Haven't seen Chris C...
Hey kids,
I haven't seen Chris since the day Mass Electric walked into the Somerville shop, yanked all of the fuses out of the electrical boxes and slapped giant padlocks on 'em. I believe that was 10-29-94.
I did speak with him about 4 years (?) later. My TI bike was stolen and subsequently recovered by the Melrose, MA police. I asked him to write a letter for me stating that I was the legal owner of the bike. It was a warranty frame that Fat City replaced and was hanging in the shop for the longest time. When it became clear that the Somerville shop was closing, I asked Chris what he was going to do with it. He said I could have it. There was a small crack in the downtube sleeve near the bottom bracket. I cleaned it up, purged the frame and welded the crack. I put the frame on the alignment table and it was straight as an arrow!! I was so stoked! I finally would get a TI bike. I couldn't afford one even at employee prices.
Chris was nice enough to write the letter for me and I got the bike back. The only thing missing were the original SPD pedals. When the thieves busted into my car, they grabbed the frame and wheels, but left the seat and seatpost. Apparently the kid who bought it went into a bike shop in Melrose trying to buy a seatpost. The guys there knew this kid had no idea of what he had (there were and still are no decals on it) so the called the police. They impounded the bike after a serial number search determined that it had been stolen.
I told the officer about the repair weld and matched the serial number. With the letter from Chris, I was able to get the bike back.
I heard a while back the Chris and Wendyll had split up and that Chris was making high-end lawn furniture (???????) Oh well - I just hope he's happy. I'm about to turn 50 this Wednesday so that would make Chris either 53 or 54. I doubt seriously he would ever return to bike building if indeed he longer participates in it. I'm glad I got out when I did. Although I really miss building cool stuff, I have had quite a varied career in welding and it has taken yet another turn. Time will tell if this is the right thing for me. Hopefully Chris is getting satisfaction out of whatever he is doing now.
Long live Fat City Cycles!!
Scott Bengtson - chief welder 1986 - 1994