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General Fat Chance Discussion Anything and everything about the best mountain bikes ever made. |
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#1 |
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Join Date: March 26th, 2009
Location: Santa Cruz CA.
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Since the ti fats are pretty expensive, I have been peeking around at other makes.
Has anyone ridden the merlin, or litespeed or obed ti bikes? If so how do they compare in quality and ride? Thanks, Steve |
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#2 | |
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Join Date: October 1st, 2006
Location: Ohio USA
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Quality is very good. Ride is very nice and flickable I guess. I know Colker says he thought his Litespeed felt dull, but I can't figure out where he came up with that when I ride mine. If I were to sell off all of my 26" wheel bikes but one, this is the one I would probably keep. As it sits right now it weighs at or just under 23lbs, which is about 3lbs lighter than my Yo. Oh, and not to knock Ti Fats, but it's not like Fat cranked out very many of them, and I know they were all kind of a exercise in continuing education for whoever welded them up. Companies like Litespeed, Merlin and TST, well, that's all they did and they did it a lot, so consistancy was high. Yes I have seen frames from those companies crack, but there are also plenty of examples of early sleeved Ti Fats failing too.
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M.O.M. Keep your mudflaps down Last edited by IF52; October 14th, 2009 at 5:17 PM. Reason: to add more BS |
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#3 | |
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Join Date: May 26th, 2005
Location: Lommedalen, Norway
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I've heard of the sleeve construction failures, but was it that many? I mean plenty?
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90' wicked blue black 18" (00149W) 92' yo eddy team jersey (539Y2MS) 93' titanium (049T3M) 93' monster fat aquafade (025M3M) 94' buck shaver metallic charcoal (134B4S) 98' yo betty! raspberry ice (YB 14 044) |
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#4 |
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Join Date: August 13th, 2004
Location: Winnipeg
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I have a Somerville Merlin and can't personally imagine any hardtail better. I got it for $1000 CAD with a full XTR group and suspension fork. Then I made some changes...
Last edited by mainlyfats; October 16th, 2009 at 9:08 AM. |
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#5 |
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Join Date: October 1st, 2006
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How many were built? How many failures? What is the ratio. I would say based on what I've seen and heard 'plenty' fits the bill.
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M.O.M. Keep your mudflaps down |
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#6 | |
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Join Date: June 1st, 2006
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catalog numbers said the bike would have a 41in wheelbase. mine ( w/ judy fork from factory) measured 42in. that's a full inch of difference and maybe that's what made for th uninspiring handling. i could twist the front while cornering. it felt really weird. i would enter the corner w/one feeling from bike and out of it w/ another. the seat tube would creak constantly. there was an aluminum sleeve glued there and i suspect it was the source. then i swapped the seat collar, put a generous amount of ti prep (constantly) and it would stop. all in all i couldn't be happier when i built an ibis mojo and sold the obed.
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wanted: ride time. |
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#7 | |
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Mine also doesn't feel inordinantly flexy, even under my 205lbs bulk. Could be McMahon spec'ed larger dia tubes. Who knows. Also never had issues with creaking either, but obvious YMMV. Both the seat tube and head tube are sleeve, and the only creaking I've ever experienced was from the King headset I used to have installed. The sleeves are glued in, but also the fit is very tight regardless of a glue interface.
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M.O.M. Keep your mudflaps down |
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#8 | |
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wanted: ride time. |
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#9 | |
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Join Date: October 1st, 2006
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M.O.M. Keep your mudflaps down |
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#10 |
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Join Date: May 26th, 2005
Location: Lommedalen, Norway
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Two or more is plenty...
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90' wicked blue black 18" (00149W) 92' yo eddy team jersey (539Y2MS) 93' titanium (049T3M) 93' monster fat aquafade (025M3M) 94' buck shaver metallic charcoal (134B4S) 98' yo betty! raspberry ice (YB 14 044) |
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#11 | |
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Join Date: October 23rd, 2004
Location: Athens, Ga USA
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The problem with ti fats in my not so humble opinion is that they tried too hard to make them stiff like a yo and in so doing missed out on a lot of what makes titanium interesting. The best ride quality in vintage ti is an ibis ti mojo. I almost bought one back when I was shopping for my ti nuke proof. But ultimately I liked the geometry better on the nuke proof. I think my nuke proof ti rides nicer than a ti fat. Then again I am pretty light weight and I prefer a little more compliance in my frames. If it fit me better I'd be keeping it. I just am not interested in racing (or a racing position) on my mountain bikes anymore. |
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#12 |
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Join Date: July 15th, 2005
Location: PA
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I agree that the Ti Mojo is very well done, but not cheap at all either. I have a early 90's Merlin and it rides nice, but it's not what I currently ride. I'd say for the price a mid to late 90's Merlin would be something to consider. Good Ti bikes are just not going to be inexpensive - as Chris Chance pointed out back then there are two grades of titanium aerospace spec and garbage.
Last edited by AB; October 16th, 2009 at 4:50 PM. |
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#13 |
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Join Date: March 26th, 2009
Location: Santa Cruz CA.
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Wow everyone has brought up alot of good points..
I am sort of inFATuated with the idea.. I guess I will just keep my eyes open for a good one when it comes available. My wicked rides killer, my carbon fiber blur xc rides amazing, so I guess I have time to lurk around for one.. I really like that nuke proof.. I wish you were closer so I could check the fit. The other thing I was thinking was it would be nice to have disc brakes. I know canti and v work , but disc gives me more confidence overall when riding. Steve |
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#14 |
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Join Date: July 15th, 2005
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There is a nice Ibis Mai Tai currently on ebay right now that would be suitable I think. The Mai Tai was a less expensive Ti bike from Ibis. However if you want disc brakes older bikes are not going to work and you'll be looking at Moots price range.
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#15 |
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Join Date: January 31st, 2006
Location: Thousand Oaks, CA
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I currently ride a Ti Fat, '90 Merlin, and an '06 IF Ti Deluxe.
The IF is modern geometry and is custom made, so of course it rides like a dream and isn't a fair comparison. The Ti Fat is very quick and meant for racing, but I wouldn't call it plush, smooth, or even light handling. My Wicked rides better than the Ti Fat. I'm thinking about swapping for a suspension fork (period correct, of course) and seeing if it helps. The Merlin actually feels better on the trails than the Ti Fat, but it has roller cams and I'm just not sold on them. When stopping becomes an issue, I tend to ride a lot slower and consequently feel every little trail bump.
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89 m Fat Chance NOS frame/fork 89 m Wicked period correct 90 M/L Monster 93 m Ti Fat Chance period correct 99 m Yo! SS conversion |
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#16 |
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Join Date: August 6th, 2004
Location: VA - USA
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Upchuck, I'm glad to hear your opinion on this. I've always thought my Wicked rode better than my Ti...but thought I was just weird...
By the way, I just got rid of the front fork (period correct) on my Ti Fat and swapped it for an Iglehart TNESF, and plan to get a WTB 2.55 fatty tire on the front (not exactly period correct) to see if that works better. The problem with the old forks (mine is a Judy with carbon legs) is that they were kinda flexy. I never liked it, but it took me nearly 15 years to get rid of it! -Raj |
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