RAAW Introduces the Yalla! V2

Not much has changed about our feelings for downhill since the first Yalla!. Whether it’s a daily driver during the lift season or a bike that we yearn to ride more often due to life commitments, once you throw a leg over nothing still comes close to the feelings that a downhill bike can evoke. Their ability to elevate your margin for error on even the wildest of tracks and egg you on to challenge your commitment levels is nothing if not addictive.

It’s been a pleasure to have the Yalla! in our lineup. And since we launched the V1 back in 2022 it’s been heartwarming to watch as it was raced at everything from World Championships to Red Bull street races with every kind of continental, national, or weekend mates race in between. It's flown high at Fest Series events and has simply just been a reliable weekend pal for anyone out in a bike park.

We wanted a dependable platform for racers and riders alike, that allowed them to tailor the bike to their preferences, and provided predictability to drop your heels, lift your eye line, and push your limit, no matter where that limit lives. For the Yalla!! V2, we didn’t need to start with a blank sheet of paper. There’s so much we love about the bike that we wanted to retain. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. But we didn’t rest on our laurels.

At a Glance

• Pricing starts at 2,990€ incl. VAT for frame kits (2,720 USD, 3,880 CAD, 4,320 AUD, 2,400 CHF or 2,100 GBP)* and at 5,590€ incl. VAT for rolling chassis (5,200 USD, 7,315 CAD, 8,170 AUD, 4.464 CHF or 3,960 GBP)*
• The Yalla!! V2 will be available to order from the release on April 10th 2025 with delivery in early June
• Frame kits and rolling chassis will be available with Fox and Öhlins suspension in full 29” or MX wheel setup

*without VAT, depending on current exchange rate.

All our recent refinements to the Madonna V3 and Jibb V2 have found their way onto the Yalla!! V2. But our biggest changes have been in redesigning the dropouts to offer adjustability while having UDH compatibility as well as different wheelsize compatibility. Overall the Yalla!! V2 remains a bike focussed on going as fast as possible. It’ll have your back no matter what mischief you pull it into, and it will sing and dance all season long without so much as a look at the hose. Yalla!! is downhill to us at RAAW. And we still love it to bits.

Specifications

Geometry & Sizing

The geometry of the Yalla!! V2 remains unchanged from the V1. We were stoked about the fit of the frame, the feeling of being on rails from the low bottom bracket, as well as the balance in grip between the wheels that our geometry gave. The Yalla!! V2 comes in three sizes from M to XL, designed around 29” wheels front and rear. The three sizes cover riders from 167 to 199 cm and are equipped with a great number of adjustments to find perfect setups for different rider preferences and tracks.

Suspension Design

The suspension characteristics of the Yalla!! V2 also remains unchanged. 198 mm of rear wheel travel is delivered smoothly and consistently, leading to suppleness and chassis support and a highly predictable nature to how the bike goes in and out of its travel. There are good levels of anti-squat that cater to how downhill bikes are pedalled, usually sprinting towards the finish line. The suspension also meshes well with any of the pedal kickback reduction devices on offer, but if you don’t have one, the bike still rides just fine. And when you deploy the anchors, the bike balances bump absorption with chassis stability in a consistent way no matter if you’re just tickling the start of travel or about to buzz your ankles on the floor.

Dropouts

Being big fans of adjustability, we wanted to find a way to offer adjustable chainstay lengths with SRAM’s UDH. Chainstay length adjustment is one of the most palpable adjustments on a bike, and we weren’t ready to give it up. Rather than have an adjustment range that lives within the dropout, we turned the whole dropout itself into the adjustment piece. The interchangeable parts allow for 5 mm shorter or longer than the base chainstay setting, bolt up solidly to the frame, and can be switched out in a matter of minutes. There’s also a pinch bolt to secure the rear wheel axle from coming undone during hard cornering or flexing. The Yalla!! V2 is also now designed around a 148 mm wide rear hub. The narrower rear gives more clearance for threading through tight sections of trail and makes for fewer standards for all the bikes in your garage.

Wheel Sizes

When we went racing on the Yalla! V1, lots of racers loved the dual 29” wheels, but some requested the ability to use a 27.5” rear wheel for trouser clearance reasons or general bike feel. We made them some specific lower shock mounts that enabled this, but it simply made the clearances too tight for us to release it to the public. The Yalla!! V2 is still designed around dual 29” wheels, but we’ve now made more space in the critical areas to allow the use of the MX lower shock mounts across all frame sizes. The shock mounts sit the bike up, correcting out the geometry changes that the smaller rear wheel would bring if left uncorrected. Shorter riders can benefit from the MX setup, as a big wheel moving around needs some trouser clearance, especially when things get really steep and steppy. But if you like to corner later and smack the turns like a maniac, then the MX setup can also help you lay the bike over faster in those instances.

Brake Mount

While adjustability is a great thing for changing how a bike feels, we also wanted to reduce the number of pieces people would need to buy to do it. Our re-designed brake mount now encompasses all three chainstay positions in one mount, just needing to be repositioned as you change chainstay length. It’s available for 200 mm, or 203 mm with the supplied spacers, and 220 mm rotors.

Adjustability - The Toolbox Concept

The Yalla! was the bike that started our Toolbox Concept. We sweated the details about all the mid-position settings, meaning that if tinkering isn’t your thing, then you were set to go. But if you did like to morph a bike to your preferences as a rider, or just experiment with different adjustments and how they affect the ride, then you could mess around with the geometry and suspension until your heart’s content. None of this adjustability is gone for the Yalla!! V2. You can still adjust the BB height up and down by 3 mm and adjust the progression by 3% each way via the same lower shock mounts. The straight 56 mm head tube also remains and allows for easy reach and head angle adjustments with our RAAW headset cups. Accurate markings on the head tube and cups make it a doddle to line everything up.

Tubing & Frame Protection

The new down tube is central in the Yalla!! V2. The straight lines of the frame and carefully designed intersections to the BB go together with much-improved clearance for all shocks in all settings. The frame comes with a set of protective pieces made from a soft rubber compound. The downtube protector covers the full width of the downtube and offers 5 mm thickness to absorb impacts before the frame needs to. The chainstay protector now integrates the gear cable routing and also prevents heel rub on the frame. The frame protection is finished with coverage on the seat stay and chainstays as well as a set of pre-cut clear protective film to cover most of the exposed frame surfaces.

Hardware & Cable Routing

The Yalla!! V2 features our new main and rocker pivot design, also seen on the Madonna V3 and Jibb V2. Both pivots feature wider and stronger bearings and axles that go straight through the inner races of the bearings, to reduce complexity and any potential for creaky noises. The cable routing stood at the very beginning of the development process and the result is the smoothest mechanical shifting in town. The lack of small bends in the gear cable allows it to shift with very low friction. The assembly of the brake hose and gear cable are all external and a piece of cake.

For more information, head on over to raawmtb.com.

View key specs, compare frames, and review the new RAAW Yalla!! V2 in the Vital MTB Product Guide.