1987 Fat Chance Wicked

This is perhaps one of the most unique Wickeds out there. Though marked as a Wicked this was a custom built frame for Chris’ wife Wendyl and is more of a hybrid between a Team Comp and a Wicked. The bike received a fully custom tape peel and splatter paint job that is so unique it was featured on the cover of the 1988 (I think) Bicyling mountain bike buyers guide.

The frameset includes a matching box crown fork and painted to match Salsa stem and Bullseye cranks. The paintjob (executed by Hoss Rogers) includes alternating strips of black and white paint caused by painting a base color then applying alternating strips of tape and then spraying another color letting it dry and then peeling back the tape following by adding an alternating splatter over the base colors. Though not as flashy as the popular neon colors of the times the high contrast effect achieved is very distinct and flashy in its own way.

The little Fat City stars on the side of the fork were actual Sterling Silver and brazed onto the fork blades, another special touch on an already pretty spectacular bike.

The attention to detail on this bike (and the similarly painted Team Comp featured here) is amazing and testament to both the creativity and craftsmanship of Fat Chance builders and painters.

Bullseye hubs and cranks were among the most sought after parts in the 80s and often times found on high end Fat Chance and other builds from the era. So it should be no surprise to find both cranks and hubs on what was built as basically a show bike.

The remainder of the build is all Shimano M730 XT which was more or less the best performing group available at the time.

All in all this bike achieves a fine line of going it over the top while maintaining style and a strong sense of design aesthetic and in the end creating a bike that is as good on the trail as it is in the showroom or in the pages of a magazine.