a Fat equivalent of a 911 Singer
Wait a minute... Isn't that a Delux Redux?
Thinking on it a bit - and it may well be that you and I have differing views on what the brand means - I can't see how Fat could hope to compete with builders like Gallus, Black Cat, English (and on, and on...). There's a certain segment of car guys who must - because of time, ability, location or for timeframe reasons - buy their way into excellence.
From what I've gleaned on the sidelines of VRC, the two worlds don't quite map. The resto-mod in the bike world is far less valuable than the original. A couple of folks have tried their hands at it (what was that resto-mod bike shop that lasted a year?), but so far as I know the only really successful launch (if you can call it that - it certainly wasn't widely broadcast) was that tiny run of Potts-built Cunningham clones. Why on earth Joe Breeze - other than a healthy ego and adequate bank account - hasn't fired up the torch to bust out 10 Series 1 clones is beyond me.
There's a utilitarian ethos behind Fat IMO. Simple, light, ready to go... Across town, across Africa, around a race course, whatever... The thing that Fat had over brands - again IMO - was a kind of anti-fashion. It produced high-end steel in the age of aluminum/titanium. It still made cool, light forks in an age when everyone was going crazy for heavy, crappy suspension that had a maintenance schedule like a helicopter.
The thing about Fats - to me - is that Fat owners
ride. They don't sit around pondering how a gram here or there might improve their lap time, they don't look for the route that avoids the puddle, they don't need a blanket between theirs and their friend's bike in the bed of the truck... Fat owners would never blame their bike if they sucked.
