We were fortunate to receive our first Borealis Yampa in early Fall of 2013. With the ever expanding growth of Fat bikes and so many new models being released it is surprising to think that only 12 months ago Borealis was the first company to be delivering a carbon frame to the market. We had ridden a prototype Salsa Beargrease carbon but both the Beargrease and the 9ZERO7 whiteout carbon were yet to reach stores for many months. Adam at Borealis was great in ensuring we received the first Yampa to show in Canada and in early October it arrived and we were ready for our build. Being that this was not only the first Carbon production fat bike but one of the first to feature a centered 190mm rear spacing we were ready with a wheel build of the widest 100mm Surly Clownshoe rim laced to Borealis hubs and shod with the 4.8″ Bud and Lou tires originally features on the Moonlander.
Our first Borealis Yampa
This first build featured a SRAM XO 2×10 drivetrain, Avid BB7 mechanical disc brakes, Hope Stem, Niner carbon Handlebar and Seatpost. Starting with a 1270gram frame this full build with 5″ tires and tubes still came under 30lbs and was a show stopper. The lightest bike we had built to date but it was over the next months our Borealis builds were going to go on a steady diet with the new parts coming available and our order for the Carbondale rims was already placed!
Well this first Yampa did not last long and was sold shortly after our first Fall Bike Show in Toronto along with a list of tall orders for lightweight Fat Bikes. From the first dusting of snow that fell the day we completed this build we could not wait to give this bike the thorough rip on our local trails but the customer comes first and our would have to wait. The demand for Yampa frames was high and getting enough to fill orders was already a challenge. In December though I was able to land one for myself with a set of Carbondales and we were looking to build the ultimate Yampa for our demo.
For this build we went with SRAM XX1, Race Face Next SL carbon parts and a set of Carbon Borealis carbondale rims laced to 9ZERO7 hubs. The Carbondale rims weighed in at 620g per which represented a 200+gram savings over the Darryl but then were the easiest to tubeless our Dillinger 4 from 45nrth. With the Race Face Next SL carbon crank still in wait we weighed in at 24.05 lbs.
