Grape Koolaid: A Canfield Yelli Screamy Review (With Stoke!)

[toast2266]

Brilliant stoke.
Mrs Toast on 29s too?

Nope - she's rocking a Trek Fuel EX 9.8

[laxman2001]

Now I can see.

HOLY CRAP!

Nice!!!

[powbmps]

You sir, are wicked rad.

[frorider]

nice pics & riding.

I got Chris C's Yelli frame in the dead of winter (Feb?) after he was done testing it, and built it up in the spring. As I've posted here before, it really was the first 29er that had the ride qualities I was looking for. Your thoughts pretty much mirrored my posts on that.



I have found all the QR 29er forks to be flexy and useless in chunky terrain, but then again I am bigger than you. Also a bit surprised you're rocking 100 mm travel rather than the 120 or 140 Chris designed it around.

I think one of the best options for wheels is a single speed hope or hadley with six 9-spd cogs...the wide flange separation really stiffens and strengthens the rear wheel. mtbr is often a source of misleading info, but there are some very good threads there regarding the best rear der / cogset setups for a 6 (or 7) cog cluster. Currently I have the charger pros w/ a full 10 spd cogset, but I may put on the wide flange hadley / flow rim I have on another bike on this one.

The key innovation of the yelli is not simply the short CS, but the combo of short CS and tons of clearance (and the right HA of course). the flow rim + 2.4 Ardent is hudge...bigger width and volume than a typical DH setup. IME that was what made the difference in letting me ride the same speed as most guys on their 6 in FS AM bikes. When I put a 2.25 inch tire on the rear, the bike is still fun but more XC feeling in the rocky stuff.

Agree with the chainline comments. It just barely works out, but that's all that's needed, and having the clearance for a real rear tire is well worth the very slightly outward chainline.

[toast2266]

I have found all the QR 29er forks to be flexy and useless in chunky terrain, but then again I am bigger than you. Also a bit surprised you're rocking 100 mm travel rather than the 120 or 140 Chris designed it around.

yeah, the fork isn't particularly stiff, but it was fairly cheap and fit the wheels I already had. It might get upgraded somewhere down the line. The 100 mm setting isn't really a conscious decision, it's more just laziness - that's what it came set at. I literally did nothing to that fork when I mounted it aside from pressing the crown race - I didn't even put air in it (it was already pumped up to roughly the right pressure). It'll probably end up at 120 mm sometime soon.

Good to know about the wheels. I figure I'll ride the ones I have until they're square and/or taco'd and then deal with building something a bit more stout.

[406]

thanks for the pics.

[HVskier]

Awesome. I too have been riding a yelli this season and love it. So glad I didn't go for some stupid fs 29er. The geometry was the draw and it did not disappoint.

as to the chainline questions...3x9 slx




mine is set up for general xc with a bit of racing use

[gollub01]

Hell Ya NOah....Glad your digging the bike. Such a fun ride. Like I said it has DH roots and you make it show. Great time riding up in montana. Let us know if you need anything else from CANFIELD. Have a great fall.


sean-

[Chugachjed]

Sorry to bring this up from the depths but goddamn I badly want to build a Yelli but there's no XL used frames for sale anywhere and Canfield has none in stock.... Goddamn it

[jm2e]

I'm getting ready to sell my medium. Maybe you could put a long stem on it? Setback post?

[raisingarizona13]

Nice! You kill it on a hard tail too. Those trails look bad ass.

What is the DNRC? Is this on NF land?

[toast2266]

Nice! You kill it on a hard tail too. Those trails look bad ass.

What is the DNRC? Is this on NF land?

Thanks man!

DNRC is Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, which oversees the state lands. It's set up so the state lands are revenue generators for the school system; the land gets logged, and those proceeds go to the schools. We actually just inked a deal with them where we pay a licensing fee for those trails, and that fee goes to the school system. DNRC is happy because they get annual revenue from the licensing fee, and we're happy because the trails are now legal.

[raisingarizona13]

Wow. Good for you guys. Getting trails of that nature legit here in the US is a big deal, especially outside of a ski resort.

How does the state deal with liability? Are those lands protected from being sued?

I'm just curious since I have been heavily involved with getting legal dh trails here on Elden and the process has been brutal. We are really close now and of things go smoothly we could be building next summer. Our stuff is on NF land tho and the only other place I know of that is doing that is Teton Pass. Those guys used a CE to move things quickly, our district ranger is very old school and careful so we are almost 5 years into this thing now. They did at least agree not to close anything while we wait but the wait is starting to kill me, I'm not getting any younger!

[toast2266]

Yeah - the liability issue was obviously tricky. There's a state law the provides legal immunity for any landowners (including the state) offering public access for recreation, but that law hasn't really been tested yet, and there's some exceptions that raise some concerns for big jumps/drops.

Basically we addressed the liability first by getting a few different groups involved (2 different local non-profits, the local municipality, and the DNRC), all of which have insurance policies in place. Then we put together a set of "guidelines" that the trails have to conform to. The guidelines don't limit us too much on the size of the features, but they have some construction criteria to make sure the features aren't going to fall apart and they require ride arounds, signage, frequent inspections, and things of that nature. There isn't any real engineering required, but the guy who does the playground inspections for the local municipality also does inspections of the trail features (the tests are pretty straightforward vertical load and lateral strength tests).

