Ten year restoration 96 YETI Sherpa

sd8450":39kyt96k said:
This is an awesome restoration and the bike is again structurally good as new as well as appearing like it was custom-built from a new frame for the first time! Great effort and patience and will involved from the owner!

I am a newbie to bikes and acquired 4 steel bikes only from the last 2 years. They were from 1981 to 1987 and at least 2 of them had seen some neglect from previous owner/s but not damaged by corrosion enough to require major frame work as the Sherpa. The Sherpa appears in the 1996 catalog so it is a relatively new steel bike.

I am also interested in the Yeti bikes like the PRO FRO and have read about cracks in stressed areas and also corrosion issues in the rear triangle. My newbie question are: Are the corrosion issues somehow caused by the continuous loop tubing design of the rear triangle? Are there vent or drain holes in the loop? Are the damage caused by a combination of structural weak areas and lack of vent/drain holes causing condensation or water to stay in the loop?

I am a newbie and have not seen an actual Yeti bike yet and curious to learn from the knowledgeable members. Thanks in advance for sharing your knowledge!

I think the original loopstays already had dampness inside them before assembly or even surface rust!

The rust first appeared on the bends of the loopstay were the metal was probably the most stretched and vulnerable!! There were no vent holes on the full stay assembly not even in the bottom bracket!

We see this with other companies frames! Weld up all the breath holes and trap the moisture in! Fat City seat tubes spring to mind.

I will reiterate if you own a steel frame treat it from day one with the best waxoil you can find.
 
Just to let people know that this bike is superb to ride! Definately worth the time scale and patience i have had to show it.

Now do i ride the FRO or the Sherpa???? :roll:

Oh and a engineer machinist friend of mine is going to make me a copy of the Critical racing stem from billet block but 20mm shorter. I am very excited :D
 
slimjoe":kwsop702 said:
sd8450":kwsop702 said:
This is an awesome restoration and the bike is again structurally good as new as well as appearing like it was custom-built from a new frame for the first time! Great effort and patience and will involved from the owner!

I am a newbie to bikes and acquired 4 steel bikes only from the last 2 years. They were from 1981 to 1987 and at least 2 of them had seen some neglect from previous owner/s but not damaged by corrosion enough to require major frame work as the Sherpa. The Sherpa appears in the 1996 catalog so it is a relatively new steel bike.

I am also interested in the Yeti bikes like the PRO FRO and have read about cracks in stressed areas and also corrosion issues in the rear triangle. My newbie question are: Are the corrosion issues somehow caused by the continuous loop tubing design of the rear triangle? Are there vent or drain holes in the loop? Are the damage caused by a combination of structural weak areas and lack of vent/drain holes causing condensation or water to stay in the loop?

I am a newbie and have not seen an actual Yeti bike yet and curious to learn from the knowledgeable members. Thanks in advance for sharing your knowledge!

I think the original loopstays already had dampness inside them before assembly or even surface rust!

The rust first appeared on the bends of the loopstay were the metal was probably the most stretched and vulnerable!! There were no vent holes on the full stay assembly not even in the bottom bracket!

We see this with other companies frames! Weld up all the breath holes and trap the moisture in! Fat City seat tubes spring to mind.

I will reiterate if you own a steel frame treat it from day one with the best waxoil you can find.

Thanks for the information! I just got a yeti pro fro (probably a '94) and will use framesaver.
 
I know joe has added another CBR part to his yeti build.

what a great story, I cant wait to see the new CBR quick release fitted :cool:
 
passiflora":3qucd841 said:
I know joe has added another CBR part to his yeti build.

what a great story, I cant wait to see the new CBR quick release fitted :cool:

Glad you aprove my friend :D
 
elite504":nf3c3b5v said:
Perfect Joe, Perfect.
Good to see you and the Sherpa hand-in-hand again.

Hey Nick,

This bike took a hell of a lot of patience to get fixed(not to mention money, time, e-mails etc)

You would not believe what it means to me to have it done and now ridden.

Just needs a Ringle, Cook Bros, Onza seatpost and some other little bits.

The gripshift paw covers came form you mate.

Thankyou for the kind words.
 
This is going to be one of those bikes that keeps getting parts swapped around back and forth till i

find my favorite look. Ive fitted a temporary stem which is slightly shorter and higher. My friend as

borrowed The Critical Racing stem to copy me a shorter version out of billet :cool:

I have a couple of other parts on the way too for this build. Ill keep updating.
 

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Ive made a few changes to the YETI some to make it more comfortable to ride.

1) Ringle stem 120mm (Critical stem was way too long at 135)
2) Ringle moby setapost (inline to bring the seat angle forward)
3)Cook brothers seat QR
4)Panaracer Duster amberwall tyres

Like i said last year this build will continue evolving/morphing until i find the correct ride and look
 

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