YETI LT REVIEW

October 23, 2026

Yeti’s move to the Sixfinity suspension platform took over a decade, but the result has been remarkable across the bikes they have released with it so far. The Yeti LT is a purposeful bike, designed with one thing in mind: speed. From its suspension platform to the geometry and a wide range of adjustability, Yeti has built an absolute animal.

Could the new LT do enough to rise above the rest of the competition in our 2026 Enduro Group Test?

We’d like to extend a huge thanks to the supporting brands who kitted us out and made this series possible. Without their financial support, this eight-bike comparison test would not have happened. Go and show them some love!

Fidlock covered our hydration needs with their excellent TWIST bottle system and neat hip packs. The system allowed us to maximize the hydration capacity on each bike, which was helpful for those long testing days.

Peaty’s provided their Monarch Pro Mushroom Thin grips and new Monarch saddles to give consistent touch points across the bikes. Their cleaning and lubrication products helped to keep the bikes running smoothly throughout the testing.

iXS kitted out our testers with their gear and protection. The Trigger X helmet is amongst our favorites here at TLW, so we were glad to have the opportunity to wear it as we attacked the trails, and their apparel was comfortable and helped us look good.

Pirelli equipped all of our bikes with their new Emperor Hardwall Super Soft and Black Sting DH Wall Soft tire combo. These burly tires offered excellent traction and control to help us push these bikes to the limit.

ABOUT THE YETI LT

Yeti held nothing back with the LT. It’s highly adjustable, features the awesome Sixfinity suspension platform, and has an incredible price tag to match.

YETI LT FRAME & SUSPENSION

Yeti builds the LT from their top-tier TURQ Carbon Fiber composite, which is reinforced with Vectran composite in key areas for improved toughness. The 160mm rear travel is delivered by their Sixfinity six-bar suspension system, while a 170mm fork leads the charge. Yeti rates the frame up to a 190mm travel single or dual-crown fork.

Wheel size can be either 29” or MX thanks to the seat stay flip chip, and an alternative chip also delivers a more aggressive geometry setting for MX wheels. Adjustability is boosted by a three-position lower shock mount, offering a choice between 15%, 20% or 25% leverage ratio progression. Lastly, Yeti offers two different dropouts, giving a 0mm and +10mm chainstay length setting on each frame size. With the ZS44/56 headtube, you can add an aftermarket headset to further tweak the numbers.

Yeti gave the LT everything you would expect from a super-premium frame. There’s the comedically named “Cavity” in-frame storage, with a robust and well-sealed door. Frame protection is plentiful for the rear end and downtube, keeping things protected and quiet. There is tube-in-tube internal cable routing, with clamped ports to give further cable security and ensure no rattles. Within the front triangle is space for the 800ml Fidlock TWIST bottle, with room to spare. On the underside of the top tube is a tool mount to add further utility.

The rear linkages are exposed, directly in the firing line of water and debris from the rear tire. We would be interested to see how these fare after a full season of Scottish abuse. So far, they have held up amicably, and didn’t fill up with mud as we had feared. When it comes time for service, the replacement of the most vulnerable bearings should be easy thanks to the linkage design.

Yeti offers a lifetime warranty on the frame to the original owner, giving peace of mind that your investment is for the long term.

YETI LT GEOMETRY

The Yeti LT may be highly adjustable, but its geometry is aggressive no matter how you set it, with multiple numbers on the extreme end of the spectrum. We’ll focus on the standard MX wheel setup with the neutral chainstay and no angleset, but with the MX Slack flip chip and an angleset, you could drop the Head Tube Angle all the way to 62.5°.

The Reach figure on the LT was the joint longest on test at 485mm. Of course, the Canyon Torque AL would have surpassed this if we had tested the size Large. Stack height was on the opposite end of the spectrum, lowest on test at 635mm. Chainstay length was longest on test at 455mm in the neutral setting, growing even longer to 465mm in the long. The rear end is size-specific, with larger sizes receiving increasingly longer chainstays.

