Wide Tires On Gravel: Alternative Bikes

Fat bikes make great gravel bikes. This is from 2012

Welcome back to the series on why wider gravel tires may or may not be a good idea for you. In this post I am going to run over some alternative fat tired bicycle choices which work really well on gravel. In the last post in this series I went over some things in terms of geometry when bigger tires are used and how a common gravel bike might be leveraged as an option to run fatter tires. Check the post out HERE in case you missed it.

This post will end with a bit of my opinion on the entire fat gravel bike idea and why we may be not seeing the forest for the trees. 

Okay, let's dive in on some alternatives to traditional gravel bicycles which can be utilized on gravel with great success. First up we have the fat bike.

Fat Bikes:

As soon as fat bikes were introduced as turnkey, out of the box options to ride in 2011, riders were trying them out on gravel roads. I know I did this and so did several other folks. I held a fat bike gravel group ride in 2012 which we tried as a gag, in a way, because all of us were pretty sure we'd be slower and working harder than we had on the bikes we typically were using at the time.

Rider Josh Magie on a single speed, drop bar fat bike during a race in 2019. Image by Jon Duke

Much to our collective surprise, we covered the 40 mile route in the same average time we usually did on lighter, skinnier tired bikes, and we were far more comfortable and fresh at the end of it. Since then, fat bikes took over as the bike of choice on gravel for several riders, fat bike categories were put in place at many gravel events, and to this day, fat bikes are often an advantage in certain conditions and for certain courses. If you have a fat bike, you may not even want to mess with trying to modify your gravel bike, or think about getting one of the new-fangled fat tire capable gravel bikes. You already have a unique gravel solution which should be fun and comfortable while retaining a decent amount of speed.

Image courtesy of Jones Bikes

 Plus Bikes:

So-called "Plus" bikes are another avenue which people go down to find gravel nirvana. Those 2.8" to 3.0" tires, and in some cases even wider, are a great alternative to full-on fat bike wheels and tires and are versatile in that they can not only tame gravel, but a lot of MTB terrain as well.

One of the most commonly mentioned brands when it comes to plus-bikes is Jones Bikes. Jeff Jones created a very unique, very comfortable and versatile machine which has found plenty of passionate fans who ride gravel.

Jones is not the only game in town here though. Bicycles like the Trek 1120, late model Salsa Cycles Fargos, and Singular's Gryphon Mk3 all can be set up with big, poofy 29"er or 650B plus-sized rubber and dominate gravel, dirt, and sand.

The advantages of these bikes is that you don't have a specialist, niche bike good for only one task. Plus-bikes and fat bikes can do other things very well also. So, maybe instead of modding your current gravel bike, or dropping big bucks on a brand new rig just for the chance to run fatter tires on gravel, a versatile fat or plus-bike may make more sense and be more fun. 

2025 Salsa Cycles Fargo. Image courtesy of Salsa Cycles

Maybe We Don't Need This:

Finally, maybe all you really need is your current gravel bike. Bigger tires is a fashionable trend right now and in terms of the less than 1% of racers who ballyhoo this idea, who really is going to be out there winning races because they have the biggest tire on the latest, greatest gravel bike? Probably not you or I. We're probably in this not to make a living, or get high-impact sponsorships. So, keep in mind what the Pro's are doing is mainly for the less than 1% of gravel riders. Your bike is probably just fine as is.

Perhaps the thing you "need" is to just go out for a ride, forget all about this fat tire, racer driven stuff, and have a good, fun time on a bicycle. It is most likely the reason you started riding in the first place. "Fun" and the pure joy of riding is paramount and when this gets lost in a haze of chasing a trend or anxiety about doing well at the next event is when we've gone off the rails.

"Gravel" as a way to ride or race was never started as a way to mimic Pro set-ups or be locked into any certain way of "doing it". This was more about the experiences and friendships formed through common striving to reach goals we set personally. How you crossed that finish line was unique and special and was partially defined by how you did it in the end. In a way, back then, the odder and more freakish the set up the more one was revered for their perseverance in making it to the end. It is partially responsible for why folks used fat bikes and Schwinn Typhoons, and Motobecane road bikes with 27" wheels. The whole thing was a thumbing of the nose to the previous "cock of the walk" way folks strutted about with their high-dollar machines at the start lines of road races and XC MTB events.

