The Snow Dog Returns: Part 3

The last ride of '16 was the first for the Snow Dog in a long time.

The Snow Dog, a 2011 Salsa Cycles Mukluk that was part of my 50th birthday present, has been resurrected from behind a pile of stuff in the basement of the palatial Guitar Ted Laboratories once again. This time I used what I had on hand, and some of that was a bit of a surprise.

When I say that the bike was under a pile, I mean that. I should also add that it was without a rear wheel, and because it was sitting at such an odd angle, I did not know if it had a drive train attached to it. The wrong fork was in it, and the seat post and saddle was stuck in the frame as a place keeper. So, I had no idea what I was going to have to work with once I retrieved it from its ignominious place up against the basement wall. When I peeled away the detritus that was obstructing my access to the Snow Dog, and I lifted it up, I saw that it already had a complete drive train!

Somewhere in the sands of time I had transferred over the original Ti Mukluk's 1 X 9 drive train to the Snow Dog. So, I had a decision to make. To use the drive train as I had found it would make the Snow Dog rideable with much greater ease. To go back to the 2X or 3X set up would have meant more fiddling and work. Besides, I had to configure a new brake set up, since I must have stripped all of the old stuff off to set up the son's original fat bike.

So, I went with the 1 X 9 set up for the time being, got a tandem length brake cable and new housing for the rear brake, and put the old Ti Muks wheels on the Snow Dog. In another surprise, I found that the frame bag made for my Gen I Fargo was a perfect fit for the Snow Dog! I popped on a Cane Creek Thudbuster ST I had laying around with a WTB Laser V saddle already attached to it and that was that. I was ready to ride.

The purpose for the Snow Dog in the future will be for commutes to work in winter and to go fishing with my son in Spring and Summer. I already got him a portable fishing rig set up and I will get myself one as well. Looking at something super simple for myself, like the Tenkara stuff.

Then it will maybe see an upgrade or two after Winter, but for now this is the set up and it should do exactly what I want it to do until we get out of the Winter weather and I can start thinking about how to make it work for fishing with my son.