New to yo eddy ownership, advice needed

ishaw

New member
Ok, so I finally managed to snare a yo eddy of 92 vintage. It seems that a lot of these frames were blighted by rust due to the lack of a seat tube/bb shell drain hole, and this was no exception, but the previous owner has had the frame repaired to a very high standard. Now whilst this is great news, I do have a couple of issues with the repair, that I thought I'd run past the fat officionados:

1. The seat tube is now 27.2 internally, which is great for seat post choice but not 'original'
2. The top tube and bb junction are now fillet brazed rather than tnestandard fat finish


Now in theory there is nothing wrong with any of this, and the frame has been resprayed (not an original colour, but a nice light blue) and re-decalled properly, so no issuses with the final product, but part of me thinks I should get these differences sorted.

I'd welcome your thoughts on this, as I'd like to do a high end build once I decide on what to do with the frame, and have already begun sourcing stuff, such as conol tech cantis, m900 cranks, mechs, shifters, as well as having a few other options such as kooka cranks and stem.

If I did get the frame restored back to the origina seat tube size, I'd be stuck for a post, so would be looking for one, and I'd also have a world of paint jobs open to me, so I'd also be interested in ideas/thoughts on what an appropriate paint job would be for a 92 yo eddy/team fat chance.

Thanks in advance for your help/advice/inspiration.

Ian
 
Hey Ian,

Welcome to the forum! If you get a chance post some pictures of your bike; sounds interesting. If the bike is rideable I would just ride it as is without investing any more money into it. Having the seat tubes corrected could set you back more than what you could just replace the frame for I would guess. The nice thing about having a Fat that is not perfect is you can enjoy riding it without the thought of messing it up in you mind all the time! Cheers, Jon
 

yo-Nate-y

Moderator
Staff member
I'd say that is throwing good money after bad. It would have been nice if the resto was with a larger seat tube, but what is done is done. The fillet brazing looks good too. To 'fix' it again would mean fillet not TIG anyway, and you'd lose the nice paint job.

I would consider it unique and awesome as it is. OR sell it and find an original spec one if it bothered you. Seems silly (and problematic) to re-restore it.
 

ishaw

New member
Thanks for the replies, I think I'm just going to build it and ride it, and once the paint is trashed, get it refinished, and perhaps get the tube done then?

How do people feel about sun tour xc pro on a fat?
 

I-ROBOT

Active member
Hello Ian

I would leave the frame alone at this point. Its too bad that whoever repaired the frame did not realize that Somerville Yo Eddy's have a two-piece seat tube. There is a thicker insert that is welded to the thinner seat tube. That weld could have been removed and then the rest of the bad seat tube cut out and replaced. Then the top tube / seat stay joints could have been kept along with the stock seat post. But whatever works is OK and I'm sure you didn't have anything to do with the repair as you state.

Owning a Fat is about your own sense of individuality (including what you can afford, of course!). We never really put a lot of emphasis on what riders chose for their parts groups, knowing the frame is what is influencing the ride quality more than anything that's hung on it.

We used to put XC Pro on bikes and had a deal early on with Suntour when I first started there. Campagnolo came calling a few years later and we jumped in bed with them. (those Italians!) We had lots of XTR and SRAM groups on our frames too. What matters most is what you like to use and what you can afford to throw on your frame.

As long as your repair is holding up, I would leave it the way it is. Returning it to the stock Yo configuration would most likely be cost prohibitive unless it was the last '92 Yo in existence.

Best of luck
Scott Bengtson
 

ishaw

New member
Hello Ian

I would leave the frame alone at this point. Its too bad that whoever repaired the frame did not realize that Somerville Yo Eddy's have a two-piece seat tube. There is a thicker insert that is welded to the thinner seat tube. That weld could have been removed and then the rest of the bad seat tube cut out and replaced. Then the top tube / seat stay joints could have been kept along with the stock seat post. But whatever works is OK and I'm sure you didn't have anything to do with the repair as you state.

Owning a Fat is about your own sense of individuality (including what you can afford, of course!). We never really put a lot of emphasis on what riders chose for their parts groups, knowing the frame is what is influencing the ride quality more than anything that's hung on it.

We used to put XC Pro on bikes and had a deal early on with Suntour when I first started there. Campagnolo came calling a few years later and we jumped in bed with them. (those Italians!) We had lots of XTR and SRAM groups on our frames too. What matters most is what you like to use and what you can afford to throw on your frame.

As long as your repair is holding up, I would leave it the way it is. Returning it to the stock Yo configuration would most likely be cost prohibitive unless it was the last '92 Yo in existence.

Best of luck
Scott Bengtson
Thanks Scott, I really appreciate your input. As you say, it is a shame that the company who did the repair (and I'm told by the person who I bought the frame off that it was one of the big/weell known frame repairers in the UK), did not do as you say. I was checking out a thread on the seat tube repair on here, and that was done as you have said.

Cost aside, if one day I did decide to 'fix' the frame, how would I explain to a frame builder/repairer the job that needed to be done, with reference to the two piece tubing you mentioned.

I will certainly go out and ride it before contemplating this, but it would be good information to have just in case I do decide to get a respray.

As for parts, it certainly is a personal choice, and i've never done a build using ssuntour before, so I may give this a whirl and see how it turns out. If I don't like it, I have some other parts to fall back on.
 

ishaw

New member
I think I'll take that advice, as the more I look at it, scoping out the build, the more I'm liking the colour, so I think I will leave the welding alone unless something happens that requires a change.

My plans have changed since I originally bought the frame, as I have managed to score an almost complete sun tour xc pro group set in great condition, and the wheels are laced to blue rims which may or may not work with the blue frame (too much blue?). I've got some ti bars and a ti post coming which will also tie in with the xc pro group set, so looking forward to getting everything so I can started.

In an ideal world I'd love a ti stem, but think I'll be struggling for a 1 inch one to be honest, or at least for the money I'd ideally like to pay.

Forks are my next conundrum, as I have some judy sls from 96/7, judy dh from the same era, various pace forks (rigid or bouncy), so would welcome your thoughts on what would work best.

I'll try to get some pics up of the frame so you have an idea as to what it might look like with the bits fitted.
 
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