Around Christmas 2008/9 I embarked on my first self-built bike project - building an On-One 456Ti primarily for Adventure Racing. This left me with two Scott full suspension bikes, although technically only one working, as the other was with the Scott warranty department. After nearly 5 years of riding Scott bikes and the increasingly more familiar terms with their warranty department, I thought it was time for a change - to the world of Yeti. What follows is the diary of a bike build; more for posterity than for any major revelations though. 

I have to say I really enjoyed the good days riding the Scott bikes; both the Genius and the Ransom delivered some spectacular riding and some great memories. However, for every good time, there was almost always some extended time off the bikes, due to mechanical faults and problems. 5 or 6 frames later, neither bike looked anything like the one that I had bought. The fact that Scott always gave me a top of the range replacement means I really can't fault their warranty or customer service. Reliability was the deciding factor when building a hardtail replacement for racing, but after getting the latest 2009 Ransom frame under warranty, a plan was hatched to move away from Scott and onto another manufacturer - so eBay became the final resting place of both the Genius and Ransom frames. Hopefully their new owners will have more luck and at least as much fun as I did on them.

A couple of friends have Yeti's and the other strong contender was the Santa Cruz Blur LT; I've got a hardtail for racing and general XC duties, whatever replaced the Scotts had to be similar to the Ransom for all-mountain capability but able to do some long days in the saddle with mates when out playing. After trying both frames out, the Yeti won my favour and as a bonus, I managed to find a supplier in Scotland who would help me out - Neil @ FreeFlow Bikes in Glasgow turned out to be a real star in this department and very insightful to what works best with what.