Presenting a different take on the hardcore hardtail idea, is this rather bright Yeti ARC.
When Yeti relaunched its ARC hardtail last year, there was the expectation for some classic colourways. The Coloradoan brand obliged with the 35th anniversary edition ARC.
For some, the longing to have something even more custom in appearance and colour curation is strong. Ste Nelson’s solution was to take his 2021 model year ARC TURQ carbon large and individualize its.
Purple and fluoro yellow were chosen as the balancing component colours, with the frame left in its factory Yeti turquoise, although it was covered with Invisi frame film, for protection.
The purple bits tally spacers, hubs, chainring, pedals, seatpost clamp, headset and derailer wheels.
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A lot of 1990s heritage colourway at play
Ste chose a Chris King Dropset headset, in anodized purple, to complement his brand matching hubs. Pedals are Burgtec Penthouse V4s, with titanium axles, in purple. Triggering the Fox Transfer dropper is a Wolftooth components lever, in anodized purple.
You’ll notice those valves screwed into the Zipp 3Zero rims, are from the Peatys collection, and of course, they are vividly purple, too.
Purple JRC ceramic pulley wheels guide the AXS chain and crowning all this purpleness is an MB Cyclery top cap.
Balancing out the purple
Contrasting all that purple, are Ste’s chosen bright fluoro bits. Most of these were painted by Velofique.
The Raceface 35mm stem, Yeti carbon handlebar and downtube bottle cage all received a dash of vividness in the lime yellow hue.
Ste was saved the bother of having his brake callipers repainted, as Magura’s MT7 Racelines are finished in limited edition fluoro yellow, straight from the factory.
Fox 36 up front
Perhaps the most striking single custom colour component on this ARC build, is the Fox 36 fork, with its fluoro yellow lowers.
Although the ARC’s geometry is optimized for a 130mm fork, Ste desired something a touch slacker and stouter at the front, selecting the proven Fox 36 platform, spaced to 140mm of travel.
When the original ARC established its reputation as the race rig to have, skinwall tyres were all the rage. To keep his build within that legacy, Ste’s ARC rolls a set of 29×2.6” Onza Porcupines, with the skinwall construction.