Random Tandems...known locations?

rody

Member
Hey Guys,

I curious as to the final landing spots of one of Fat's more unique products, the Random Tandem.

Any Coggers know of where any are now located, have pics, or just a general fun story?

I've always enjoyed the spirit imparted in these bikes and thought it would be cool to ride/own/oogle one some day.

So, get your detective hats on, and show me some what you've found hiding.

cheers,

rody
 

rick

New member
random tandem

Rody,

I have a random at my house; I think that it is a 91, yellow with blue splatter, has a box crown fork. My wife is not so keen on the tandem thing, I usually ride it with one of my daughters.

Bought it from the original owner in San Francisco although it was originally from Colorado.

I have only seen pictures of a few others, I know that Wendyll still has one (the one from the cover of the 93 catalog I believe).

Without a doubt the coolest ever made must be the "Wedding Tandem"; white with custom paint by Leni Fried. It used to live in Germany, not sure if that is still the case.

BTW, Wendyll told me that they probably only made 20 or so over the years.

rick

p.s. Rody, next time you visit First Flight in NC I'll bring it by and you can see it/ride it or whatever.
 

rody

Member
Sweet Rick, I plan on being back "in town" for the next fest.

I followed the wedding tandem in Germany too..never saw it sell. Wonder if it is languishing away half built in some dusty celler...

20 built, hmmm, gotta be a few still kicking around then.

cheers,

rody
 

dan_hudson

New member
Wedding tandem

It was on eBay a few years back. It was still in Germany but no longer the property of Marcus Storck (the original owner, or so I was told). Price was silly but probably not as silly as it would be today. If we could have figured a way to get it to the US I likely would have bought it.

If folks are interested, I can root around and try to find the pics the owner sent me of the frame/paint.
 

I-ROBOT

Active member
Ah Yes - the tandem

I welded the first "random tandem" and it got me but good. I wasn't used to the weight and the length made it very awkward on the welding table. I had it just about all done and had welded the left rear drop-outs. As I went to flip the frame over, I lost the handle on it and the still-cherry-red dropout landed right on my left forearm - just above the glove of course - wearing short sleeves - of course. I yelped a bit and ran off to the sink to quench the burn. I had a perfect picture of a double-eyelet shimano dropout rendered in red skin. The little "tattoo" was there for about a month. Ouch.

I never did get to ride a tandem. Wish I had tried one now. I think they were all built in the Olive Square shop. I don't remember welding any at Linden Ave. I don't know if they made any in NY.

Sorry I've been away for a while. I got re-married this summer and I changed jobs in September. I now work as a quality engineer for Riley Power in Worcester, MA. We make exhaust scrubbers, environmental controls, and high-efficiency boilers for coal-burning power plants.

On my first day, I met a guy by the name of Phil Katz who was returning to work there. He is the former owner of Bicycle Alley in Worcester. They were our biggest dealer in central Mass.
Small world, huh?

Keep riding on it
Scott "I-Robot" Bengtson
 

rick

New member
tandem...

Scott,

Great story, what year was the first random put together?

I seriously considered buying the Wedding Tandem at one point a few years back, but putting together the funds was a challenge and the cost to ship from Europe was going to be terribly expensive because of the size.

Going a little bit off tangent, I know that many of the companies known primarily for their MTBs built tandems on occassion (Yeti, Ritchey, Potts, etc); the best that I have seen is probably the Mountain Goat tandem at First Flight. Built up with Campy parts, it is really cool.
Any other neat tandems out there?

rick
 

rody

Member
Rick and Scott,

I too considered buying the Wedding tandem...the shipping was horrendous though!

I'm kinda partial to my tandem, a Grove Innovations 2B1...cool enough?

cheers,

rody

PS...Rick, any pics of yours?
 

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MikeyNYC

Member
Rody,

I have a random at my house; I think that it is a 91, yellow with blue splatter, has a box crown fork. My wife is not so keen on the tandem thing, I usually ride it with one of my daughters.

Bought it from the original owner in San Francisco although it was originally from Colorado.

I have only seen pictures of a few others, I know that Wendyll still has one (the one from the cover of the 93 catalog I believe).

Without a doubt the coolest ever made must be the "Wedding Tandem"; white with custom paint by Leni Fried. It used to live in Germany, not sure if that is still the case.

