'89 Fat Chance Team Comp no serial #

[OBillyHill]

Hi Fat Fans -

Barn find...appears to be a 1989 Fat Chance Team Comp.

Challenge: can't find any serial number.

Note: It does have a thick D&D custom splatter paint job, maybe filled up serial #?

Tam Fat Chance decals fit perfectly in spot (original decals all but disintegrated, originally placed OVER the clear coat on the custom splatter).

Has Fat Chance Yo Eddy fork (I believe), saddle, and handlebars.

Also, per MOMBAT specs, has Bullseye cranks and XT. Does have Salsa roller stem.

Can anyone confirm that this bike may not actually have serial number, and that it is a 89 Team?

I was told since this was first year of the Yo Eddy, even though it's a Team, it would not be surprising to have some Yo Eddy (forks and crossbones decals) stuff. Make sense or no?
.

[LeeDumler]

I'm pretty sure that's a Yo Eddy. TCs had down tube gear cable routing. Yos went with all top tube routing. Does it have G.P. Wilson dropouts?

[Stingercut]

^^ exactly. Looks like an early Large Yo with some nice parts. Nice resto opportunity.

[OBillyHill]

UPDATE:

Found serial number under gunk...looks like 221Y0.

After wirewheel, stem looks to be sSalsa titanium.

Buddy is helping with resto...pics to follow soon.

[OBillyHill]

UPDATE: Wrong on the stem...faulty magnet, so it's not titanium. Under the surface corrosion it does appear to be a darker satin plating, so it has a ti look, but a good magnet definitely stuck to it.

XT stuff all works great. New cables and shifting is the bomb. Gotta love old XT. Bullseyes are nice. Just got them repainted original gloss black.

Original Araya RM-20s polished nicely, but still working on the sidewalls.

With resto about 80%, and done in another week or two, only question remaining is keep or sell. Still have a Ritchey P-23 to get to also.

[Wookie]

Nice! My size too😊

[ameybrook]

Stem looks like a nickle-plated Salsa.

Sweet bike, let me know if you decide to move it or some of the parts

[OBillyHill]

I think the stem is nickle plate ameybrook. Good call.

Just got the new chain on. Got the Bullseyes cleaned up and back on. Thing rides nice. I tested one for a magazine back in the 80s.

Does anyone have any info on the serial number...looks to be 221Y0.

Looking for confirmation that it's '89ish. And confirm that it's Yo Eddy, despite the Team parts spec from that year. The Bullseyes were only spec'd in 89, so I'm thinking likely someone ordered this with the custom splatter paint and the Team drivetrain. The Salsa stems were more a thing of '90 though, so I'm not sure on this.

Any help appreciated.

[LeeDumler]

The Y in the serial confirms that it's a Yo Eddy, and since there is no Z in the serial, it's most likely a late 1990, or more likely a 1991.

[I-ROBOT]

It's definitely a Yo Eddy, probably a '90. There is probably an "L" at the end of the serial number that maybe wasn't struck deeply enough.

Oddly enough, the Team Comps don't have the word "Team" on them anywhere. The TCs are based on the Fat ('86 and earlier) and then the Wicked ('87 and later) geometries but have the Tange Prestige tubeset for the main triangle instead of True Temper. The downtubes are 1.25" diameter as opposed to the 1.375" diameter TT downtubes that were used on the rest of the lineup. The TCs also had straight gauge 0.028" wall tubing for seatstays that came from Dillsburg Aeroplane Works in PA (since gone out of business).

The TCs came standard with the box crown fork except for the few 23" models which came with a unicrown (Chris didn't think the box crown would hold up for the larger riders who might order a 23" frame).

Enjoy the ride!
Scott

[Stingercut]

My two 19.5" 89 TCs had the option of FCC unicrown forks too As usual your intel Scott is what makes this place so special. These frames are still incredible to ride today. The ride feel is really something. What's interesting is I have ridden similar geometry frames of this era made from Tange Prestige eg my 89 Ridgeback 604 but they feel nothing like as nice to ride as the TC

[mainlyfats]

Originally Posted by I-ROBOT

The TCs came standard with the box crown fork except for the few 23" models which came with a unicrown (Chris didn't think the box crown would hold up for the larger riders who might order a 23" frame).

