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  -A friend of mine
(not a friend 20 years ago, though) bought a Yeti fairly early on in the company's history.
-As I understand it he dealt directly with John or Frank, and wanted
them to build him a particular frame, custom I guess. They were willing to do this. However, my friend wanted certain things done, and they
weren't willing to do this. Namely, putting rack mounts on the frame. Apparently John or Frank had stated emphatically in some bike mag interview or something that he would
never put rack mounts on a frame. This become a stalling point.
-Anyway, time went on and eventually Yeti relented. They built the frameset for my
friend. (He did a lot of offroad touring back in those days, and was about to move to Africa - so that was what he wanted the bike for)
-Well, my friend gave me the bike yesterday. I'm pretty much speechless about it. I
knew he had the bike, but I had never seen it before. He was lending me the bikebox for an upcoming overseas trip. I went out to the garage to check out the box, knowing he
had dropped it off. In it was the Yeti! -I think that this frame has been repainted, and a butcher paint job at that. (NOT done by my friend) And the decals may be replacements also.
So, this is THE original YAK. The first. Guess John/Frank/whoever at Yeti changed
their tune, and decided to use it as a marketing opportunity. As you know - after that, they started putting rack mounts on 'em. I still remember the ads, musta been in MB
Action mag, "Yaks... Yetis with Racks". I still love that!
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