Deciding on build group

What would be an ideal build for the Fat Chance 10th Anniversary?

M900 XTR you might think - perfect for a bike of this year and era. M900 is state of the art, no doubt about it, "the best functioning group", the first with rapidfire+, the "first" with 8 speeds (not really), a true representative of "1992" - the year it was launched, excellent and crisp shifting, Japanese quality through and through.



















The -95 Shimano M910 XTR group

But we've just seen too many such bikes with the M900 group. What frame or bike do you associate with it? For my part, the first bikes that come to mind are the 1992 Alpinestars Al-Mega XTR, the 93 blue and pink KHS Montana Team, and the 92-93 Klein Attitude horizon or linear fades. Not a Fat Chance 10th Anniversary. Perhaps the M900 is just too common, after all, there were really few real alternatives back then.

Find the soul of the frame, and it will tell you how it wants to be built.

The 10th Anniversary is a collectors item, the ultimate Fat Chance object of desirability for vintage MTB enthusiasts. For its time it was an extraordinarily light steel MTB frame. The frameset included the legendary Big 1" fork (BOI) in a painted-to-match finish. The frame has a classic design, it doesn't scream, yet it's not "just another steel frame". MBA says it would have made a great race bike, had it not been collectible. I concur.

So given all this, I'm thinking - this frame wants components that are classic, low-key, and rare, to emphasize the frame's image, rareness, and desirability. At the same time the components should not be flashy to the degree that they take too much attention away from what should be the focus - the frameset itself.













The -93 Campagnolo Record OR group (high resolution picture)

A complete Campagnolo Record OR group with subtle yet high-end components might do the trick. That's also how the bike MBA tested was built, and First Flight claims the 10th came stock with Record OR. With its high quality finish and legendary status - Campy discontinued not just the top-of-the-line Record OR group, but all their ATB groups in the mid 90s - this component group is just as collectible as the frame. Color combination; silver, perhaps some black. Materials; how about the subtle silvernessness :) of polished titanium. Aluminum, only if not bluntly over-sized. In this battle, I'd say European workmanship and handcraft wins over japanese mass-production and efficiency.