Inside Line: Yeti unveils new AS-Rc, because not everyone races enduro

Hot on the heels of the the SB5c trail bike, Yeti releases a new cross country platform dubbed the AS-Rc.

As much as longer trail trail bikes are everyone’s favorite topic these days, not everyone wants or needs all that travel and slackness. This new AS-Rc should fill in the gap nicely between the trail bikes and ARC carbon hardtail.

Using a similar suspension design to the 575, this is a single pivot bike with a linkage activated shock providing 100mm of travel. Wheelsize changes with frame size: XS and small frames use 27.5, medium, large and XL get 29-inch hoops.

“We have been out of the cross-country market for several years, so it was important that we nailed the form, fit, and function of the AS-Rc.” said Yeti President and co-owner Chris Conroy. “The AS-R has been a storied bike in our line and we raced cross-country for nearly twenty years and have produced some greats in the sport. XC racing is in our DNA and we’re excited to reintroduce people to our heritage with a bike that sports Yeti’s progressive geometry.”

We asked Yeti why it was a traditional single pivot design instead of the Switch Link or the new Switch Infinity. While both those systems are light weight, shaving every gram possible was the goal for this design and a more traditional layout ultimately won out, they said.

Paired up with a 120mm fork, this looks like it could be pretty mean XC or marathon race weapon for long events when super steep bikes can be a handful as fatigue sets in. Hopefully we’ll get to throw a leg over this bike at the Interbike Outdoor Demo in a few weeks.

The AS-R will be available to ship immediately as a complete bike with SRAM’s X01 Build Kit with an MSRP of $5,799, or $8,099 with an ENVE M50 wheelset. They will also be available with a SRAM XX1 Build Kit with an Enve M50 wheelset for $9,999. Complete AS-Rc’s will weigh as little as 22.3 pounds, Yeti says.