Should I change my Wicked?

Jeeves

New member
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
 

mainlyfats

Member
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 tried to update my old ride Raj and fukced it completely. It's hard to pour any kind of money into something and have it be, in the end, less functional. Sounds like it has a purpose now, you have other bikes and, should the right "fast commuter" present itself you probably wouldn't be adverse to pulling that trigger.

IMHO, leave well enough alone. Old Fats deserve our respect. I regret what I did to mine.
 

jh4rt

New member
I tried to update my old ride Raj and fukced it completely. It's hard to pour any kind of money into something and have it be, in the end, less functional. Sounds like it has a purpose now, you have other bikes and, should the right "fast commuter" present itself you probably wouldn't be adverse to pulling that trigger.

IMHO, leave well enough alone. Old Fats deserve our respect. I regret what I did to mine.

I think I agree. Unless you can afford to keep a stable of them, or it is your only ride and you want to make it more functional, keeping them as they are is probably the best route. I've been full circle with my Yo, and I'm not sure the results are what I expected or hoped for.
 

Jeeves

New member
Thanks for your thoughts - and I tend to agree with you both.

What I'm trying to do is to really get the wicked RIDDEN more and give it a new niche in my 6-bike collection. Despite my wishes, I can't seem to be able to ride more than one at a time...ha ha...and my wife is now not so cool with the bike addiction. :) I realize that the addition of drop bars would involve, stem, brake levers and shifters - so that could easily spiral out into brake, derailleur and headset work, and that, along with the wish to keep it "classic" is a big consideration. Clearly, this Wicked will always be well-loved, and ridden - not a museum piece, so I still have the nagging question as to whether I can take advantage of that wonderful FAT handling and repurpose it to the commuter role and ride it daily instead of every couple of months.

I will, though, before I go down that road, scour the internet for a nice used MTB frame perhaps in either TI or AL, which would be a better all-weather choice...and see if I can slide that under the wife's bike radar. :)

Anyone else have any further thoughts on this?

Thanks again,
-Raj
 

gradeAfailure

New member
Why not go for a halfway solution? Put some slicks on and singlespeed the Wicked - that way she gets used rather than forgotten, but if you're unhappy about her new role all you need to do is change the tyres and put the mechs back on and you're back how she was...
 

rick

New member
change the Wicked?

Do all of the above and ride them all.

The Wicked is my fave bike. I have a rigid with slicks, a rigid SS, rigid with dirt tires, and versions with front shock and dirt tires and I ride them all.
Don't limit yourself with too few bikes! After so many bikes, my wife has difficulty distinguishing between all of the ones in the garage (which can be an advantage for me).
let us know if this strategy works for you.

rick
 

Upchuck

New member
My wife has given up trying to keep track of what kinds of bikes I have in the garage. Now she just keeps track how many red ones, blue ones, green ones, black ones, gray ones, and carbon ones are hanging up.;)
 

Oirad

New member
I have an '88 Wicked that I've turned into a fixed gear off-road and general purpose urban bike. I didn't chop off braze-ons, hangers, etc... in case I ever want to put gears back on. Plus, it seemed sacrilegious. I also slapped on some SKS fenders (easy on easy off), maybe not the bling bling, but functional.

The Wicked is a bike and a great piece of design. But it's a bike. If you're bike is lonely and you notice, it is because it is beckoning. So, use it and have fun.

-- Oirad
 

jh4rt

New member
My wife has given up trying to keep track of what kinds of bikes I have in the garage. Now she just keeps track how many red ones, blue ones, green ones, black ones, gray ones, and carbon ones are hanging up.;)

85 s Kicker
89 m Fat Chance
89 m Wicked
90 m Monster
91 m Yo!
92 Slim Chance
93 m Ti Fat Chance
99 m Yo!

You were missing one...
 

