Ride in style,..

When I ride the Fat, it has to be in style ! :)

I am in love with FAT !!! ;)

With my Fat!
I took it out for the first time and i know, i still need to tweak it here and there, the canti's need to be set up better, headset adjusted and other small thinks and oh yeah,..decals will be applied next week

It is kinda picture heavy but it is such a niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice ride!
The ride is sharp, confortable, the fork looks to be a perfect combi, pretty, light and the size fits like a glove

HAPPY MAN OVERHERE! :)

pre weekend update - Fat content

This week i received a few parts so I made some progress with especially the Fat.
The Ibis Mojo got his well deserved painted Judy and that i will post within a few days but now first the Fat Titanium.

The Fat Chance got this week the Moots/Kish stem, the Kolo Titanium Bar and the Chris King pewter Wheelset.
I also received a set of Alligator I-Link brake and shifter cables but these looked to modern on this bike so I got myself some XTR cables untill the moment i receive the Goretex Ride-on sets.
These Ride-On cabels work for me quite good, I used these on my Serotta ATX back in 95 and never failed.
The thing I didn't do yet was applying the Fat Chance decals, for that I want to take some time and not do this in a hurry,..i only get one chance and I better do it good then ;)
I think the decals will make a big difference because the frame looks a bit plain right now, not that much colour, the result of the mainly Titanium parts I used.



have a good weekend,...

Fat Decals

pffff,..thank god!

i received the Fat Titanium decals today

Guestbook

Hi,

I now have a guestbook set up.
A few words from you guys with your comment on my blog and maybe a small piece of your own MTB history would be great

Would really appreciate it,..

Thanks

PS

received again some things today:
- My Titanium Kolo bar so i can finish the Fat
- The Ibis colour matched RS Judy legs and booster
- another Judy which i bought months ago and actually don't need anymore ;)
- The Royce Ti BB for the Serotta
- An XTR M900 front derri,..can't remember why i bought that one :$

Yesterday i bought:
- A Pace carbon RC31 420mm Magnesium; i think i want to use it for the Serotta TiMax
- I-Link Alligator cables for the Fat
Hope to receive these parts after the weekend.

And also i got an email from Ben Serotta that the new decals for the TiMax have been send out so i now need to get the frame clear of paint.
Last thing of the day,..: Still did not receive the Fat Decals,..these are now in transit for over 2 weeks from the states,..i hope they will arrive because these cost a fortune,..

Some candy from my dear friend Aaron

Received some nice stuff today from the US

in the package there was a nice set of wheels, Chris King Hubed, red alu nipples, and WTB rims.
A great looking set in my Fat Chance.
also there was a set of Avid brake levers, my god what are these light!
I got to get myself a digital scale,..i would like to mention the weight of some parts here but now i can't,..i just can tell you that these (feel) are light and that's it ;)
The model name of these levers i do not know, the look like early Ulimate's but i do not know for sure.



Next item is a titanium stem,..but not just a stem,...but this one !

Have you aver seen such welds? It's a Moots stem customized by Jim Kish.
i looked at the stem and was amazed by the beauty of it,..so pretty.
Again i do not know what the weight is but it has to be something exotic ;)


on the picture at the top you also see a a Hang Doggy from Syncros
The Syncros Hang Doggy is a binder type of cable hanger forged of 6061-T6 aluminum alloy. The platform for the cable is 11mm thick and bored for a special machined brass cable routing piece. The front of the platform is cut vertically for the cable to slide in place. The brass tube fits into this with a 90 degree outward turn. The cable housing slides into the front end and the inner wire slides along the smooth interior of the of the self lubricating tube. A hole is bored through the side of the clamp piece. The hole is tapped with threads for the binding bolt, then the front is cut to make the binding mechanism. A steel bolt draws the clamp tight.

The Hang Doggy is made in 3 sizes, 1", 1 1/8" or 1 1/4". The two smaller sizes are the same but the 1" size has a 1.52mm wall thickness split aluminum shim which reduces the 1 1/8" interior to the needed 1". The Clamp piece is anodized Black and the brass piece is polished then clear coated to hold its finish. The 1" size weighs 37.5 grams, the 1 1/8" size weighs 34.5 grams, and the 1 1/4" weighs 30.5 grams. (It weighs less because a larger hole is drilled through the same aluminum forging used to make the other two.) The brass piece is 7 grams of each of these weights.

Spengle wheels

the end is near,..for the Ibis Mojo

last change is the wheels.
These are the better Spengle's, the MTB 3 version.
They are stronger then the first one which are in my Klein Pinnacle.
the spokes are more round then the previous versions

ONZA titanium Barends

onZa titanium bar ends! OnZa, for those who aren't mountain biking old farts like me, were the company that popularised bar ends and made some of the most ludicrously expensive ones, welded from 3/2.5 titanium including the clamp. A later version used the same forged clamp as onZa's all-aluminium bar ends (1993), and that is the one i found last week.
I am only missing the decals in orange so if there is anyone out there with a spare set?,..drop me a line.

