Early titan YBB made for Wheeler by Kent Eriksen

[evenrek]

Dear all retro MTB enthusiasts!
I bought a titanium frame in Germany in 2016. The frame is made by Kent Eriksen. I got confirmation from Kent Eriksen bicycles that the frame was made for Wheeler as one of the first YBB frames in titanium. The bike was probably made in 1992.

I recently build up the bike with a Shimano LX 560 set, ROOX seatpost and stem with a titanium handlebar. Manitou 4 fork in very good condition.
Using it now with slicks on the roads in the neighbourhood.

It would be great if anyone knows more about the bike!

 

[evenrek]

Re: Moots titanium YBB from 1994

Attached a copy of an article from January 1994 in the magazine Bicycle Guide. YBB Titanium was build from 1992 according to the article.

 

[evenrek]

Re: As bought in 2016

The picture shows how it was bought in 2016. It had an XTR group and with a Marzocchi front suspension fork.
The frame itself was in very good condition with few scratches.

 

[evenrek]

Re: Frame pictures

Attached pictures of the frame after dismantling. Frame number is W18XX.

 

[evenrek]

Re: changes on the YBB system

See pictures below. The 1994 Moots has a lockout screw. On these earlier versions, the whole plastic piece is fixed by a large screw from the bottom (towards where the wheel is) using the same tool as fixing the shimano freewheel cassette.
I found a newer Moots with canti brakes with another version as well. Seems like the plastic parts is fitted with screws.

 

[Lhatch4]

Great find. These are hand made frames. The shop is in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, USA. I grew up in Denver, Colorado and I have wanted one of these for a long time. It looks like you found a really rare bike that's in really good condition.

 

[mojo ti]

Re:

Beautiful discovery, your research is interesting. I would also like to find a beautiful Moots like yours.

 

[evenrek]

Re:

Here was the article I got to know about Kent Eriksen building Titanium frames for Wheeler:
http://stevetilford.com/2014/07/31/kent-eriksen/

 

[jimi911]

Re:

Very cool. I almost pulled the trigger on one of these recently, but somehow managed not to. It looks like one of the earlier ones. I think the YBB came out around 1988 in steel form and that looks a bit more like the rear shock on it. Eriksen started with titanium in 1991, but no real consistent production bikes appeared until a couple years later.

You can get a decal kit from velocals if you want. It would surely would have had the old Mr. Moots logos on it (if not a wheeler ).

 

[adri.75]

I found in an Italian magazine of 1992 the evidence of the wheeler 8900 titanium