BTW, Wendyll told me that they probably only made 20 or so over the years.

rick

p.s. Rody, next time you visit First Flight in NC I'll bring it by and you can see it/ride it or whatever.

Hey Rick,

Wendyll's Tandem is Red. Is that the color of one on the 93 catalog cover?
I also owe you an e-mail and I will reply to you soon,
Michael-NYC
 

I-ROBOT

Active member
Rick

I want to say 1990 was the first year for tandems, but there's that smoky shop thing happening again.... hmmmm

Given the history of the company and the number of you who still love and ride our bikes, I wish I had kept better track of things. I moved to Maine in 2003 and my now-ex-wife tossed out a box of stuff I had that had brochures and lots of other stuff that I had collected.

Scott
Scott,

Great story, what year was the first random put together?

I seriously considered buying the Wedding Tandem at one point a few years back, but putting together the funds was a challenge and the cost to ship from Europe was going to be terribly expensive because of the size.

Going a little bit off tangent, I know that many of the companies known primarily for their MTBs built tandems on occassion (Yeti, Ritchey, Potts, etc); the best that I have seen is probably the Mountain Goat tandem at First Flight. Built up with Campy parts, it is really cool.
Any other neat tandems out there?

rick
 

rick

New member
tandems..

Rody,

That Grove tandem is awesome, is it the only one of it's kind?

I do not believe that I have any pictures; the bike is loaded up and going to FFB tomorrow(to install Magura rim brakes), perhaps I 'll post some from there.

Michael,

Good to hear from you, it has been quite a while. The cover of the catalog is not in color, can't tell from that, but I believe that she told me some time back that the bike pictured was hers.

rick.
 

rick

New member
random tandem

I have never seen a rear handlebar on a tandem mounted in the same fashion as on the red bike; i anyone else familiar with such a system?

rick
 

rody

Member
Eegad, looks awful doesn't it. :(
I can't imagine that is OEM...the Fat aesthetic is much better than that.

Wish I would have known about the sale sooner, would have loved to pull the trigger and give it a new chance at life :D

cheers,

rody
 

fat66

New member
FC tandem in Flagpole AZ perhaps??

Rody, seems like a FC tandem was in residence back in the early 90's in Flagstaff,,,,,,not quite certain though, will ask Garro and see what he recalls,,,,,,,,Cosmic Cycles moved a bunch of Fat's back in the early days as did Loose Spoke later in the 90's,,,,,,I'll do some research.
mark g:p
 

arctos

New member
One of those elusive FC tandems

http://s180.photobucket.com/albums/x258/arctos44/Fat Chance Mtn Tandem/
password@photobucket: iskra

I bought this FC tandem new in 1987. It continues to be a marvelous bike for two especially on tour.

Frame type : Fat Chance Mountain Tandem ; later called the Random Tandem
Frame number: 871463
Year of manufacture: 1987
Frame size: 20/19
Color (original): Metallic Blue
Location : Santa Barbara,CA., USA

Chris Igleheart built the Frame.
I was told by Chris that the bike was one of the first five tandems made and sold.

Equipment: Current
Cook Bros Racing black 180 Tandem Cranks;
Suntour/WTB GG XC Comp Pedals;
Steve Potts Custom Type 2 Tandem Fork w/ WTB Speedmaster Rollercam brake
Ringle Tandem stem (Front); Ibis custom Rear Stoker Stem
WTB GreaseGuard grouppo- WTB GG 36 hole Hubs with Sun Rims,WTB/Chris King GG Headset;
Three (3) Speedmaster Rollercam Brakes-Fork,Chain Stays and rear Seat Stays
Ti handlebars; Paul Brake Levers
Cinelli Unicanitor Seat on IRD seatpost (front); Brooks Saddle on USE shock post (stoker).
Shimano XT front and rear deraiileurs and thumb shifters(six speed index)
Shimano Dura Ace Freewheel-six speed
Syncros Fenders/Mudguards
Bruce Gordon Front Mountain Rack and BG rear CroMo rack
Needleworks/Robert Beckman Designs Tandem Panniers front and rear
Schwalbe Marathon XR Tires
 

billyb

New member
Thats a very nice Tandem, DO you use it often or at all? How bout the rollercam brakes? Sufffcient?
 

mainlyfats

Member
Omg

Three Speedmaster Rollercams? Wretched excess!

Cook Bros. Tandem cranks, eh? Never in my life...

That's pretty cool man, welcome to Fatcogs.
 
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