It can be ridden on and off road (nothing too rugged), and its trail prowess is greatly aided by a suspension fork and seatpost. The bike is easy to ride, and the comfortable upright position, low center of gravity and good balance, make for a pleasant usage. It uses the excellent and intelligent BionX 350W motor, their long life 37V 9.6ah Lithium Manganese battery, and the intuitive BionX control console for operational needs. It has 4 different assist levels for pedaling help, and 4 regenerate levels for training or just battery recharging, and rear brake also does the latter. The motor is quiet and smooth, and the pedaling assistance makes one feel like someone is pushing you along, and makes the bike fly along. Recharging is easy, and the detachable battery allowed it to be brought into the office or home for that purpose.

My favorite feature on the bike was the throttle button, which greatly helped on steep hills, or when I felt lazy. The bike is expensive, and it’s quite a hefty package at almost 60 lbs.

The OHM XS 750 is an amazing e-bike, and for commuting, family outings, and leisure outdoor adventures, this is a great purposeful built entity.

Strengths

• Throttle button
• Command console
• Battery
• BionX 350 Watt motor
• Well equipped
• Low center of gravity and well balanced
• Easy step over

Weaknesses

• Expensive
• Heavy
• Unwieldy

MSRP: $3799

Overall Rating: 4 Flamin’ Chili Peppers

OHM XS 750 Specs

Visit the XS 750 website at http://ohmcycles.com/electric-sport-bicycle/

I tested a Demo Yeti ASR 7 this past winter for five weeks that was built with their Freeride Part kit, and I was amazed how comfortable, controlled and useful it was for climbing and riding steep, rocky and technical terrain. This bike liked to fly! The suspension just soaks up ugly terrain, and it softly flows down a trail like it’s floating on air. When climbing steep and/or rocky terrain, the rear end sticks like glue, and it climbs like a cross country bike, and not a 32 lb behemoth with 7 inches of suspension. The ASR 7 is a cross country bike pretending to be an All Mountain, and vice versa.

Yeti ASR 7
ASR stands for Active Suspension Racing, and the 7 is obviously for 178mm (7″) of travel. The Yeti ASR 7 comes in 4 sizes, small, medium, large and extra large and three colors, Black, Turquoise, and White. The aluminum frame uses an E-type front derailer, a 30.9mm seatpost, a tapered headtube, and has a 73mm bottom bracket. It comes standard with the Fox RP23 rear air shock, but can be upgraded to a DHX RC4, and can be purchased as a frameset or their Freeride kit.

Frame Colors - Black, Turquoise, and White

Yeti saw the how the bike world was evolving a couple of years ago, and with their Colorado roots, a 7″ suspension bike that could be pedaled up and ripped down made perfect sense. The bike was originally created with various carbon rear triangles, including an asymmetric single chainstay, but things didn’t work out as they wanted, so they scrapped the carbon plans and went with aluminum.

Components
The ASR 7 frame is made with a hydroformed 7005 aluminum tubeset. The tubes are huge with massive welds, making it a monstrous, stout and durable beast. In tube hydroforming (THF), the aluminum tubing is placed into a negative mold or die, and then under extremely high pressure, hydraulic fluid is pushed into the tubing, causing the aluminum to be pushed into the mold giving it the design specific shape and thickness. The two piece rear aluminum triangle, is comprised of a CNC-machined chainstay yoke and a seatstay bridge (with a cool Yeti name etched into it), which are connected together at the dropout pivot. Like the main frame, the welds are beefy, and the chainstays are pretty substantial (think Stonehenge). The rear axle is the typical All Mountain 135x12mm, which provides plenty of rigidity to the rear end.

Tapered Headset

The tapered headtube (1.125 to 1.5 inches) can be used with 160-180mm single crown forks, and was tested with the Fox 36 TALAS RC2 (160mm) fork. It uses a trick Carbon fiber Dog Bone link, which is attached to the top tube, and then in turn to the rear triangle and the Fox RP23 shock (2.5″ x 8.5″ size). The Dog Bone helps with side-to-side flex on the swingarm, side loading onto the rear shock and is an integral part of the leverage ratio curve for the rear suspension system. Titanium hardware is used for most pivots, and the large cartridge bearings at the main pivot help with stiffness and stabilization of the suspension platform.

