alastairg
Devout Dirtbag
Well its taken some time. As some may recall I am a longterm Yeti fan. I bought my first FRO in spring 1990 (1989 model) which appeared on here then was sold to another member. Its story is for another time.
I had bought a 575 in 2009 which I used on and off (life gets in the way) until this last summer when I bought a new SB140 (amazing bit of kit). At that time I had a yearning to own a FRO again. A nice chap in Sweden had one circa 1990-1991 in small on e bay. On rechecking sizing not much between small and medium so I put in few bids and ended up with another FRO frame.
After lots of thought I decided not to build it period (sorry but bear with me). It really developed as a homage to my original build with modern components.
I will bore you with some of my thinking re the components fitted.
Back in the day I bought an early set of Grafton SC and at the time corresponded with John to help optimise their set up. He was always a pleasure to deal with. I came across him again and after exchanging e mails settled on a pair of black SC2 and re entry levers.
The headset was original and shot so it could only be Chris King. The only one for sale new was in red. Due to tiny differences in imperial and metric it suffered on fitting despite using my LBS (thanks Kev).
Drivetrain was to be 1x11 with XT cranks (not that different to my original bullseye cranks to be fair) with XTR rear mech and shifter. Front chainring absolute black oval (modern Biopace).
Wheels I wanted tubeless 26” of course, that with rim brakes meant hunting for hens teeth but Stans ZTR 355 with XTR M975/978 hubs popped on the bay. Oversize front axle converted to QR with nuke proof axle. Previous owner used disc brakes so I have added rubber covers to the hub.
Handle bar I wanted carbon fibre and chanced upon a Yeti ARC F1 580mm which fitted the bill. Deity grips and saddle with turq accents followed.
Thomson seatpost and collar as I had been impressed with these on the 575. Pedals nukeproof SPD Ti in a sort of reference to my original Yeti with Ti spindles on original SPD pedals and hubs I had.
Tyres few false starts but ended up with Schwalbe Racing Ralph 2.25 rear Nobby Nic 2.35 front Peats tape and CK valves.
XT 2mm brake cable. Jagwire derailleur cable.
Paint wise I regret not re painting the fork however I may well get to that. I added the top tube YETI and the seat tube Grafton but otherwise its as it arrived.
So there you have it. I would like to think my 30 years with YETI gives me some allowance to up date the classic MTB in a practical and tasteful way. You can judge the results below.
Oh I contacted FTW about the frame and his reply is interesting
Hi,
good to hear from you! I am afraid I am not much of a historian regarding Yeti products. I think the frame is earlier than the stem and likely produced at the Agoura facility. Over the years there was a gradual change on the rear brake housing stop (near rear brake). The assembly of crossbar and loop the crossbar gradually got a tighter bend going from an overlap at seat stay to a tangent to forming a 90 degree bend and projecting toward tube center. Also the frame color is the earlier sea foam color.
Final weight 23.6lb
I had bought a 575 in 2009 which I used on and off (life gets in the way) until this last summer when I bought a new SB140 (amazing bit of kit). At that time I had a yearning to own a FRO again. A nice chap in Sweden had one circa 1990-1991 in small on e bay. On rechecking sizing not much between small and medium so I put in few bids and ended up with another FRO frame.
After lots of thought I decided not to build it period (sorry but bear with me). It really developed as a homage to my original build with modern components.
I will bore you with some of my thinking re the components fitted.
Back in the day I bought an early set of Grafton SC and at the time corresponded with John to help optimise their set up. He was always a pleasure to deal with. I came across him again and after exchanging e mails settled on a pair of black SC2 and re entry levers.
The headset was original and shot so it could only be Chris King. The only one for sale new was in red. Due to tiny differences in imperial and metric it suffered on fitting despite using my LBS (thanks Kev).
Drivetrain was to be 1x11 with XT cranks (not that different to my original bullseye cranks to be fair) with XTR rear mech and shifter. Front chainring absolute black oval (modern Biopace).
Wheels I wanted tubeless 26” of course, that with rim brakes meant hunting for hens teeth but Stans ZTR 355 with XTR M975/978 hubs popped on the bay. Oversize front axle converted to QR with nuke proof axle. Previous owner used disc brakes so I have added rubber covers to the hub.
Handle bar I wanted carbon fibre and chanced upon a Yeti ARC F1 580mm which fitted the bill. Deity grips and saddle with turq accents followed.
Thomson seatpost and collar as I had been impressed with these on the 575. Pedals nukeproof SPD Ti in a sort of reference to my original Yeti with Ti spindles on original SPD pedals and hubs I had.
Tyres few false starts but ended up with Schwalbe Racing Ralph 2.25 rear Nobby Nic 2.35 front Peats tape and CK valves.
XT 2mm brake cable. Jagwire derailleur cable.
Paint wise I regret not re painting the fork however I may well get to that. I added the top tube YETI and the seat tube Grafton but otherwise its as it arrived.
So there you have it. I would like to think my 30 years with YETI gives me some allowance to up date the classic MTB in a practical and tasteful way. You can judge the results below.
Oh I contacted FTW about the frame and his reply is interesting
Hi,
good to hear from you! I am afraid I am not much of a historian regarding Yeti products. I think the frame is earlier than the stem and likely produced at the Agoura facility. Over the years there was a gradual change on the rear brake housing stop (near rear brake). The assembly of crossbar and loop the crossbar gradually got a tighter bend going from an overlap at seat stay to a tangent to forming a 90 degree bend and projecting toward tube center. Also the frame color is the earlier sea foam color.
Final weight 23.6lb
