90s 'Dave Yates'

Rod_Saetan

Old School Grand Master
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Road project number, er, let's say X, bought a few months ago from eBay this appealed due to the colour, the fillet brazed construction and the Marque, I had a Yates MTB already. The photos showed it had been fairly poorly treated but I was adamant it would be OK and I could use a few of the parts on other projects, when it arrived it became clear I'd have to spend some time on it though.

After a soak in some Coca Cola and some deft drill work the seized cable ferrule and barrel adjuster were removed and the frame was cleaned, T-cut-ified and checked over. There is plenty of rust but nothing terminal so I'll build it up and see if I like it. I emailed Yates to find out what year it is and despite the paint job with lacquered over decals, the Yates chainstay guard and no signs of a respray they said they don't think it's one if theirs. No matter, it will fit me and is nicely put together.

I found a cheap 9 speed Campagnolo Veloce groupset on eBay which I thought would suit, I'm guessing the frame is mid to late 90s as it has frame mounted cable adjusters for STIs but a 1" threaded fork. Wheels are on their way, newly built NOS Campagnolo Chorus/Veloce hubs laced to NOS Araya rims, they'll be shod with some 90s Michelin Axial tyres in grey. I had a Ritchey (Nitto made) post the right size already so fitted a Ritchey headset too, some Modolo anatomic bars and a Flite. I also bought a really nice TIG'd (possibly Salsa) stem in a suitable shape from the classifieds here. It will get white cable outers, black bar tape and some SPDs cos that's what I ride, I shouldn't think it will be superlight but I'm looking forward to spending some time with a Campagnolo ergo group. I suspect if I like it I'll use it as a summer commuter so I don't wear out the parts on fancier bikes.

Below pic is how she arrived, will pop some more pics up of the build when I'm in a position to start putting her together.
 

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I assume Yates did the respray then. Any clues in the frame number who it might be made by? Straight forks might be a clue also. Looks good already, so looking forward to updates
 
They must have done the respray, it seems really odd that they would put all of their decals on it if it isn't theirs though? Or at least they could have kept a record of who did make the frame if they've badged it up as a Yates? I dunno.

Frame number is either a 'T' or a '7' followed by three numbers, stamped on both dropouts. Yates actually said: "I'm afraid the frame number, size and type do not correspond with our records so we cannot confirm the age or identity of the frame."

Regardless, wheels arrived today, cassette on order and then just need to assemble this week.
 
11035 is the number on my Yates, it is a small stamp that is perpendicular to the bb threading on the drive side of the cable routing. The con man that sold me it said it was made in 2002, maybe I should verify this with Mr Yates himself.
 
My 1992 Diabolo was number 5850 (confirmed by Yates) and my slightly later 753 MTB is a four digit number too (don't have it to hand), so assuming the numbers are sequential then this mid 90s frame being 7*** didn't seem unlikely to me.
 
Got a reply. My frame is a 2002 (turns out it was possible for roadking not to lie!) and they could tell me what steel it was made from (525).
 
Fin.



Used Veloce group works well, the NOS Chorus front/Veloce rear hubs laced to NOS Araya rims look and work great, Campagnolo Ultra Shift cables in white because it looks flash, not sure who made the stem but I think it's a Salsa. I don't like the tyres so I'll swap these out for something a little wider and with more protection, NOS Avocet saddle and cork bar tape on a very compact Nitto bar are things I'm used to so despite having more saddle to bar drop than I'm used to it feels OK in the saddle, maybe just needs some more miles on it to be sure. The neat one sided SPD pedals are a PITA for a London commute! 9.5KG ain't too bad for an all steel bike with low end Campy parts, it weighs less than a number of new @ £800 aluminium road bikes with carbon forks so I can't complain.



Looks good from a distance but the paint finish is battered with quite a lot of rust staining, I'm not worried about the integrity of the frame and I don't want to lose the paintjob/spend any more money on it so it'll do for now.
 

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