Carbon Dog Bone Link

An E-type front derailer is used, and in a very innovative manner it’s attached directly to the swingarm, which aids greatly in more precise and efficient shifts, especially when considering it’s dealing with 7 inches of travel. There is a small cutout in the seat tube just above the bottom bracket for the front derailer to roll into when the suspension deepens.

E-type front derailer w/ seat tube cutout

The ASR 7 Freeride kit’s drivetrain consists of a useful 2×9 system, which synergistically works with the front derailer. The bike was equipped with an entire Shimano group, including both derailers, cranks, cassette, brakes and shifters.

Freeride Kit (as tested):

• Fork Fox 36 TALAS RC2 Tapered (an upgrade?)
• Rear Shock Fox RP23
• Headset Chris King (an upgrade)
• Crankset Shimano SLX 22/36/Bash
• Front Der Shimano SLX e-type
• Rear Der Shimano XTR Shadow
• Shifters Shimano XT
• Cassette Shimano SLX 11-34
• Chain Shimano
• Wheels Mavic CrossLine
• Tires Schwalbe Fat Albert 2.4
• Brakes Shimano XT
• Handlebar Easton Monkey Lite DH
• Stem Thomson X.4 70mm
• Grips Yeti Lockon
• Saddle SDG Ti Fly C
• Seatpost Thomson Elite

Geometry
The basic geometry has 16.9 inch chainstays, 13.8 inch bottom bracket height and a 67 degree head angle, which is much more along the lines of a cross country bike than a DH one. It also features an ISCG ’05 mount for a chainguide. The top tube length and wheelbase are long, and the standover is tall, especially in direct comparison to its competition.

Note: geometry picture courtesy of Yeti
Impressions
The frame is well built, stout and tough, albeit it is slightly heavy. I never felt any sort of issue with the strength nor rigidity of the frame, as it just plowed through things like a jeep on steroids. I was very enamored with the rigidity of the rear end, and how stout it was, without any hint of flex, greatly aided by the stiff 12mm axle.

What is most amazing is how exceptional this bike climbs, something a 7 inch suspension beast usually doesn’t do well, it’s like a cross country bike had it genes injected into the All Mountain ASR 7. It spins great on fire roads and flat undulating singletrack, and climbs like a demon on rough terrain, such as rock gardens, ledges, stair steps, and anything that is mildly ugly. Where it dogs down a bit, is when it’s a grunt fest up on long steep smooth terrain. The ASR 7 sort of sluggishly plods along (to be expected), and it was easy to tell this just wasn’t a place it was comfortable in. A combination of the 31.9 lb weight and the 7 inches of suspension, conspired to make it feel slow and not much of a spinner, but it still was tolerable. Get it up on a fire road, and rolling along in the big gears it became a different beast, and it spun with a lot more grace and ease. Place the ASR 7 into anything remotely rocky, rooty and nefarious and it shined on climbs.

I got a great cross comparison of how it climbs when I did my favorite local trail appropriately named ‘Mule’ on the ASR 7 one day, and on my Ibis Mojo (5.5″) the next. On the long unrelenting climbs that were smooth, the 4 lb lighter Mojo just made me expend a lot less energy, due to the weight difference, and a bit less suspension wallowing. Whenever I encountered rough or jarring terrain, the Mojo would get bounced around and would lose momentum, and I had to wrestle the bike around losing energy, while the ASR 7 sort of breezed through things with without a whimper. On the smooth steeps the Mojo won by a mile, but if gnarly terrain was tossed in on a climb, the ASR 7 became the nicer partner, and the more ugly the terrain became, the better it performed. When it was time to go downhill, the ASR 7 was a pure champion, it was faster, smoother and a heck of a lot of fun.

