Ideas on the value of a Ti Fat Chance Yo?

[DRZRM]

Hey guys,

A buddy of mine asked me what the fair price of a ridden (of course) but not very abused (mostly ridden on road) Ti Yo Frame would be. It's a medium (if it were a large I'd have told him that there had been a recall and I'd take $100 to take it off his hands), but these are so rare, I don't really know what to tell him. Anybody have any advice?

[kokies]

$1000-$2000 USD depending on the market, condition, size etc.

[fat-tony]

It also depends on if the frame has machined tubes for the downtube and chainstays or if it is sleeved.

[d3f3nd3r]

Agree, I think in general area around 1k makes sense. I would be a bit surprised to see it hit 2,000, but you never know. I am interested in a Medium Ti, and 1993 1994 Somervilles suspension adjusted would certainly peak my interest.

Keep us informed, I am definitely interested if he decides to sell. But the market seems pretty random on the rarer Fats and the good money seems to be in the Yo's.

Good luck

[DRZRM]

I think it's a 94 Sommerville, if it goes on sale I'll let you guys know. He has an interested buyer and wanted to know what's fair, but I'll tell him if there is a broader market.

Originally Posted by d3f3nd3r

Agree, I think in general area around 1k makes sense. I would be a bit surprised to see it hit 2,000, but you never know. I am interested in a Medium Ti, and 1993 1994 Somervilles suspension adjusted would certainly peak my interest.

Keep us informed, I am definitely interested if he decides to sell. But the market seems pretty random on the rarer Fats and the good money seems to be in the Yo's.

Good luck

[spinner]

Just curious, is the sleeved frame worth more or less? I recently saw one that a local frame builder had. He changed it to a 1 1/8 steerer tube.

[Defiant]

Originally Posted by DRZRM

Hey guys,

A buddy of mine asked me what the fair price of a ridden (of course) but not very abused (mostly ridden on road) Ti Yo Frame would be. It's a medium (if it were a large I'd have told him that there had been a recall and I'd take $100 to take it off his hands), but these are so rare, I don't really know what to tell him. Anybody have any advice?

tell him i want to buy it

[I-ROBOT]

Hi Gang
This is just my opinion, of course, but I did weld most of the Somerville TI frames.

The machined tube frames are WAY nicer than the sleeved tube frames. They are lighter and have a better design on the head tube. We had trouble maintaining alignment on the first runs of sleeved tube frames and it took me a while to figure out a straightening procedure. By the time we changed over to the machined tube design, I had welded quite a few TI frames and finally thought I had reached the level of the guys at Merlin. I built several custom tools for purging and heat-sinking which took some time to perfect.

I would love to have a machined tube frame now. I have a sleeved tube frame that was returned to Fat City after it developed a crack in the downtube sleeve near the BB. The crack was not in a weld, but in the middle of the sleeve. It was an odd place for a crack to develop and I still am not sure why it occured. The frame hung around for over a year and when it became apparent that Somerville was going to close, I asked Chris what he intended to do with it. He said I could have it as part of my severance. I repaired the crack and put the frame on the alignment block and it was straight as an arrow!!

I still have it and it is one of my prized possessions. It was stolen out of my car and I somehow managed to get it back with nearly all of its parts still there.

Now if I could just find some time to ride the damn thing...

Enjoy
Scott "I-Robot" Bengtson

[tangent]

What a fascinating thread...really awesome to be reading of your experiences welding up those early FAT ti there Scott.

I have one of those early FAT ti's , no. 13 which must have lived up to it's frame numbering...as it too developed a crack close by the b.b. (I geuss if you play with the cutting edge sometimes you get cut eh?!)

Luckily though the kind folk at Indy Fab repaired it; and now it spends it later life getting very muddy back here in blighty.

Absolutely my favourite frameset...cheers fella for fabricating that!

John Williams

[Butcher]

The market has spoken.

This very sweet 93 external butted sleeved Ti Fat just sold on eBay for $1,625.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=150318423492

Anyone on this site get this frame?

[FEASON]

Just joined this group. Sitting at work and feeling nostalgic about FCC.

I remember those first Ti Fats that came through the Finishing department. Those were a bear to align! Good memories Scott.

Glad you are well.

[fat-tony]

Originally Posted by FEASON

Just joined this group. Sitting at work and feeling nostalgic about FCC.

I remember those first Ti Fats that came through the Finishing department. Those were a bear to align! Good memories Scott.

Glad you are well.

Welcome F. Feason! Us riders and fans love to hear all the stories from the shop. Chime in anytime.

Peace............

[FEASON]

Thank you Fat-Tony for the warm welcome. I am sure I will be adding some tidbits here and there.

Frank

[-JQ-]

I just realized this is an old thread but I was searching for something and this thread came up.

Even though it is old-ish...I thought I'd thank I robot for welding up my arrow straight 93 M Ti Yo!

I actually just dropped it off at the shop today for a couple minor things I was too lazy to do. Of course those that were in the shop "in the know"...knew.

Anyway thanks!

[scant]

Originally Posted by I-ROBOT

I have a sleeved tube frame that was returned to Fat City after it developed a crack in the downtube sleeve near the BB. The crack was not in a weld, but in the middle of the sleeve.
Scott "I-Robot" Bengtson

Hi Scott

check the frame number on that frame? if its 005T2M then its my old frame. it cracked in the exact location you mention, in the middle of the sleeve.