What is purple and pink with spots all over?
The story of 18 glorious years with my Fat Chance Yo Eddy.
Want to share your Fat story? Drop me a line with the contact form.
A beautiful Fat Chance Yo Eddy. Hand built by the original Fat Chance builders in Massachusetts in 1991. I can't believe that was 18 years ago!She was lovingly restored to all her former glory (and more) by Rody from Groovy Cycle Works.
I got this bike as a frame from Wild Rose Sports in SLC, UT in 1991. It was my third Fat Chance. I fell in love immediately. I built it up from parts and rode it all over the city and the country. I used it as an everyday commuter, in addition to lots of nice trail riding in Northern Wisconsin at Chequamegon National Forest, and at places like Kettle Moraine. I also took it out to Utah for many trips in the desert. I grew up in Utah, and fell in love with mountain biking when one of my high school friends let me ride his bike in Canyonlands in '83. It was always great to get back to Utah for some biking, especially on the Fat Chance.
Fat Chance was started by Chris Chance (hence the name) in the early 80's as a company to produce finely fabricated steel mountain bikes designed for the twisty singletrack of the Eastern USA. They produced a variety of bikes, including the regular Fat Chance (I owned one from '87-'91), the Wicked Fat Chance, the Team Fat Chance Yo Eddy (this bike), and the Titanium Fat Chance. They even produced a road bike, the Slim Chance, which I hear rides very well.
But the bike business is notoriously difficult, especially for small independent companies. By the mid-90's Fat Chance was sold out to Serrota. Production was moved to a different facility in Upstate NY (from Massachusetts). Some of the original Fat team went on to found Independent Fabrications. They have continued in the spirit of Fat Chance, producing some of the nicest handmade-in-the-USA bikes presently available.
My Fat Chance traveled with me from Wisconsin to Utah to North Carolina. In 2001 I bought a full suspension mountain bike, and relegated the Fat to commuter duty. Poor fat. For a while I was enamored with the whole suspension thing. It has its merits.
Here's what she looked like at that point, around 2003 (still nice, but needing some love):
Notice that I had a "stem extender". The bike had always been a bit small for me, so I put the extender on to compensate. Not the way a Fat Chance should be, with rusted seat tube, chintzy stem extender, and cheapo suspension forks. Probably the low point for the bike, but at the time I didn't appreciate what a Gem I had here, that just needed some love.
Then about three years ago, I was shocked to find that the seat tube had rusted through at the bottom. This was around the same time I was rediscovering a love for a rigid bike, and getting tired of the full suspension thing. In fact, I had been stripping the bike down for a thorough overhaul when I discovered the hole in my seat tube. I almost cried.
These were designed with sealed tubes, and I hadn't been careful enough about keeping the seat tube dry. I had used the bike for a bunch of commuting in wet places like Madison, Wisconsin. Worse -- stupid me -- I had removed and sold the original rigid fork, to put on a suspension fork (originally a RockShox Mag 21, until the gaskets blew). Looking back on it, I can't believe what I did to this bike.
Due to my resurgent interest in having a nice hard tail bike around, I decided it was time to give her some well needed attention and restoration. I contacted Rody Walter at Groovy Cycle Works, who had done some other Fat Chance restorations. He was willing to take this project on. He worked some serious magic:
- He replaced the rusted seat tube with a whole new tube. It would take a professional welder to see any signs of the work (I wouldn't be able to tell).
- He built a brand new replica of the classic segmented "Big One" style Yo Eddy Fork. This is a sweet fork, but wasn't cheap.
- He painted her with the awesome purple/polka dot color
- Here's what she looked like after the restoration:
I was all set up to ride in the 2007 Kokopelli Trail Race with her. What was I thinking? A 152 mile race that gains 17k feet in the desert of Utah? At least I'd ridden a bit to train. My goal was to simply finish the race. But I wanted to use the Fat for the race, and the pressure was on. Rody had some serious family issues come up that slowed him on the project, and I kept changing the details of what I wanted, trying to get it "perfect". That combined into some last minute panic, where I got the bike only one week before the race. But I had lined up all the components. This includes handmade wheels on Velocity Aerohead rims with Swiss-DT revolution spokes and A2Z pink anodized hubs, the original Cook Bros crankset, the original XT front and rear derailleurs, a custom high rise stem by Rody, moustache bars by Soma Fabrications, bar end shifters by Shimano, and lots of late nights.
Wow, she came together. Here are some pics:
It has kind of an interesting retro thing going on, somewhat reminiscent of Grant Peterson, who designed the classic Bridgestone bikes. Maybe it is the Moustache Bars made by Soma Fab.
So anyway, the bike came together. I found a bike box to rent from the local club, the Tarwheels. I headed out to Utah for the race.
And I got sick with a bit of a cold.
Then I got sicker with a sore throat.
Then I got sicker still with a nasty cough.
And for the two days before the race, I spent much of the time in bed, feeling totally miserable.
What bad luck. The Kokopelli Trail Race was not to be for me that year. It would have been utter foolishness to go out on the trail starting at Midnight in the desert for a 152 mile ride the way I felt.
Instead I sat around, getting in only a few short rides during my time in Moab.
But when I came back, at least I was in good shape. I went on a bunch of road rides that summer, and my conditioning was good enough that I was averaging in the 22-23 mph range in some of the hilly areas around here. It would be nice to be that fit. Then, later that Fall, for some crazy reason (that I explain in my blog), I started a bike shop, Cycle 9 in Carrboro/Chapel Hill NC. I also had new additions to my family. (hint: never start a bike shop if you want to have time to actually ride your bikes!). The shop is focused on transportation bikes to help people get around more without using their cars. I guess I had a save-the-world fetish, to try to help the environment, oil dependency, and all that.
Owning a bike shop has had its ups and downs, but I've met many fabulous people, and realized that I love the folks in this industry. And after trying out a bunch of new bikes, I realized two things about the restored Fat Chance Yo Eddy:
1. It rides more smoothly and feels more responsive than almost any other mountain bike I've yet tried
2. It is too small for me
I was really sad to realize #2. I had never gone in for a proper bike fit, and had always felt a bit scrunched up on this bike. It is a medium/large frame, about 18". I really needed the "L" size. I had tried over the years to correct it, but putting on super long stems and super long seatposts doesn't solve the problem.
I've wrestled with the idea of selling the bike for almost a year. I really don't want to. But someone needs to be riding her. So I think I'm coming to terms with the idea of listing the bike on eBay sometime soon (Fall 09). Drop me a line using the contact form if you want an email when I decide to list the bike for auction.
Even if/when I sell the bike, I plan to keep this page up as a retrospective. Hopefully other owners will want to submit the stories of their bikes, and I will post them here to make a permanent record of these wonderful bikes and their travels.
-Morgan G
This page sponsored by Cycle 9 - whose motto is "Ride Your Bike More"
Some more pics:
This view shows the seat stays and the nice Cane Creek Cantilevers. These work almost like V-brakes, but have a much more retro look.
Yes, that's the original Deore XT derailleur on there, still going strong. Added bonus of an Avid Rollamajig for smooth shifting.
I still love the look of those Cook Bros cranks.
The A2Z hubs are nice.
Details that I posted on the Fatcogs frame registry:
Frame type (Yo!, Wicked, etc.): Yo Eddy
Frame number: 91Y2ML
Year of manufacture: 1991
Frame size: M/L
Color (original and repainted, if applicable): Original candy apple red/yellow decals. Repainted to Green/purple metallic.
Location (city, state, country): Chapel Hill, NC, USA
