Wednesday, December 05, 2012

Smooth

By-Tor The Titanium Mukluk
Whenever I ride my titanium mukluk when it is fitted with the fat bike wheels, I get asked, "Does it ride any different than the aluminum ones?"

And by the way- I do have an aluminum one, so I can, (and have) done back to back rides on both bikes. And you know what? The answer just might surprise you.

The big, fat tires at the lower pressures I run them at, (never anything over 10psi), would make one think that these big air springs would really mask anything the titanium could possibly be doing for you in terms of ride feel. That makes a ton of sense too. I thought the same thing when I bought the frame and fork a year ago. I figured the main advantages for me would be slightly less weight and corrosion/finish advantages I would have over a powder coated aluminum frame.

Now, maybe, just maybe it is all seat post, but I do run a similar carbon post in the Snow Dog, so maybe it isn't that. Whatever it is, I will say every time I ride that titanium frame that it rides smoother than the Snow Dog does. Bigger, sharp hits just are not as big of a deal on By-Tor, and overall that titanium feel is very evident to me when I ride it.

Yep! I was pretty surprised by that finding, but there it is. And also- I rode the single speed set up yesterday to work and back. Spin, spin, spin! But when the going gets gloppy, it will be the right gear for the job. Well.......that is if we get a snowy winter! Maybe it will take a while, but when it comes, By-Tor will be ready!

3 comments:

grannygear said...

That makes perfect sense to me. If the tire is doing X for you and the alu frame is doing Y, then the same tire on the Ti is still doing X and the Ti frame is doing Y++ for you. Clear as mud, eh?

gg

Max said...

What gear ratio are you running on the Ti Mukluk and what type of terrain are you generally riding with it?

Guitar Ted said...

Max: The bike is set up with a 32 X 22T and will be used for wintry commutes and deeper snow rides.

I typically would not use a gear so low, and in dry terrain I would go back to a 32 X 18T, which gets me up and over hill and dale but leaves me decent speed on the flats.

I may go down to a 20T in the back if things start to look like they will stay mostly clear of snow this winter. We'll see.