1992 Klein Rascal

I was never a big Klein fan as a teen. For some reason they just weren't that prevalent in New England, and all the rumors I heard and magazine reviews I read said the same thing: pretty to look at, expensive, harsh, fragile, etc. I bought this on ebay mainly to flip, as stayed cheap yet came with some real nice parts. I ended up throwing some period-correct stuff on for just one ride. Pretty fun! I decided another Klein purchase was around the corner with an Attitude or Adroit.

This is also my first real example of the photo studio set up. I had yet to get the lighting results I wanted, but we all have to start somewhere.

1992 Grove Innovations X-Frame

This is the only bike to date that I'm embarrassed to have put effort towards. I was impatient in looking for a Ritchey fork for the Breezer and ended up getting the fork with this frame. I had some XC-Pro parts laying around and decided to see how it rode. It actually handles nicely but its heavy and ugly as sin. I ended up taking this to Keyesville as nothing else functioned at the time, and although it performed well, I regret "showing" it.

1994 Breezer Lightning

The blue Breezer Cloud 9 was the bike I wanted most when I was 14. The paint and clsasic parts selection just oozes class. As I couldn't find a Cloud 9, I had a Lightning repainted with the color scheme. I was waiting to fall in love with this bike, but I never did. It still made for some nice photos though.





This was also featured in the 2010 Privateer article. The photo took up two pages!

1998 Fat Chance Yo Eddy! Restomod Project

This was an interesting project that took almost three years to complete cradle to grave. By 98 the Yo Eddy frames were designed around an 80mm suspension fork and had more "modern" details like a threaded bottom bracket and 1 1/8 headtube. I wanted a vintage bike on which I could thrash, so I had this frame retrofitted with disc tabs and had Rody at GroovyCycleworks (the chief Fat restorer) mix up some team lavender paint. To this day the lavender paint is still one of my all time favorites.

As purchased:







This was no garage queen







This was my main rider for about a year. Sadly, the wet paint just doesn't hold up like powder, and this is currently de-commissioned and in need of a serious round of touch up paint.

1991 Fat Chance Yo Eddy!

I happened to come across this frame from another former Fat employee from the Saratoga Springs factory, who had collected this Mass-built bike from the factory without paint. It was the first small I had found with the original Yo fork. I thought I'd try a local powder coater and experiment with the Grello paint job. That particular paint is very hard to reproduce because none were alike, and it took the special touch of the painter to get it "right." This result came amazingly close for a powder.





This was also the first bike I completed after the move from Durango the suburbs of Denver.



This photo was featured in a 2010 issue of the British magazine Privateer.




Sold to a friend. It wouldn't be my last Yo though.

1994 Ted Wojcik Softtrac FS

A frame I bought simply because I was interested in AMP bikes at the time, and I have a [very] loose connection with Ted Wojcik as we're both from NH and I've met him at several races. Pretty simple early-90's design with period parts. I was able to ride this a few times before donating it to my father for his 60th birthday. Heavier riders would say it was too flexy, but I thought it compared to my modern FS bike in terms of bump compliance and pedal bob. Plus it has that Ted Wojcik class. I'm glad this bike is still in my family.

This was also the time I got a real camera and began taking more professional looking bike photos. Much nicer

1986-87 Yeti "Yak"

Another really cool vintage California Yeti. The "Yak" was simply a FRO with a third bottle mount and rack eyelets for touring. I've only seen one other Yak and it also happened to be a 16".

This had an early serial number in the 100s, which makes no sense since they supposedly started around 300 something to pay tribute to some motorcycle. Either way, it was a very early Yeti that belonged to former pro motocross and track racer Walt Axthelm of Durango, and it made it all the way to Alabama before it turned up for sale. I took the classic Yeti turquoise and threw in a twist with the white panels. I was pretty stoked on this bike and regret selling it. Nothing rides like a classic Yeti, and this 30lb beast took me to victory in the 2009 Keyesville Classic Vintage MTB race.





This time I made sure to get the proper front derailleur



Original Yeti fork with eyelets. So cool!