This isn't saying you shouldn't try things, and it isn't saying Pro riders do not have good ideas ever. No, but it is too easy to fall into that trap of having to "chase the next best thing", and this is something to watch out for with this fat tire trend. As long as people keep the main thing the main thing (fun, joy of riding, personal challenge) then we're going to see gravel riding continue to be a healthy segment of cycling.

I hope you all enjoyed this series. Now back to our regulary scheduled blog programming!

Fat Tires On Gravel: From Krampus To Gryphon

Does The Gryphon Mk3 Measure Up to The Original Vision? 

In  this series I wanted to bring you along historically and philosophically on my journey towards getting a certain 'flavor' of gravel travel exemplified in a specific type of bicycle. I hope that it has come across to anyone that has read the entire series so far that this bicycle I had envisioned was something that, at first, did not exist. Also, that in some ways, history had to evolve to a point where the vision I had could be realized practically. 

In other words, what I was after was probably, most likely, a very odd thing. That said, I presented this series as a way for anyone else that was curious about my Singular Gryphon Mk3 to understand where I was coming from in regard to my high praise of the bike. 

But does the Gryphon Mk3 do everything I wished for in 2014? Is this "that bike" that I had envisioned back almost ten years ago now. That's where this post comes in. Now, this is not a review on the Gryphon Mk3, I already have done that here: "Country Views: A Gryphon On Gravel " This post will be looking to see if what I thought I was getting into a decade ago has panned out with this bike in 2023 and beyond. 

Okay, so first of all, my thoughts were spurred on to this idea by my exposure to the Surly Krampus. That bike's wheels and tires were what I thought were the story. Those Knards in a 29" X 3" size were amazing tires and whatever wheels that the bike had must have been good enough that the tires shined brightly for me. So, the most important part was that the tires and wheels had to work, or this idea may have never happened, or have been possible to pull off, if say the tire market for big, poofy 29" tires went away. Thankfully, that did not happen.

Heavy tires and wheels killed this idea on this Fargo

The wheels and tires, therefore, were paramount to getting where I wanted to go. Surly 29" X 3" Knards are still listed on the Surly site, but they are hard to find out in the wild. Even the Krampus comes with 2.6" tires now, making that bike "just another hardtail". The magic is in the tire size, and to a somewhat lesser extent, the rim width, so getting those right is very important to this idea. 

The tire couldn't be some knobbed-up, enduro type thing either. That would have killed the idea straight away. The appeal for this idea was based mostly on the Knard's easy roll on gravel and its "farm implement" type flotation capabilities. With choices becoming slim, I was forced to look elsewhere for satisfaction, and especially because the 29 X 3 Knard was becoming a rare bird. 

You might say that the Extraterrestrial is what I was looking for, but Surly only makes that in a 2.5 and it is very heavy. I have a set and I wouldn't have pursued this fat tires on gravel thing any further had those been my only tire choice. 

Of course, I ended up with Teravail's Coronado tires in the 29" X 2.8" size. They are that tire that isn't a full-on enduro knobby, and they seemed to occupy a similar space as do the Knards, but even a bit better in terms of capabilities. The 2.8" size I knew well, from my time on the 27.5" X 2.8" Trailblazers, so I knew that the contact patch of a 29"er would only enhance what I liked about the Trailblazer. Plus, the Coronado comes in a lighter, tan walled version, which was even better for my purposes. 

 A rare type of tire best suited to my purposes.

So, the Coronado was sourced and now I had to decide what to do about wheels. Fortunately for me, I had a set of wheels which was perfect for this platform. Those being what I called my "Project Wide Gravel Wheels v2". Those were built to prove a point, and they did that well, but then I had them sitting around because, well.....they sucked on my gravel bikes. But for this Gryphon idea? The axle standards were perfect for the Gryphon Mk3, a stroke of luck, to be sure, and so they ended up becoming perfect for the tires, being a great width, and certainly a great hubset in the DT Swiss 350's. So, a stellar set of wheels for a big, poofy tire and they actually fit the Gryphon Mk3 as well. It was meant to be!

