Dream Builds: Mixed-Wheel Yeti SB140 – Video

Our first Dream Build wasn’t on YouTube. It was on paper. Beta Senior Editor (and former World Cup mechanic) Ryan Palmer, whose corrugated aluminum lair you’re about to step into, first made fantasy into reality on the printed page back in 2013, where a few lucky, probably undeserving magazine editors got to build their perfect bikes. But Dream Builds are about the journey as much as the destination, so the whole process is artfully documented by our Video Editor, Satchel Cronk. Please have a seat, relax and settle in for Beta’s Dream Builds.

Today’s build is a weird one. Of course, dreams are supposed to be weird. They’re supposed to bend the rules of reality a little. And although mixing wheel sizes on a Yeti SB140 isn’t quite as wild as flying or falling or going to school in your underwear, it surely qualifies as a dream, at least for Beta gear tester and owner of Buena Vista Bike Co., Simon Stewart. Dropping the SB140’s stock front travel from 160 to 140, while swapping the stock 27.5-inch front wheel for a 29, nets a slightly slacker head angle and significantly more capable front end. Bolt on a handsome collection of copper and burgundy drivetrain and suspension components, and this is truly a sophisticated party bike.