The 64° Head Tube angle and 77.5° Effective Seat Tube angle are quite typical figures, as is the 350mm BB height.

Unsurprisingly, with the longest rear-center on test also came the smallest Front Center : Rear Center ratio on test, at 1.83 or 1.79 depending on the dropout length selected.

YETI LT BUILD KITS

Yeti offers the LT in a choice of two or three builds, depending on the market, as well as a frameset option. In the UK, there is the X0/90 build at £7,899 or the X0 AXS at £9,799, priced at $8,400 and $10,200, respectively. The frameset costs £4,699 or $5,000 with Fox Float X2 Factory shock. Ouch.

We tested the top-tier Yeti LT X0 AXS, which featured a build kit that left very little to be desired, though you would hope so at that price tag. The Fox Factory 38 fork and Float X2 rear shock offered excellent performance and adjustability, worthy of suspending this chassis. The Fox Transfer Performance provides the performance of its Kashima-stanchioned brother but with stealthier looks. However, it was swapped for the 230mm Ascend Components Adapt dropper post to increase clearance on the descents.

The SRAM X0 AXS T-Type drivetrain was excellent, and the SRAM Maven Silver brakes offered great stopping power. Our build featured the A1 variant, though we would have preferred the improved control of the B1.

A Yeti Carbon Bar and Burgtec stem formed the cockpit. As with all of the bikes in this group test, we equipped the LT with the Peaty’s Monarch Pro Thin Mushroom grips and their new Monarch saddle, giving consistent comfort across the test bikes.

DT Swiss EXC1700 wheelset was wrapped in a Schwalbe Magic Mary and Albert Radial tire pairing from stock, however, these were replaced by our Pirelli control tires for this test. The Pirelli Emperor Hardwall Super Soft tire led the charge and offered excellent traction and predictability across lean angles and trail conditions. The Blacksting DH Wall Soft rear tire offered durability and solid rolling speed, while slowing the LT down well under braking.

With the Pirelli control tires fitted (albeit with the Reserve wheel from the Nomad, since we were provided with the 29” Yeti), the Yeti LT X0 AXS in size Large weighed 35.7lb (16.2kg).

THE DIRT

The Yeti LT was one of the later bikes to arrive in this group test, which sadly meant we didn’t get a huge amount of time onboard or take it far and wide. It saw miles and produced smiles on the local trails of the Tweed Valley, Scotland, and found itself on the rugged and raw granite of Aberdeenshire to give a good spread of trail variety in a relatively short timeframe.

SETUP AND FINISH | With an apparently complex suspension system and a whole host of adjustability, you would be forgiven for assuming the Yeti LT to be a difficult bike on which to obtain a happy setup, but you would be wrong. We did not receive the long chainstay dropouts, alternative suspension progression chips, nor MX slack seatstay flip chip option. Combining this with the rear suspension, which was surprisingly easy to get into a happy place, and we didn’t have to spend much time working on the Yeti. Instead, we focused on learning the ins and outs of the platform in its neutral guise. We did experiment with wheel size briefly, since we were supplied with the 29” model, and concluded that both wheel size options work well.

30% sag in the rear end with the 20% progression setting left our crew in a very happy place. Tuning the characteristics with the compression adjusters allowed for customisation of the ride feel, with no reasonable setting yielding problematic handling quirks.

The fit of the size Large Yeti LT left our 5’10” to 6’2” crew in a happy place, but the Yeti felt like a big bike. The joint longest Reach combined with a relatively low front end and middling seat tube angle gave a fairly stretched-out and racey feeling cockpit. Pushing the saddle forward in the rails and raising the stem to the top of the steerer tube kept it within the comfortable space.

Robert set the front Pirelli Emperor Hardwall Super Soft tires to 25psi, and the Blacksting DH Wall Softs in the rear to 27.5psi for his 220lbs (98kg) kitted mass, across all test bikes. Graham opted for 21psi front and 23psi rear for his 155lbs (70kg) weight. This Pirelli tire combination allowed for predictable and reliable handling, helping us to hone in on the nuances between each bike on test. That said, the Yeti LT’s character was more than just a sum of nuances.