I cannot stress enough the importance of the wheels and tires which are at the heart of the idea for this bike. But without the right frame and fork, I would be without a completion of the dream. Fortunately for me, Sam Alison of Singular Cycles brought forth the Gryphon Mk3. His decisions were paramount in making this dream of mine come to fruition. The Gryphon's design cues: Eccentric bottom bracket, non-suspension corrected frame, drop bar specific design - These were all critical towards making my vision for fat tires on gravel a reality. 

The frame being made from steel, again, a big deal, but not a "deal killer". I am grateful for Sam's insistence that a frame ride well and look 'classic', as if it was a bike that had been evolved from those lines that form what many of us bicycle nerd types think of when we think of "adventure drop-bar bikes". I mean, it is obvious Sam is onboard with that ideal. Just look at anything the man has produced in terms of design and that is readily apparent. So, the aesthetics of the Gryphon Mk3 were appealing to me as well. 

 So, it all came together and it just worked. I had that similar feeling as I once had with the Fat Fargo, but now I had 29"er wheels and tires, not the momentum-sapping 27.5"ers. I had a very comfortable riding position. Not "sit up and beg", like a newer Fargo, but lower. Not so low that I would tire of being in an aero position too long, as with my Noble, or Tamland Two, which have pretty low stack heights for a gravel bike. Those bikes have their place, but I was looking at something that would do a trick those bikes couldn't do, and we are not concerned with aero so much here. I mean, the fat tires kind of took care of that, didn't they? Yes. 

No, this is the bike that will do those days when the gravel is very fresh and chunky and will smooth out the ride. It is the bike I hope to be on when flotation is king. Sand, really loose terrain, or even mild snowy conditions fit that idea. 

Is this "that bike" then which I was wanting? I will say that it has been better than I expected it might be so far. Obviously, it is still pretty new to me, and also obviously I haven't had the opportunities to test every bit of the idea I had envisioned so long ago now. 

But I have a good feeling that this bicycle is that bicycle.

That brings this series to a conclusion, for the time being, but look for periodic updates to occur as situations allow. And as always- Thank You For Reading Guitar Ted Productions!

Fat Tires On Gravel: From Krampus To Gryphon

Does The Gryphon Mk3 Measure Up to The Original Vision? 

In  this series I wanted to bring you along historically and philosophically on my journey towards getting a certain 'flavor' of gravel travel exemplified in a specific type of bicycle. I hope that it has come across to anyone that has read the entire series so far that this bicycle I had envisioned was something that, at first, did not exist. Also, that in some ways, history had to evolve to a point where the vision I had could be realized practically. 

In other words, what I was after was probably, most likely, a very odd thing. That said, I presented this series as a way for anyone else that was curious about my Singular Gryphon Mk3 to understand where I was coming from in regard to my high praise of the bike. 

But does the Gryphon Mk3 do everything I wished for in 2014? Is this "that bike" that I had envisioned back almost ten years ago now. That's where this post comes in. Now, this is not a review on the Gryphon Mk3, I already have done that here: "Country Views: A Gryphon On Gravel " This post will be looking to see if what I thought I was getting into a decade ago has panned out with this bike in 2023 and beyond. 

Okay, so first of all, my thoughts were spurred on to this idea by my exposure to the Surly Krampus. That bike's wheels and tires were what I thought were the story. Those Knards in a 29" X 3" size were amazing tires and whatever wheels that the bike had must have been good enough that the tires shined brightly for me. So, the most important part was that the tires and wheels had to work, or this idea may have never happened, or have been possible to pull off, if say the tire market for big, poofy 29" tires went away. Thankfully, that did not happen.

Heavy tires and wheels killed this idea on this Fargo

The wheels and tires, therefore, were paramount to getting where I wanted to go. Surly 29" X 3" Knards are still listed on the Surly site, but they are hard to find out in the wild. Even the Krampus comes with 2.6" tires now, making that bike "just another hardtail". The magic is in the tire size, and to a somewhat lesser extent, the rim width, so getting those right is very important to this idea. 

The tire couldn't be some knobbed-up, enduro type thing either. That would have killed the idea straight away. The appeal for this idea was based mostly on the Knard's easy roll on gravel and its "farm implement" type flotation capabilities. With choices becoming slim, I was forced to look elsewhere for satisfaction, and especially because the 29 X 3 Knard was becoming a rare bird. 

