Chris Igleheart

[Kevin Grady]

Hello from Seattle! I'm a recent lurker, here, and need to ask some questions about a former framebuilder for Fat Chance.

Does anyone know where Chris Igleheart is working? Also, does anyone have any history on Igleheart frames?

I had the good fortune of acquiring an 853 frame that appears to have been built under his name, only.

I have no fork, so suggestions are welcome. I could go rigid, but since this will be my only atb bike I'm inclined to get a suspension fork. FYI, the headtube is for a 1" steerer.

Thanks, in advance.

[DonH]

I heard he had a shop in Danvers,Ma. a couple of years ago. There was a mention in BIKE magazine about him building rigid forks. The email address I had for him then was Iglebike@aol.com

[bullmoose]

There's a blast from the past!
I don't have any idea where he is now. I met with him in Maine (Bath or Woolwich) back in about 1994. My wife took pictures of him in his workshop/barn. At the time he was producing bar ends (calling them "Bar Flys") and welding up limited numbers of frames. His specialty was offroad tandem frames, many of them finished with a signature "cow" paint scheme, I believe, that consisted of white tubes with black spots and a pink "udder" around the bottom bracket!
I still have a pair of his bar ends somewhere...

[rick]

for a time (not too long ago) Chris was liscensed to make the Big One Inch fork. Bikeman in Maine had them listed on their site.

Wendyll is now working to get the forks to market and I do not know if Chris is involved.

[Kevin Grady]

I saw the Bikeman site, where Chris Igleheart has some CX forks for sale. I also tried the aol account you listed for him, so I emailed him, as well.

[Doug Carter]

Well, I guess we'll have our answer soon... :D :D :D

I love this forum.

[Kevin Grady]

Christopher emailed me back and let me know that the 853 frame I acquired was built when he was out in Portland, Oregon, in the mid 90's.

He said he moved back to Vermont to build forks (again) for Fat City from '98 to 2000. He is still offering the Fat City forks (through Bikeman/Bath, who has confirmed that they have a few in stock).

He also said that he is living on the north shore, above Boston, and has been recently making 29"(700c) steel bikes.

Thanks for your help!

[fattyboombatty]

I recently went through Igleheart and Wendyll to get one of the new fat forks. He was a nice guy to deal with and the fork was beautiful...Not cheap though! I got it sent bare and had it sent off to get painted...where it is right now. I got it for a 2000 Yo in 1 1/8"headset. The tubing is smaller than the old forks...1" vs 1 1/8". Do the old 10th anni Fats have the standard 1 1/8" tubing on the forks or are they 1" as well?
It kind of surprised me to get a skinnier bladed fork, but it still looks killer. Lighter maybe?
Has anyone else bought one of the new Fat Forks? Were any of the old forks made with 1" blades toward the end of the rigid fork craze?

Fatty

[Yo Eddy!]

Fat's own BigOneInch came with one inch blades. The BOI was featured on 10th's and ti's. The BOI was 1/4 pound lighter than the Yo Eddy! fork.

BTW does the Igleheart fork have the two little gussets at the back of the blades, just like the BOI?

[fattyboombatty]

Thanks for the info! Yes, the fork has the gussets on the back and Igleheart even sent me original Yo guys for the top of the fork blades.
So the Yo Eddy forks were a larger diameter than the BOI on the Fat Ti's and 10th's? Wow I always thought that the huge 1 1/8" diameter blades were the norm. You are right about the weight...this fork is incredibly light! It weighs like 1.6 pounds. Spicer Ti forks weigh in at 1.3 I believe. That's not too shabby!
I will be posting pics of the fork on my Cherry Love Yo as soon as it gets painted.

Cheers,
Fatty

[lucifer]

Are these forks still available?

[Yo Eddy!]

Also check out this topic: http://www.apexspeed.com/fatcogs/forums/showthread.php?t=299

[MikeyNYC]

xxxxxxxxxxx

[AB]

Mikey,

Thanks for posting this information - interesting. The demise of Fat City and the events responsible still seem clouded. I have talked to knowledgeable long time dealers who are not Fat fans. Also the fact that Serotta, Seven and IF are still around and pretty highly respected makes Fats problems more curious - to me anyway. However, if Chris just wanted out I can see that - every situation changes.

