Wednesday, September 21, 2011

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.

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