1988 Yeti FRO
- Thread starter Nader
- Start date
walleater
Retro Guru
mkozaczek":2uo736am said:
Why don't you just tell him what he's got? Would make more sense than all the passive aggressive willy waving that seems to come with certain brands (Yeti and Klein to name a just a couple, and they always seem to be from the States....) on this site. Help the guy out!
Nader
Senior Retro Guru
First of all thanks for many suggestions 
(this is needed in such a community and bothers me not at all).
Ok I try to give clarity here,
I bought my first Yeti 2002 (DH bike), it has unfortunately survived only two downhill runs! then it went right back to Yeti,
since I'm going as a DH bike Ibis (but now Im old for to climb down mountains :| )
I'm not an expert on Yeti brand, in the nineties everything I've read about Yeti were that the focus wasn't on building lifetime bikes,
it was on building light, fast, racing bikes. The result for this were many broken Yetis (especially the early FRO's)
In those days there were many reports of broken FRO's (crack around the seat collar, crack at the chainstay, cracks in the head tube...)
Now when I look at this frame, exactly these sensitive points are reinforced and improved. If that were a repaired frame, why it was broken
in all these places? and such repair actions in different locations would have been much more complex and expensive!
I'm happy to be in possession of this extraordinary Yeti, a 1988 Agoura Hills California Yeti race bike built by the early FTW crew
with many improvements/upgrades (e.g. stronger seat tube, stronger dropouts, stronger bottom bracket, it uses a 1" fork but the head tube is 1 1/4", and a lovely new paint job ).
A Yeti which is not built to showcase but for hard riding and racing.
Any additional information about this frame you can provide me would be greatly appreciated.
(this is needed in such a community and bothers me not at all).Ok I try to give clarity here,
I bought my first Yeti 2002 (DH bike), it has unfortunately survived only two downhill runs! then it went right back to Yeti,
since I'm going as a DH bike Ibis (but now Im old for to climb down mountains :| )
I'm not an expert on Yeti brand, in the nineties everything I've read about Yeti were that the focus wasn't on building lifetime bikes,
it was on building light, fast, racing bikes. The result for this were many broken Yetis (especially the early FRO's)
In those days there were many reports of broken FRO's (crack around the seat collar, crack at the chainstay, cracks in the head tube...)
Now when I look at this frame, exactly these sensitive points are reinforced and improved. If that were a repaired frame, why it was broken
in all these places? and such repair actions in different locations would have been much more complex and expensive!
I'm happy to be in possession of this extraordinary Yeti, a 1988 Agoura Hills California Yeti race bike built by the early FTW crew
with many improvements/upgrades (e.g. stronger seat tube, stronger dropouts, stronger bottom bracket, it uses a 1" fork but the head tube is 1 1/4", and a lovely new paint job
). A Yeti which is not built to showcase but for hard riding and racing.
Any additional information about this frame you can provide me would be greatly appreciated.
My reputation is very important to me. I love this stuff, I love yetis, and I love to make people happy.
I was told when I bought it that it was custom built for the pro racer that had owned it.
From FTW this morning:
"
Over the years several Yeti frames have turned up with unexplainable configurations. I recently rebuilt a frame for a gentleman in Italy that was part old FRO and part Sherpa I didn't even know what a Sherpa was when I first saw the bike.
It was "hinted" to me that employees (perhaps owners?) of Yeti had made bikes from assorted left over materials and sold them "on the down-low". Not a big surprise as everyone does it and it always causes confusion. People can't take the catalog shots as gospel.
BITD, we did do some round top tube bikes when we weren't able to get formed tubes.
There were also different versions of the plate dropouts that dated back to Agoura. The one thing I don't get is the shimmed head tube. Shimmed from what to 1" and are you talking about 1" road or 1" American "BMX" like the original yeti?
If it has a BMX head tube it's an old triangle with a newer rear. Did I work on this bike?
"
More info to follow as FTW gets back about the headtube...ultimates were always 1 1/4 correct? Bike could have been custom built in late 80s early 90s and I am sure has some great stories we will never know.
Lets focus on the great stories that are to come as Nader works towards another awesome build!!!!
Subscribed to this thread and looking forward to the development of this unique project.
I was told when I bought it that it was custom built for the pro racer that had owned it.
From FTW this morning:
"
Over the years several Yeti frames have turned up with unexplainable configurations. I recently rebuilt a frame for a gentleman in Italy that was part old FRO and part Sherpa I didn't even know what a Sherpa was when I first saw the bike.
It was "hinted" to me that employees (perhaps owners?) of Yeti had made bikes from assorted left over materials and sold them "on the down-low". Not a big surprise as everyone does it and it always causes confusion. People can't take the catalog shots as gospel.
BITD, we did do some round top tube bikes when we weren't able to get formed tubes.
There were also different versions of the plate dropouts that dated back to Agoura. The one thing I don't get is the shimmed head tube. Shimmed from what to 1" and are you talking about 1" road or 1" American "BMX" like the original yeti?
If it has a BMX head tube it's an old triangle with a newer rear. Did I work on this bike?
"
More info to follow as FTW gets back about the headtube...ultimates were always 1 1/4 correct? Bike could have been custom built in late 80s early 90s and I am sure has some great stories we will never know.
Lets focus on the great stories that are to come as Nader works towards another awesome build!!!!
Subscribed to this thread and looking forward to the development of this unique project.
More from FTW:
"To know exactly what it is would require cutting the frame apart to see weld drop-through. I am sure of one thing, Yeti did not braze in the shim down to 1" unless it was for a racer who was sponsored by rockshock.
I am interested in the geometry of the frame, did anyone measure it? . Do you remember if it had big vent holes in the BB shell into the seat tube or down tube?"
Nader please take a note when you pull the bb to see if there are big vent holes to help FTW.
Thanks
"To know exactly what it is would require cutting the frame apart to see weld drop-through. I am sure of one thing, Yeti did not braze in the shim down to 1" unless it was for a racer who was sponsored by rockshock.
I am interested in the geometry of the frame, did anyone measure it? . Do you remember if it had big vent holes in the BB shell into the seat tube or down tube?"
Nader please take a note when you pull the bb to see if there are big vent holes to help FTW.
Thanks
