Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Sneak peak at a couple more Second Spin project

Here is a quick sneak peak at a couple other upcoming Second Spin projects...






1992 Fat Chance Yo Eddy (L) with BOI fork - this will be my bike



1992-93 Klein Adroit (XS)


1993 Klein Attitude (S)


Check back for project updates!!

-Martin

Another new project at Second Spin

I just received this 1990 Fat Chance Yo Eddy complete with the Big One Inch (BOI) fork. 


This is one of the first years for Yo Eddy which evolved from the Team Comp.  The Yo Eddy was the top of the line mountain bike from Fat Chance and was one of the premier steel bikes of all time.  This one is painted in the Grello Team Fade which was the color used by Fat Chance racers from that time period.  For those not familiar with Fat Chance, they were a small bike manufacturer out of Somerville, MA back in the 1980s and 1990s.  They stopped making bikes sometime around 1999 and are now sort of collector items.



Fat Chance bikes were known for their exceptional ride, excellent climbing and superior craftsmanship.  What really sets these bikes apart is the BOI fork.  It was built by Fat Chance to complement the frame and really completes the bike, especially when painted to match.



This specific bike was definitely ridden hard and put away wet, the frame has numerous scratches, nicks and other assorted battle wounds.  However, it does not have any rust (which is common on these old steel frames) and has no dents or cracks.   The only trouble spot is the integrated bottom bracket.  One of the features of Fat Chance frames was the pressed-in sealed cartridge bottom bracket, a fairly ground breaking feature in the 1980s.  This one has long since passed on and will need to be replaced.



I got this Yo as a complete bike, but the vast majority of the parts were not worth saving, with the exception of the super cool and period correct Mavic 315 headset.  That will stay with the bike.

This bike will get repainted, hopefully in the same color fade (although it's difficult to reproduce because the yellow pigmentation is no longer made) or another Fat Chance color and rebuilt with period correct Shimano M732 or M735 XT parts.  It joins the Second Spin inventory along with two other Yos, the first of which is already at the paint shop.

Until the next project.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

First delivered Second Spin project

Well, I've had my first completed sale.  This weekend I built a 94/95 Trek 8900 Composite mountain bike.  I originally purchased this bike on eBay to part out for a really nice Shimano M900 gruppo.  The bike wasn't used much and was in excellent condition and definitely worth rebuilding for another owner.

The new owner wanted a good city bike and this fit the size and weight requirements.


Aside from the M900 gruppo that I removed the bike remains pretty much intact, with a very nice Answer Atac stem, matching Hyperlite handle bar and vintage Control Tech post.


We decided to build it as a 1x8 using some LX/XT drivetrain I had left over form a Klein Adroit I sold a while back. 



Tires are Bontrager Eco city tires which provide very low rolling resistance and very smooth ride.  All in all the project will bill out under $400 with the new tires and tubes, all other parts were recycled.

I hope the new owner enjoys many fun miles up in Park City!!!

-Martin

Friday, September 16, 2011

First Second Spin Project

For as long as I can remember I've been a fan of Kleins, so naturally when I first got involved with vintage bikes back in 2000/2001 my focus was almost exclusively Klein.

This time around I've decided to branch to out a little bit.  So to start off my second forray into restorations I decided to go a slightly different route and went with some steel hardtails.  My first acquisition is a 1990/91 Grove Innovations Hard Core.  Grove Innovations was/is the brainchild of Bill Grove and all of his bikes were build very close to my hometown of State College, PA.  I've been after a Hard Core for a very long time and was lucky to finally find out while visiting my parents last Christmas.  I was very lucky to find a Hard Core complete with the hothead bar/stem and Hard Core forks. 


The bike was in pretty good shape, but not perfect.  In another stroke of luck Bill Grove himself took on the project of repainting the bike for me and complete it with original Hard Core decals.  The new paintjob will retain elements of the original Wineberry color which I really liked, but will be augmented with a fade.  The front of the bike will be black with a wineberry clear and will fade to wineberry in the back. 


The frameset will be built as a 1x8 complete with Bill Grove's own Hot Rod cranks, painted to match of course.  For drivertain I decided to go with a set of vintage Hugi wheels built up on Mavic 231 Ceramic rims, with Dura Ace 11-24 cassette, DA rear derailleur, DA bar end shifter on a Pauls thumbie adapter, silver Graton Speed Controller brakes, silver Kooka brake levers, American Classic post and Suntour XC-Pro pedals.

I expect to have the bike complete by Thanksgiving at which point it will become my primary mode of transportation.

Second Spin Cycles is born!!!

Hi All,


Welcome to the official launch of Second Spin Cycles.  This project emerged out of my longstanding hobby of restoring and passing on old school mountain bikes and my general passion for mountain bikes.

I grew up loving bikes, from my early days back in Poland, into high school bike racing years, ultimately evolving into a hobby and hopefully now a business of restoring and giving vintage or old-school mountain bikes a second chance.

My goal is to find the coolest retro rides, dig up vintage parts, put them together and ultimately unite them with new owners.


Stay tuned for an update on my projects!!


Martin - Second Spin Cycles