What's your favorite fat chance ?

tvcreative

New member
slim and YO

My slim rides absolutely fantastic...better than my modern serrota, and seven.

I really like my 99 YO....great steel hardtail
 

Zamfir

New member
Right now I would have to say a 1989 Wicked, because it's the Fat I have and the only one I have ever ridden.

Speaking of ride, they definitely have the geometry dialed early on. The bike rides fantastic at any speed, very neutral handling and confidence inspiring.

Though to have a completely unbiased opinion I think I would have to have one of each model!
 

Kirk Pacenti

New member
The 10th Anniversary always did it for me. But the Yo is a close second... and really a derivative of the 10th, so I guess they both are equally lust worthy in my mind.

Cheers,
KP
 
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I-ROBOT

Active member
Here's my own preference in order

Any 1994 Titanium frame with the machined tubes (not sleeved) that I welded:D

Any 10th Anniversary frame (I welded all of them, I believe:confused:)

The Titanium Shock-a-billy prototype (best bike I ever rode - of course I'm not much of a rider:mad:)

My custom Yo that I sold to my now-ex brother-in-law (even though it tried to kill me:eek:)
I used a mix of Columbus, True Temper, and Tange tubing and had Paragon Machine stainless steel dropouts. I used all stainless 309L welding wire on all of the joints and made a double-chin gusset out of tubing (which became the standard after that) It had a Yo fork that also had Paragon drops and was welded with stainless - Don't know if Dan still has it or not

Enjoy
Scott
 

Kirk Pacenti

New member
Here's my own preference in order

Any 1994 Titanium frame with the machined tubes (not sleeved) that I welded:D

Any 10th Anniversary frame (I welded all of them, I believe:confused:)

The Titanium Shock-a-billy prototype (best bike I ever rode - of course I'm not much of a rider:mad:)

My custom Yo that I sold to my now-ex brother-in-law (even though it tried to kill me:eek:)
I used a mix of Columbus, True Temper, and Tange tubing and had Paragon Machine stainless steel dropouts. I used all stainless 309L welding wire on all of the joints and made a double-chin gusset out of tubing (which became the standard after that) It had a Yo fork that also had Paragon drops and was welded with stainless - Don't know if Dan still has it or not

Enjoy
Scott

I've welded a lot of frames with 309L too. I really liked the way it went down.

What brought you to use it, and how did you like it?

Cheers,
KP
 

colker

Well-known member
I only have a wicked and have to say it's the best bike i ever had. I've had a Litespeed Obed, an Ibis mojo, a trek carbon, a custom mikkelsen, a KHS pro and a GT.
All fine bikes.
The wicked has a very mellow ride, it is very adept at technical, slow trails, rides all day in great comfort. The longer chainstays give nothing away when climbing and provide a better platform on tricky situations. Cornering is a blast. bunny hopping, lifing th front end, caring corners at speed. Everyhting is fun and done w/ this bike.
I have no lust for Yos or any other bike. Maybe a 650B wheeled Surly...;)
 

rick

New member
fave Fat

favorite bike to ride or just fave overall? Overall fave might be 10th, Action Tec Shock-a-Billy, Random Tandem or 82 fillet brazed with box crown fork. Favorite rider would probably be Wicked Lite or Team Comp.

For bikes that are not I am not lucky enough to own, the ****in Fat Chance at First Flight Bikes, any of the minty Fats in the collection of FatMickey and lots of of the bikes with custom factory paint jobs
 

Upchuck

New member
My favorite is my '99 Yo, but my Ti Fat is a close second. This may be sacrilegious to the group but my Yo has never handled better than when I put a 650B wheel on front. I just got back from four hard days of riding the Yo in Southern Utah and it was the most responsive and sure handling bike I've ridden out there.

I've been racing my Ti Fat the past couple years in a local event and it handles as well as any modern hard tail I've owned.

My Slim (now sold) would be my third choice. It was a true point-and-shoot bike. I raced it a few times in time trial races and pulled a couple centuries. It was truly intuitive.