Jeeves

New member
You folks are a hoot! Great advice from all.
I'm at 6 bikes at the moment...3 Fats only, unfortunately. Somehow my wife manages to keep track of them. :)

Well, I held off just long enough to score a Yeti ARC (not vintage) stripped frame for a whopping $180 on Ebay. :) That was cheap enough that my wife was OK with it, although she was savvy enough to know that more expenses would follow soon! I will try my commuter experiment on it instead, and I'll save my Wicked for a genuine restoration later. I'll still ride the Wicked offroad from time to time - Frankly, I can climb better on my Wicked than I can on my Ti Fat!

I'll let folks know how it goes.

-Raj
 

AB

Active member
Good thinking

Do all of the above and ride them all.

The Wicked is my fave bike. I have a rigid with slicks, a rigid SS, rigid with dirt tires, and versions with front shock and dirt tires and I ride them all.
Don't limit yourself with too few bikes! After so many bikes, my wife has difficulty distinguishing between all of the ones in the garage (which can be an advantage for me).
let us know if this strategy works for you.

rick

I can definitely see where this "can't see the forest for the trees" becomes very effective particularly when you have over 20 bikes. Good strategy indeed!

"Don't limit yourself with too few bikes!" - Funniest thing I've read on here without question.

:D
 

pkbinder

New member
Change your Wicked

I have enjoyed this thread, especially the comments abbout what the wives know or suspect or are oblivious to. I find it helps to keep a few in the garage and a few in the basement, that way the impact of all those wheels don't make such an impression.
BTW(1) I just returned from the North American Hand Built Bicycle Show (NAHBS) in Indianapolis. I had a great time and met all the artists who created some amazing bicycles. I saw bikes with drives on BOTH sides, bikes with belt drives, bikes made from bamboo and one bike painted in snakeskin. I met Christopher Igleheart, Rody of Groovy CycleWorks, Shoe and Richard Schwinn (the answer is yes) of Waterford Precision Bikes, Cris King himself, Gary Prang of SSSink(the oldest and best supplier of FC decals), and attended a lecture by Ben Serotta. I also had a nice conversation with Joe O'Donnell of Shamrock Cycles, a builder local to Indy. He told me about Brown County State Park and the amazing single track they have there. Joe happens to be part of the group (HMBA) who built the trail and many others. I drove 60 miles south the next morning and wore myself out on my Monster.
BTW(2) I just opened a package from Rafael Cuevas I have a "new" old Wicked! Paul
 

Jeeves

New member
Not to take this too far off topic (I guess it's Ok, right, if it's my thread?) but did Gary mention that he could supply decals? I could use a set, for sure.

I'm jealous that you went to NAHBS! It's on my list of things to do before I die! :)

-Raj
 

pkbinder

New member
Change my Wicked

Jeeves, SSSink (not inc) has all the FC decals, but they will only send them to your frame refinisher, not to individuals. He also told me that Wendyll may be trying to get back into the the decal business. Paul
 

ozcanuck

Member
I have done a recent fix-up on my 89 Wicked, original steel fork, v-brakes(!!!), original stem, flat bar and 90's bar ends and slicks. Makes a "wicked" commuter, trainer and recently did a 97km Community tour as part of the TDU. Very comfy, averaged over 20km/h and I passed lots of roadies on the downhills!
The fine handling makes it a great city/road bike.
I'm looking at some On-One Mary bars and maybe single speed to complete the urban warrior role although it's such a good tourer I'll keep the gears around.
I have the opposite problem to you guys, I've had one bike for 16 years!
It's so good I just keep riding it.
It would be nice to have a"modern" MTB, tho'...maybe a 29er for a change of pace.
Cheers
 

Oirad

New member
I like what ozcanuck writes: "I have the opposite problem to you guys, I've had one bike for 16 years!"

Now that is commitment!

-Oirad
 

rick

New member
wicked

I like what ozcanuck writes: "I have the opposite problem to you guys, I've had one bike for 16 years!"

Now that is commitment!


I bought my first Fat in 1990 ( orange wicked) and still have it. I have just added to the collection a bit over the years since then.

rick
 

jcons

New member
on-one's

I've got a on-one mary's on my 87 wicked, which I mostly use as a commuter. They are quite nice, but will get you a bit more upright than flat bars...
 
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