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How come I never see any mention of this bike? Not even listed on the Model Details section of this website.
Here’s the original specs:It really seems to be a rare, forgotten model. Hand built in Durango by Yeti.
Let me give a little history here…
I worked in a family owned bikeshop in Milwaukee throughout HS and College from 88ish to 97ish. When Schwinn started to revamp in 94/95 I was all over it. I had some extra money saved and Schwinn gave incredible discounts to employees. Needless to say the Homegrown USA Racing had my name all over it and I bought it. (I swapped out the SRAM for some Shimano rapid fire shifters)
In about 2001 or so, I was no longer working in the bike shop, most my friends had given up the sport and I was sort of dying on the vine with it. So one of my buddies was moving to CO so I sold him the bike — with a heavy heart.
Flash forward to 2010 or so and my kids were now riding and I needed a bike. But I didn’t want “some other crappy bike!” (thank you Pee Wee) so I scoured the internet, found my buddy I sold mine to and by the grace of God she still had her.
I bought her back for a few hundred dollars and while some of the parts have been swapped out (cranks and stem, sadly) the rest of it is pretty much all original right down the the rims (unbelievable!) I still have her and she gets ridden occasionally around town with the kids (I still dont actually Mt bike anymore). But it’s nice to have the girl in my hands again.
Definitely a cool story. Glad you got the bike back.
The Homegrown USA is mentioned in the 1995 “catalog” (actually a flyer written by Dave House of Mountain Biking magazine) but not on the “model details” page as that page, like others on here, needs a little love. The model breakdown is coming as part of a larger project.
One small, correction, however. Per discussions with the Homegrown product manager, director of engineering at the time, and senior product engineer responsible for design and sourcing on Homegrowns, all Homegrowns from 1995 were made by Control Tech. These frames were identical to the Project Underground frames that preceded 1995 but had a new forged dropout and replaceable derailleur hanger, which the Undergrounds lacked.
Though Yeti was acquired by Schwinn’s parent company, Scott Sports Group, in 1995, they didn’t supply Homegrown frames until the advent of the Homegrown Factory series in 1996. More detailed info on that front coming soon…
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