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If its a genuine one he's probably in deep conversion with his bank manager and in the bad books of his other half.
HOLY GRAIL! (C-26)
- Thread starter beepbeep
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OK..
LTS Biker pointed out something I hadn't noticed with the non-flared seattube junction. Never seen that. This frame is a mystery to me.
C-26 'frames' were made in 'kits:' (1) the headtube with geometry to match whatever size frame to which it was mated; (2) the tubes; and (3) the rear end to match the geometry assigned by the headtube. Yeti made around 50 "kits," but only a few were used. The mystery bikes that have popped up in recent years that were assembled after the factory closed have had different variations of the "kit." Namely, the rear end.
Yeti dorks like me know there are three styles of steel Yeti dropouts: (1) campy/simplex style; (2) standard plate-style and (3) the laser cut ones. The early C-26s had the oldest style, but the 'production' ones were supposed to have the laser cut ones, but few of them actually did. Herting's personal bike does, and the frame featured in the recent sale out of Cortez, CO did. But both those frames had the gusset. This one has an old rear but new dropouts. This tells me someone built this rear end for personal use. It doesn't appear to be a "team" frame.
That said, I still think this is a legit frame that came from Yeti. The decals say this to me. The headtube was custom for Tomac, and although the seller claims this was built for Tomac, I'd say that's unlikely. Tomac said he only got 2 frames, and both of their locations are accounted for. If I were to bet, I'd say this was made at Yeti after they moved to Durango. I'm waiting to hear back from Chris Herting who should be able to help.
LTS Biker pointed out something I hadn't noticed with the non-flared seattube junction. Never seen that. This frame is a mystery to me.
C-26 'frames' were made in 'kits:' (1) the headtube with geometry to match whatever size frame to which it was mated; (2) the tubes; and (3) the rear end to match the geometry assigned by the headtube. Yeti made around 50 "kits," but only a few were used. The mystery bikes that have popped up in recent years that were assembled after the factory closed have had different variations of the "kit." Namely, the rear end.
Yeti dorks like me know there are three styles of steel Yeti dropouts: (1) campy/simplex style; (2) standard plate-style and (3) the laser cut ones. The early C-26s had the oldest style, but the 'production' ones were supposed to have the laser cut ones, but few of them actually did. Herting's personal bike does, and the frame featured in the recent sale out of Cortez, CO did. But both those frames had the gusset. This one has an old rear but new dropouts. This tells me someone built this rear end for personal use. It doesn't appear to be a "team" frame.
That said, I still think this is a legit frame that came from Yeti. The decals say this to me. The headtube was custom for Tomac, and although the seller claims this was built for Tomac, I'd say that's unlikely. Tomac said he only got 2 frames, and both of their locations are accounted for. If I were to bet, I'd say this was made at Yeti after they moved to Durango. I'm waiting to hear back from Chris Herting who should be able to help.
In addition, I just noticed something.
The headtube decal is custom.
The real deal:
The auction photo:
It appears its some sort of cut and paste hybrid between 1st gen Yetiman and the Tomac headtube decal.
The headtube decal is custom.
The real deal:
The auction photo:
It appears its some sort of cut and paste hybrid between 1st gen Yetiman and the Tomac headtube decal.
GoldenEraMTB
Old School Grand Master
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good info, ameybrook...really like reading stuff like that.
MJN":ouh0l6aa said:
Absolutely. He demanded it because he needed to use Tioga stems, and they didn't make one in 1 1/4"
Inigo Montoya
Senior Retro Guru
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very interesting!ameybrook":1bj79io0 said:
thanks for your comment!
