TS 120 LE vs RIOT LE vs 129

[LeeK1]

Newby from North Idaho here- just making the switch from sleds to snowbike and I have a question from a new rider. I recently rented a bike with a TS ARO 120 and loved it, but I am wondering if I would rather buy the RIOT for the 2018 YZ 450 I am buying. The mountains in north Idaho are extremely steep and deep. The 120 was fine for me and I had a blast, so other than being able to wheelie in the open areas and snowmobile-like play areas, will the RIOT climb similar to the ARO or will it want to wheelie more? Is it going to trench more going up steep hills, even on lockout? Lastly, what is the biggest difference in performance from the 120 and 129? It is harder to turn in the trees? I want trail manners on the way in, some good playing and mild jumps, ease of turns in the trees, and good control on the climbs. Great deals on the ARO, but I don't want to get track envy and get beat up by the wife if you experienced riders think I am soon gonna get bored and want to upgrade. I think I am only gonna get one bite at the apple. Any help would be appreciated!

 

[teal_210]

Lee,

Darren here. You should have hopped on my riot! Curios how you settled on a 2018 yz also?

 

[LeeK1]

They have one, basically new, for $2500 less. I figure I may want to roll the savings into a few upgrades...

 

[teal_210]

Gotcha. A local dealer is selling a used demo bike of mine which happens to be a 2018 yz450. Just wanted to make sure you aren't looking at that one, it looks new but is far from it!

Here is my take on the kits:
Aro 120: hoping you have a good feel for how it works so we can use it as a baseline.

Riot: Deep snow and climbing similar to the aro 120. Takes more energy to ride. On the aro you can pretty much sit on the seat in a neutral position all day, the riot will require you to stand more and move around to get it to go where you want it to. It rewards aggression with much more playful ride.

Aro129: Similar to the aro120 in handling. Pretty drastic jump in climbing and deep snow performance. You give up a little bit of playfulness. I haven't really noticed the 129 kits pushing the ski like the 137 kits do. There are times when you start to get stuck or dig in where the 129 becomes harder to turn out of the climb.

 

[LeeK1]

Can you PM me? I don't know how to do it on this site and would like to talk just for a minute about the tracks and the YZ...it may be the same one.

 

[David24]

Dident the 2018 yz450f have horrible starter issues?

 

[eric82930]

There is a whole topic farther down on riot trenching but the short answer is the riot takes the whole bike feel to another level than any other kit. If you somehow decide the riot isn't your style you can easily tune it to behave like a conventional kit. Anything else it's just track size to decide on and my opinion is keep it short if you only have one bike and keep your sled for crazy deep days. The longer tracks are kind of a buzz kill on bikes. I own both and when deciding which to ride I would rather make the mistake of taking the short one on a surprise deep day than taking long one on a medium to hard day.