Its been a little long
Steve White from Whites Bikes https://www.facebook.com/Whites-Bikes-848027718592598/timeline/ called me up. During the 1990’s Steve was the Australian distributor for that iconic American company, Fat Chance. He had tracked down his own personal bike from the time and was in the process of restoring it. It had gained a few dents over the years and he wanted me to fill them before he sent it for paint. Apart from the fact that Steve is a friend it was cool to get to work on a bike with such history and be part of the process of getting it back on the road
Fat Chance Buck Shaver
Steve’s Fat Chance
Buck Shaver Down Tube
Buck Shaver Seat Tube
Fat Chance Buck Shaver Stays
Nick turned up with a frame he had bought on a trip to The States. Not just any trip, his Honeymoon. Its a bit of an unknown quantity. We are wondering if it is the product of a beginner at a frame building school. While Nick really likes the bike it had developed a crack at the top of the seat tube. It presents as a tig welded frame and I could see where the inexperience of the welder had led to some serous undercutting in the weld. This would have weakened the frame leading to the crack. It is a very tall frame. When I took the paint off I discovered that someone had attempted to fill said crack with brass. After a discussion with Nick I agreed to lay a brass fillet right around the top tube / seat tube joint and fit a gusset on the top tube to strengthen up the junction. Nick comes from a mtb background so gussets are normal for him and I think this will extend the life of his frame substantially. Now he just has to decide on what colour to paint it
Nick’s tall frame
Original repair
Fillet and gusset
Another shot of the gusset
g.duke Handmade Bicycles 