Hi all,
I have a 1987 Wicked Fat Chance...and I'm the original owner. It came with XT, an old Specialized saddle, Mavic Oxygen hoops and a lovely custom silver to metallic blue fade. It's my old warhorse - I won 3d place in a downhill race (riding rigid), and rode the 24 Hours of Canaan on it. SO, as you might imagine, she doesn't look as shiny as she used to. The decals have long since dried and "cracked up". Many of the parts, however, are still original. Everything but the saddle, a front rim, the headset, the chainrings, and the seapost. No rust as far as I can tell. Oh, and I bent the Wicked fork, replaced it with the original Answer Manitou elastomer, and then eventually ditched that fork for a yo eddy fork, which works very well.
Anyhow, after my first big job, I purchased a Ti Fat, which is my main mountain rig, and I now have a 29er singlespeed MTB as well....and my poor old Wicked doesn't get much offroad ride time. I do use it as a "stealth" bike for rides downtown - she looks beat enough to not attract much attention while chained to a post.
SO, I'm toying with the idea of updating and placing her into an alternate role. I'm thinking slicks, dirt drop bars, and perhaps fenders - a fast commuter. Currently I ride partway into work on a singlespeed road bike, but if I rode the Wicked, I could ride the whole way - because a portion of the ride includes a lot of up and down off of sidewalks, which isn't ideal on road tires.
So is this a good idea, or is this heresy? I could conceivably see a full restore job eventually to make her pretty - new paint, new decals, but for the moment, I'd keep it straightforward, slicks, stem, drops.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
-Raj
I have a 1987 Wicked Fat Chance...and I'm the original owner. It came with XT, an old Specialized saddle, Mavic Oxygen hoops and a lovely custom silver to metallic blue fade. It's my old warhorse - I won 3d place in a downhill race (riding rigid), and rode the 24 Hours of Canaan on it. SO, as you might imagine, she doesn't look as shiny as she used to. The decals have long since dried and "cracked up". Many of the parts, however, are still original. Everything but the saddle, a front rim, the headset, the chainrings, and the seapost. No rust as far as I can tell. Oh, and I bent the Wicked fork, replaced it with the original Answer Manitou elastomer, and then eventually ditched that fork for a yo eddy fork, which works very well.
Anyhow, after my first big job, I purchased a Ti Fat, which is my main mountain rig, and I now have a 29er singlespeed MTB as well....and my poor old Wicked doesn't get much offroad ride time. I do use it as a "stealth" bike for rides downtown - she looks beat enough to not attract much attention while chained to a post.
SO, I'm toying with the idea of updating and placing her into an alternate role. I'm thinking slicks, dirt drop bars, and perhaps fenders - a fast commuter. Currently I ride partway into work on a singlespeed road bike, but if I rode the Wicked, I could ride the whole way - because a portion of the ride includes a lot of up and down off of sidewalks, which isn't ideal on road tires.
So is this a good idea, or is this heresy? I could conceivably see a full restore job eventually to make her pretty - new paint, new decals, but for the moment, I'd keep it straightforward, slicks, stem, drops.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
-Raj