All In On The Titanium Mukluk

Okay, it's all on this one...

With my son's bike completed, and the Snow Dog laid to rest for now, I have to look at one fat bike for my riding needs. That's not a bad thing, especially when it is a titanium Mukluk. So for starters, I am not complaining at all! In fact, it may be a blessing in disguise to only have this bike to focus on for fat biking right now.

Second of all, a big shout out to Bike Bag Dude who made all the bags you see here on my Mukluk. I've been playing with them all Summer long and figuring out just how to use all this new found versatility. These bags will be hard pressed to usage this Winter and I am looking forward to being afforded the possibility of longer self-supported riding around here in the white stuff.

Now as for the ol' Mukluk, I have to do a few things soon just to get the rig up to snuff. Chain, cassette, and possibly a big chain ring all need replacing. Then I need new tires, since these Larrys are getting long in the tooth and won't do for Winter riding. Finally, I have done one other thing already, which I should have done long ago, and that's replace the seat post. The FSA SLK post was great, but it was about 1/2" too short. I replaced it with the Salsa Shaft post from the Snow Dog, and the Ergon saddle came along for the ride. Now I am at "full extension"!

The following things are all "optional" items, but don't be surprised if some of these things actually find their way to this bike. You never know what's going to happen in the future, and of course, I can always change my mind.

Sneak peek of On One's upcoming fat bike fork in carbon.

• Carbon Fat Bike Fork: A titanium bike deserves a nice fork. Trouble was that up until recently, the 1 1/8th straight steer tube fork standard my Mukluk uses precluded the use of some of the nicer forks that were coming out, which were all tapered steer tube only. Well, that is about to change soon, supposedly. On One has slipped out some info and this image of a carbon fiber fat bike fork with dimensions well suited to a Mukluk of this vintage. Sub-700 grams too. They are saying it will be available in straight 1 1/8th, so we'll see.....
• Titanium Seat Post: A titanium seat post in a titanium bike? Makes sense to me. Salsa actually has one too. Could be a great upgrade from the Shaft post I am using now and would increase comfort as well. Titanium seat posts are spendy though.....
• Crankset: My crank and bottom bracket are certainly okay and work well. However; there are lighter, higher functioning cranks out now for fat bikes. More than a few options exist as well. Again, we'll see.....

Well, that's about it, really. I will probably table the new wheel ideas I had last Summer. I am thinking along different lines these days and I will be focusing on getting some good tires for now. Tires will make more difference than anything else I am considering, so that's job #1.

Then it will be on to doing a lot more fat bike riding for the latter part of the year. I'll mix that up with gravel riding when I can, but with my choices down to one bike with the fatness, I have to get going now with the upgrades. Then who knows? I may opt to sign on for Triple D once again, and that's always a good motivator for getting out to ride in the Winter.