You might say that the Extraterrestrial is what I was looking for, but Surly only makes that in a 2.5 and it is very heavy. I have a set and I wouldn't have pursued this fat tires on gravel thing any further had those been my only tire choice. 

Of course, I ended up with Teravail's Coronado tires in the 29" X 2.8" size. They are that tire that isn't a full-on enduro knobby, and they seemed to occupy a similar space as do the Knards, but even a bit better in terms of capabilities. The 2.8" size I knew well, from my time on the 27.5" X 2.8" Trailblazers, so I knew that the contact patch of a 29"er would only enhance what I liked about the Trailblazer. Plus, the Coronado comes in a lighter, tan walled version, which was even better for my purposes. 

 A rare type of tire best suited to my purposes.

So, the Coronado was sourced and now I had to decide what to do about wheels. Fortunately for me, I had a set of wheels which was perfect for this platform. Those being what I called my "Project Wide Gravel Wheels v2". Those were built to prove a point, and they did that well, but then I had them sitting around because, well.....they sucked on my gravel bikes. But for this Gryphon idea? The axle standards were perfect for the Gryphon Mk3, a stroke of luck, to be sure, and so they ended up becoming perfect for the tires, being a great width, and certainly a great hubset in the DT Swiss 350's. So, a stellar set of wheels for a big, poofy tire and they actually fit the Gryphon Mk3 as well. It was meant to be!

I cannot stress enough the importance of the wheels and tires which are at the heart of the idea for this bike. But without the right frame and fork, I would be without a completion of the dream. Fortunately for me, Sam Alison of Singular Cycles brought forth the Gryphon Mk3. His decisions were paramount in making this dream of mine come to fruition. The Gryphon's design cues: Eccentric bottom bracket, non-suspension corrected frame, drop bar specific design - These were all critical towards making my vision for fat tires on gravel a reality. 

The frame being made from steel, again, a big deal, but not a "deal killer". I am grateful for Sam's insistence that a frame ride well and look 'classic', as if it was a bike that had been evolved from those lines that form what many of us bicycle nerd types think of when we think of "adventure drop-bar bikes". I mean, it is obvious Sam is onboard with that ideal. Just look at anything the man has produced in terms of design and that is readily apparent. So, the aesthetics of the Gryphon Mk3 were appealing to me as well. 

 So, it all came together and it just worked. I had that similar feeling as I once had with the Fat Fargo, but now I had 29"er wheels and tires, not the momentum-sapping 27.5"ers. I had a very comfortable riding position. Not "sit up and beg", like a newer Fargo, but lower. Not so low that I would tire of being in an aero position too long, as with my Noble, or Tamland Two, which have pretty low stack heights for a gravel bike. Those bikes have their place, but I was looking at something that would do a trick those bikes couldn't do, and we are not concerned with aero so much here. I mean, the fat tires kind of took care of that, didn't they? Yes. 

No, this is the bike that will do those days when the gravel is very fresh and chunky and will smooth out the ride. It is the bike I hope to be on when flotation is king. Sand, really loose terrain, or even mild snowy conditions fit that idea. 

Is this "that bike" then which I was wanting? I will say that it has been better than I expected it might be so far. Obviously, it is still pretty new to me, and also obviously I haven't had the opportunities to test every bit of the idea I had envisioned so long ago now. 

But I have a good feeling that this bicycle is that bicycle.

That brings this series to a conclusion, for the time being, but look for periodic updates to occur as situations allow. And as always- Thank You For Reading Guitar Ted Productions!

Fat Tires On Gravel: From Krampus To Gryphon

A computer rendering of the Gryphon Mk3

A couple of things to bear in mind here concerning where I was at in Life in 2022. First of all, Andy's Bike Shop was a victim of the pandemic and closed its doors in December of 2021. That left me without work. I was scrambling to make ends meet and I did receive help unlooked for and I managed to scrape up some cash by doing moving work from time to time for a month spanning the New Year Day holiday. Then I was hired on at the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective. But that job had minimal hours and the pay was not all that great.

This needs to be said because when I came across Singular's site in early 2022, I saw The Bike. The bike I had been waiting for was up for pre-order, and it was coming from a brand I had experience with and from a man I knew was a great bicycle designer. This was too good!

