1990 YETI F.R.O.
"Juli Furtado"
Story of the bike
Mike Wilk @ridevintagemtb found this frame and restored it. It was displayed afterwards at the Pro's Closet.
Mike Wilk:
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.