Anytime you got into tight switchbacks on the ASR 7, you had to roll the front end around a bit more, and finesse it with more body English. The long wheel base and slow steering made it feel a lot more like 29er in the tight stuff. It was a tad more work and required more attentiveness, but I got used to it after a while, and I anticipated how to maneuver the bike. It was not a svelte princess in tight spots, but the oodles of suspension and uncompromising stability let you plow your way through things.

One glaring issue I had was the spacing in the rear chainstay yoke and seatstay for tires. It will not fit a 2.5 tire (even though Yeti states such on their website), since my fat Continental 2.4 Rubber Queen’s (2.43″ wide x 2.38″ tall) barely squeeze in. I think they need to revisit the engineering blueprints, and add a bit more space for the rear tire. It doesn’t make much sense to have an All Mountain bike that can barely fit a fat 2.4″ tire? The first time I got it into mud, it got a bit clogged up, and the debris wore through my preplaced tape protection.

Not much tire room?

Another issue is that the Fox RP23 rear shock with the High Volume sleeve bottoms out too easily when I run the sag that fits my riding style (I like it squishy). To alleviate the bottoming out, you need to run some pretty hefty pressures (body weight x 30% = 190-200psi), and unfortunately it firms up the ride slightly and the shortens then sag. In my opinion, Fox and Rock Shox, need additional design work on their lightweight air shocks to work properly with the longer travel bikes.

Using the RP23 ProPedal really helps on fire roads, or anywhere you don’t want the rear suspension to wallow as much. It sometimes helps in technical and rocky terrain when climbing and maneuvering, since it stiffens up the shock and gives you some platform to work off. Consider the ProPedal a sort of traction control?

The bottom bracket height is a bit low, so you are going to hit pedals on occasion, but the lower BB really helps when running the berms, swooping through turns and general maneuverability. The long top tube is a bit of an old school layout, but I think it helps it climb better, and can offer a good deal of leverage, as does the tall standover height (a deft touch with your leg does wonders for control). The medium frame that I tested felt a bit more like a medium/large frame (which no one makes any more), so it worked quite nicely for my 5’9″ stature, and of course my own personal taste. Caveat Emptor, it’s a big frame, and for some, a smaller than a normal size might work?

I took it to the Lake Pueblo South Shore trails, which consists of short steep gullies and chutes, a perfect place for an All Mountain bike and big Huevos, and that is where it shined like a diamond. I could fly off mini jumps, which I usually scurry around and miss, and the bike did really well going off ledges, and drop offs. This bike screams (ok it didn’t really do that) for an adjustable seat post, and in fact, it already has a built in cable stop! I went down a trail that I really like (Lower Dog), and the ASR 7 made it seem so easy that I felt like I was cheating. It was easy to track stand, and did surprisingly well in trial type maneuvers, though it did lack the laser like steering that my Mojo exemplifies (I am spoiled).

Pueblo Lake South Shore

On steep descents when you really pulled hard on the brakes you got some mild brake jack (the XT brakes were part of the culprit), but it was minor and somewhat rare. The ASR 7 was pretty sweet on downhills, through rock gardens, and rocky technical terrain. The stability and composure the bike displayed on the down, along with the plushness of the ride, made it a pleasure to ride, especially considering that it could be used to climb back up. I have taken the bike on some pretty long rides, that have a lot of steep grunt fests, and even though the weight can be felt on occasion, the ability it has to battle its way through chossy and heinous conditions that are met on entertaining singletrack overcomes that deficient. It works perfect in Colorado, where the up are steep, long and rough, as are the down portions.

Do some slammin’ and you’ll be jammin’

The brakes were fine (wasn’t a fan of the XT’s), but I think a 203/180 set for the speeds you start to get on the bike would suit it nicely. This bike likes to roll up to Mach One speeds quickly, so it gets blazingly fast fairly regularly. The rear end of the bike is a stout puppy, and I could discern to slop nor flex. The beefy chainstays, large Carbon Dog Bone link and the 12mm x 135mm hub really holds the entire unit together. It keeps the the bike stable, composed and stuck to the tarmac, except when it is flying through the air.

