In the early 90's, 135mm stems were standard for me. But when Fisher came out with the genesis gemometry with "tiny" stems, ever since, a 135mm stem looks like a diving board.
Ancient Discovery - All Mountain before All Mountain
- Thread starter bing!
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In the early 90's, 135mm stems were standard for me. But when Fisher came out with the genesis gemometry with "tiny" stems, ever since, a 135mm stem looks like a diving board.
ManInAShed
New Member
Roach, were you out here at the time? Cause I remember all the bikes from out west had longer wheelbases & front ends and slightly shorter stems than back east... we figured it was for all the fire road bombing. We thought those things were unridable on singletrack. Little did we know a couple decades later we'd be riding 50mm.
Earlier this year I machined a few 31mm stems for a client with a wild hair... but at some point, your grips start returning into your thighs... There is such a thing as too short after all.
Bing, not sure what Powdercoating costs in Socal, but Chris Herting is pretty reasonable, and does great flashy 2tone fades & whatnot in the original Yeti powdercoat oven, now located in his personal shop. ...but you'd have to send it to Durango & back... Hell of a nice guy & into cool restoration projects too.
Earlier this year I machined a few 31mm stems for a client with a wild hair... but at some point, your grips start returning into your thighs... There is such a thing as too short after all.
Bing, not sure what Powdercoating costs in Socal, but Chris Herting is pretty reasonable, and does great flashy 2tone fades & whatnot in the original Yeti powdercoat oven, now located in his personal shop. ...but you'd have to send it to Durango & back... Hell of a nice guy & into cool restoration projects too.
Beowulf Shaeffer
Titanium reinforced!
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That used to be in Chatsworth, right? Owensmouth, just south of Lassen?
ManInAShed
New Member
Hm, could be! Dunno, though, I think it might be newer than the Agoura Hills move. Maybe something they picked up later. It's pretty amazing to see the combination of sophisticated machine work and freehand artistry he melds together to fab some pretty amazing things yet. Salt flat racers, Monster bikes, Road racers, Moto stuff... that guy never stops working. & young too! I forget that he was only in his 20s when he was making all those Yetis.
Abui
Active Member
A fortune indeed, $975 for unpainted frame and fork - $5630 in 2012 dollars. Figures based on shadowstats.com true inflation without government manipulation.
Yes, I was. I raced XC in SoCal for years on a 135mm stem. Seemed like the standard stem length for most riders. Occasionally, I'd see a 150mm but it was usually for a larger rider.
This thread has really got me thinking back. I actually still have two of the 135mm quills in my garage - Control Tech:-k
Beowulf Shaeffer
Titanium reinforced!
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Sorry...was just referring to the powdercoat op. The shop I visited had no machine works - def not a frame fab shop. They had about 30 Yeti frames hanging on the back wall. IIRC, I was shopping for a custom paint job for a frame, and Chatsworth Cyclery recommended them. I wanted something more artsy, so went to the Curtlo factory, then on Sand Canyon in Santa Clarita.
W4S
New Member
awesome stories, love to hear about the progression of mountain bikes!
I started riding santiago oaks in 1989 when my older brother, who was working for REI for the summer, bought a Univega mtb. my first MTB had a 110mm stem, i put a 'short' 90mm control tech stem, that was awesome. In 2004 i had a custom 10mm direct mount stem made for my Turner DHR, now, I ride a 28mm stem on the DH bike and 35mm stem on the HT, both with longer than normal TT lengths and wheelbases. Mondraker has been espousing their Forward Geometry system that incorporates a supershort stem (5-10mm) and longer TT. I really like how the steering becomes more precise and predictable.
http://www.mondraker.com
Just in from the paint place.
Feel in love with this bike the moment I saw it. Not for it's looks, it's one ugly duck, not for it's fame, almost nobody remembers what it is.... but for its geometry, history and its custom handcrafted American frame. I'd actually given up on two other projects to devote time, effort and funds to what is probably my most involved restoration.
And it's all falling into place. I had a few technical issues regarding parts when it comes to this frame that necessitated buying things from across the world. Not to mention that it took 3 hours with a 2 pound hammer, a punch and a saw to literally inch out two absurdly seized bb cups, after 5 days of soaking with Kroil.
As it is, havent fully decided what direction to take, but am inclined to turn this bad boy into a rigid all mountain VRC bike. That means shortish stem, longish bars, fat low pressure tires so I can take advantage of its exceptionally period slack 69 degree head angle. With a proper period suspension fork, this sled will be around 68 degrees (if I go that way)
Either way, its perfect for where and how I usually ride.
