Fat City Cycles Explained

Fat City Cycles
Fate:Bought by a Holding Company and Closed
Foundation:1982
Defunct:1999
Products:Mountain, Cyclocross, and Road Bicycles
Key People:Chris Chance

Fat City Cycles was an American bicycle manufacturing company. Fat City was started by Chris Chance in 1982. Fat City Cycles was one of the early builders of mountain bikes on the East Coast of the United States.[1] When Fat City moved from Somerville, Massachusetts to South Glens Falls, New York, many of the employees left behind went on to start Independent Fabrication.[2]

History of Fat City Cycles

Chris Chance began building frames in 1977. The company was financed, amongst others, by his wife Wendyll's family. Chance built his first mountain bike frame in 1982, The Fat Chance.

Fat City Cycles closed its doors in Somerville in October 1994 when it was sold to a holding company that had acquired another bike company (Serotta) in South Glens Falls, New York. The holding company moved the Fat City equipment to South Glens Falls. Few employees remained with the company after the move.

Models

Below is a list of some of Fat City Cycles' bicycles.

ModelIntroducedDiscontinuedMaterialType of
bike
Sizes
Fat Chance[3] Cro-mo steelMountain bike
Fat Chance with 24" Rear Wheel[4] Mountain bike
Team Comp [5] Mountain bike
Monster Fat[6] 19911993Cro-mo steelMountain bike
Slim Chance[7] Cro-mo steelRoad bike
Shock A Billy Full[8] 1994Cro-mo steelFull suspension
mountain bike
Yo Eddy19901999Cro-mo steelMountain bike
Titanium19931999TitaniumMountain bike
Yo BettyCro-mo steelMountain bike
Buck Shaver1994Cro-mo steelMountain bike
Wicked Fat Chance1987Cro-mo steelMountain bike
Fat F*ck'n Chance
Bro Eddy
Flaming Sea Cycles1980
Random TandemTandem Mountain Bike

References

  1. http://www.mtnbikehalloffame.com/page.cfm?pageid=6&memberid=65 The Mountain Bike Hall of Fame – Hall of Fame Inductees
  2. Web site: Independent Fabrication . 2008-07-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080723141933/http://www.ifbikes.com/who2/beginning.shtml . 2008-07-23 . dead .
  3. http://www.mombat.org/1983_Fat_Chance.htm 1983 Fat Chance
  4. http://www.mombat.org/1987_Fat_Chance_24.htm 1987 Fat Chance w/ 24" rear wheel
  5. Web site: 1987 Fat City Fat Chance . www.eandsweb.com . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20071026023717/http://www.eandsweb.com/cgi-bin/bikes.cgi?bike=Fat%20CityFat%20Chance . 2007-10-26.
  6. http://www.mombat.org/1991_Monster_Fat.htm 1991 Monster Fat
  7. http://www.mombat.org/1992_Slim_Chance.htm 1992 Slim Chance
  8. http://www.mombat.org/1994_Shock_A_Billy.htm 1994 Fat Chance Shock A Billy