I was on of the early employees at Yeti and we built everything from .035 wall 4130. Chainstays, seat tubes,downtubes. everything. and with no gussets. We buit bikes that won all the downhill races including the Kamakazi under myles, Missy and Tomac and I am pretty sure I have never seen a Yeti FRO missing any big frame parts.

For years I have been getting comments regarding all the damage TIG welding does to tube yet I am quite confident I could TIG weld a reliable .028 frame for road or MTB with some shaping and small gussets. It's interesting that someone would be flamed for suggesting straight gauge material. I wonder if brazed frames in .028 typically fail?