What do I have?

[wickedfatsteve]

Sometime around 1989 I bought a wicked from the local bike shop. They said it was a frame set they built up for sale. After seeing fatcogs for the first time I realized these vintage bikes are still enjoyed by many so I decided to dig the old bike out and see if it was worth restoring. To start I am trying to find out exactly what I have. The serial number under the bottom bracket is 05498. I've always thought this was a 1988 wicked but shouldn't there be a "w" in the serial number? Any insight would be appreciated.

 

[wickedfatsteve]

This might help

Thought a pic of the bb might help.

 

[RobTu]

They didn't start placing W's in the serial number of Wickeds till a bit later. Is the rear brake mounted on the chainstay or seatstay? U or canti?

 

[chefmiguel]

Thinking seat stays you can just see front derailleur cable going up seat tube.

 

[wickedfatsteve]

A few more pics might give some clues

Correct, brakes are on the seat stays, canti. Here are a few more photos that may help. You'll notice a few parts have been changed. Fork was damaged and replaced with a yeti unit. Shifters, bars, seat and post have been replaced also.

 

[ameybrook]

Looks like an 88 Wicked to me. Yeti fork looks great on there

 

[wickedfatsteve]

Thanks, the Yeti fork worked really well as I recall. It's been 18 years or so since I last rode this. Bringing it out has really brought back some great memories. Most of the trails I ride now are best suited for full suspension. That said I don't remember riding anything that climbed like my Fat Chance. I'm thinking of bringing this back as a single speed. Should be a great ride.

I am still confused by the serial number. When looking at other 88 wicked serial numbers on the mombat site they all had the w.

 

[wickedfatsteve]

Rob Tu, when you said that they didn't start putting w in the sn until later, did you mean in later years or later in the 88 year run?

 

[wickedfatsteve]

Pulled some wheels out of storage and cleaned her up. I'm pretty happy with how she looks considering the last 18 years were spend hanging in a shead. I'm thinking of a resore vs. a single speed with more modern components. What do you think?

 

[chefmiguel]

Bike looks great, really like the fork choice.

 

[wickedfatsteve]

missing w in serial number

Thanks Chef. I still don't understand why there is no w in my serial number. Could it be older than 88? Other than the sn, how do you identify the bikes year?

 

[I-ROBOT]

Hi there
I would say that your wicked is a 1988 model. 0549 would have been put together probably around April of that year. I don't recall exactly when we started adding the "W" to the serial number for the Wickeds, probably mid-year of '88 would be my guess. Also, the W was smaller than the numbers (at least at first) so it may not be as visible as the numbers.

The white color is not an epoxy powder coat color either. Most likely, it was sprayed over an epoxy powder coat, not sure which base color would have been used for a white top coat.

My personal Wicked is a 1987 model and my SN is 87777. '87 was the last year that the last two digits of the year became the first two of the serial number.

It's possible that Reggie just forgot to stamp the W in the bottom bracket of your frame - that old smoky shop thing again:redface:.

Enjoy it
Scott

 

[wickedfatsteve]

Thanks for clearing that up! Fatcogs has been a great find for me. I've learned a lot about Fats here both from reading other threads and from those who have replied to my post. Thanks to all of you I have come to appreciate my wicked even more. I've got a fair amount of work remaining to bring the wicked back to a condition I'll be happy with. It's good to know I have this resource to find the help I'll need along the way.

 

[RobTu]

Rob Tu, when you said that they didn't start putting w in the sn until later, did you mean in later years or later in the 88 year run?

Scott provided the answer. Sorry, I didn't get back sooner. Nice Wicked

 

[wickedfatsteve]

Thanks Rob, Chef and Scott. I thought I knew what I had but it's nice to have confirmation. I've done a little tune up and plan on getting on some single track to test it out later today. Can't wait. I'll post some updates as I make changes to the bike. Looking at some other Fats here has given me some ideas.

 

[wickedfatsteve]

Back on the trail

First ride off road since pulling this out of storage. Rides great! Might just leave it as is.

 

[chefmiguel]

Sweet!

 

[colker]

what chef said

 

[RobTu]

Cool, though a drive side photo would be nice