My renovated 1990 Wicked Fat Chance!

[MikeyNYC]

Hi Everyone (or anyone who cares...)

Here is my long awaited renovation project which is my 1990 Wicked Fat Chance frame, purchased on the super cheap last year from VeloCulture in taxi yellow and paired with a black Box Crown Fork that someone gave me for free!

Paint is by Vicious Cycles, which I'll be totally honest is beautifully done but has to be the most delicate paint job I have ever seen, it chips off if you look at it too hard - Fat City paint was WAY tougher!

The head badge was my own original design that was translated into sterling silver and hand made by Jen Green.

Parts list to follow, I just wanted to post the photos and get it out there...

*FYI The wheelset in these photos didn't work out they were 130mm rear spaced so I sold them and had a new set built up...will post them lower down...

Michael-NYC

 

[Yo Eddy!]

Hi Michael,

The black one with the Cook parts and rollercams was already breathtakingly beautifull, but now you even got a 2nd one almost as nice ! You did an excellent job on this one, again. Nice the silver headbadge, tr

 

[rick]

white Wicked

Michael,

The bike is sweet, I really like the combination of white and black. Love the stem and cranks, what sort of brakes are those?

Did you ask Viscious about the paint chipping? I have considered using them and would be curious as to their response. Did they do the decal too? How do they look up close?

rick

 

[bruce t]

nice looking...

I like the white. I like the box crown fork as well. Are those heavier than the unicrown forks? They look like they should be, maybe looks are deceiving.

Was Vicious able to supply decals, or did you have those already? I want to know what the brakes are too, I don't recognize those. I bought a Vicious fork with my recent Buck, and although they matched the baseline color well, they didn't get the red overspray/pearl highlights that the factory Team Violet has. In their defense, they didn't have the frame to work with, sounds like they matched it off of a jersey!

Congrats, bt

 

[MikeyNYC]

Hi Michael,

The black one with the Cook parts and rollercams was already breathtakingly beautifull, but now you even got a 2nd one almost as nice ! You did an excellent job on this one, again. Nice the silver headbadge, tr

 

[MikeyNYC]

Michael,

The bike is sweet, I really like the combination of white and black. Love the stem and cranks, what sort of brakes are those?

Did you ask Viscious about the paint chipping? I have considered using them and would be curious as to their response. Did they do the decal too? How do they look up close?

rick

Hey Rick,

Thanks for the approval

The brakes are WTB SpeedMaster Canti-Levers with Grafton Brake Levers, the levers are very light and cool looking, but I'm not sure that I'm going to stick with them...I may go with some Paul's instead.

I didn't call Vicious about the paint yet, I don't even know what their policy is if you're not happy with their work-but all I need to do is run my finger over the painted tubes of my white bike vs. my black bike (which was painted by Fat City) and the black paint is defintely thicker. The decals are clear coated and were provided by Vicious Cycles during the repaint and are original or probably made by that company in North Carolina, who apparently made the original Fat City decals. The Bike and paint looks awesome and I think that I'm happy with it, but once I begin to ride it, if the paint chips or scratches from normal riding I will call and complain.

Michael-NYC

 

[MikeyNYC]

I like the white. I like the box crown fork as well. Are those heavier than the unicrown forks? They look like they should be, maybe looks are deceiving.

Was Vicious able to supply decals, or did you have those already? I want to know what the brakes are too, I don't recognize those. I bought a Vicious fork with my recent Buck, and although they matched the baseline color well, they didn't get the red overspray/pearl highlights that the factory Team Violet has. In their defense, they didn't have the frame to work with, sounds like they matched it off of a jersey!

Congrats, bt

Hi BT,

Thanks, I was always hesitant to get a white MTB but it's actually really nice looking!

I don't know if the Box Crown fork is really that much heavier then a Uni-Crown, but in my opinion, it may be stiffer but it's defintely a nice riding fork that absorbs shock very well for a rigid fork...The brakes are WTB cantis and they are really finicky to adjust and I'm not quite done adjusting them to my taste, but onece they're dialed in they're supposed to be great...time will tell...I'll let everyone know.

Yes, Vicious supplied the decals, clear coated them and followed all of my specific directions...I guess that they are able to order the decals from that company that originally made Fat City decals, as that place only sells to "the industry."

Michael-NYC

 

[Jack Lantern]

Holy crap, what a beauty! Could I get the name of that N. Carolina company that supplied the deh'kls. I know they won't work with me directly but I'm thinking about using D&D for my respray and would like to provide Rick with a good source. I have a Ritchey that was resprayed by them and it's been a nice durable paintjob thus far. Do you have any idea what they charge for the sticker kit? Just want to prepare my finances for every variable. On another note, who's handing out free box crowns?! I would like a couple. Okay, maybe 4 or 5 . Again, cracking job on the Wicked. You've got a good eye for detail.

