Withered

Fatback Carbon

The crazy Sunday that turned into an overnighter at the airport in Minneapolis turned into a fry pan hot day at Bootleg Canyon and then a wilted Guitar Ted wobbled off to a seedy dive in Las Vegas with visions of food and bed in his addled brain.

Yeah.......so what's cool at the show? Fat bikes, 27.5"ers, and .....and...blah! It's funny this year, but there seems to be a distinct lack of enthusiasm for much of anything. Maybe it was the seeming lower attendance. (I wasn't the only one mentioning this, by the way.) Maybe it was the fact, as I have said on many previous occasions, that we've already seen all this stuff, (for the most part), already.

But you know what? When it is cloudless, 100ºF outdoors, and the wind starts blowing, it is not fun to be out there at Bootleg Canyon. Not fun at all.

But yeah....the fat bike thing is getting ridiculous. Carbon rims, carbon frames, carbon forks. It's crazy expensive, and obviously lighter than metal. I did see the new Fatback tire, Industry 9 fat bike hubs, and a double walled, drilled carbon fat bike rim on a Felt fat bike with a Bosch electric motor. Wait......wouldn't that make it a fat-motorcycle? Yes it would- with pedals!

There was also the Giant Revolt gravel rig. I like it, but the down tube guard they put on wasn't very well thought out. Let's just call it a "mud collector" and leave it at that. The Surly Straggler is a lilac, sparkly beauty, (not really purple at all), and heavy. Maybe it should be renamed the "Tankler". 

Oh yes, there were a few good things floating about. 36"ers, and adult sized "big wheelers". And $370.00 Shimano mtb shoes you can mold to yer tootsies. I'll have more on the shoes here later. And I'll have more on other gizmos and bicycle shaped objects coming your way soon.......