[visitor]

FYI: For haha's I e-mailed Bikeman to see if they did have any forks. They do have some forks made by Igleheart. The forks are 1-1/8", and I did not find out if they are threaded or threadless. The price was $299 + shipping. http://www.apexspeed.com/fatcogs/forums/images/smilies/skull.gif

[Singlespeedjerry]

I was wondering if this fork is a Chris Ingleheart fork or an original Fat City fork?

Any comments?


http://cgi.ebay.com/1-Threadless-Fat-Chance-26-Mountain-bike-MTB-fork_W0QQitemZ7175541468QQcategoryZ36135QQssPageNa meZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Thanks

JS

[Yo Eddy!]

The pic on the bikeman page shows a fork with tapered and bended blades.... but it is the cross frok pictured.

[fat-tony]

seller emailed me back to explain that the fork is from the early 90's (who knows?).

[visitor]

I was wondering if this fork is a Chris Ingleheart fork or an original Fat City fork?

Any comments?


http://cgi.ebay.com/1-Threadless-Fat-Chance-26-Mountain-bike-MTB-fork_W0QQitemZ7175541468QQcategoryZ36135QQssPageNa meZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Thanks

JSLooks and sounds like one to me. Ingleheart had only produced 1-1/8" team or yo forks for bikeman.

[wyatt]

[QUOTE=fattyboombatty]I recently went through Igleheart and Wendyll to get one of the new fat forks. He was a nice guy to deal with and the fork was beautiful...Not cheap though!


May I ask how much it was? Did Chris build it? I have been contacting over the last few years about getting one and never have. Can it be gotten painted? I am asking you so I don't bother him until I can make a decision. I thought it was $350 painted black and madby Chris. FOr you others, Chris said he would make unicrown and curved bladed forks of a simpler style for $180 to $229, depending on disc option or not. Any info you have on this forks I will be grateful for. Thanks.

WYATT

[kokies]

Found some of Chris's new work from this years NAHBS show, http://www.handmadebicycleshow.com/GALLERY/Day3/bikes/4/gallery/index.htm his stuff is about 2/3 or the way in. Here is a taste. Does that fork remind you of anything?

[fattyboombatty]

Hey chaps,
To answer the question above...the fork is identical to all the Fat forks I have seen. I recently bought an early '90s 1 inch threaded BIO off of Ebay for my Wicked and aside from the suspension correction on the Igle fork they are IDENTICAL! They come powder coated black for no extra charge. However, I wanted mine to match my frame and needed it in a hurry so I got it bare. I paid around $275 for it, but he said they were going to jump to $350 after that one was built. I have ridden it quite a bit and it kicks ass! Beautiful fork. I hear the guy is MIA these days. Bummer. If y'all want close pics of the two forks together just say so!

Fatty

[knucklehead]

hi , I first want to introduce myself . I'm new to this site but not new to fat city bikes . My name is Nils Weeks and I'm from Danvers , Ma .I bought my first YO eddy in 1994 in Belmont ,MA......at Belmont Wheelworks.It was team lylac color and size large . 1200 for a frame and fork was a lot for a just out of highschool kid. I needed $ so I put it on Epay about 3 years ago . A guy in Japan bought it and paid 300 to ship it plus the 1k I got for it. I wish I never sold it. Anyway , Chris Igleheart has a shop in Danvers on Water st and is still building bikes and forks .I spoke with him the other day . He is charging 375 for them but there well worth the money .

He is fixing my 93 Yo's seat post tube at the bottom , where they all rusted out .He's calling the seat tube replacement a tube-ectimy , kind of funny huh ! price is 150 . It won't have the water bottle mounts . thanks guys and great site !!!

[bruce t]

We're pretty slow here these days, but a good bunch of Fat enthusiasts. Sorry to hear about your rusted-out tubes. I've got an old hot pink powder coat 1989 Wicked (I built it in 1992, used frame), and building a 1993 Buck (also in Team Violet!).

Show us your Yo when it's done!

Cheers, bt

[bushpig]

If y'all want close pics of the two forks together just say so!

Fatty

I'm curious to see close ups of the forks. The dropout area looked a lot different to me but it might ahve been the picture. I spoke to Chris in the last month or so and he sounded willing and able to make forks.