Scott - I've owned two Team Comps from this era and neither came with a box crown. Both were unicrowns - am I the only one who admires the simplicity of a nicely made unicrown? - with stainless G.P. Wilson fork ends. To me, the GPW ends/drop-outs has always been the tell for a Team, not a box crown. Is there something in that?

[OBillyHill]

You guys are awesome. I really appreciate the insight.

My wrench buddy who is helping with the restore is handing her back this weekend. I'm doing a bit more cosmetics on it.

I am guessing I will have a few more questions, but I will post some new pics to help out.

Thanks everyone!

[Stingercut]

Repost....

GP Wilson Dropouts
If you love these special touches that make Fats...read on ...

Courtesy of Mtbr.com

...perhaps I can interest you in reading a bit of the history I've managed to locate on G.P. Wilson and his desirable dropouts. Here's a bit of copy and paste, along with a link to read more:

On a related topic - those GP Wilson dropouts were damn nice looking bits of
gear - saw them on a Chris Chance once in the late 80's. Is there any
pictoral archives on the web of dropout designs? I'm historically
challenged, as you can tell, and feeling nostalgic.


Warwick Gresswell
Owner, and wacky designer/inventor of a
dime a dozen variety.

re:
Dear Hoppy,
The problem with GP (Buster Wilson) was that like my Dad, he only started
building again after he retired.
Buster not only built really wonderful dropouts, which I used several score of
in my custom frames, but also made a lot of experimental stuff, including paper
thin dropouts and paper thin lugs.Buster always used me as his R&D testbed."See
if this will work or see if you can use it." I can't to this day remember if I
every paid him for all the myriad of parts that he provided to me all those
years.

They were very thin and indestructible and more than rivaled anything from the
world market or the newly emerging products of Henry James Folson and
dramatically less than 1/2 the weight but most were never put into production.

George Buster Wilson was a very gregarious human being, a close family friend
and in his own personal bike club venue, generated a number of very fine
handling ultra lightweight bicycles. Buster never sought any promotion and only
worked his art within a very small portion of the bicycling community in San
Diego County.

It was long after his passing away that people were starting to realize what a
remarkable engineer/craftsman/and bicycle genius that he was. His practical
approach to bicycle alignment which was the result of the discovery of many
decades of friendship with my father and him discussing the inadequacies of jig
tooling for bicycle frame construction as compared to the aircraft and other
items that they both built in their day jobs.
Buster developed a jig which has never been fully understood or been copied or
rivaled since which allowed the operator to construct a perfectly aligned frame
each and every time, completely eliminating cold setting.

In regards to the dropouts, the one vertical dropout that did reach semi
production level made from 17/4 ph was a perfectly practical dropout that was
not only virtually indestructible was was very lightweight. As much as I love
Art Stump, his dropouts pale as far as usability to those that Buster made.
Both of these men were very close friends. Buster being Buster and Art being
Bud. Their lives have paralleled for many decades, at one point in time they
had machine shops making aircraft parts right next door to each other. A
different time, a different life, kinda of like what you and I enjoy when we go
out back to feed the tiger.

Freddy Parr

Gotta love the GP Wilsons

[OBillyHill]

UPDATE: [NEW PICS POSTED]

After a couple of weeks of rehab, here's what we have.

Thanks to FatCogs.com, it's a Yo Eddy. Probably 90ish, based on parts and serial number.

Paint is D&D, a splatter.

Cranks: Bullseye

Chainrings: Sugino 46. Specilized 24, Onza Buzz Saw 24

Saddle: Fat Chance (made by Specialized)

Chain: Shimano (new)

Shifters: Shimano XT thumb

Derailleurs: Shimano XT (clamp front, short cage rear)

Hubs: Shimano XT

Bars: Fat Chance (but painted over)

Cables & Housings: Shimano (new)

Pedals & Toe Clips; (XT knockoffs, new)

Seatpost: Sakae TCO (Tall Cool One)

Stem: Salsa Nickle Roller


I will be selling soon. Anyone interested let me know. I'd keep it, but I have a Ritchey P-23 to restore next!

Thanks again for everyone's help.

-OBH

[OBillyHill]

A few more photos...