 

[MikeyNYC]

Holy crap, what a beauty! Could I get the name of that N. Carolina company that supplied the deh'kls. I know they won't work with me directly but I'm thinking about using D&D for my respray and would like to provide Rick with a good source. I have a Ritchey that was resprayed by them and it's been a nice durable paintjob thus far. Do you have any idea what they charge for the sticker kit? Just want to prepare my finances for every variable. On another note, who's handing out free box crowns?! I would like a couple. Okay, maybe 4 or 5 . Again, cracking job on the Wicked. You've got a good eye for detail.

Jack Lantern,

I don't know the name of the place in North Carolina, someone posted a link to the place somewhere here on the decal link, you can find it there if you look back in the old posts...

The story behind the free Box Crown fork is that I was shopping for a modern DH bike and I met this really nice dude via the MTBR for sale section and he was right in my hood and had like 3 of those Brooklyn Machine Works dual suspension bikes that cost upwards of $5000-$7000! Anyway we got to talking bikes and I told him that all I really ride are old school Fat Chances and he said "oh I may have something that you'll like" and he goes into his storage room and pulled a Box Crown fork out of a milk crate filled with bike parts and handed it to me and told me that it came on his 1987 Merlin but he took it off as soon as the first Rock Shox came out...I said "How much?" and he said "take it, it's yours!" I almost crapped my pants and wound up buying one of his Brooklyn "Park Bikes", but it just wasn't for me, so I sold it last year and then hunted down a Wicked Fat frame to slap that fork into and that's how this White Wicked came to be...FYI-That fork is the one in my avatar as well.

Thanks for the compliment on the eye for detail, I really like to make my bikes fit well, ride nicely and look good, which isn't always easy to do. Some people dismiss my bikes as wall hangers, but believe me they do get dirty, I just clean them off before they come back into the house and go back up on the wall

Michael-NYC

 

[Somerville Chance]

Hi there,

Nice boxed crowned fork. White is nice, but have you ever considered a gold paint job? (I have. The crown set me off.) What kind of seat clamp are you running on that Wicked Fat 90'? Try setting that new PPG paint-job in a warm environment, it will help it harden. (Summer is a great time of year.) Luckily white is easily matched. Considering any chips, I would match it with a paint pen from a local art store shop and overcoat it with a clear coat nail polish if you didn't get any touch up. "IF" uses the same PPG paints, and plants them in a large oven to semi-bake them to increase their strength. The PPG paint jobs can get fancy (ie.flames and stuff) but Fat City had it right with powder-coating's stregth.(chemically charged paint versus electronically charged) I had to strip my 1987' Fat, and I was blown away by how fastened it was to the frame. If I ever get another "chance" at a restore of a Fat Chance I will definitely consider a powder-coating with a solid color decision. Cheerio...

 

[MikeyNYC]

Hi there,

Nice boxed crowned fork. White is nice, but have you ever considered a gold paint job? (I have. The crown set me off.) What kind of seat clamp are you running on that Wicked Fat 90'? Try setting that new PPG paint-job in a warm environment, it will help it harden. (Summer is a great time of year.) Luckily white is easily matched. Considering any chips, I would match it with a paint pen from a local art store shop and overcoat it with a clear coat nail polish if you didn't get any touch up. "IF" uses the same PPG paints, and plants them in a large oven to semi-bake them to increase their strength. The PPG paint jobs can get fancy (ie.flames and stuff) but Fat City had it right with powder-coating's stregth.(chemically charged paint versus electronically charged) I had to strip my 1987' Fat, and I was blown away by how fastened it was to the frame. If I ever get another "chance" at a restore of a Fat Chance I will definitely consider a powder-coating with a solid color decision. Cheerio...

Thanks Somerville Chance,

I never thought of a gold paint job, but that would be rather Regal!

I wound up with 2 tiny chips from having a local bike shop install the BB and headset ;( one was a chip in the clearcoat on the seat tube but that one was still white, the other one was in the "chain suck" area and although it was tiny it was all the way down to the bare steel, one of the guys in the shop was ogling my frame and asking questions (after I paid of course) but when I saw the chip I yelled "You guys chipped my new paint" and he just slinked away...Not much you can do in that situation, but luckily my wife has enough nail polish that we were able to match it up perfectly! I'm going to sit the bike out on my terrace right now as the 85 degree sun shifts over and I'll let it bake for a few hours, thanks for that tip!

The black Fat Chance was actually originally powdercoated in 1988, but I had it sitting as an unbuilt frame that was NOS until 1990 when I went to build it up and I called Fat City about something else, probably BB bearings and they actually asked me to send it back to them to have the powder blasted off as they had problems supposedly with some frames rusting under the powder coat and while my frame was "bare" they had the gussets added to the box crown fork and the underside of the downtube...they said that they had to do some crazy process to get the powder coat off properly but then they used paint for the new black color...that's also when I got them to use the super old decals on that bike...They must've had some liability issue with regard to the powdercoat, does anyone know about this?

