1989 (?) Yeti FRO
- Thread starter Rahbari
- Start date
Do you mean what headtube size? Stem quill size is the same regardless.
All of the early ones had BMX headtubes. I'm pretty sure even my 768 had a BMX headtube.
The ice axe decals was used on the very early ones (like my Yeti #1) and then again around 90 or so for just a little bit. The first ice axe was a black outline only, later on a bit of color was added in.
All of the early ones had BMX headtubes. I'm pretty sure even my 768 had a BMX headtube.
The ice axe decals was used on the very early ones (like my Yeti #1) and then again around 90 or so for just a little bit. The first ice axe was a black outline only, later on a bit of color was added in.
Re:
Steerer tube of mine (probably # 0835) is BMX. According to ridevintagemtb, the transition to 1 1/4" came in August 1989.
As FTW wrote in my quote on page 1, the early steerer tubes of forks had the inner diameter of .833"/21.15mm. This meant, you could not use standard 1" MTB stems (22.2mm quill) but only BMX stems. At some later stage, the steerers were internally reamed to 22.2mm (7/8" or .875"). Outside diameter was still BMX. Normal MTB stems could be used, however BMX Headset of the 80s had to be modified on the top nut to be able to fit the slightly bigger quill.
Modern BMX headsets, like the one mounted, provide for a inner Diameter 22.2".
The FTW stem from Silverfish looks to have a very thin quill. Probably BMX size:
Steerer tube of mine (probably # 0835) is BMX. According to ridevintagemtb, the transition to 1 1/4" came in August 1989.
As FTW wrote in my quote on page 1, the early steerer tubes of forks had the inner diameter of .833"/21.15mm. This meant, you could not use standard 1" MTB stems (22.2mm quill) but only BMX stems. At some later stage, the steerers were internally reamed to 22.2mm (7/8" or .875"). Outside diameter was still BMX. Normal MTB stems could be used, however BMX Headset of the 80s had to be modified on the top nut to be able to fit the slightly bigger quill.
Modern BMX headsets, like the one mounted, provide for a inner Diameter 22.2".
The FTW stem from Silverfish looks to have a very thin quill. Probably BMX size:
.Well, so I and a few others think that the steel stems should just be called Yeti stems (since not only FTW made them) the true FTW stems were the aluminum ones made before the ATAC came out. Those are much rarer and AFAIK all were made by FTW.
It's conceivable that Yeti made some early steel stems to fit BMX headtubes. Not sure I can tell 0.7mm difference on a small pic. So, unless someone comes up with a Yeti made stem with a 21.5mm quill I think they were all 1" and came out around late mid to late 87 maybe. Hard to say on that as older bikes still in service could have gotten newer stems, etc. I guess seeing team riders with those stems would be a good indicator since they were usually on the latest and greatest.
FRO XR341 had an aluminum FTW stem, somehow I feel it was added later, but there is not way of knowing.
It's conceivable that Yeti made some early steel stems to fit BMX headtubes. Not sure I can tell 0.7mm difference on a small pic. So, unless someone comes up with a Yeti made stem with a 21.5mm quill I think they were all 1" and came out around late mid to late 87 maybe. Hard to say on that as older bikes still in service could have gotten newer stems, etc. I guess seeing team riders with those stems would be a good indicator since they were usually on the latest and greatest.
FRO XR341 had an aluminum FTW stem, somehow I feel it was added later, but there is not way of knowing.
This is turning into a pretty informative thread!
The way Herting explained it to me is just how Martin said: Yeti used 1" Cook Bros stems from the time the company offered "framesets" until August 1989, when they adopted the "Evolution" (Fisher) sized 1.25" headsets. Here is a bad photo of the Yeti fork jig which shows "EVO 8 / 89." Yeti wanted to continue to use Cook Bros stems, but they didn't want to make an Evolution-sized stem. So they started offering their own.
Frank Waldelton made stems out of aluminum in custom lengths and sizes. Herting liked them because they were light and strong. But they had also made custom stems upon request in all sizes, and they just used Frank's design. When they couldn't get Cook Bros stems, they simply started offering steel "Yeti" stems based on FTW's design. The catalogs and adverts simply refer to them as stems available with the frameset. The reason it's somewhat wrong to refer to a steel Yeti stem as a FTW is because FTW Industries was / is a brand in itself, and Frank's specialty was aluminum, something Parker wasn't fond of.
The way Herting explained it to me is just how Martin said: Yeti used 1" Cook Bros stems from the time the company offered "framesets" until August 1989, when they adopted the "Evolution" (Fisher) sized 1.25" headsets. Here is a bad photo of the Yeti fork jig which shows "EVO 8 / 89." Yeti wanted to continue to use Cook Bros stems, but they didn't want to make an Evolution-sized stem. So they started offering their own.
Frank Waldelton made stems out of aluminum in custom lengths and sizes. Herting liked them because they were light and strong. But they had also made custom stems upon request in all sizes, and they just used Frank's design. When they couldn't get Cook Bros stems, they simply started offering steel "Yeti" stems based on FTW's design. The catalogs and adverts simply refer to them as stems available with the frameset. The reason it's somewhat wrong to refer to a steel Yeti stem as a FTW is because FTW Industries was / is a brand in itself, and Frank's specialty was aluminum, something Parker wasn't fond of.