Rear pivot and 12mm axle

I never felt any flex nor weakness from the Mavic Crossline Wheelset, but they’re greatly aided by the stout 12mm rear, along with the 36mm fork legs and front 20mm thru axle. Although the Yeti saddle seemed soft when prodded with a fingertip, I found it rather uncomfortable, especially along the nose section.

Fox 36 Talas

I was able easily tune the RP23 to my liking (except for it bottoming out), and it gave an extremely plush ride, along with the full amount of travel. The TALAS took some effort to tune, but once I lowered the pressure and tweaked the high and low compression it started to provide better plushness. I still got a tad of fork dive (compensated with body English), and I was never able extract all the travel, but it still provided deep amounts of usable suspension. I started to use the adjustable travel (160-130-100) on the TALAS, and it was an excellent feature for climbing and doing technical moves. I did notice that I would sometimes forget to take it back out of the lowered position when I turned around to descend. Oops!

I liked the ASR 7 enough, that I  purchased a frameset, and built it with a more eclectic part set!

Bottom Line
I have really enjoyed my outings with the ASR 7. It likes it steep, either up and down, the rockier and uglier the better. This bike floats down rocky terrain, ledges and just about anything you point it on. Get the bike onto the smoother single track climbs, and it has some character flaws, but on double tracks, fire roads, or anywhere you can rip it open and get it hauling, it redeems itself. This bike likes to fly, and I was hucking (ok mild stuff) stuff I had never even thought of going off, and I also noticed that my speed was increasing to a great degree, especially after getting more comfortable on the bike. It climbs steep and ugly terrain like a demon, and has excellent traction control, sometimes aided by the engagement of ProPedal. The steering is a tad sluggish, and it needs some room to turn in tight quarters. It does have a long wheelbase and top tube, and tall standover, but I think those attributes add greatly to its functionality. With the proper sag set, the bottom bracket sits low and pedal strikes can be frequent, especially in rocky terrain, but that lowness benefits cornering. The spacing for rear tires is not wide enough, and anything more than a fat 2.4″ will not fit.

I love a bike that can climb (ok I am a climber), and the ASR 7 is an All Mountain bike that think’s it’s a cross country bike!

Strengths
- Climbing demon: the uglier the terrain the better
- Stiff, rigid and flex free frameset
- Plush meister
- Nice fire road spinner
- Corners well
- Long top tube

Weaknesses
- Spacing for rear not wide enough
- RP23 bottoms out easily
- Heavy frame
- Long top tube and tall standover may not suit everyone
- Tough maneuvering in tight spots (switchbacks)

Overall Rating: 4 Flamin’ Chili Peppers

MSRP $4150 (+180 Chris King) – Frame with Freeride Kit
$2000 (frameset w/ RP23)

Yeti ASR 7 url: http://www.yeticycles.com/#/bikes/ASR7/1/

Freeride Kit:

• Fork Fox 36 TALAS RC2 Tapered
• Rear Shock Fox RP23
• Headset Chris King
• Crankset Shimano SLX 22/36/Bash
• Front Der Shimano SLX e-type
• Rear Der Shimano XTR Shadow
• Shifters Shimano XT
• Cassette Shimano SLX 11-34
• Chain Shimano
• Wheels Mavic CrossLine
• Tires Schwalbe Fat Albert 2.4
• Brakes Shimano XT
• Handlebar Easton Monkey Lite DH
• Stem Thomson X.4 70mm
• Grips Yeti Lockon
• Saddle SDG Ti Fly C
• Seatpost Thomson Elite

Frame Specs:

• Travel: 7.0″
• Weight (Med): 7.50 lbs
• Colors: Ano. Black, Turquoise, White
• Sizes: Small, Medium, Large, X-Large
• Rear Shock: Fox RP23 or DHX Air 5.0 – 2.5″ stroke, 8.5″ eye-to-eye
• Bottom Bracket: 73mm shell, 113mm spindle
• Rear Wheel: 135mm x 12mm
• Front Derailleur: E-Type Front Derailleur Compatible
• Seatpost: 30.9mm

