Hi all,
I've been a FAT rider since the late '80's. In college, my first real mtn bike was a Wicked Fat Chance. I rode and raced that through the mid-90's and after my first real job, I bought a Ti Fat.
The Ti remains my main mountainbike - rigid, with mostly original parts. The Wicked is a bit of a frankenbike at this point - a few replaced components, and a yo-eddy fork, after the original was bent. I don't ride the Wicked much anymore, mainly the XT components are starting to show their age - phantom shifting and whatnot. The beautiful custom blue-silver fade is in OK condition (but messed up by the replacement black fork) and the decals are all but gone.
I'd started a small collection of vintage parts to refurb the Wicked - I have XT hubs laced to Mavic Oxy M2's, a new cassette, new derailleurs, etc. The more I think about it though, I'd like to just modernize / yuppiepimp the Wicked instead of doing a vintage resto.
New paint job, maybe decals, maybe not, White single speed drivetrain, White eccentric hubs, Pauls cantis, riser bar, slicks. Sounds like a good way to keep riding this wonderful old frame, IMO.
Any opinions on this?
Also would be interested in the group's thoughts on who to do the frame refurb (in the US), and whether any updates should be done to the frame while it's naked - disc brakes? (probably not) Is there a way to update the head tube or bottom bracket? As it is, I'm faced with using a threaded headset, my Salsa stem, and the press in bearings (I do have a set of Rody's collars, thanks to a generous Cogger.)
Thanks for reading, and I look forward to your thoughts.
-Raj
I've been a FAT rider since the late '80's. In college, my first real mtn bike was a Wicked Fat Chance. I rode and raced that through the mid-90's and after my first real job, I bought a Ti Fat.
The Ti remains my main mountainbike - rigid, with mostly original parts. The Wicked is a bit of a frankenbike at this point - a few replaced components, and a yo-eddy fork, after the original was bent. I don't ride the Wicked much anymore, mainly the XT components are starting to show their age - phantom shifting and whatnot. The beautiful custom blue-silver fade is in OK condition (but messed up by the replacement black fork) and the decals are all but gone.
I'd started a small collection of vintage parts to refurb the Wicked - I have XT hubs laced to Mavic Oxy M2's, a new cassette, new derailleurs, etc. The more I think about it though, I'd like to just modernize / yuppiepimp the Wicked instead of doing a vintage resto.
New paint job, maybe decals, maybe not, White single speed drivetrain, White eccentric hubs, Pauls cantis, riser bar, slicks. Sounds like a good way to keep riding this wonderful old frame, IMO.
Any opinions on this?
Also would be interested in the group's thoughts on who to do the frame refurb (in the US), and whether any updates should be done to the frame while it's naked - disc brakes? (probably not) Is there a way to update the head tube or bottom bracket? As it is, I'm faced with using a threaded headset, my Salsa stem, and the press in bearings (I do have a set of Rody's collars, thanks to a generous Cogger.)
Thanks for reading, and I look forward to your thoughts.
-Raj