First Ti Muk 2 Winter Ride

The 'sled-necks" were a wee bit excited that it snowed a touch Sunday night/Monday morning.

Well, you just knew it was coming. Snow! Winter has made its presence known in Northeastern Iowa. Sunday night and into Monday morning, we received about 4" max. maybe 3.5". Anyway, it was an odd snow, since it would have been this powdery fluff, had it happened a month from now. It wasn't though, as it absorbed a lot of moisture from the ground since it hasn't really froze here yet. That kept it from blowing around a lot too, which kept it piled up more than it would have been otherwise.

Sheltered areas had the most snow, but open areas were scoured of the white stuff by 20+ mph winds unless there were ruts or things that the snow could drift behind. A mixed bag of conditions then. Perfect for checking out how this Ti Muk would handle versus the old Mukluks I have ridden.

This would also be the first time in a long time I have used a tubeless set up on snow, and the first time I've used tubeless tires on proper tubeless rims for fat biking on snow. Would that make a difference? These were questions I wanted answers for, even though the snow wasn't much to write home about. So, I planned on tracking in some of my commute to work, as it crosses a couple of grassy, open areas, and goes down a few alleys as well. I didn't want any surprises on Tuesday when I went in for work. I wanted to know what ice conditions might be, and it was certainly cold enough for ice!

Cruising some levee tops.

I found some snow at a depth that made my feet touch the snow at times, so it was fairly deep. I was most struck by this bike's stability in snow. Sometimes changing consistency or changes in the terrain under the snow can upset the bike- especially the front wheel- but this bike seems to be more immune to that. Well, so far anyway. I couldn't fault its handling, that's for sure.

The Rohloff 14 speed internal geared hub has a super low gear and I had spinny gearing for days. That may have been a reason I had more stability? Not sure. The Terrene Cake Eater tires were grippy on ascents of the levee. No issues there. Speaking of the Rohloff, I was also wondering if the weight distribution of the drive train may have been part of the reason for the feelings of stability and traction. I'm certain it has something to do with what I was experiencing. All in all, this Mukluk displayed better handling in snow, so far, and I'll have to report back whenever I can after we have more snow and conditions more conducive to fat biking in that snow.

Stay tuned......