Frame Features:

• Custom hydroformed 7005 alloy tube set
• Replaceable derailleur hanger
• Tapered 1.5 to 1.125″ Head Tube
• Carbon Dog bone link
• 160-203mm rotors
• Cablestop for seat dropper
• ISCG 05 mounts
• Titanium hardware
• Custom bolt-on cables guides to run full housing

I have gotten a couple of good rides on the Yeti ASR 7, and I am pleasantly surprised at some of its attributes. This bike liked to fly! The suspension just soaks up ugly terrain, and it softly flows down a trail like it’s floating on air. When climbing steep and/or rocky terrain, the rear end sticks like glue, and it climbs like a cross country bike, and not a 31.9 lb behemoth with 7 inches of suspension.

Components
The ASR 7 frame is made with a hydroformed 7005 aluminum tubeset. The tubes are huge with massive welds, making it a monstrous, stout and durable beast. The tapered headtube (1.125 to 1.5 inches) can be used with 160-180mm single crown forks, and was tested with the sweet Fox 36 TALAS RC2 (160mm). It uses a trick Carbon fiber Dog Bone link, which is attached to the top tube, and then in turn to the rear triangle and the Fox RP23 shock.

An E-type front derailer is used, and in a very innovative manner it’s attached directly to the swingarm, which aids greatly in more precise and efficient shifts, especially when considering it’s dealing with 7 inches of travel.

The drivetrain consists of a useful 2×9 system, which synergistically works with the front derailer. The bike was equipped with an entire Shimano group, including both derailers, cranks, cassette, brakes and shifters. The basic geometry has 16.9 inch chainstays, 13.8 inch bottom bracket height and a 67 degree head angle, which is much more along the lines of a cross country bike than a DH one. It also features an ISCG ’05 mount for a chainguide.

Impressions
On my first day, I started out riding some moderate singletrack, with a long and slow unrelenting climb. The ASR 7 sort of sluggishly plodded along (to be expected), and it was easy to tell this just wasn’t a place it felt very comfortable in. A combination of the 31.9 lb weight and the 7 inches of suspension, conspired to make it feel slow and not much of a spinner. When I got it up on a fire road, and got it rolling along in the big gears it became a different beast, and it spun with a lot more grace and ease. When I turned around to go down, it became a joy to ride. The steeper and rougher the terrain, the happier and more composed the ASR 7 became. On any type of switchback, you really had to have some room to roll the front end around, most likely due to the long wheelbase and slack head angle, but it became second nature after a bit, and felt a lot more like my 29er in that regard.

If you want to spin, you won’t have a grin, but do some slammin’ and you’ll be jammin‘

For a 31.9 lb bike, I was amazed how comfortable, controlled and useful it was for climbing steep, rocky and technical terrain. It had little pedal bob, and really stuck the rear end down, as long as the Fox RP23 shock had the ProPedal damping engaged. Take it out of ProPedal, and the rear just seemed to get confused and would lose its traction at inopportune moments. Consider the ProPedal setting traction control? On steep descents when you really pulled hard on the brakes you got some mild brake jack, but it was minor and somewhat rare.

I took it to the Lake Pueblo trails, and that is where it shined like a diamond. I could fly off mini jumps, which I usually scurry around and miss, and the bike did really well going off ledges, and drop offs, although you did need to be back behind the wheel more than I am used to. This bike screams (ok it didn’t really do that) for an adjustable seat post, since it likes the seat either low or high and not much in between. In fact, it already has a built in cable stop! I went down a trail that I really like (Lower Dog), and the ASR 7 made it seem so easy that I felt like I was cheating. It was a bit harder to steer the bike where I wanted, and it seemed slow to react (call it sluggish), so it lacked the laser like steering that I prefer. The bottom bracket was low for a bike with so much suspension, and I kept hitting my pedals while doing minor technical moves or dealing with rocky obstacles, and I found that extremely annoying? I would have preferred a tad taller BB height, even at the loss of some cornering control.

