Hey everyone, welcome or welcome back!
Early in the year I was lucky to find one of these frames, a 2021 Yeti ARC.
It took me quite a while to find all the parts to build it up
but now I finally have it so here is my custom build, 2021 Yeti ARC
For those of you that know Yeti you know that they usually have a Lunch Ride model.
Well, it doesn't exist for Yeti ARC but I built one myself.
That is because I built my bike with a 140 mm fork instead of the 130 that they usually spec.
And that gives me about a 66.5 head angle
and probably about 75-75.5 degrees seat tube angle.
which is still quite aggressive for a hardtail and definitely modern by today's standards.
And the fork that I picked is a FOX 34 Rhythm with the FIT GRIP damper.
Now this is usually an OEM fork that you can't really buy retail
but it's a very very good fork, the only downside to this being the weight.
This fork comes up to about 1900 grams in this 140 mm version.
This fork doesn't give you fancy dials but it does allow you to adjust the damper
from fully open to firm.
and obviously you have a proper rebound here at the bottom of that leg.
And I mentioned the weight of the fork because the ARC frame,
they only exist in this TurQ or the lighter version of their carbon,
And this bike can be built as a fairly light cross-country rig if you want to .
That wasn't my focus for this build as you can see from the components that I've chosen.
Yes, I do have a fancy Yeti top cap even though I built this from scratch so it didn't come from them
but I built this with a 35 mm carbon bar, this is 760mm that's what I use for cross-country.
I use this with a Race Face 50 mm stem
and the headset is just a Cane Creek 40 series,
I use this on almost all my bikes because it's good and relatively cheap.
What you're gonna see here is the new XT brakes
you know that from the two contact points here with the handlebar
I have some fancy Ergon grips which I kind of like
you have a BikeYoke remote and yes,
that is connected to a BikeYoke dropper post that is 185mm
I should have a video about this rather soon on my channel.
This is a WTB SL8 saddle, it's a bit narrow
but this is very light about 180 grams.
And if you're looking at my shifting here it is Shimano, it is bar clamp, not integrated
and this is a cheaper SLX.
Now you know everything about Shimano 12-speed shifters from my channel
and I can tell you that I kind of like the SLX because it feels closer to SRAM than the others.
So to go along with those XT M8100 levers I have a 2- piston caliper, so M8100 in the rear,
160 mm, this is an XT disc RT86,
but up front I've installed the 4-piston calipers
so this is the M8120 with a 180mm disc.
And since we're looking at my wheels those are Hope 4 hubs, really good,
and if you like loudness these are pretty loud as well.
And the rims that I have here are the good old Stan's ARCH MK3
so that is 26 mm ID.
The new version of these are all asymmetrical so there's a reason why
these are actually the only wheels in my house that are not using asymmetrical rims.
And that kind of zoomed into my drivetrain and you're gonna see here
a PF92 bottom bracket and I have an XTR bottom bracket on this,
SLX cranks that are 175 mm long.
This bike requires a 55 mm chainline
and check my video on all the details about chainlines.
This crank together with the absoluteBlack 32 OVAL
is only 15 grams heavier than a fancier SRAM carbon crank so good reason to consider these.
And I did go for the XT M8100 pedals again, that I've reviewed on my channel.
To go along with this I have an XTR chain paired with the SLX cassette.
I don't like the weight of this cassette being over 500 grams, about 520,
however this is a hardtail so it's not gonna affect the suspension performance obviously.
Yes I did choose an SLX derailleur which works very well.
It did have the issue with the dry clutch so check my video on how to keep this in tip-top condition.
And that is my Shimano 12-speed drivetrain that actually works very well.
With the frame protection that you see over here this bike is actually very quiet
if not one of the quietest that I've ever had.
In this configuration again, with pedals and the bottle cage,
my Yeti ARC weights 11.5 kilograms or about 25.5 pounds.
It's not that light but again I didn't aim for that.
The wheels are kind of heavy, I have a Rekon Race at the back, 2.35.
Up front I have a Rekon 29 x 2.4, they're not the lightest tires by any means
I built this to be more of a trail bike that is fun to ride.
From the moment I jumped onto this bike all I could think of was - efficiency!
You are in a good pedaling position,
that slacker head angle allows you to be rowdier on the downhills
so if you're thinking about a good hardtail in 2021 and Yeti ARC made it to your list
all I could say is...
what are you waiting for!?
Hop on and let's go for a ride!
Cheers guys, cheers!