1987 Yeti F.R.O. Restoration

mkozaczek

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Sometime late last summer I got an email from a friend saying there is a busted up old FRO I should take a look at in Rancho. I contacted the seller who confirmed that he has an early Yeti FRO but that it had a bent down tube and was missing some parts. He said he owned the bike nearly since new but it's had a rough life. At the time I was looking for a donor frame for my C-26 prototype replica project and this frame seemed to fit the bill.

I took a drive out and met the guy. He was an older fellow and seemed to have a few prongs missing from his fork if you follow my meaning. The bike was there in a heap of parts but it didn't look broken. I examined it a bit further and it really looked solid. The guy admitted that he got confused and must have looked at a different bike. He had a collection of crap in his garage and perhaps it was something else that was broken. Needless to say I found a very early 87ish Yeti FRO, with the rare round top tube, Simplex dropouts and BMX style headtube. Frame included the Yeti fork, Salsa stem, 1/2 of a Bullseye crank and some assorted crappy parts. It looks to have been repainted by a rattle can at least three times but it's all there.

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I took the frame home and did some work cleaning it up and decided that it was too nice to cut up for the C-26 project. So, without any immediate plans (it's not my exact size) I just shelved it for the time being.

Fast forward to a couple weeks ago I had another lucky break and scored a stash of old CBR parts which would not only complete the bike but with the high rise stem actually enable me to ride it.

CBR Stem:

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CBR Front Wheel:

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CBR Rear Wheel:

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CBR Ti bar:

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I have a complete mint Shimano M730 XT grouppo as well as some Bullseye and Cook cranks so I think I can make a legit bike out of this thing.

First I need to send the frame to FTW for alignment and then off to paint. So, I have to come up with a cool design. I have a few ideas rattling around in my head and think I'm going to settle on a white to violet dart scheme, but that's TBD.

It'll be a long time in the making before anything is ready to show, but I figured I'd kick it off with the new year!

Enjoy.
 
Martin

You're like a machine :shock: countless builds all to the highest spec in the time most of us manage one.

And you track down more cool projects in one year than most of us will find in a life time. . . . . We could be forgiven for hating you !!

Looking forward to seeing the up dates on this one as and when they happen.
 
Retro Spud":1rxam2r1 said:
Martin

You're like a machine...
yeah that's just incredible what he finds everything! But the good thing is that he passes his treasures now and then. :D

@Martin,
If you have no time for restoration ... I like to do for you! :LOL:
 
Retro Spud":1bsxymnn said:
We could be forgiven for hating you !!

i had the same thought, you little .... lucky boy. ;)

at least we know it is in good hands now and see a deserving rebirth.

Moritz
 
I have had a string of pretty good luck. Many of these finds were right here in LA which arguably was a hotbed in the early days of mountain biking. I think it's safe to say you won't see as much 'NEW' stuff from me in the coming years, I've gotten most of what I wanted and now I just need to put them all together.
 
exceptional archaeological discovery, :D
which was its original color can you tell? I do not cut off to make a C26, although beautiful would be a fake.............. I will follow your work with joy! ;)
 
It's priceless valuables that are in the trash .. I'm glad it was her hands, would be a shame to have ended up in a landfill.
martin, luckily know the best for this job and expect a very nice second life.
We are attentive to its restoration, it sure is a good show!
 
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