Back in the day onZa made a wide range of MTB parts: like the HO range: Paddles (i have the normal steel and titanium (axle) ones), Cranks which are extremely rare, and the HO canti brakes, they also made v-brakes, these were called Hola's

Brooks Swift Titanium

A few months ago i owned a Brooks Swift Titanium in the color Honey,..
I sold that one when i had no use for it and i regretted selling that the moment i put it in the mail to italy,..
I think it is the best looking saddle available so when i was thinking how to build the Serotta i just knew i had to get one back, and now i did
This is my new Brooks Swift Titanium, this time it is black , to complete the all Black/White/Titanium style..

I got KISH-ed

Not Old -Metal, not MTB -> The KISH compact Race

It's some nice titanium Candy,..
Look at those welds,..

It is going to be my first Race Bike, i am curious if i will like it ;)

When 6 becomes 9

Browsing the internet i came across this site : http://www.dreambike.com/69.htm

I always had a soft spot for a MUSTACHE bar and found this site where they offer conversion kits, for quite a lot of money by the way,..
and also conversion kits for 26" to 29" (if the 6 was a 9)

What they do is the put adapters on the original canti stuts which allows you to use 29" wheels instead of the original 26" wheels.



if you look at the previous post about the update of the Fat and compare it with this picture, a similar Fat Titanium you see the differences.
It kinda looks cool, it is a nice way to use 1 frame for 2 different looks and feel.
I might want to try it in the near future.
A Mustache bar will get there sometime for sure,..i think that looks sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo cool,..
Also other bars like the Love bars form Groovy and the Jones bars are bars i want to try someday

Fats and Small update

Just a small update about the Fat
I now have the Quick releases in order, these are now the pretty Cook Bros Rq's,..for the front and the rear wheel, and the seatpost clamp
The crank is also a Cook Bros, and RSR which is the type with the CNC-ed rear side of the arm so save weight.
The cranks i have hade from new back in '94 I think
Originally they had the brand name edged in the arms but faded away trough the year and use.
It is still there only not that good visable,but that's fine with me.



Got a message from Rody that the decals have been shipped so in a week or so i will be able to put them back on.

I think it will take another week or 2 before before I can put the peddle to the metal
keep you guys updated ;)

Note to myself :

To do list for April:

- Take the exact measurements of the decal position on the TiMax
- For the archive make high res pictures of the original TiMax decals for reproducing.
- strip the paint form the Serotta TiMax and find a good painter.
- Find out what the correct position is for the Fat Chance Titanium decals
- Finish the Cook Bros cranks for the Fat
- Finish the Fat so I can finally start training for the Mountain Mayhem
- Make some progress with the Ibis

Parts to receive:
- Chris King wheelset (pewter) for the Fat
- Moots ahead titanium stem (customized by Kish) for the Fat
- Brooks Swift Titanium in Black for the Serotta
- Original brandname decals from Serotta
- "TiMax" decal from Gil-M
- Original Fat Chance decals from Rody @ groovycycles
- Paul front derailleur for the Serotta
- RS Judy XC in orange for the Ibis
- Avid Titanium levers for the Fat
- Kolo Titanium Bar for the Fat
- New springs and elastomers for that same Judy XC

Other things to do:
- Start your website! come on man!,..do it for once! ;)

Tange Cr-Moly "FAT" Blades

I have been looking around the internet about the Tange fork i got from Chris.
And as it seems these forks have been designed by Fat City Cycles for Tange :)

makes me feel good that they are not strange to the Fat Chance Titanium which they are in.

A day with good KarmA!

When i was looking for a rigid fork for the Fat I had 2 forks in mind
It was the BOI (Big one inch) original Fat fork, and the Tange rigid fork
I put an add up on retrobike that I was looking for a 1" ahead rigid fork, shortly after I was contacted by Chris,..he had the Tange Struts available,..if it was something i was looking for,..
I totally freaked out!,..did not expect to find a beautifull fork so fast,..and now the best part,..i could have it for shipping cost! 8 pounds,..that's it! How cool is that!
And the "Tange FAT blades" is a fork that also was available as a factory option from Fat Chance so that feels good too ;)

today I got a well packed fork and it is better then i expected,..it is bloody amazing!

thank you so much Chris, i owe you one big time!



but it doesn't end there! :lol:

last week I was contacted through this blog by a kind guy from New Zealand: Tristan Thomas
He enjoyed reading this OLD-METAL blog and wanted my address.
He told me he had 2 NOS Titanium Hope Hubs left , for years without using them, and wanted me to send me these, free of charge, he HOPE's I could use them, because he wasn't ;)

Tristan is a wheelbuilder: www.wheelworks.co.nz
Tristan, thank you so much for being this kind, i will try to make good use of them