A local legend in his home nation of Germany and to the home of YT Industries, Erik Fedko’s talent has earned him worldwide acclaim, and rightly so. Joining the YT MOB in 2022, the style icon of slopestyle has competed at the highest levels of competition on some of the best custom frames YT has produced. From the shores of Hawaii to the depths of space, here are Erik Fedko’s custom YT bikes.
The Making of Fedko’s DJ Frame
Fedko and YT Industries hit the ground running with a shared goal in mind; to create a bespoke dirt jump frame that would unleash “Fetty’s” full power and raw potential. The labour of love between athlete insight and YT engineering began early in 2022. To understand how Fedko’s custom dirt frame was born, you have to hear it from the source. Introducing Franziska Heidl, the YT Engineer responsible for Finite Element Analysis (FEA), a process which assesses high-stress areas in advance of physical testing.
“Time was a big challenge. Everyone wanted to see Erik riding this bike at Crankworx. But of course, we wanted the bike to be as safe and good-looking as possible. We had some stress areas occur in the FEA, so we made some adjustments until the frame design fits all requirements from an engineering and design perspective. Finally, the FEA helped us pass the testing of our first version on the first try.”
Franziska Heidl, YT Engineer
Another key player in production was Daniel Wecker, Senior Industrial Designer. He explained a few key differences between the existing YT #Dirtlove and Erik Fedko’s custom frame.
“One key difference is the frame material. We’re using steel for the YT DIRTLOVE, and for Erik’s Prototype, we use aluminium. We also use the Prototype frame to add some details that Erik wished for, and we want to experiment with them as well, such as dropouts and crankstop interface. The geometry is also based on Erik’s feedback which differs slightly from the DIRTLOVE.“
The Crankworx Custom Designs
For the first stop of the 2022 Crankworx tour in Innsbruck, Erik’s custom frame was adorned with a galaxy-inspired paintwork, which we saw him rocket into 2nd place.
Galaxy inspired frame for Crankworx Innsbruck 2022
Crankworx Whistler ’22
For Crankworx Whistler in August 2022, our designers crafted a more urban graffiti-inspired design, blasting the frame with good vibes.
For the last stop in the 2022 Crankworx tour, we unveiled the third and final custom design, and, spoiler alert, it’s a favourite at YT HQ. This graphic oozes good vibes, bringing a wave of color to match Rotorua’s unique landscape and electric atmosphere.
Frame: YT Custom Dirt Jump
Fork: Rockshox Pike DJ (100mm / 40mm offset)
Wheels: Industry Nine 305
Cranks: SRAM X01 165mm
Brake: SRAM Level Ultimate
Gyro: Trickstuff Trixer
Cockpit: Title Form 25mm rise, Title ST1 35mm
Saddle: Title JS1 / CP1 Seatpost
Grips: Odi Longeck
I’ve been testing and developing this custom frame with YT Industries. We’ve come a long way as far as the final bike is concerned. Some changes are still in the pipeline, but I can’t reveal that at this point.
Erik Fedko
Crankworx Whistler ’23
At the beginning of the 2023 season, Fedko sustained an injury at Crankworx Rotorua, causing him to sit out of Crankworx Innsbruck for some much-needed rest and rehab. Roll on Crankworx Whistler and Feddy was back and ready to take on the Red Bull Joyride course on board a fresh, custom forest-inspired whip.
The 2024 Crankworx World Tour kicks off this weekend in Rotorua, New Zealand, where you can see Erik Fedko throw down gravity-defying trick after trick.
