Bike vs. Bike - 1992 Yeti ARC vs. 2015 Yeti SB6c 12

Do you vote for heritage or modern-day technology?

sspomer
1/17/2018 10:04am
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Heritage or modern-day technology? How do you choose? Considering both of these Yeti machines are top-notch machines of their day, there really can't be a loser, right? The 110mm stem on the '92 ARC may be a deal-breaker for us though (wink).

The Yeti ARC belonging to Jeff Stanton (yes, that Jeff Stanton) is nearly identical to what would have been ridden by Yeti's DH team in 1992-93 or by anyone who wanted a dual-suspension mountain bike. There was no major difference between XC, trail, enduro or DH at the time. This particular bike has a RockShox Judy SL rather than the slightly longer-travel Judy DH (approximately 2 inches vs 3 inches). The tires shown would not have been used at the time, with Yeti FRO 2.0 treads probably being run in their place.  Otherwise this bike, as-is, represents what would have been an equivalent factory-level 'enduro' race bike in the early 1990s.

Richie Rude's SB6 has been left exactly as he raced it in Finale Ligure to clinch the EWS title in 2015.  Though some sponsors have changed and select parts have seen model-year updates, the frame and the majority of the components are identical to what he is currently racing on.

- By Lee Trumpore

  1992 ARC Dual Suspension Richie Rude's EWS Title-winning SB6c
Frame material Easton Aluminum Carbon
Front suspension RockShox Judy SL. 50mm microcellular foam spring, simple rebound adjustable thru-shaft damper cartridge FOX 36, 170mm adjustable-volume air spring, adjustable hi/low compression and rebound damper cartridge
Rear suspension Risse air shock with no external adjustments. 40mm travel FOX Float X 150mm travel
Seat tube length 20 inches 18 inches
Effective top-tube 23 inches 23 inches
Downtube length (center BB to top center HT) 26.5 inches 29 inches
Chainstay length 17.25 inches 17.5 inches
Headtube angle 69 degrees 64 degrees
Wheelbase 42.5 inches 47 inches
BB height 11.5 inches 13.75 inches
Handlebar width 546mm (21.5 inches) 740mm (29.1 inches)
Bar height (ground to center of bar end) 37.5 inches 42 inches
Stem length 110mm 65mm
Drivetrain 3 x 8 1 x 11
Tires Single-ply, 1.95-2.0” (likely 60 durometer or higher) Dual-ply casing, 2.5” triple compound 42 durometer
Wheel size 26 inches
 27.5 inches
Weight as shown 28lbs 31lbs

Drool over these weapons of their day and pick your winner in our poll below.

The first Yeti ARC full suspension frame featured 1.5 inches of Risse air-sprung travel. The ARC series was also Easton's first foray into producing MTB tubesets.

30th anniversary SB6, ridden by Richie Rude to his first EWS title in 2015.

Quick release Magura hydraulic rim brakes.
Remember wanting these?
Long travel at the time.
Riser bars were still a few years away.
Wired-on Yeti grips and Onza L-bend barends.
21.5 inch bars.
RockShox Judy SL. Microcellular foam sping and adjustable thru-shaft damper cartridge.
11-speed

The Switch Infinity system is the eventual result of years of experimentation beginning with the wild, dual-rail prototypes almost 15 years ago.
740 mm wide Renthal carbon riser bars.

Vote for your favorite!

Vital MTB poll

Bike vs. Bike - Yeti Then & Now

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12 comments

View replies to: Bike vs. Bike - 1992 Yeti ARC vs. 2015 Yeti SB6c

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ridewithgarrett
6 years ago
That vintage Yeti is great! I would still pick the new one as 26" bikes from the 90's suck to ride.

No way that's a 92 however. The Judy didn't launch until 94/95 and team bikes featured Answer A-Tac stems through 1993 and didn't start powder coating Ringle stems and Rock Shox lowers until 1995. Additionally, if this were a team bike from 92, it would have Grafton cranks and brakes (which were utter garbage by the way).

My guess is that this is a 1995, mostly because of the team parts, powder coated stem and forks and fact that while it wasn't popular, the Yeti A.R.C - A.S was in the Yeti catalog through 1995.

The reason I don't think this is a 96 or newer is because in 96, the Rock Shox judy had no cable stop on the brake bridge because V-brakes were on the scene by then. They also did away with bolts on the crown and opted to have pressed in stanchions to save weight.

That Judy looks like the elastomers are totally shot by how compressed the fork looks. You can still buy coil spring kits for these and damping cartridges. Those Judy's were super easy to take apart and tune.

I know all of this because I'm a massive nerd who spend my high school years racing Norba Nationals and obsessing about mountain bikes in the pages of Mountain Bike Action and Mountain Bike.
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Balog
6 years ago
Yep... no Judys in 1992... Judy SL and DH were launched in 1995.
In 1992 this bike was probably running a Mag 20
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Salespunk
6 years ago
Having almost that exact setup on the ARC AS in the early 90's I can confidently say I will take the SB6c. I am curious on what the effective reach is on both bikes when taking stem length into account.
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Cant Climb
6 years ago
I'd like to see how Richie's bike compares to a Yeti-6 DH. Could have pretty extreme Geometry setup's on the Yeti-6's by adjusting the the pull shock collar.
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LTrumpore
6 years ago
This version of the ARC AS was 92-94 I believe (the first production Judy was released in '94), and in the last year also overlapped with the ARC AS/LT that was developed for downhill team. LT = a whopping 3" travel. Some of the parts may have been sourced at a later date to rebuild the bike but it's still an an accurate example of a factory level ride spanning the early 90's.
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Dobba84
6 years ago
The SB6 has a 64 degree head angle? How did they lose 1.5 degrees with only a 10mm bump in fork travel over stock? Doesn’t look like a Angleset or anything?
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LTrumpore
6 years ago
That's what it measured at consistently. I'm fairly certain the rear shock/bushings are stock spec, but the longer travel, different volume tires, imperfectly level floor, imprecise reading with the angle finder, difference in lower headset cup height, variance in axel-crown length, etc all can result in published numbers not always matching up in the real world. Both bikes were measured several times in the same way in the same spot so relative to each other they should be reasonably accurate, but we can't claim the figures are perfect.