Classic & Vintage - Weirdo Home Built fixie? Chris Chance?

Anyone seen anything like this before? I might check it out tomorrow. Might be a dent in the head tube though.

one-of-a-kind fixed gear - $350 (West Chester, PA)
Date: 2010-08-07, 8:55PM EDT
Reply to: sale-gpmfu-1886648840@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]

This is a hand-made fixed gear bicycle. It was designed as a bike ball (aka cycle ball aka radball) bike with a vertical seat post allowing for the shortest wheel base possible (~37 inches) on a bike with road wheels. It was built in Chris Chance's basement shop in Boston in the 1970s. Hand welded Reynolds 531 steel. Standover height is 34 inches. Currently brakeless. Rides great, good condition. Has very small chainring which could be switched out (there's frame clearance) if intended for transportation. A little dusty in places, frame is perfect. This is a piece of bicycle history, and a head-turner of a fixie.
$350.
http://images.craigslist.org/3na3k93lc5Q25U55P4a87a2a911a9d5271e20.jpg

Saw some of that bike ball on You Tube a while back. Looked like fun.

i did just find a bunch of info on chris chance including this

http://www.classicrendezvous.com/USA/chris_chance_cycles.htm

Looks like a circus or acrobat bike. If you are a good judge of craftsmanship and the brazing looks really top notch, like it was really built by Chance and he actually cared how it came out. Then I would say it's worth the asking price, but only as a curiosty. I mean what would you really do with a bike like that except ride it around the driveway a few times then hang it up?

Where is Chris nowadays?

got a bike polo league there in Phoenixville? It looks like it would work as well now as when it was made. Kind of a rugged sport, though. Make sure you take your calcium.

Where is Chris nowadays?
out of the biz, apparently a massuese on the left coast

A polo bike?

That is a radball bike(rad is german for cycle, so in english cycleball) Bike polo and radball are two different sports. Bike polo is more like hockey on bikes. It was developed in the paciffic northwest in the early 90s. Its 3 on 3 and pretty rough and faced paced. The players ride around witha mallets and hit a small street hockey ball:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvHZl8ArmNQ

Radball is much more like soccer and is played with a large ball and has to be hit with the wheels to score. The games are 2 on 2, and have no contact.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUCcuYprZj0&feature=fvst

Here's another Chris Chance bike with a really wild paint scheme on craiglist (http://nh.craigslist.org/bik/1883450405.html):

http://images.craigslist.org/3k53mc3oc5Y45S55R4a859270cd449ed11c0a.jpg http://images.craigslist.org/3m33oa3l75U45P55S2a852948776cb969167f.jpg http://images.craigslist.org/3k63m43l15Y15P25X0a85b888caef6e8e1b03.jpg http://images.craigslist.org/3k53oa3lf5O05Z05R2a850ca071d2f76a1ba7.jpg

Holy cr@p, I had no idea Chris Chance made Radball bikes!...

That would be a sweet deal if you could find anyone else to play radball with you.

I wouldn't bother with it for any other purpose.

He's advertised that bike on the local CL before...if I recall it does have a dent, possibly more.

He's advertised that bike on the local CL before...if I recall it does have a dent, possibly more.

I thought I saw it before, I think it was posted in the 'looking for' threads. perhaps he is willing to haggle?

funny thing is I never paid attention to the wheelbase before approx 37", I just checked the specs on my Rigi and that is 37.5"

some of the Fat Chance bikes were really wild.

He's advertised that bike on the local CL before...if I recall it does have a dent, possibly more.

i asked about what looks like a dent in the head tube. he says it does look like it dent in the pic but it's actually part of the decal.

Anyway, I was already planning on being in west chester most of today anyway so it won't hurt to go check it out.

That is a radball bike(rad is german for cycle, so in english cycleball) Bike polo and radball are two different sports. Bike polo is more like hockey on bikes. It was developed in the paciffic northwest in the early 90s. Its 3 on 3 and pretty rough and faced paced. The players ride around witha mallets and hit a small street hockey ball:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvHZl8ArmNQ

Radball is much more like soccer and is played with a large ball and has to be hit with the wheels to score. The games are 2 on 2, and have no contact.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUCcuYprZj0&feature=fvst

I just watched these videos. If you don't watch them, you are missing out, big time.

