160E 2022

The 160E was Yeti Cycles' first ever eMTB, revealed on 13 September 2021 as a 2022 model after a development cycle the brand describes as roughly five years long. Yeti pitched it not as a supercharged trail bike but as 'the world's first race specific e-MTB', built to contest EWS-E enduro races. It pairs a Shimano EP8 motor and a 630Wh semi-integrated battery with a full carbon TURQ Series frame, dual 29in wheels, a 170mm fork and 160mm of rear travel.

What set it apart was Sixfinity, a dedicated six-bar linkage engineered specifically for the mass and speed of an eMTB. Yeti dialled the anti-rise back to 65 per cent and gave the platform an adjustable leverage-rate progression with three settings (25, 30 and 35 per cent), so riders can move from a supported, efficient feel to a livelier, coil-friendly ramp while geometry, anti-squat and anti-rise stay put and rear travel shifts only a couple of millimetres. The compact Infinity link also allows short 446mm chainstays on full 29in wheels, and Yeti runs a slightly higher 350mm bottom bracket paired with short cranks.

Geometry is consistent across the S to XL range: a 64.5 degree head angle, a steep 78 degree effective seat angle and reach growing from 430mm to 505mm. Both builds use the same TURQ carbon frame and SRAM Code brakes on large 220/200mm rotors. The flagship T1 (11,899 pounds) runs Fox Factory 38 GRIP2 and Float X2 suspension, Shimano XT, DT Swiss EX 1700 wheels and a SRAM Reverb AXS post, while the C1 (9,499 pounds) steps down to Fox Performance suspension, Shimano SLX, DT Swiss E1900 wheels and a OneUp V2 dropper.

This launch 160E is now discontinued. Yeti carried the 160E nameplate forward into later model years with revised builds, and it sits in the database alongside the 2023, 2024 and 2025 160E as the original that started the line.