Is Chris getting back in the bike biz - 2014?

[Stingercut]

That's it - can't wait to get new "Blah blah blah" Shirts! Today I got a pair of classic Yo Eddy! gloves by a friendly Fat-Cog... my day is saved ! If somebody is interested to know what the germans think about Chris' comeback, please have look here !!! I believe everybody is very, very excited...

I think the Germans and the British must be the most ardent Fat fans outside of the US
The new Fats need to keep their 'cool' status at all costs. Sure many other mass production manufacturers would kill for their brand cachet

 

[Fat Boy John]

UK interest

Having met up with ti-fat-man this Sunday at the Iconoclassic retro bike show as well as a few other Fat fans, I am glad to re-report that interest is VERY much alive and those of us who are true Fat nerds have already started to save our hard-earned in anticipation. By the way ti-fat-man, your Ti was definitely for me the bike of the show.

 

[fiatjeepdriver]

Oh man! Please no carbon! I know there are lovely bikes around made out of carbon, but a Fat Chance need to stand out from the crowd! Lightweight steel it should be...

I agree that steel, especially stainless, would be my first choice but after riding a custom built carbon road bike for a few years it's a good choice as well.

 

[yeag]

A stainless bike would be gorgeous! I can't imagine Chris would use carbon for a Yo.

 

[02mick]

I dont think those super thin stainless tube make for a durable mtb, i dont wanne be a party pooper but i dont like ur changes (;
Ti or steel but i would a steel with the same rear traingle as old, they where so pretty !

 

[I-ROBOT]

After Fat City Somerville closed, I went to work for a company in Danvers, Mass that designs and builds high-purity stainless steel piping fabrications for all the big drug companies. As nice as stainless steel sounds for a bike frame, I can tell you that the properties of most stainless alloys don't lend themselves to achieving the levels of torsional rigidity and tensile strength needed produce a ride like the Yo Eddy has. The expense of the raw material far out-weighs any advantage of corrosion resistance and sacrifices ride quality. You wouldn't even be able to find a stainless tube mill that would be willing to try to produce butted tubing - there is simply no demand. Stainless is great for all the bits on a bike, drop-outs, cable guides, etc. but to make a complete frame that was competitive in weight and had the ride quality you all desire would require an undertaking on the scale of the Delorean. We all know what happened to that.
Great fantasy but never a reality
Sorry to burst your bubble
Scott

 

[yo-Nate-y]

http://www.ifbikes.com/OurBikes/Road/SSR_(Stainless_Steel_Road)/

?

 

[laffeaux]

I have a stainless steel IF CX bike. It rides really well.

But to Soctt's point the cost of the material, and the additional cost of building a frame from stainless steel drives up the cost a lot over traditional steel. The cost is on par with a titanium frame. While stainless steel is a cool idea, I think that titanium would be more in line with a continuation of the Yo Eddy heritage.

 

[Stingercut]

Well...the dream of a Reynolds 953 Maraging steel Yo has died. Something made as well as an 89 Team Comp will suffice

 

[spindrome]

KVA, Reynolds, and Columbus are all doing butted SS tube sets. Everyone seems to position this material above titanium in both ride characteristics and even price.

Out of my range anyway, I would be happy with non-stainless steel.

 

[I-ROBOT]

OK I stand corrected!! But the IF price of nearly $4K just for a frame and fork illustrates my point - to a point
I have been out of the business for almost 20 years and, admittedly, have not kept up with all of the technology. I'm glad that the producing companies are giving it a go.
I will have to study up and then try to give a more informed opinion.

Thanks for proving me wrong!!

But remember, stainless steel is only corrosion RESISTANT. It is not corrosion PROOF!! (don't put it in salt water for any length of time)

Scott

 

[zonq]

For now it's nice to find the discussion & updates in one thread, but as this gets going, there'll be a lot of topics... perhaps a new subforum is in order?

The Fat Chance v3, the New Fat Chance, Not Your Dads Fat Chance, etc...

FatCogs may find itself with quite a bit more traffic once Chris is back in action.

 

[Stingercut]

For now it's nice to find the discussion & updates in one thread, but as this gets going, there'll be a lot of topics... perhaps a new subforum is in order?

The Fat Chance v3, the New Fat Chance, Not Your Dads Fat Chance, etc...

FatCogs may find itself with quite a bit more traffic once Chris is back in action.

Don't be surprised to see Kim Kardashian featured riding one wearing only a thong and micro top My gut feeling is they will be the 'must have' bike when the first ones roll off the production line again.

 

[h1v9a8c8]

I can tell you I have had 3 stainless rhygins and all 3 cracked within 1 year. They sucked

 

[rody]

OK I stand corrected!!

Scott,

Don't give up so easily...the offerings from KVA and Reynolds have not proven themselves worth the effort, so even though you are 20 years out of the game, the material has not progressed that much.

The XCR from Columbus, however, is high quality and builds a very fine frame. The process is identical to Ti and cost just as much, so for the consumer, a ti frame really is a much better value in the long run.

cheers,

rody

 

[DocChill]

Ti Frames...

...a ti frame really is a much better value in the long run.

Cheers,
Rody

...I would love to see similar quality signature welds again in 2014 (Thanks to Scott ! I'm not sure, but I think he made my FAT Ti frame...):

Cheers,
Daniel

 

[Stingercut]

...I would love to see similar quality signature welds again in 2014 (Thanks to Scott ! I'm not sure, but I think he made my FAT Ti frame...):

Cheers,
Daniel

Typical ! Any excuse to show off your toy

 

[Spikes]

Not to spoil anything, but it would surprise me if a return would be successful... The market for mountainbikes shows a lot of competition, mainly from Asia. Furthermore, there are quite some boutique brands to choose from currently. IF and Firefly for instance have direct connections with former Fat Chance and still struggle for their existence. There are many other great brands and many have closed their doors (Serotta).

Obviously everybody is very exited about the fact that Chris had great plans. One is myself. But to be quite honest, I think it is a great risk.

Now about the type of bike: I sense that this forum is very positive towards steel and titanium. Quite obvious, since these are the "original" materials for Fat City Cycles. But what would really add something to the current available lineup of high-end bikes? And didn't IF try something similar with the Deluxe Redux? And how many did they sell of those? Not a lot I suppose (although I bough a lavender one )

We'll see what happens and foremost I wish Chris all the best with his plans!

 

[DocChill]

Doin' publicity for Chris' work... ;-)

Typical! Any excuse to show off your toy

...what I'm doing, is only publicity for Chris' work !!!

But I have to say that I agree with "Spikes", that Chris' comeback is a risk - all together we are a crowd of long time FAT enthusiasts but only a very, very small piece of the whole bicycle market... but I really hope, that the comeback will be successful! Like "Stingercut" said... "many other mass production manufacturers would kill for their brand cachet !!!"

Cheers,
Daniel

 

[Stingercut]

Risk

Of course its a risk. Those of us who are/have been involved in our own business ventures, know all about the risks and the rewards, as I'm sure Chris does. I doubt he's doing it to get rich, IPO etc. I'm guessing he just loves what he does best, building better bicycles with that something special about them. Hopefully he will make a decent living or much better. Merchandising is the key really. He needs to re establish Fat as an Uber Cool brand. Maybe the right celeb endorsement, high profile exposure in the media but all done by modern viral means.

As they saying goes, if you do what you love doing for a living, you will never work another day in your life