CLIMBING | Most climbing platforms strike a balance between traction and efficiency, with a direct relationship between the two. The Yeti LT managed to deliver exceptional comfort and traction without feeling sluggish under power. It remained neutral when pedaling and translated rider input into forward momentum, regardless of what was under the tires. On the smoothest of climbs, its efficiency could be boosted by the shock lockout, but the LT was one of a few bikes on test that we would happily have equipped with a shock that didn’t feature a pedal switch.

The climbing geometry was a little stretched, but manageable for our crew with some slight fit adjustments. We would consider fitting a higher-rise handlebar to deliver a more upright and relaxed pedaling position, but it didn’t demand it. Thanks to the long rear end, there was never a concern about front-end weighting when climbing, and the reasonable overall build weight ensured acceleration was suitably peppy.

The Yeti LT disguised its big bike energy well on the climbs, providing an effective enduro machine on which to cover ground.

DESCENDING | The Yeti LT was an absolute animal on the descents, but not in a harsh or abusive way. The ability of the LT to maintain speed, deliver traction, and stick ambitious lines was incredible. Whether we dropped in with 50% aggression or 120% aggression, we found ourselves up to speed in a matter of seconds. Never did we feel endangered at these speeds, with the calm demeanour the Yeti delivered giving excellent confidence and a wide safety net.

Not only was the LT exceptional at maintaining speed, but it also delivered enough feedback to inform the rider of the traction under the tires. This same feedback and support also allowed for speed to be generated easily, with great forward drive received from pumping efforts. Cornering was a pleasure, too, with excellent balance between the wheels. The relatively low front end encouraged the rider to drive the front tire into the turn, and the precise – yet suitably compliant – chassis ensured the rest of the bike followed.

Steep terrain was the only area that took adjustment on the Yeti LT. With the longer and lower front end, and longer rear, we found ourselves pushed over the front when the going got steep. Following an adjustment period – in which we learned to trust hanging further off the back of the bike – these feelings subsided. Once we adjusted to the geometry, we could attack the steeps as well as the rest of the trail.

The Yeti LT was not a playful bike, though that may not come as a surprise. It offered plentiful agility to transition between successive turns or pull for trail gaps, but required more input to pop onto the back wheel or boost a side hit. The Yeti felt to be more of a serious, speed-focused bike than one that was designed for low-speed smiles. It was an absolute riot to ride fast, but sat on the opposite end of the spectrum to the likes of the Cannondale Bad Habit.

The feelings of quality the Yeti LT delivered on the trail were the highest we have experienced. It ran quietly, felt tight and smooth, and looked like a truly premium machine. The sad reality is that we are unlikely to ever have ten thousand dollars or pounds to spend on a mountain bike. But should we come into good money, we would feel satisfied with the quality the Yeti delivered for our investment. It’s a special machine.

THE YETI LT PERSONALITY

The Yeti LT breathes and breeds speed, carrying and obtaining speed with incredible effect. It combines traction and support both up and down the hill in an unparalleled manner, but it comes at an incredulous price. The handling is racey but balanced, and the pedaling characteristics are extremely effective, regardless of the terrain.

WHO IS THE YETI LT FOR?

If you have deep pockets and desire a bike that delivers a special ability to go fast, then the Yeti LT is for you. It’ll please all but the most play-minded of riders across the spectrum of enduro terrain, so long as they are willing to hang off the back of the bike in the steeps.

Buy this bike if you prioritize uncompromised speed without brutality.

Consider another bike if you don’t have considerable disposable income or want something poppy and playful.

The Wolf’s Last Word

The Yeti LT is a truly special machine. One that we can genuinely say delivers performance that’s worthy of its high price tag, whether you agree with it or not. Delivering support and traction in equal measures, up and down the hill, we are yet to ride such an effective bike for attacking enduro trails and race stages alike.

Price: £9,799 / $10,200 (X0 AXS)
Weight: 35.7lb | 16.2kg
Website: Yeticycles.com

2026 ENDURO GROUP TEST SPONSORS