Fatbiking and Other Junk

Jumping on the Bandwagon.

I guess fatbiking is no longer a fad or passing phase of the bike industry; whether or not it is a joke still remains to be seen.  This most recent trip to Interbike in Las Vegas only showed how fatbikes have spread.

Some of the plus size tires offered by WTB.  Good to see a mainstream tire company coming out with new treads.

Pivot's fatbike offering, the Les Fat.  Nice cutouts on the rims.

Twenty-inch wheeled fatbike for kids.  Not exactly lightweight (kids' bikes aren't) but imagine the fun to be had as a kid.  Charge bikes had a large selection of fatbikes across a broad range of prices, from $1200 for a complete bike (steel frame) to a titanium frame complete bike for about $5000.

More to come later in the week.

Skookum Photos.

I don't know why I didn't include a few photos of the Skookum frame in my last post.  Opps.  Here ya go:

Nice colors.

Nice colors too.  Not sure what I would like more; I guess for the price I am getting the bike, I'll take whatever color I get.  I do know my wheelset is DT Swiss so it will be a nice well built wheelset that will be very durable.

Updates.

After almost ten months of no activity, I guess I should post something in the fatbike section.  I rode my Borealis a few more times last winter enjoying the great singletrack we had (thanks to Kris and Hungerman for grooming it by hand) and then transitioned to summer bikes sometime in May.  I went to Interbike this past September and noticed that a lot of companies are jumping on the fatbike wagon.  Which is nice since the tire offerings is so much better now and complete carbon fatbikes can now be gotten for under $2200 (the Heller Bloodhound from QBP).  Hellava deal the Bloodhound.  I myself am getting a Fatback Skookum carbon bike (at a significantly reduced price off full retail), and I am thinking it could be usable in the summer with a different wheelset.  I have three very nice 29er bikes, one rigid steel, one rigid carbon, and a full suspension (all Niner frames).  I do like them all but they tend to take a beating as work bikes and while I don't care that much about the rigid steel bike, the carbon bikes are on the spendy side so using them as work bikes is a bit silly.  What I do like about the Skookum is Fatback has designed it to work with a 27.5 or 29er wheelset, and I like the ride characteristics of 29er wheels.  Plus the tires would be a lot cheaper.  Using a fatbike in the summer always seemed pointless to me for several reasons, some of which were the tires weren't durable enough, tended to be quite expensive, there wasn't much selection for them, they were limited to 26er sizes, and the ride characteristics of the really fat tires wasn't great.  Plus, the industry was (and may still be) figuring out what the standard for hubs will be moving forward.  Lot of reasons to sit on my hands for a year or two.

But with the price of the Skookum, I can justify getting one and building up a summer wheelset for about a grand.  Hey Presto, nice carbon bike for work.

Finally.

After probably two years, I have finally gotten my Borealis Yampa built up and I have ridden it twice (I may not have time today for a ride).  What a blast.  I had forgotten how much fun it is to ride singletrack in the winter (and how hard it is too).  Total weight is 26 pounds, eight ounces.  Not the most super light build up; I suppose my tires alone are close to five pounds.  After poking around on the web, here are the actual weights:  Surly Lou rear (120 tpi): 1528 grams; 45Nrth Dillinger 5 Studded (120 tpi): 1535 grams.  Total weight: 3063 grams or 6.75 pounds for the tires.  Add another pound for the Stan's latex tire sealant and a quarter of the weight is tires and sealant.  Chunky, chunky.  Can't imagine if I didn't have the HED carbon rims.  This thing would be a pig.

Yes, that front ring is really small: 22 teeth.  The bike may be light but fatbiking in snow is still hard work.

Kona Explosiv Thoughts.

