Barracuda - Totally Driven!

Hey-

Here's an odd "Cuda with (basically) no info online about it... it is referenced on this site under BIKES in 1993 only! I know that ctk had already posted this bike last month in the MARKETPLACE forum but I'm interested in getting more info on this bike if possible. Sorry ctk, I didn't mean to hijack your thread.

http://lasvegas.craigslist.org/bik/2113270728.html

The only bit of info came from our 'Cuda Leader, Mark himself, back in Aug. 2009:

http://www.retrobike.net/forum/viewtopi ... 4c20a0ec10

Mark...

Care to shed any light on this obscure Barracuda creation? How rare is it... should it be snatched up? Do you have a 1993 catalog to pull info from? I can see the 'Cuda logo on the head tube and down tube, it appears to have the "Trees Amigo" decal on the seat tube, and the welds look like that of a steel frame. Being a hybrid, shouldn't it have 700c wheels? The seller claims it has 26" wheels. The canti brakes and road fork are typical of a hybrid but the geometry of the frame definitely looks more road with the flat top tube.

So, this must be a Durango made bike... boggles my mind when I imagine this "Crossfire" hybrid possibly having been made by Yeti. This frame might make a cool dirt drop crossover build, set it up like Jonny Tomac's dirt drop (handlebar) World Championship ride. Wild!!!

Thanks,

-DON-

p.s. It looks awfully similar to the 1993 Yeti road frame I used to have, it's not exact but all the tubes are welded together in the same basic geometry and configuration (seat tube, top tube, seat stay junction for instance). I wish that was my '93 Yeti in the picture (as well as the sweet Merc hot rod in the background) but my Yeti fell victim (with me on it at the time) to a stupid teenage girl in a 4x4 down by the beach years ago. I miss that bike!

Don, I always enjoy when you share old pics. That is a really cool looking Yeti Dirt Drop. In my mind Johnny T was the best!

Hey Cuda,

Thanks for the appreciative word, I'm old school for sure! I started racing road in '86 and mountain XC in '90, I feel I lived and road through the best period in mountain bike history. Those late 80's into mid/late 90's were super! They pushed frame design, suspension, materials and did with with style... anodized and CNC'ed everything!!! I feel weird when I grab a friend's 29'er or all mountain ride, give me a rigid steel bike any day!

Johnny T. is a bike god, period!!! No one did what he did... road champ, cyclocross champ, XC champ, slalom champ, and downhill champ... end of story as far as I'm concerned! No one will repeat what he achieved and he probably has more to do with pushing the "race" design than anyone else. Consider the fact the he developed the Johnny T. signature Mongoose (yes, for the newbies, Mongoose has a decorated winning history before becoming a WallyWorld hunk of junk) that he won the World Championship on, then he did the same for Raleigh, and again for Yeti. Each time the builds were more "extreme" and "aggressive" in design.

I would love to see one of the weekend warriors bombing all over the Fullerton Loop with their 40 lbs all-mountain tech bike do a fraction of anything J.T. was doing on a rigid bike! That said, we must forgive him for his other signature... his signature mullet! (please feel free to choose a smilie).

-D-

Ha, Awsome pics, that is some Kooka package!

I agree about Tomac. Here's one for you, he was a little older than in your pics. I was in college, my buddies went to a race, I got sick as a dog that weekend so I couldn't go, they walked up and snapped this picture of Johnny T in his skin suit spinning his Raliegh on rollers. Later that day they talked to him said he was really cool.

The other pic is a female yeti rider coming off the start, I know you know who it is because of the dried piranah necklace.

Hey guys,

As I stated in another post here, the Crossfire does come up for sale once in a while. I have never seen one in person, but I do know that they were only offerred in the early days. A Yeti creation or Framesmith, I don't know, but it would definitely have been a bike manufactured in the USA.

Perhaps it's just me, but the Crossfire strikes me as being a lower-end bike in the line. I'd love to know more in case anyone really wants to snag one.