The brakes were fine, but I think a 203/180 set for the speeds you start to get on the bike would suit it nicely. This bike likes to roll up to Mach One speeds quickly, so it gets blazingly fast fairly regularly. The rear end of the bike is a stout puppy, and I could discern to slop nor flex. The beefy chainstays, large Carbon Dog Bone link and the 12mm x 135mm hub really holds the entire unit together.

I never felt any flex nor weakness from the Mavic Crossline Wheelset, but they’re greatly aided by the stout 12mm rear, along with the 36mm fork legs and front 20mm thru axle. Although the saddle seemed soft when prodded with a fingertip, I found it rather uncomfortable, especially along the nose section.

I was able easily tune the RP23 to my liking, and it gave an extremely plush ride, along with the full amount of travel. The TALAS took some effort to tune, but once I lowered the pressure and tweaked the high and low compression it started to provide better plushness. I still got a tad of fork dive (compensated with body english), and I was never able extract all the travel, but it still provided deep amounts of usable suspension. I started to use the adjustable travel (160-130-100) on the TALAS, and it was an excellent feature for climbing and doing technical moves. I did notice that I would sometimes forget to take it back out of the lowered position when I turned around to descend. Oops!

Conclusion
I have really enjoyed my outings with the ASR 7. It likes it steep, either up and down, the rockier and uglier the better. This bike floats down rocky terrain, ledges and just about anything you point it on. Get the bike onto the smoother single track climbs and descents, and it has some character flaws, but on double tracks, fire roads, or anywhere you can rip it open and get it hauling, it redeems itself. This bike likes to fly, I was hucking (ok 2-3 footers) stuff I had never even thought of going off, and I also noticed that my speed was increasing to a great degree, especially after getting more comfortable on the bike. It climbs steep and ugly terrain like a demon, and has excellent traction control as long as the ProPedal is engaged. The steering is a tad sluggish, and it needs some room to turn in tight quarters. With the proper sag set, the bottom bracket sits too low and pedal strikes can be frequent, especially in rocky terrain.

MSRP $4150 (+180 Chris King) – Frame with Freeride Kit
$2000 (frameset w/ RP23)

Yeti ASR 7 url: http://www.yeticycles.com/#/bikes/ASR7/1/

Freeride Kit:

• Fork Fox 36 TALAS RC2 Tapered
• Rear Shock Fox RP23
• Headset Chris King
• Crankset Shimano SLX 22/36/Bash
• Front Der Shimano SLX e-type
• Rear Der Shimano XTR Shadow
• Shifters Shimano XT
• Cassette Shimano SLX 11-34
• Chain Shimano
• Wheels Mavic CrossLine
• Tires Schwalbe Fat Albert 2.4
• Brakes Shimano XT
• Handlebar Easton Monkey Lite DH
• Stem Thomson X.4 70mm
• Grips Yeti Lockon
• Saddle SDG Ti Fly C
• Seatpost Thomson Elite

Frame Specs:

• Travel: 7.0″
• Weight (Med): 7.50 lbs
• Colors: Ano. Black, Turquoise, White
• Sizes: Small, Medium, Large, X-Large
• Rear Shock: Fox RP23 or DHX Air 5.0 – 2.5″ stroke, 8.5″ eye-to-eye
• Bottom Bracket: 73mm shell, 113mm spindle
• Rear Wheel: 135mm x 12mm
• Front Derailleur: E-Type Front Derailleur Compatible
• Seatpost: 30.9mm

Frame Features:

• Custom hydroformed 7005 alloy tube set
• Replaceable derailleur hanger
• Tapered 1.5 to 1.125″ Head Tube
• Carbon Dog bone link
• 160-203mm rotors
• Cablestop for seat dropper
• ISCG 05 mounts
• Titanium hardware
• Custom bolt-on cables guides to run full housing