BIKE vs. BIKE - Richie Rude's Yeti SB6 27.5 or Cody Kelley's Yeti SB5.5 29er 6

They both ride Yeti, they both ride the same courses, but they choose different bikes and wheel sizes. Find out why.

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5/27/2017 2:32pm

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Yeti Cycles shredders, Richie Rude and Cody Kelley, battle it out on the Enduro World Series but with unique styles. Richie Rude, the 2016 EWS overall winner chooses to run a 27.5-inch-wheeled Yeti SB6 bike because he says he prefers the feel of a "bigger bike. His SB6 has 152mm of rear travel but he runs a 180mm-travel FOX fork up front. Cody Kelley prefers the Yeti SB5.5 which has 29-inch wheels and 140mm of travel. He runs a size large frame and Cody claims that because of his extra-long legs, he feels more at home on the bike with bigger wheels, despite less travel. - by Lee Trumpore

Hear the reasons behind their bike choices

Richie runs a medium frame (which seems like heresy these days for such a big guy), 30mm rims and new Renthal 35mm-diameter bar/stem combo. While his cockpit looks slammed without steer tube spacers, he says the 180mm fork keeps the front end up where he likes it.

Richie on a medium 27.5 bike with 170mm cranks and Cody on a size large 29er with 175mm cranks.

Richie slammed with 35mm clamp interface. Cody not slammed with 31.6mm setup.

It's all about cleat placement these days. Riders are sliding their cleats back further for more decent-oriented positioning. Cody says he's "neutral" while Richie drilled out his shoes to get even further back.