I was going to make some fun comments about bike polo, but then I watched the radball video, and I'm thinking, OMG OMG OMG, I've never seen anything like that!

I'd never seen Radball before...but it looks awesome. We have a pretty well established polo scene here and the bicycle world polo championships were held in Philly a couple of years ago.

Glad you guys passed on this one.....


it's found a home in my garage, and it wheelies like a mofo :)





Steve

QUOTE]and it wheelies like a mofo :)[/QUOTE]

Mofo, I've never ridden one, would they be Italian?:rolleyes:

I can believe that it came from the basement of Chris Chance, but I have a hard time believing that Chris Chance built this bike. Why? For whom? Maybe he repaired it or something....

vjp

I can believe that it came from the basement of Chris Chance, but I have a hard time believing that Chris Chance built this bike. Why? For whom? Maybe he repaired it or something....
vjp



Not hard to believe...Chris spent his first years building custom bikes. Didn't get into MTB's until around '82. The frame is well built with very nice details...


a few pics:




http://i695.photobucket.com/albums/vv313/eastcoaststeve/oddballbb.jpg




http://i695.photobucket.com/albums/vv313/eastcoaststeve/oddball2.jpg




http://i695.photobucket.com/albums/vv313/eastcoaststeve/oddball4.jpg




http://i695.photobucket.com/albums/vv313/eastcoaststeve/oddball1.jpg




http://i695.photobucket.com/albums/vv313/eastcoaststeve/oddball6.jpg





cheers,

Steve

hmmm, the fillet brazing does lend credence to the story, but the head tube decal is a seat tube decal from the later 80's early 90's while the Reynolds decal is from the 70's...

Thanks for the pics, I like your bike, I am incredibly difficult, please post pics of you riding this bike in an alleycat while drinking a pbr and I will come around :thumb:

Cheers

vjp

vjp, I don't follow. I knew him when he built road bikes. Are you under the impression that he never did?

No alleycats for this old dog...it will get a fair bit of use around the neighborhood riding with my kids, and embarassing them with my childish riding style :p


I'll post up some more pics after it's been cleaned and tuned.


I'll let you know if I find out anything else about it's history.


cheers,

Steve

Hmm, the Reynolds decal on the seat tube is a fork blade decal.

vjp, I don't follow. I knew him when he built road bikes. Are you under the impression that he never did?

I am being silly, I know that he built road bikes, I am just not sure about this very non-road bike.

vjp

No alleycats for this old dog...it will get a fair bit of use around the neighborhood riding with my kids, and embarassing them with my childish riding style :p


I'll post up some more pics after it's been cleaned and tuned.


I'll let you know if I find out anything else about it's history.


cheers,

Steve

Someone on here must have a link to the incredible acrobatic bike video that was posted a few years ago, study it, THEN embarrass your kids!!

cheers

Started the cleanup today and discovered two nice suprises :)







http://i695.photobucket.com/albums/vv313/eastcoaststeve/forkdrop1.jpg






http://i695.photobucket.com/albums/vv313/eastcoaststeve/reardrop1.jpg






Steve

hurray, a radball bike with campa dropouts... Thats awesome!!

Sad bit is people will kinda laugh at you when they see you with this... Until you get to a bike polo court that is. Right that moment your street cred meter will probably burst:D

hurray, a radball bike with campa dropouts... Thats awesome!!

Sad bit is people will kinda laugh at you when they see you with this... Until you get to a bike polo court that is. Right that moment your street cred meter will probably burst:D




Really sad part is people laugh at me all the time...at least on this one I can pretend they're laughing at the bike ;)






Steve



.

Chris built lots of prototypes and unusual bikes. Some frame builder built it, someone who could do nice work quickly. Why not?

All cleaned up and ready to rock aound the block....





http://i695.photobucket.com/albums/vv313/eastcoaststeve/ccredball1.jpg





http://i695.photobucket.com/albums/vv313/eastcoaststeve/ccradball3.jpg




cog appears to be brazed on to collar???
http://i695.photobucket.com/albums/vv313/eastcoaststeve/ccradball4.jpg





http://i695.photobucket.com/albums/vv313/eastcoaststeve/ccradball5.jpg






http://i695.photobucket.com/albums/vv313/eastcoaststeve/ccradball6.jpg








Steve