Friday, September 19, 2014

1990 Yeti FRO - Ex Juli Furtado Race Bike

In 1990, Juliana Furtado was then-unknown to the mountain bike race world.  The season prior she had begun riding and racing MTBs to rehab a ski injury, and then began racing full time for Yeti Cycles the year later.  This was her first Yeti, a steel FRO that was custom made for her by Chris Herting.  This bike features a size and geometry not found on any other Yeti, and has many handmade improvements from Herting to save weight.

She raced this bike throughout the summer until September, when days before the World Championships in Durango she was given the carbon Yeti C-26 on which she won her Worlds title.  This bike featured a complete Campagnolo group with elements taken from the Euclid and Centaur lines based on her preference. 

Scoring this frame was pure luck. Right place at the right time on my way around the internet one day, I came across a photo of the BB shell with "J.F" welded on.  Contact was made, but the seller was not interested in selling. This simmered for exactly one year, when I checked in on the guy, and he said he'd be interested in meeting me in Moab, Utah, to do the sale in person.  I made the 6 hour roundtrip drive and picked this up.  I still have no idea how it ended up in a bike shop in Bellingham, Washington, but it went "home" to the right place.

It was a basket case.  Massively cracked at the seattube and covered in patina not from racing, but from years of neglect.  I decided to leave most of it alone, and had Herting fix the seattube crack.

The result is 99% to how it was raced in 1990. 


Juli Racing in 1990  photo juli_mammoth_zps4406d7ff.jpg

How it was when found  photo IMG_0935_zps281154a8.jpg

The seattube crack  photo IMG_0951_zps88f0d718.jpg

Herting examines the frame and compares to his C-26  photo ch_c26_juliFRO_zps1a0e3bdb.jpg

Crack repaired  photo IMG_0590_zps2dbed845.jpg It took a month to build this. Having a 6 month old at the time will do that  photo frame_fork_zps7650242a.jpg

The end result  photo JuliFurtados1990Yeti-1_zpsb4bb49c1.jpg

 photo JuliFurtados1990Yeti-8_zpsa9fa9ddc.jpg

 photo JuliFurtados1990Yeti-12_zps839dffcd.jpg

 photo JuliFurtados1990Yeti-10_zpsa06d4ec8.jpg

 photo JuliFurtados1990Yeti-7_zps862ee251.jpg

 photo JuliFurtados1990Yeti-9_zpsef07f20e.jpg

 photo JuliFurtados1990Yeti-3_zps0b594c95.jpg

 photo JuliFurtados1990Yeti-2_zps194384d6.jpg

 photo JuliFurtados1990Yeti-4_zps779261f9.jpg

 photo JuliFurtados1990Yeti-6_zps80f8b234.jpg

 photo JuliFurtados1990Yeti-5_zps06a69528.jpg

 photo bbshell_zps01e75ca5.jpg  photo sideshot1_zps20ab94c8.jpg

 photo juli_mammoth_90_zps58f99fc3.jpg

This picture is from the 1991 Yeti Catalog  photo juli_fro_big_zps572c1bb3.jpg

1 comment:

  1. just came across your blog and wanted to say thanks for sharing all these awesome bikes and pictures of the process. Im 39 and for me the golden years was 91 - 96 and now that I'm older and can afford these bikes that i once only drooled over in MBA I've been browsing eBay and local craigslist to rebuild some beauty 26r's. Im sure its nostalgia but something about the classic 90's companies and mtb community that just makes me smile. something that i don't really feel today and honestly i feel like the bikes of today are not attractive at all and don't have that same panache as they used to. Im old i know and i don't care. long live the old steel rigid bikes, long live a classic hardtail with a manitou 1 on the front end!!!. Thanks again

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