0

Your Cart is Empty

February 21, 2019 2 min read

The Yeti Ultimate started out as Mountain Bike Action's attempt to build what they thought was the ultimate mountain bike, and that meant tackling the common shortcomings of contemporary bikes.  The year was 1988, and some of the big issues at that time were chainsuck, poor tire clearance, and long chainstays, so MBA set out to solve all by using elevated chainstays.  After Yeti put the frame together for MBA, they made it a stock model, which went on to become their most popular frame by 1990.  And while it looks a bit unusual now, anyone who can remember the time around 1988-91 or so will recall that it was in good company: the Nishiki Alien, Mantis Valkyrie, and Trimble Carbon Cross among the most memorable of the bikes with elevated chainstays; but still, this bike was one of the first, and it had its own special little tidbits that set it apart.

  1. One of these innovative details was the 1.25" Fisher Evolution threaded headset, which was a standard that never really gained widespread traction.  These days, if you need to swap your fork and you have one of these headsets, your options are pretty much limited to finding an old fork...unless you get a Chris King Devolution headset!  This is a headset that is designed for cases where you have a headtube that's designed for a larger steerer, and you want to go down a size.  In this case, the rider used the 1.25" Devolution headset to put a fork with a standard 125" threadless steerer tube on his bike. 

Beyond the headset, this bike is a rad mix of older parts, and some that are still around today like the Paul Motolite brakes and Love Levers.  It's a perfect example of one of the reasons that we like working with companies like Chris King, Phil Wood, White Industries, and Paul: without a product like the Devolution headset, this bike might not still be rolling.  The fact is that Chris King can't expect to sell very many of those headsets in a given year, but because they do make them, rad bikes like this can still get their tires dirty!  

We love helping customers keep their classic bikes riding great, and we've got a lot of parts that can help with just that type of thing: from bottom brackets for very unusual thread pitches, to headsets to fit just about every standard, chances are that if you've got an old bike that needs odd parts, we can get it rolling!  

And remember that whether your bike is old or new, we want to see how you're using the parts you get from us!  We spend a lot of time working on our own bikes, and we want to see what you're working on too!



Also in AVT Blog

Buying bike parts in an environmentally responsible way.
Buying bike parts in an environmentally responsible way.

November 02, 2021 2 min read

There seems to be a lot of coverage right now on sustainability and environmental issues both inside and outside of the bike industry so it's worth t...
Read More
De Salvo Bling Build For The Grinduro That Never Was...
De Salvo Bling Build For The Grinduro That Never Was...

October 27, 2021 1 min read

Our neighbor here in Ashland, Mike De Salvo, consistently turns out some of the nicest welded bikes in the business. So when Mike gets asked to produce something for a s...
Read More
Wheel Build Of The Week: ENVE 45 / Chris King R45D Gold.
Wheel Build Of The Week: ENVE 45 / Chris King R45D Gold.

October 18, 2021 1 min read

This week's wheel build of the week is another stunning pair of Gold Chris King R45D hubs laced to ENVE Foundation 45 rims. Made in the same Utah facility as ENVE's...
Read More