The seat clamp is an original 80's version of the Fat City seat clamp that somehow I wound up with an extra of, it's not correct for a 1990 Wicked Fat, but it looks cool with the black decals and black head set and it works...one less part that I had to buy! The bolt is a Control Tech Ti seat bolt, I don't typically use a QR on my seat.

Michael-NYC

 

[Somerville Chance]

Smells like Powdercoat

I heard that Fat City used to just let bare frames rust away in a pile before going to the painter. (Or until they paid the painter.) One of the down falls of powder-coating is that it doesn't get primered so rust can bubble up underneath a job more easily. This was the case with a salsa stem I recently restored and my 87' Fat.
As far as removal of paint, I've heard that Fat City used to place frames in an open area and set them on fire. I'm not kidding.
I am looking for a seat collar for my Fat. I just ordered a Hope seat collar quick-release in "hope" that it fit the tab on my frame. I usually don't run qr's either, especially in the city, so I'll probably just bolt it on as you have.
Again, very nice frames! Ride the hell out of them!

 

[MikeyNYC]

Powder...

I heard that Fat City used to just let bare frames rust away in a pile before going to the painter. (Or until they paid the painter.) One of the down falls of powder-coating is that it doesn't get primered so rust can bubble up underneath a job more easily. This was the case with a salsa stem I recently restored and my 87' Fat.
As far as removal of paint, I've heard that Fat City used to place frames in an open area and set them on fire. I'm not kidding.
I am looking for a seat collar for my Fat. I just ordered a Hope seat collar quick-release in "hope" that it fit the tab on my frame. I usually don't run qr's either, especially in the city, so I'll probably just bolt it on as you have.
Again, very nice frames! Ride the hell out of them!

Somerville Chance,

That all sounds about right and matches some of what I've heard about the interesting painting/stripping methods back at Fat City...where you living in Somerville back when Fat City was still there? Are you the person who said that you recovered a Fat Fork from a pile in a Somerville bike shop? If so please PM me with more info...

Good luck on the seat collar thing, have you tried an MCS seat collar? They are like $12.99 and are sold at www.DansComp.com a BMX mail order place...They look a lot like the stock collars on the 1990's Fats.

Michael-NYC

 

[settemarche]

MikeNYC,


quite a nice bike. i like the period parts spec. i also think you are bucks up in eBay dollars as we discussed before. Cook stem and cranks. Bullseye hubs. quite a lot of nice things going on with this bike. enjoy it.

Sette

 

[MikeyNYC]

MikeNYC,


quite a nice bike. i like the period parts spec. i also think you are bucks up in eBay dollars as we discussed before. Cook stem and cranks. Bullseye hubs. quite a lot of nice things going on with this bike. enjoy it.

Sette

Thanks! I typically justify a bike build to my wife in "eBay dollars"

Michael-NYC

 

[Upchuck]

Good luck on the seat collar thing, have you tried an MCS seat collar? They are like $12.99 and are sold at www.DansComp.com a BMX mail order place...They look a lot like the stock collars on the 1990's Fats.

Michael-NYC

Michael, do you know if they have the right size for Fat seat tubes?

 

[MikeyNYC]

Michael, do you know if they have the right size for Fat seat tubes?

Upchuck-
I don't actually know the seat clamp sizes for all of the various Fat City seat tube sizes, the steel frames from the 80s and 90's that take a 26.4mm seat post ("Fat Chance" Wickeds...)seem to use a 28.6mm seat clamp, but I don't actually know what size goes on the other frames (Yo Eddys & Titanium Fats) that use the 29.4mm seat post...can someone else please chime in here? As far as does www.DansComp.com carry them, I don't know-you've got to check that out by clicking on the link

Michael-NYC

 

[Yo Eddy!]

Upchuck-
I don't actually know the seat clamp sizes for all of the various Fat City seat tube sizes, the steel frames from the 80s and 90's that take a 26.4mm seat post ("Fat Chance" Wickeds...)seem to use a 28.6mm seat clamp, but I don't actually know what size goes on the other frames (Yo Eddys & Titanium Fats) that use the 29.4mm seat post...can someone else please chime in here? 31.8 As far as does www.DansComp.com carry them, I don't know-you've got to check that out by clicking on the link

Michael-NYC

31.8 it is

 

[settemarche]

Thanks! I typically justify a bike build to my wife in "eBay dollars"

Michael-NYC

MikeNYC,

the eBay dollar scenario works. check the Ala Carte i just picked up. move to retro forum - check the Syncros crank. a resprayed set of those cranks sold for $225. eBay dollars baby.

Sette

 

[kevin881]

31.8 it is

dans carries a 1.25" collar which is pretty close to 31.8mm (1.251968... inches)

http://www.danscomp.com/474030.php?cat=PARTS

anyone use the MCS with success?

I just bought one, ill let you all know if it works or not.