But yeah, it took a looong time for that all to come together. I think people started working on it something like 12 years ago (which is well before I got involved).

[Single Track]

Interesting and encouraging to hear about the happy DNRC relationship. I saw that Spencer Mountain EIS last summer and it was great to read an environmental document that had mountain bike lingo all over it!

Not to derail your review, but what kind of riding can you find around Spencer? Is it all freeride?

[toast2266]

The north end of spencer has a bunch of trails, some of which are freeride-ish, but a couple of which are just rocky, rooty singletrack with relatively few man-made additions. The southern end of spencer is a big mess of trails - some singletrack, some doubletrack. Those trails don't have any features - it's all natural. The south end is pretty easy to get lost in, but there will soon be an "official" loop that's part of the whitefish trail system and will have signage, maps, etc.

If you're local, shoot me a PM. Happy to show you around.

[Single Track]

Thanks for the info! I'm trying to work in Whitefish/Fernie trip this summer and I'd definitely like to check this spot out.

[raisingarizona13]

Do you guys have any shuttles off the ski area road?

[stuckathuntermtn]

Liability? Personal safety? This is Montana; hold my beer and watch this!
And Chugash, I find that whatever size I would normally be in a 26" bike, I'd be about a size smaller in a 29er. Just look at the top tube length and also imagine how much fuckin wheel there is out in front and behind you.
Every 29er I've ever sat on or parking lot tested felt WAY to big in a Large, so I opted for a Medium N9 and I love it. Yes, I need a 70mm stem on. No biggie. Also, it looks like the N9 actually does have *slightly* different geo than the YS.
The 23.5 inch TT might be a tad short for me, but the CG feels right, the bars aren't too high, and everything feels pretty comfy. Really short with wide bars.
Wouldn't the 140mm option make the eTT feel longer? I bet it's an interesting ride. Especially with huge tires that I'm too weak to push.

[toast2266]

Do you guys have any shuttles off the ski area road?

Unfortunately no. There are some trails that could be shuttled, but they're pretty xc-ish with substantial climbing, so it's not really worth the hassle.

[Gripen]

Thanks man!

DNRC is Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, which oversees the state lands. It's set up so the state lands are revenue generators for the school system; the land gets logged, and those proceeds go to the schools. We actually just inked a deal with .

That's great man. Glad to hear Spencer is legal now. I remember it all the way from the scary twig and stick sketchy features until now. Congratulations! On that! Look forward to riding it with the brother next time I'm in the Valley!

[Gripen]

Unfortunately no. There are some trails that could be shuttled, but they're pretty xc-ish with substantial climbing, so it's not really worth the hassle.

The singletrack through haskills from the ski Hill to rail tracks is no more right? I haven't ridden it in years but I think last time I did they were just starting on the new housing development.

[toast2266]

Yeah, the old dh singletrack off the hill is gone. Housing development at the top and irate landowners at the bottom.

[Chugachjed]

Liability? Personal safety? This is Montana; hold my beer and watch this!
And Chugash, I find that whatever size I would normally be in a 26" bike, I'd be about a size smaller in a 29er. Just look at the top tube length and also imagine how much fuckin wheel there is out in front and behind you.
Every 29er I've ever sat on or parking lot tested felt WAY to big in a Large, so I opted for a Medium N9 and I love it. Yes, I need a 70mm stem on. No biggie. Also, it looks like the N9 actually does have *slightly* different geo than the YS.
The 23.5 inch TT might be a tad short for me, but the CG feels right, the bars aren't too high, and everything feels pretty comfy. Really short with wide bars.
Wouldn't the 140mm option make the eTT feel longer? I bet it's an interesting ride. Especially with huge tires that I'm too weak to push.

I'm used to a Large Soul cycles Dillinger. That's a pretty similar ETT/ seat tube to the XL Yelli. Only reason I'm getting rid of it is because of the long chainstays makes it tough to manual and bunnyhop and really whip around. I dig it and it's fast but I want something with short stays and slacker.

[raisingarizona13]

Yeah - the liability issue was obviously tricky. There's a state law the provides legal immunity for any landowners (including the state) offering public access for recreation, but that law hasn't really been tested yet, and there's some exceptions that raise some concerns for big jumps/drops.

Basically we addressed the liability first by getting a few different groups involved (2 different local non-profits, the local municipality, and the DNRC), all of which have insurance policies in place. Then we put together a set of "guidelines" that the trails have to conform to. The guidelines don't limit us too much on the size of the features, but they have some construction criteria to make sure the features aren't going to fall apart and they require ride arounds, signage, frequent inspections, and things of that nature. There isn't any real engineering required, but the guy who does the playground inspections for the local municipality also does inspections of the trail features (the tests are pretty straightforward vertical load and lateral strength tests).

But yeah, it took a looong time for that all to come together. I think people started working on it something like 12 years ago (which is well before I got involved).

This is so awesome. We are sort of in the works of figuring this all out too. I'm seriously stoked for you guys. It's actually not just good for you but good for all of us trying to make something similar happen. A big sincere thank you for your efforts.