#84 Richie Rude's Yeti SB5

Is this the bike that’s going to propel the reigning EWS champ to a third consecutive win?

Junior downhill world champ, two-time Enduro World Series title holder and winner of 21 EWS stages – it’s pretty incredible what American racer Richie Rude has managed to achieve by the age of 22. And while those incredible results are a reflection of Richie’s talent, they’re also a feather in the cap for long-term sponsors Yeti Cycles, the brand Richie has ridden for during every one of those victories His relationship with the company started back in 2011, when Yeti boss Chris Conway spotted the potential in the Connecticut teenager and signed him up to the team. It was a dream come true for 17-year-old Richie. He’d grown up watching videos featuring Yeti bikes and looking up to riders like Jared Graves, so to suddenly be teammates with him must have seemed pretty surreal.

After three years of DH, in 2014 Yeti and Jared switched their focus to enduro, and Richie followed suit. He’s since proven himself to be the ultimate all-rounder, winning back-to-back EWS titles in 2015 and ’16. Hoping to make it three in a row this year, Richie started his assault on the season aboard this bike – the SB5.