The Biking Hub: Mountain

Sneak peeks » Cory

Yeti Cycles 303

I’ve had my eye on the Yeti Cycles 303 for a while now, not because I’m particularly interested in a new downhill rig but more because of the 303’s innovative frame design. Instead of the “traditional” pivot points found on almost every significant full suspension mountain bike frame, the 303 utilizes a system of linear rails to direct rear wheel path. The 303 is designed to take the solid, square edged hits that Yeti’s team riders felt slowed them down on race day.

Jared Graves and other team riders like Tyler Klassen provide solid input to the Yeti engineering team and, thanks to Yeti’s domestic production facilities, receives prototypes relatively soon after revisions are implemented in the design process. Aside from the fact that Graves’ bike is spec’d with the type of tidbits you find on the bikes of pro racers, notice that the rail position and head tube area on Graves’ bike isn’t the same as the production version currently featured on the Yeti Cycles website.

The Yeti 303 frame has a claimed weight of 13.0lbs and includes a DHX 5.0 for an MSRP of $3469 (usd). The 303 has fairly standard race geometry — a 65 degree head angle, long wheelbase, and it runs a 150mm thruaxle hub in the rear — and looks like a pretty nice ride when it’s fully built.

Sources: Yeti Cycles | Cycling News | Pinkbike.com (video profile of Yeti from Interbike)

This entry was posted on Monday, November 28th, 2005 at 8:39 pm and is filed under Sneak peeks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.