DH Yeti DH9 Back to Life

Regan

Eats Squid
I’ve loved these things since I first started riding but never had the cash to buy a new one. It started life owned by Dave Mclaughlin (Wacka), a Junior pinner and Yeti Team rider who rode it overseas. It was then purchased by a friend of mine who painted it all black. He rode it for nearly a year and then snapped the hanger off in a crash (it’s not a replaceable/bolt on item). I swapped some parts for it and she sat in my shed for over a year collecting dust. I eventually welded a dodgy hanger on and threw it together with some of the old random used parts I had lying around. It was then used as a spare/loaner bike. The hanger eventually snapped off again so it sat once again collecting dust in the corner.
I finally thought it was about time I really gave her a full overall. A new original paint scheme was sprayed on thanks to Phil Leslie. A full factory bearing kit and reproduced decals were sourced thanks to Andrew at YetiFan.com. Original metal head tube badge/emblem found on Ebay

*Specs are*
Frame: 2003 Yeti DH 9 size XS (same size as most medium frames today, crazy sizing!)
Fork: 2011 Boxxer R2C2
Shock: DHX 5.0 with 400lb Ti Spring
Rims: Mavic EX823
Hubs: Hadley 108 Pt rear / Hope Pro II EVO Front
Spokes: DT Comp
Head Set: Cane Creek 110
Brakes: Older modal Code Calipers with Juicy Ultimate Levers
Bars: Sunline 750mm
Stem: Sunline Integrated
Grips: ODI Lock-On
Seat: SDG Ti-Fly Yeti Team Edition (Thanks to Jared Graves!)
Seat Post: Thomson
Cranks/BB: Shimano SLX
Chain Ring: 36t
Chain Guide: Gamut
Pedals: Kona Wah Wah
Chain: XTR/Dura ace
Rear Derailleur: Dura Ace
Shifter: XTR
Tires: Minion DHF 2.5, set up tubeless

Weight: 18.1kg

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MB

Intense Australia
It's beautiful. One of my favourite bikes of all time too! I remember the days of Rennie shredding the WC circuit on these bad boys. One of my riding buddies had one and it was an absolute weapon! Great resto mate, looks amazing. Thanks for sharing!
 

Regan

Eats Squid
Can you put pics of the hanger, and how did you get it fixed?
First I ground off what was left of the old hanger to give a nice square/flat area to weld to. I then had a friend who is a machinist to machine up a piece of aluminium to my dimension. I just so happen to have a Schwinn straight 8 frame hanging on the wall and it shares the same lower swingarm as the DH9 so I used it to work out exactly where the derailleur mounting hole had to sit and later the final shape. I was able to make the new hanger with a small hook on the back that allowed it to go up behind the swingarm for further strength and allow more welding area. I then traced the Schwinn hanger shape onto the piece of aluminium and cut it out on a drill press by drilling heaps of holes with a small drill bit. I than sanded to the finished shape. Ended up looking really factory and you can hardly tell that it's even been repaired

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Quarter inside underneath 2.JPG

dh9 hanger.jpg

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russthedog

Likes Bikes and Dirt
awesome bike, are you going to ride it much or is it still the loaner? they are a fun bike to ride, fast, heavy and noisy and fun.
 

Dozer

Heavy machinery.
Staff member
[HR][/HR]Geez mate, it looks as good as new! That model Yeti just screams pure downhill, I've always had that bike in my top five of wanted bikes. It looks great!
 

driftking

Wheel size expert
awesome bike, are you going to ride it much or is it still the loaner? they are a fun bike to ride, fast, heavy and noisy and fun.
I thought 18.1kg was fairly light/similar to the modern bikes these days even more so considering its a 2003 model frame. Brilliant restoration. Awesome to see some bike history back in good condition and still been ridden. It must be a struggle on the trail between wanting to thrash it vs taking her easy and looking after it.
 

DH'er_28

Likes Dirt
This actually looks so sick! Looking at that frame makes me feel tempted to buy an intense m1 or something and do a similar build, that is so rad. Nice bike mate :clap2:
 
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