| It really woke me up, and I realized I did have enthusiasm left, and should figure out how to do this again. |
Mountain biking, especially cross-country racing, was booming in New England during the early to mid-1990s, and entrenched at the heart of it all was Chris Chance and his company, Fat City Cycles. Based in Somerville, Massaachusetts, the company's handbuilt steel creations represented the pinnacle of bike technology at the time, quick handling hardtails with plenty of ground clearance to get over the logs and rocks that the trails of the East Coast were filled with. Word spread rapidly about the excellent craftsmanship and ride quality of the bikes, and it wasn't long before Fat City had a global following.
Unfortunately, as the decade progressed, the company began to run into financial trouble, which eventually resulted in a partnership with Serotta Cycles and a move to New York state. By the end of the decade the writing was on the wall, and Fat City Cycles ceased to exist. Former employees kept the welding torches burning as they set off to work for other builders like Merlin or to start companies of their own, including Independent Fabrication, but Chris Chance, the man with a name that was once synonymous with mountain biking, faded from the public eye, dropping out from the industry he had been such an visible part of to focus on other pursuits.
And that could have been the end of the story, a tale of the little bike company that once was, had it not been for the persistence of Fat City's loyal fans, and Chris Chance's own desire to return to mountain biking. Those two factors culminated at the 2014 Interbike trade show where the announcement was made that Fat Chance was returning, and a Kickstarter campaign was launched to get the brand off the ground. The fundraising goals were fulfilled, and by all appearances it looks like the company is on its way back. As to what the future holds, Chris Chance is optimistic that there's still a market for handbuilt, American made bikes, and is re-energized to see what type of mark he can make his second time around. I recently spoke with Chris to learn more about his plans for the future, and to find out more about his journey through the bike industry.
I'm sure a lot of riders, especially those who were riding in the '90s, are wondering where you've been. When did Fat Chance end, and what have you been doing in the meantime? Towards the end of the '90s I just got to a point where I'd been at it for so long that I wanted to find out what else was out there in the world besides bicycles, because I'd just been living, breathing, eating, sleeping bicycles. I'd always loved to work with my hands, so I got into shiatsu and doing body work. It became this very introspective, meditative way to relate to the world and to help people. It's not something the really relates to bikes, but I was using my hands and helping people feel more at home in their bodies, and that's kind of what I like to do with bikes. I don't want people to feel held back – I want them to feel a lot of joy in their riding. Over the last couple of years people have been sort of tugging on my coat tails, saying, 'OK, when are you going to come back?' It was a huge decision. I went to the North American Handmade Bike Show in Sacramento a couple of years ago and it was like this homecoming – I was blown away by how many people were interested. It was really inspirational.
And then I got interviewed by a woman who's doing her PHD on the culture and history of mountain biking at UC Davis. She wanted to interview me, and I was like, “Hmm, that'll be interesting.” I'd spent this time like being away from bikes because I really needed to be, I needed perspective, and I had to separate myself from them. So I thought to myself, “Gosh, I know I have a lot to say, but I wonder what it'll be like to dive into these parts of my mind that I figured would be all dusty and not looked at in so long. The interview started and I just got so lit up – I was blown away. Everything was so fresh and right there, and I was talking a mile a minute. It really woke me up, and I realized I did have enthusiasm left, and should figure out how to do this again. Life went on for a little bit and then I decided to pull the trigger last September and go to Interbike. I've been surprised at how much energy I have for this. I wake up early and work late into the night on it.
Even though you were no longer in the industry, were you still riding?Yeah, I've always loved to ride. I have a titanium Fat Chance road bike and a Ti 26” bike – it's a piece of history now. I've also been test riding the new bikes, and getting back into what modern bikes are.
Let's turn back the clock a bit – how did you first get into cycling? I loved to ride as a kid. It was just a joy for me to hop on a bike and explore the world, to have that freedom of being able to go places. I remember when I was 9 or 10, I was living in Montreal, and there was a place I could ride to, a good long ways away for my solid rubber tired 24” wheel bike, but I could buy firecrackers there. I didn't car how far away it was – it was worth the ride. It didn't get me into too much trouble, but the cops caught up to me at one point.
I rode up until I was a teenager, and then I got into being a hippie and grooving along with that for a while. In my later teenage years I realized just how much I like to ride. I got into road racing for a while – I got to be a Cat 2 road racer. I was in Connecticut at the time, and because of my connections with racing, I knew Richard Sachs and Peter Weigle. They were working for Witcomb USA, and told me they were looking for another person in their shop. I rode my bike over and told them I loved to work with my hands and that I was into bikes, and they said 'OK, you're hired.' That's where I learned all the basics of frame building.
Did you know how to weld at that time? They taught me how to do brazing, but previously I was welding on submarines down in Groton CT. I worked with them for a couple years and got the basics down, and then I felt like it was time to move on so I went to Boston. After being there for a few months I got word that Witcomb had gone out of business and were selling their equipment, and it just kind of lit a fire under my butt. I didn't really know what I wanted to do, but they were offering up their equipment to me at a really good price because I'd worked for them.
I drove down and picked up a frame jig and a bunch of other equipment, figuring I'd just put it in my garage and eventually decide what to do with it. I was working for another local frame builder at the time and he was having a bunch of health issues and really struggling with his business... Anyway, I started talking to people, and before I was even officially in business I had three orders. The stars all lined up for me and I opened up a shop and started building custom road frames.
