Slight last-minute (days) panic, whereby I've misplaced/lost the rear derailleur for this build. a 1991 Deore XT RD-M735-SS with 3DV Bullseye pulleys fitted. There's a photo of it earlier in the thread. I put a wanted ad out after spending about eight hours over two days hunting for it then deciding I must have thrown it out in the trash. :facepalm: A few offers of long cage XT mechs were received, only on SS, which was too untidy; all the ones on ebay are way too scuffed, but along came Attila (aka hunspecialized) with a near perfect one! I paid him for 48h delivery from Hungary and it arrived here Thursday! It was clean and ready to fit.
Köszönöm, Attila!
With the RD fitted there was only the new front wheel build and cabling, plus a few new/replacement decals. Unfortunately, due to illness and slower-than-usual postage service, or having to pay €145,00 for 48h from Norway, André was unable to get the NOS black Deore XT hub delivered to me in time. I've had to fit a temporary front wheel to complete the build and meet the deadline to enter into November 2019 BOTM (today). Luckily I have a bunch of old part lying around, and this silver M732 Deore XT hub built onto a silver Mavic M231 rim, is exactly the sort of build that would've found its way onto a Team Yeti 1991 bike. Its imperfectly perfect! NOS onZa Racing Porc's II black wall tire fitted, with huge thanks to Norman Kalt for trading this with me for my 1993 spec NOS onZa Racing Porc's II Kevlar blackwall. The steel bead from Norman was available to sponsored riders in mid 1991. 'Mr. onZa' aka Dan Sotelo, also designed the Panaracer Smoke for National Tire Co., who owned the Panaracer brand. Despite being sponsored by onZa, Team Yeti racers used the classic pairing of Smoke/Porc, and Juli Furtado won more races than anyone else on the 1991 NORBA circuit with this tire combo, even resulting in a joint advert (paid for by National, suggested by Sotelo) run in MBA mag!
Ad photo from ridevintagemtb blog.
For gear cables I used some standard Shimano SIS outer cable that I had a few feet of, with standard LBS inners. No foil labels on outer casing, just molded SHIMANO lettering every couple of feet. I also bought a NOS SIS Sealed SP rear cable section for the final RD cable loop. I've seen some peopel used the sealed ones at the front, but they were designed just for the RD loop and are sold in pre-cut fully sealed lengths, to keep the muck out, which will be greater nearer the RD and wheel. Added proper Shimano ferrule caps to the other lengths I'd cut (witht the only Park Tool tool I own (!) and fitted it all into the frame stops with genuine YETI frame ferrules. The ultra-short FD cable loop from TT/ST junction is mega tight. Too tight if I'm honest. The cable stop on the back of the ST lug should've been much lower to avoid this crazy bend, but I suppose, for a project like this, as long as it works, it's fine. Reto modeled this stop off the CycleWorks ex-Kramer C-26 which has an identically-positioned cable stop. I would've preferred it lower like Juli's C-26, but, whatever, it's done now. Looks kinda funky though! The cables are all routed according to Yeti instructions and convention, including the reverse loop around cable pulley feeding the FD.
For a full Shimano Deore XT groupset build (excet seat QR SQ-M730) on a 'Shimano-sponsored team spec build' it would be a crime not to fit possibly the most commonly purchase Deore XT component of all time: the Shark Fin! DF-M732. Bought this ages ago from Ash Grant aka Vinevo. Attached with the fiddly double-sided sticky pads provided and the pair of provided cable ties for extra security!