Hi looking for some info or advice on Witcomb/Bigfoot/Muddyfox

[Gingernuts]

Hi just joined the forum, so hi to all. I hope you don't mind me asking you but this bike is bit of a contradiction and I think it could be custom made. We bought it secondhand about 12 to 15 years ago. The guy who owned it said he bought it from Witcombs shop. It has Witcomb in the frame plus a badge at the front plus a gold sticker. However ths frame and handlebars and pedals are Bigfoot while the forks have Muddyfox! It's a mountain bike which I don't think Witcomb made. I know that the onset of mountain bikes were one of the reasons they went out if business.
Do you have any knowledge on whether they may have made any or any other thoughts. Thanks in advance.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

It was once quite common practice for some shops to rebadge bought-in frames as their own, and sell these to customers. Some did a mixture of in-house builds and buy-ins, depending on the economics, and some only ever sold rebadged frames bought on a trade basis from elsewhere. Generally the practice tended to be confined to quality steel road racing or touring frames, usually made from Reynolds 531.
Doing this to what looks like a generic Y-frame full sus MTB seems a bit of a last throw of the dice effort to me.