bouddha":1ro81qkv said:
jonrock":1ro81qkv said:
Thats a beauty and a really nice subtle build...
Is it me or does that weld on the dropout near the rear hanger look a little untidy?
Almost worth flying out to pick this one up...
J
it surprised me too much.
And The welds near the BB are very thick and not performed .... as if they had been repaired!
If you read up on the history of Fat Chance and how Chris Chance worked for years to develop a Ti MTB frame made to his unique specs, I guess he wasn't going for beautiful welds because that's exactly what the early Ti Fat Chance's looked like, no repair to the BB that's a sleeved section of larger Ti tubing welded over the actual downtube/BB joint so it's very over built. This was before they were able to custom order or custom make butted Ti tubing, but the bikes were supposedly made to emphasize the ride and I never heard anyone say that it sucked to ride a Ti Fat.
The later Ti Fats still had externally butted tubes but they were specially made such that if you run your hand over the tube near the welded joint you can feel it become a little thicker than it is in the center of the tube. That's what my Ti Fat is like and it's kind of cool to run your finger over the tube and feel the step up to the triple butted portion. Mine is a very late 90's NY State or Serotta made Ti Fat but to be honest it rides amazingly as it's the result of Chris Chance's genius as well as more modern Ti tubing and Ti welding techniques than were available in the early 90's.