Yesterday I posted about my Kona Explosiv 27.5 and how I think it rides.  Overall, I would prefer a smaller frame for a bit more responsiveness and SRAM instead of Shimano parts.  I like the 27.5 platform overall but prefer a 29er, and find myself mulling over buying a frame and building one up the way I want.  I think I will be selling my Explosiv sometime this summer and then consider a frame.  I may talk to Ritchey Components at Interbike and seeing if they would consider selling me a frame and fork over the winter.  Or maybe buying a complete bike from Jamis: their Dragon 650 Pro is only $2900 retail (I could probably get it for around $2000).

Last Hurrah.

At the end of last month I went biking with the boss up on Togwotee Pass after he raved about hitting Shadow Mountain after a hard freeze and riding all over the place on top of the frozen snow without sinking in at all, but we didn't time it right at all.  It had snowed the day before up high and there was six to eight inches of new snow and drifts on Flagstaff Road.  Figuring that was out we backtracked and rode down Four Mile Meadow road to Turpin Meadows then out the Buffalo Valley road.  It was pretty fun but now with the weather warming up the fatbike is going to hibernate.  Some photos:

Start of the ride.  Pretty soft conditions at first but it firmed up nicely once we got to the part of the trail that had been groomed over the winter.

Still sinking in a few inches, despite the girth of my tires.

We are not alone: grizzle bear tracks.

Bare pavement.  Fatbikes suck balls on bare pavement.

Now that no more fatbiking til next season, segue to dirt biking with more normal type bikes, like this one:

2014 Kona Explosiv 27.5.  It rides pretty well from what I can tell so far.  Jury is still out on what I think about the 27.5 platform.

Light it ain't.  That is the out-of-the-box weight.  I may have saved a few onces by getting rid of the wheel reflectors, plastic spoke protector on the rear wheel, and swapping the pedals for a lighter pair from Xpedo but still heavy.  More to come soon on this bike.

Putting It to Bed.

With it almost the end of February, I am thinking of putting aside my Borealis bike build-up until spring when I have more time.  Right now I don't have the time to build it up, much less order parts.  Spring project it is.  I also haven't been riding the Surly Moonlander as much either: lack of time.  How did this happen?

Borealis Yampa = Thing of Beauty.

I have been looking forward to a carbon fat bike for a while and have seen several models like the Salsa Beargrease:

Too clunky/chunky at the headtube for my taste.  Too chunky overall in fact for me.

Or the 9Zero7 Whiteout Carbon:

I don't like the swayback top tube.

Or the Fatback Corvus:

I like the angles around the headtube but don't like the curved downtube near the BB nor do I like the swayback toptube.

Of all of these makers, I like the Borealis the best:  it has a nice flair, the toptube is sloped, the seatstays aren't overbuilt, the toptube has a slight curve to it (looks sexy), and it doesn't look super huge like some of the other frames.  And let's face it, if you're going to ride a fatbike with huge tires, a huge frame makes the entire package seem too big.  I really like my frame and fork and am looking forward to riding soon.  Now if I could just figure out my drivetrain.

New Toy Unboxed: Borealis Frame and Fork!

Yay!  Christmas came early.  I finally unboxed my new Borealis frame and fork yesterday and took some photos and weighed the frame and fork.  Holy crap: this thing weighs significantly less than the tires I have lined up to use on it (4 pounds 7 oz for the frame/fork versus 6 pounds eleven oz for the tires - Big Fat Larry 4.7 and a Nate 4.8).  And here are some photos:

The downtube near the bottom bracket is as big as my wrist.

The fork alone:

Now the frame:

It weighs:

and both:

And they weigh together:

So, let's see: 4 pounds, 7 oz for the frame/fork, and six pounds ten oz for the tires.  Grand total for four items: 11 pounds, one ounce.  Doesn't leave much wiggle room if I want to get this bike built up under 25 pounds.  6.775 km to be exact.  Aye carumba.

New Toy!

The newest toy just came this past Friday:

Here's the shipping label:

Yep: ten pounds shipping weight (including the box).  I haven't had time to open it up and pull the frame and fork out.  Now I have to buy all the components and a wheelset.  Borealis said their carbon wheelsets will be back in stock sometime in January.  Waiting, waiting.