I was very into the aspect of measuring people's bodies, putting them on the bike they were riding, and checking out the geometry of that bike and their position so we had a point of reference. Then I'd ask them, “What do you want your ideal bike to ride like, how do you want it to climb hills, go around corners; how do you want it to feel accelerating, are you going to tour, or race, time trials, criteriums...” and just getting all this input and taking these soft descriptive terms from an engineering standpoint and putting them into numbers that would produce the ride quality they were looking for.
I was able to get feedback from the rider on each bike I made – what happens when I raise the bottom bracket, what happens when I change the chain stays, or shift the seat angle, and it turned out that all that experience in road bike design was translatable to mountain bikes. It's not exactly the same, but you can use the same shifts in lengths and angles and get the same result. When I started doing mountain bikes back in 1982 I thought, “These bikes are so fun...” and I just really got into this thing of trying to design a bike that could do everything. The road bikes were designed for very specific uses, and now with a mountain bike I wanted to do it all. Those bikes had a certain way of handling, and it's not just geometry - it's tube diameters, wall thicknesses, and all those things a frame builder has to work with.
After spending so much time building road bikes, how did you first get into mountain biking? I got introduced through various people in the industry, and at the time I was really done with road bikes. I was making a refined product, and I would get done with these frames and hand it over to the customer and they'd look at it and the first think they'd do is look for what was wrong with it. I had all these years of experience, and I cared so much about what I was doing, and here they were looking for mistakes. It didn't sit right with me. With the mountain bikes, people just wanted what worked.
Fat City Cycles was known for having a extremely talented employees, and after the company dissolved many of them went on to have further success in the industry. How did you attract such a high-caliber cast of characters?I think it's a combination of having a focus on quality and wanting to have people that take great care in putting the bikes together. In the late '80s I worked with this guy who was a organizational systems design grad student from Harvard, and he worked with me for six months to help set up the whole company so that everyone communicated in a way that we were working together towards a common goal. In that way you develop a culture that's focused on all the things you want the company to stand for.
Any final thoughts?I'm so grateful for this outpouring of appreciation and excitement that people are sharing with me. I wouldn't be doing this without them. It feeds me to build more great bikes that people will be looking at in another 25 years.
Now THAT Was a Bike: 1990 Fat Chance Yo Eddy
| I remember designing this bike and getting input from all over. Somehow there's just a little bit of magic there. I don't really know how to say what it was, but it worked really well for how people were riding at the time. I put my heart and soul into all of that stuff - it's really great to see that it's still appreciated. - Chris Chance |
The Yo Eddy is the quintessential Fat Chance, a triple-butted chromoly time capsule of what the pinnacle of mountain bike technology and craftsmanship looked like in the early '90s. Suspension forks were just beginning to emerge, but hadn't yet become the norm, and the 1990 Yo Eddy was equipped with Fat City's own rigid fork that boasts clearance for 2.5” tires, and a weight of 1.75 pounds. The bike's purebred cross-country intentions are clear, with a 71° head angle, 72° seat angle, and 429mm chainstay length. Although most XC racers these days are on 29ers, it's interesting how overall geometry numbers haven't changed that drastically, despite the passage of nearly 25 years.
1990 Fat Chance Yo Eddy Specs
Fork: Fat City Cycles Yo Eddy Team
Stem: American Roller
Handlebar: Answer Hyperlite
Grips: Grab-On MTN-2
Seatpost: SR Sakae TCO, 29.4mm
Brakes: Suntour XC
Brake Levers: Suntour XC Pro
Bottom Bracket: Pressfit, cartridge bearing
Shifters: Suntour XC Pro
Front Derailleur: Suntour XC Pro
Rear Derailleur: Suntour XC Pro
Cassette: Shimano HG90 7 speed
Chain: Suntour Accushift Plus II 7-speed, 12-28T
Crankset: Suntour XC Pro, 175mm,
Chainrings: 26/36/46T
Pedals: Suntour XC Pro Grease Guard
Headset: Ritchey Logic Comp
Hubs: Suntour XC Pro Grease Guard
Tires: Specialized Ground Control Extreme, 26 x 2.5in
Saddle: Selle Italia Turbo
Frame geometry and wheel size have been updated, but the look (and the paint jobs) of the 2015 Yo Eddy remain relatively unchanged. The 29" version is on the left, and the 27.5" version is on the right, complete with a rigid, suspension corrrected fork.www.fatchancebicycles.comSpecial thanks to
The Pros Closet for once again allowing us access to their treasure trove of historic bikes.
1991 wicked
1993 ti wicked
1999 yo eddy
Literally a 1000 great rides in those bikes, thanks Chris
To compare; base line Fat Chance is running at $1250, which is right around where On-One is pricing their top teir Titanium do it all AM frame. The Kingdom Vendetta is around this price, and their Brigante frame is running 1500UK.
No offense Chris, and I absolutely f*cking love your work, but you seriously need to review your pricing.
There's also something to be said about how upright the geometry is, but for old schoolers, that's pretty much perfect.
This isn't the retail price, bare in mind, as I haven't been about to find a quote for this number.
It's only overpriced if you can't sell it.
And not to brown nose, but while you're here; amazing work! Been drooling over your welds for literal decades.
Or the last 3 years.