markjohnson76
Saracen Fan
Thought I'd create a mini build thread, or more before and after, of my 1990 Yo Eddy.
I bought it as a working project a couple of years ago. It came from a nice old guy who'd been a keen cyclist but had gradually slowed down then stopped using his bikes. He bought it from the first owner and he knew it was a special bike but it didn't stop him using it as a work horse, but a least it was getting used i guess.
It's a Z frame number bike so one of the very first batch in 1990 I believe. It was originally a teal colour as per the 1990 catalogue but over time it had had some touchups and many parts swapped out until it became a bit of a mess. The first owner either specced it with or added front and rear rack mounts. I think they were a factory option but I couldn't wait to get rid of them. It's an 18" frame with original forks.
I knew I wanted it in full Grello so stripped it down about 2 years after finding it and sent it to Mario Vaz in London for a repaint, he's only just down the road from me. He did a pretty good job of matching the colour. I bought some decals from retro decals but they just weren't right, not the right style for a 1990 bike and the quality wasn't great. So I bought some from a guy in the States that were much better but it took ages for them to arrive. Mario applied the decals then clear coated over them. I'd told him not to put a top tube decal on the drive side but unfortunately he forgot and did it anyway. So it's not quite factory spec but I don't mind now ( I was pretty peeved at the time!).
I knew I wanted a black groupset so used some nice XT, a cooks bros chainset, syncros stem and post, True Temper bar, Odi grips, reissue Turbo saddle, black Onza Chill Pills and some nice Specialized BX23 on black XT hubs with some original Smoke tyres (Smoke on the front till 92).
I'm super happy with how it came out, the Grello really pops. I think fluro 90s bikes with black components and tan walls are my absolute favourite to stare at and drool over. The Yo rides pretty great too though it's got to wait till I move in the Spring until I can give it some proper mileage
I bought it as a working project a couple of years ago. It came from a nice old guy who'd been a keen cyclist but had gradually slowed down then stopped using his bikes. He bought it from the first owner and he knew it was a special bike but it didn't stop him using it as a work horse, but a least it was getting used i guess.
It's a Z frame number bike so one of the very first batch in 1990 I believe. It was originally a teal colour as per the 1990 catalogue but over time it had had some touchups and many parts swapped out until it became a bit of a mess. The first owner either specced it with or added front and rear rack mounts. I think they were a factory option but I couldn't wait to get rid of them. It's an 18" frame with original forks.
I knew I wanted it in full Grello so stripped it down about 2 years after finding it and sent it to Mario Vaz in London for a repaint, he's only just down the road from me. He did a pretty good job of matching the colour. I bought some decals from retro decals but they just weren't right, not the right style for a 1990 bike and the quality wasn't great. So I bought some from a guy in the States that were much better but it took ages for them to arrive. Mario applied the decals then clear coated over them. I'd told him not to put a top tube decal on the drive side but unfortunately he forgot and did it anyway. So it's not quite factory spec but I don't mind now ( I was pretty peeved at the time!).
I knew I wanted a black groupset so used some nice XT, a cooks bros chainset, syncros stem and post, True Temper bar, Odi grips, reissue Turbo saddle, black Onza Chill Pills and some nice Specialized BX23 on black XT hubs with some original Smoke tyres (Smoke on the front till 92).
I'm super happy with how it came out, the Grello really pops. I think fluro 90s bikes with black components and tan walls are my absolute favourite to stare at and drool over. The Yo rides pretty great too though it's got to wait till I move in the Spring until I can give it some proper mileage
