Tuesday, January 27, 2015

1991 Yeti ARC

All good old bikes come with a story, and this one is no different. In February 1999, Scott Sports (owner of Schwinn and Yeti) closed the Durango factory. The employees kept on to close up shop were instructed to famously toss everything in the dumpster, and word spread throughout town that morning that was boxes of Yeti schwag free for the taking. Stuff famously scored would be complete Ultimate and Zephyr frames and forks, NOS parts such as Ringle stems and posts, and other frames in various states of disrepair. One of those frames was this, an early ARC frame with a cracked seattube. The frame sat in an attic for 14 years until it fell in my hands. I sent it off to Frank The Welder Wadelton for seattube repair, and he also replaced the headtube which was destined to crack at some point. Chris Herting then added bottle bosses, chased and faced the headtube and BB shell, and it was then sandblasted and clearcoated as the originals were. New decals were sourced and the frame was build with period correct Grafton cranks and brakes, Shimano XT, and the rare FTW alloy stem. I raced this to victory in the 2014 Iron Horse Classic vintage category. Of all the vintage Yetis I've ridden, this is the most balanced frame. Pure performance in climbing and descending. A fantastic old bike.  photo ARCA189_zps59bfrg35.jpg

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