I took this photo in 1994 at Mount Snow. Racing this very bike?
On a neat little sidenote, I rode this bike on the day of my wedding:
Thursday, October 6, 2011
1994 Schwinn Homegrown - Ruthie Matthes Tribute
I found this locally from another bike nut. A 1994 Schwinn prototype frame welded by either Chris Herting or Frank the Welder for pro racer and former world champion Ruthie Matthes. Schwinn was about to break out into the high-end race frame market and sponsored the Evian Water team for that year. These frames preceded the production "Homegrown" bikes by a year and have many Yeti ARC-esque details. Stupid light too at just under 3 lbs. Complete bike with Rock Shox Mag21 SLTi and M900 was around 21lbs.
I took this photo in 1994 at Mount Snow. Racing this very bike?
On a neat little sidenote, I rode this bike on the day of my wedding:
I took this photo in 1994 at Mount Snow. Racing this very bike?
On a neat little sidenote, I rode this bike on the day of my wedding:
1989-90 Yeti C-26 - 20th Anniversary Special
Everyone has a holy grail.
When I started collecting and restoring, there were certain bikes that guided my passion and served as inspiration for my builds. Unusual gems seen only in pictures, talked about in stories, but rarely seen in the flesh. Although the object of a prolonged endeavor gives a collector direction and purpose, for about a year , this project was an unhealthy obsession. My Dark Tower. My White Whale. It has been said these builds can be like a journey, and that is exactly how I felt. I languished fitting the last part, as I knew it would be over. But I can honestly say I am ecstatic with the result.
The C-26 name was derived from Chis Herting's first initial and his age at the time he designed the prototype. Essentially, it was a FRO frame using Easton C9 tubes. Herting needed a way to lighten the race bike, and Easton's design seemed the best fit at the time. Yeti produced one bike in 1989, and it made its rounds beneath team rider Russ Worley. After the interest generated from the MBA test in June, Yeti decided make it a production frame and brought it to Interbike. In 1990, select team riders raced on C-26s, however, most of its fame comes from its use during the inaugural UCI World Championships in Durango. Juli Furtado won on her C-26, and John Tomac placed 4th and 6th in the downhill and cross country on his C-26 with drop bars. Sadly, by that time, the sun had set for the project. Yeti boss John Parker never trusted the design, and he shelved it after worlds.
Part of the mystique surrounding these is that no one can seem to agree on how many were built, to whom they were given, and their current whereabouts. Rumors range from three to twenty frames, but I have on good information that seven actual frames were built at Yeti in Agoura, but I can only confirm the location of five.
The full history, a long with tons more info on my bike can be found at
www.yeti-c26.net
^ postscript to these words I wrote in 2008. Almost four years later, I still admire the final result, although it simply hangs on the wall. Everything that's great about vintage mountain bikes in one package: Small, aggressive companies dedicated to racing pushing and exceeding the limits of available technology. The C-26 project was a failure from the start, yet the legend lives on 22 years later. In 2009, a C-26 that was built as a prototype for John Tomac sold on ebay for $12,000. Small ebay photo:
Eventually this bike will end up in a home where more people can view and appreciate it.
When I started collecting and restoring, there were certain bikes that guided my passion and served as inspiration for my builds. Unusual gems seen only in pictures, talked about in stories, but rarely seen in the flesh. Although the object of a prolonged endeavor gives a collector direction and purpose, for about a year , this project was an unhealthy obsession. My Dark Tower. My White Whale. It has been said these builds can be like a journey, and that is exactly how I felt. I languished fitting the last part, as I knew it would be over. But I can honestly say I am ecstatic with the result.
The C-26 name was derived from Chis Herting's first initial and his age at the time he designed the prototype. Essentially, it was a FRO frame using Easton C9 tubes. Herting needed a way to lighten the race bike, and Easton's design seemed the best fit at the time. Yeti produced one bike in 1989, and it made its rounds beneath team rider Russ Worley. After the interest generated from the MBA test in June, Yeti decided make it a production frame and brought it to Interbike. In 1990, select team riders raced on C-26s, however, most of its fame comes from its use during the inaugural UCI World Championships in Durango. Juli Furtado won on her C-26, and John Tomac placed 4th and 6th in the downhill and cross country on his C-26 with drop bars. Sadly, by that time, the sun had set for the project. Yeti boss John Parker never trusted the design, and he shelved it after worlds.
Part of the mystique surrounding these is that no one can seem to agree on how many were built, to whom they were given, and their current whereabouts. Rumors range from three to twenty frames, but I have on good information that seven actual frames were built at Yeti in Agoura, but I can only confirm the location of five.
The full history, a long with tons more info on my bike can be found at
www.yeti-c26.net
^ postscript to these words I wrote in 2008. Almost four years later, I still admire the final result, although it simply hangs on the wall. Everything that's great about vintage mountain bikes in one package: Small, aggressive companies dedicated to racing pushing and exceeding the limits of available technology. The C-26 project was a failure from the start, yet the legend lives on 22 years later. In 2009, a C-26 that was built as a prototype for John Tomac sold on ebay for $12,000. Small ebay photo:
Eventually this bike will end up in a home where more people can view and appreciate it.
1991 Wicked Fat Chance
My third Fat. Always loved the Aquafade paint from Fat City. This ended up being a major money loser with an expensive Spectrum paintjob that was tough to re-sell. Big was too big and it made me realize I'll never like the ride of the Wicked Fat Chance. Very unbalanced at speed. Lots of cool colors on this build though.
1992 Mountain Goat Whiskeytown FS
Bought in Durango from a former racer. Very cool early FS design that was poorly-received. Lots of cool period correct parts with the desirable "team" paint. Heavy as hell.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
1987 Yeti FRO
This was a special bike that was brought to me by one of the employees of Durango Cyclery. This had turned up locally and was severely neglected.
Its owner said it was the former bike of [Yeti founder] John Parker's wife Linda. This seams to be supported only by the Team Shrew decal on the top tube. The only other place I've seen it is on Yeti #1 sold by Parker himself:
However, Linda is a small lady and this is a 19" frame. Unlikely that it belonged to her, but its an important round top-tube Yeti regardless. All period-parts and cleaned up:
Cool Yellow/Purple Bullseye hubs
Its owner said it was the former bike of [Yeti founder] John Parker's wife Linda. This seams to be supported only by the Team Shrew decal on the top tube. The only other place I've seen it is on Yeti #1 sold by Parker himself:
However, Linda is a small lady and this is a 19" frame. Unlikely that it belonged to her, but its an important round top-tube Yeti regardless. All period-parts and cleaned up:
Cool Yellow/Purple Bullseye hubs
1994 Slingshot MTB
A good friend of mine from college was connected to Slingshot and I always wondered how they rode. I figured they were pretty polarizing, so I had to try one. Bought at the Denver veloswap for cheap:
This one was easy - no paint and period-correct parts readily available in the bin.
Rode it, hated it, sold it. My affair with Slingshot wouldn't be over, however.
This one was easy - no paint and period-correct parts readily available in the bin.
Rode it, hated it, sold it. My affair with Slingshot wouldn't be over, however.
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