There are those among us who would argue that the early 90s were the Golden Age of the mountain bike, regardless of a fixation with anodizing every small part one could get their calloused hands on. The trademark Desert Turquoise hue of the Yeti brand lent itself particularly well to such accessorizing, exemplified here by the Yeti Pro FRO of Germany’s Fabian Scholz.
1984 brought the first sighting of the Yeti FRO, a ‘For Racing Only’ frame produced by the innovative Southern Californian firm. It featured the now-famous looptail seat-and-chain stays and was available until 1992. Fabian managed to acquire a ’92 frame with a cracked down tube which he had repaired, with the intention of campaigning a local pre-’98-only MTB race.
The challenging search for suitable parts followed — understandably, as purple Chris King 1 1/4 headsets, Ringle seat posts and Easton Hyperlite bars are rare and highly sought after. Shimano’s legendary XTR M900 groupset completed the build, along with an Answer Accu-Trax fork and A-Tac stem. Finally, the FRO was complete, in time for Fabian to suit up in period costume and compete.
Big thanks to Fabian for the photography.
