Breaking In The Beast

Dialing in the fit....

Well, here is at least one project that has come to a close. My son's new Mukluk 2 rig all done and ridden. Here's the rundown on the set up...

New 2014 Mukluk frame and fork. Size XS. Rear derailleur is a SRAM X-9, front derailleur is a Shimano SLX. Crank set is an Origin 8 Sub-Compact with a 32T/22T ring set and the rear cassette is a 12-36T. The shifters are Grip shift twisters. One brake- a rear Avid BB-7 with an Avid SD-1 lever.

The head set is a Cane Creek 40 Series. Handle bar is a cut down Surly Open Bar mounted in the "drop" position. Stem is a Bontrager SST. Seat post is a 31.6mm Salsa model. The saddle......he isn't comfortable with. I'll switch it out to his favored WTB Lazer.

Tires and wheels are Surly Big Fat Larrys on Rolling Darryls laced to Salsa Mukluk 2 hubs. I also mounted two Velocity Bottle Traps on the fork to hold his water bottles. Grips are Salsa Back Country lock on grips in Metallic Glitter Gold that I cut down and mounted in reverse to work with his Grip Shifters. Pedals are Fixation Mesa pedals in white.

I got it all together and dialed in the fit by getting the saddle slid forward and setting the height where he felt comfortable and still wasn't too low. With a few rounds in the back lot of the shop, we were ready to roll out to the woods.

Back home to get into our gear and fill the water bottles. Then we rode out from the house. It was a short trip over to the dike on Black Hawk Creek where I taught Jacob about the front derailleur. (He had never used one before.) He then scaled the dike like a champ. Afterward, I had to make a small front derailleur adjustment on the bike, (good thing I packed along some wrenches!), and we were off again.

Down the dike, then over to a short section of open area where there is some sand deposited from past flooding activity. I had Jacob try riding over this to help him understand that the fat bike wasn't going to dump him like his old 24" wheeled rig used to.

With that bit of confidence instilled, we then hit a bit of rooty, rough single track, and there is also some sand back here as well. He decided to turn suddenly in sand which showed him that was not necessarily a great idea. He fell down. No big deal. We were off again in a jiffy.

Now we were going on a bit of a rough grass traverse on some steeply sloping ground along side a pond. Jacob wasn't feeling too secure about this and wanted to walk. I talked him into trying it out, and before I knew it, he high sided and launched him self headlong into some brush lining the pond! He was mostly okay, but he caught the flat pedal on the way off with his shin and punctured himself a bit. Blood, but not much, was leaking out slowly. I took a look at him and he was hurting from it, but able to continue.

Up on top of the dike we went and continued the ride all the way back to the house with no real further issues. A successful outing with a bit of adventure for him, and a new bike that is a better fit and lots more fun for him. I think this will be a good pairing until he outgrows it!