I know, white isn't exactly period, but the color scheme is black and white in tribute to the Endeavor shuttle, which recently flew over my house. And in the event that I do go with another color, the powder coat white will be a great base.
The decision to have the bike powder coated was a hard one. It's meant to stop large patches of surface rusting from progressing. The bike had a trail filled life, no dings and dents but the paint was almost totally chipped off on the front & rear drop outs and the bottom bracket section. When I decided to make it into a keeper, I thought it best to stop the rust dead in its tracks. I noticed something odd about the tubes on this bike. Some tubes were naturally chrome looking after the paint was stripped. Never seen that before.
For now, new decals are on their way and am going to run the parts through the solvent tank this weekend. Probably another week to go through them and make sure everything in in tip top shape.
Ive got my fingers crossed that I can stick in a set of 2.25 Schwalbe Nobby Nics. With 25 psi, this baby will be plush and sticky up in thar hills
More pics of bike details...
Hand formed seat stay bridge (?) and side shot of the airfoil top tube
Hand cut rear sliding drop outs
D form seat tube with intricate weld joints, the rear brake cable goes through the D tube and wraps around the seat tube with a cable bracket.
Builder's custom front drop outs cut from plate steel
Thanks to a few STR members for sharing their memories, info and a few parts to complete this build.
UPDATE:
Feel in love with this bike the moment I saw it. Not for it's looks, it's one ugly duck, not for it's fame, almost nobody remembers what it is.... but for its geometry, history and its custom handcrafted American frame. I'd actually given up on two other projects to devote time, effort and funds to what is probably my most involved restoration.
And it's all falling into place. I had a few technical issues regarding parts when it comes to this frame that necessitated buying things from across the world. Not to mention that it took 3 hours with a 2 pound hammer, a punch and a saw to literally inch out two absurdly seized bb cups, after 5 days of soaking with Kroil.
As it is, havent fully decided what direction to take, but am inclined to turn this bad boy into a rigid all mountain VRC bike. That means shortish stem, longish bars, fat low pressure tires so I can take advantage of its exceptionally period slack 69 degree head angle. With a proper period suspension fork, this sled will be around 68 degrees (if I go that way)
Either way, its perfect for where and how I usually ride.
I know, white isn't exactly period, but the color scheme is black and white in tribute to the Endeavor shuttle, which recently flew over my house. And in the event that I do go with another color, the powder coat white will be a great base.
The decision to have the bike powder coated was a hard one. It's meant to stop large patches of surface rusting from progressing. The bike had a trail filled life, no dings and dents but the paint was almost totally chipped off on the front & rear drop outs and the bottom bracket section. When I decided to make it into a keeper, I thought it best to stop the rust dead in its tracks. I noticed something odd about the tubes on this bike. Some tubes were naturally chrome looking after the paint was stripped. Never seen that before.
For now, new decals are on their way and am going to run the parts through the solvent tank this weekend. Probably another week to go through them and make sure everything in in tip top shape.
Ive got my fingers crossed that I can stick in a set of 2.25 Schwalbe Nobby Nics. With 25 psi, this baby will be plush and sticky up in thar hills
More pics of bike details...
Hand formed seat stay bridge (?) and side shot of the airfoil top tube
Hand cut rear sliding drop outs
D form seat tube with intricate weld joints, the rear brake cable goes through the D tube and wraps around the seat tube with a cable bracket.
Builder's custom front drop outs cut from plate steel
Thanks to a few STR members for sharing their memories, info and a few parts to complete this build.
UPDATE:
BikeThePlanet
Active Member
Sweet project. One ugly arse frame. lol
Getting there. Trying a 50mm Ringle Stem that I had. Still waiting on an 80mm stem which is on the way. The 50 doesnt look too good, but it sure looks like an AM bike with it Gonna do some more fittings before I string up the whole bike. Thats just how I roll. The Flite saddle isnt going to work either if I'm going to ride in gnar
Gonna do some more fittings before I string up the whole bike. Thats just how I roll. The Flite saddle isnt going to work either if I'm going to ride in gnar
nailknot
Member
I see where my XT thumbies ended up. Nice retro build! Did I mention I have a Bontrager?
W4S
New Member
you should leave the 50mm stem on and put some 800mm bars on there, retro meets modern. Then put the period stem and bars back on and see what the difference is like, would be interesting to hear what you think!
Nice. So did you do anything else to the bike aswell?