My '89 Wicked is a great rider but it isn't a bike I would be comfortable with in a race. It's extremely stable at speed but takes a bit more effort to get up to speed than the Ti or Yo.

My '85 Kicker (now sold) was my least favorite. The geometry wasn't comfortable for my riding style and the fork was too stiff.
 

DonH

Member
My favorite is my 1991 baby blue 19" Wicked. Its the 1st Fat I ever owned and fits me like a glove,handles great, and reminds me of my early days of mountain biking.
Its kind of like never forgetting your 1st love.......
 

I-ROBOT

Active member
I've welded a lot of frames with 309L too. I really liked the way it went down.

What brought you to use it, and how did you like it?

Cheers,
KP
Hey Kirk

I had to use the 309L to join the 4130 to the GP Wilson stainless drops for the Team Comps since they were cast from 17-4 PH stainless. Did some research and found some recommendations for it for welding 4130 that would not be heat treated after welding and it made sense. I suppose the ultimate choice for a stainless filler would be ER309L Mo that has a little added molybdenum that may match even better. At the time it was impossible to source in small quantities of TIG wire so I never got to try it. Used the 309L on all the Paragon SS drops too. I like the way 309L welds but the ER80S-D2 actually flowed nicer using a pulsed current on 4130. Welds would just disappear under the paint with barely a trace of a ripple and no finish work at all.

The 309L would probably work well when you have a mixture of tubes from different manufacturers. That was another reason I used it on my custom Yo.
Regards
Scott
 

fat-tony

Moderator
Staff member
Hey Kirk

I had to use the 309L to join the 4130 to the GP Wilson stainless drops for the Team Comps since they were cast from 17-4 PH stainless. Did some research and found some recommendations for it for welding 4130 that would not be heat treated after welding and it made sense. I suppose the ultimate choice for a stainless filler would be ER309L Mo that has a little added molybdenum that may match even better. At the time it was impossible to source in small quantities of TIG wire so I never got to try it. Used the 309L on all the Paragon SS drops too. I like the way 309L welds but the ER80S-D2 actually flowed nicer using a pulsed current on 4130. Welds would just disappear under the paint with barely a trace of a ripple and no finish work at all.

The 309L would probably work well when you have a mixture of tubes from different manufacturers. That was another reason I used it on my custom Yo.
Regards
Scott

I am completely "geeking out" reading this stuff. Love it
 

Kirk Pacenti

New member
Hey Kirk

I had to use the 309L to join the 4130 to the GP Wilson stainless drops for the Team Comps since they were cast from 17-4 PH stainless. Did some research and found some recommendations for it for welding 4130 that would not be heat treated after welding and it made sense. I suppose the ultimate choice for a stainless filler would be ER309L Mo that has a little added molybdenum that may match even better. At the time it was impossible to source in small quantities of TIG wire so I never got to try it. Used the 309L on all the Paragon SS drops too. I like the way 309L welds but the ER80S-D2 actually flowed nicer using a pulsed current on 4130. Welds would just disappear under the paint with barely a trace of a ripple and no finish work at all.

The 309L would probably work well when you have a mixture of tubes from different manufacturers. That was another reason I used it on my custom Yo.
Regards
Scott


Scott,

You and I may have been reading the same stuff. The article I read was put out by the AWS. It said something about how race car makers (NASCAR) were using 309L stainless wire in their 4130 roll cages and frames. They said that the joints were more ductile and survived crashes better... I am paraphrasing here, I read that more than 16 years ago, the details are fuzzy.

The long and short of it is I thought 309L would work equally well in bike frames for similar reasons. Welded many hundreds of frames that way; no weld failures as far as I know...

Now everyone raves about Weld Mold's 880t rod. Never used it and have only heard good things about it... but I'm not sure I can see the value in a rod that is stronger than "strong enough". Your thoughts?

Cheers,
KP
 
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