Fat Biking Fun-Times: Part I

As I said in my short little Labor Day blurb yesterday, (By the way, I hope everyone had a great holiday!), I was up north visiting Ben Witt and we rode our legs off on fat bikes with his friend Curtis. It was awesome! But before I get ahead of myself, I have to go back and cover the end of one story before this one can get going.....

Phil Phailure Phixed!: The plague that was the Phil Wood & Co. hub has finally come to an ending!

Spicy!

I purchased a set of the new, matched pair Salsa Cycles Mukluk hubs that came out recently. Ben said to hold off putting them together until I could come up, and on Sunday morning we laced them up into the Rolling Darryls, while removing the offending hubs.

I was thinking I'd miss the shiny silver Phil look, but I'll tell ya what. These Salsa hubs actually work right. I know! It is amazing, isn't it. A hub that is just doing what it should when you ride it. I could hardly believe the Snow Dog was not acting up.

Ben took a look-see into the old hub, and it was pretty obvious that two pawls were engaging and two pawls were not getting into the ring gear at times, causing them to get forced into place with a pop and clang. The ring gear was worn funny and the pawls were worn strangely. It definitely wasn't right.

Ben could even get the hub to pop and snap in his hands. Two Phil wood hubs in a row that were junk. Who da thunk such a thing could ever come to pass? Well, we sure didn't, but one thing is for sure- a Phil Wood hub will never be in my future.

Two Muks on a Thule  T2!

  My little spin around the parking lot was totally unlike anything I'd experienced on the Snow Dog since I rode Ben's wheel last winter. The Salsa hub sounded and felt sublime. I couldn't wait to get out and ride it.

So we loaded up two Mukluks on my Thule T2 rack. We had to ditch the rear wheel strap since it was not long enough to go around the wheel and cam over in the ratchet. So, Ben grabbed an Everything Strap. No problem! (And his bike had the Big Fat Larrys too!)

As I said in my short little Labor Day blurb yesterday, (By the way, I hope everyone had a great holiday!), I was up north visiting Ben Witt and we rode our legs off on fat bikes with his friend Curtis. It was awesome! But before I get ahead of myself, I have to go back and cover the end of one story before this one can get going.....

 A Few Words About The New Tires: Yes- I saw the new Big Fat Larrys mounted to 80mm wide rims. I also saw Black Floyds on Large Marges, and I handled the Nate 3.8 as well. Let me just break down the three quickly befor I carry on.
Big Fat Larry: Want to make your Larry 3.8's look skinny? Put them up next to a bike with Big Fat Larrys on 80mm wide rims and compare. It is quite obvious that the new BFL is much bigger. I think a regular Larry would fit inside a BFL easily. Really! I briefly rode the Muk with the BFL's and they roll no slower than the regular Larrys.

You will need to do a 2X type drive train and lose a  cog or two on the cassette. Ben was running a 2 X 7 set up and it worked really well.

The BFL's will be optimal for maximum float, and I see no real need for myself to put these on 100 mm rims. The 80's will be lighter, and the float on a BFL will be greater then the normal Larry since you should be able to go a few psi lower than you could with an 80mm rim and Larry tire.

The Nate 3.8:  The Nate 3.8 is going to be a great, ultra-traction monster. If it can't be climbed or descended on a fat bike fitted with Nates, it'll be because the rider doesn't have the legs. The tire won't be at fault! I didn't think the Nates were all that heavy either. (Compared to 27TPI Larrys, for example) I can't wait to take a set to El Paso, Texas in the Franklin Mountain State Park and go up those rubble filled climbs. I'm betting the Nate 3.8 will kill it!

Curtis, Black Floyds, Pugs = Powerslide!

Black Floyd: This guy is sooo cool!  It is essentially an overgrown Fat Frank tire, if you are at all familiar with that Schwalbe model. The Fat Franks were mounted on Curtis' Pugs on 65mm Large marge rims. The Floyds were very rounded and peaked almost on these rims.

Curtis is a very good rider, and he went everywhere we did on these tires. Single track, descending steeps, and climbing were all done with no real issues. Curtis had the upper hand on pavement, gravel, and any really hard surface over our Larrys. I think a Floyd on the back and a Larry front just might be a great XC-ish set up for a fat bike.

Finally, the Floyds make the most unreal scream when skidded on pavement. It is ultra-cool! I can't even begin to describe the sound, but you will giggle when you here it. Guaranteed!

Back to the story: Well, anyway, Ben and I trucked the two fat bikes from Faribault to Northfield, met up with Curtis, and hit the town for some "goofing off". I wasn't expecting to be out all that long, so I wore my casual shoes on my Atom Lab flats, cargo shorts, and a t-shirt. Ya know.....just goofing off for awhile, right? 

Right..............More on the "Tour Of Northfield" tomorrow.