Bike Check Christian Peper’s
Yeti SB140 Space Oddity
Photos by JMV Photo
Whenever Chris King rolls out a limited edition color you can be sure that it’s going to spur some custom bike builds. Christian Peper took that to another level when he decided a new Yeti build wasn’t quite enough for Chris King’s new violet colorway that has the 1990s written all over it. Custom paint on his SB140 was the only way to do his “Space Oddity” build any justice.
“I’d never done a custom paint job on a bike, so I bounced ideas back and forth with Tec-Gnar for a few weeks before finally landing on a paint selection that would complement Chris King’s new violet color. With another week of dialogue, we decided on a gradient fade from spaceberry to black. I wanted it to pop in the details, but otherwise be relatively muted. In some lights, it looks like a NASA galaxy photo and in other lights it’s as dark as a black hole. I really love the color shift”, says Christian.
The aesthetics of the SB140 aren’t the only thing that sets it apart — Christian had a very specific purpose in mind for his new build. “It’s more of an SB125, as I am running a smaller-volume, short-stroked Fox DPS rear shock for 125mm travel and I dropped the Fox 36 from 160mm to 140mm+ full tokens. Why? Less air volume for faster ramp up; this bike is purely for jumping. Steeper head angle for more responsive steering and slightly shorter wheelbase.”
Because the bike is so purpose-built, there are a lot of smaller details that Christian went all-in on. “The oddities of the build would be one brake
Frame –Yeti SB140
Wheels – ENVE M730 27.5” built on Chris King ISO hubs
Bar – ENVE M7, 40mm rise
Stem – ENVE M7
Tires – Maxxis Icon
Grips – Deity Lockjaw
Pedals – Deity Bladerunner
Chainring – Absoluteblack, 30t in Chris King violet (not in production)
Custom Decals – Stikrd, purple chrome
