Re: Dream Bike Stolen - Found 26 Years Later? Fat Chance (TC)!!!
So suffice to say I knew the thread was a couple years old, and the bike had surely been passed along, perhaps even to the revered Fat Chance welder responsible for welding all the TCs, Scott Bengtson (aka I-ROBOT), who reached out to Phil right away when the thread was first started. I replied to the thread, and posted the only pictures I had of my Fat, asking Phil if he thought there was any chance it might be my old bike. We pm'ed a bit back and forth, and got in touch on facebook. He wasn't entirely convinced I was the original owner, fairly enough, as anyone could cook up a story and try to claim an old re-painted frame.
We chatted on facebook for a while. He agreed that it sounded a lot like what I was describing, but he was pretty sure it had come up from Boston (pretty close to Halifax in Canada), as Fat Chances weren't uncommon in that area, compared to out west in BC. He then asked me for more specifics on the build. Then he sent me pics of the frame, with the stem, headset and seatpost and seatpost quick release still attached.
16833556_710628405785853_604354205_o by
shamalama88, on Flickr
I knew from looking at those pics that it was indeed my long lost bike. Phil, doing his due diligence still wasn't entirely convinced. He then asked me what wheels originally came with the bike. I described them to him: blue bodied and silver flanged Bullseye hubs laced to silver Mavic Oxygen rims, blue spoke nipples, 36 hole I recalled. He replied with the following:
"I heard back from the guy I bought it from. Unfortunately, he doesn't have contact info from the person he bought it from, so unlikely to trace it back much farther. He did keep some of the parts when he passed it on to me, including Suntour XC RD, Specialized crankset, and... wait for it... Oxygen wheelset with blue Bullseye hubs."
And that was the clincher! We both knew for sure that it had to be my bike, it was as clear as a fingerprint. No way that could be a coincidence...