It was, of course, the new Singular Cycles Gryphon Mk3. It had everything I wanted in a fat tired, gravel bike with drop bars. Steel frame. Capability to be single speed just in case. 29+ sized rubber was designed to fit. No suspension corrected frame, so the stack height would not be insanely high. I saw the computer rendering and couldn't believe my eyes. This was it! But I was not in an ideal situation to buy anything.

But times being what they were, the Singular Gryphon Mk3 wasn't due in until later in 2022. October was the first date given. I could manage to sell some stuff, scrape together some cash, maybe go without some things, and order the frame and fork. At least then I'd not miss the boat on this chance, because Singular is a small company, and who knows when, or even if, I'd ever see another chance like this. The price was more than fair. 

Another rendering of the bare frame and fork.

Well, Sam of Singular saw my post I made back in February of 2022 and responded with a fair offer to put something down on the frame so he had a commitment from me. I decided to jump on that, and so I was onboard to get the frame and fork. All I had to do was wait.

And that wait was longer than I anticipated it to be, but I was okay with that. Meanwhile I had more time to gather funds and parts. I wrote an explainer post as to what I was thinking in May of 2022 which you can read HERE. 

So, the bike did not actually land until the beginning of March of this year. A full year after I decided to pull the trigger, but by that time I was in a much better place with my job and the money wasn't nearly the issue that it had been. So, I actually was fine with the longer than anticipated wait. 

Of course, I have a lot of posts up on this bike already, so I won't get into that in this series, but I do want to make one last post to kind of tie together this journey to get that fat tire gravel bike that I believed could happen, and thanks to Sam at Singular Cycles, it did happen. 

Next: Does The Gryphon Mk3 Measure Up to The Original Vision?

Fat Tires On Gravel: From Krampus To Gryphon

A computer rendering of the Gryphon Mk3

A couple of things to bear in mind here concerning where I was at in Life in 2022. First of all, Andy's Bike Shop was a victim of the pandemic and closed its doors in December of 2021. That left me without work. I was scrambling to make ends meet and I did receive help unlooked for and I managed to scrape up some cash by doing moving work from time to time for a month spanning the New Year Day holiday. Then I was hired on at the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective. But that job had minimal hours and the pay was not all that great.

This needs to be said because when I came across Singular's site in early 2022, I saw The Bike. The bike I had been waiting for was up for pre-order, and it was coming from a brand I had experience with and from a man I knew was a great bicycle designer. This was too good!

It was, of course, the new Singular Cycles Gryphon Mk3. It had everything I wanted in a fat tired, gravel bike with drop bars. Steel frame. Capability to be single speed just in case. 29+ sized rubber was designed to fit. No suspension corrected frame, so the stack height would not be insanely high. I saw the computer rendering and couldn't believe my eyes. This was it! But I was not in an ideal situation to buy anything.

But times being what they were, the Singular Gryphon Mk3 wasn't due in until later in 2022. October was the first date given. I could manage to sell some stuff, scrape together some cash, maybe go without some things, and order the frame and fork. At least then I'd not miss the boat on this chance, because Singular is a small company, and who knows when, or even if, I'd ever see another chance like this. The price was more than fair. 

Another rendering of the bare frame and fork.

Well, Sam of Singular saw my post I made back in February of 2022 and responded with a fair offer to put something down on the frame so he had a commitment from me. I decided to jump on that, and so I was onboard to get the frame and fork. All I had to do was wait.

And that wait was longer than I anticipated it to be, but I was okay with that. Meanwhile I had more time to gather funds and parts. I wrote an explainer post as to what I was thinking in May of 2022 which you can read HERE. 

So, the bike did not actually land until the beginning of March of this year. A full year after I decided to pull the trigger, but by that time I was in a much better place with my job and the money wasn't nearly the issue that it had been. So, I actually was fine with the longer than anticipated wait. 

Of course, I have a lot of posts up on this bike already, so I won't get into that in this series, but I do want to make one last post to kind of tie together this journey to get that fat tire gravel bike that I believed could happen, and thanks to Sam at Singular Cycles, it did happen. 

Next: Does The Gryphon Mk3 Measure Up to The Original Vision?

Fat Tires On Gravel: From Krampus To Gryphon

A Brief Look At The Fat Fargo

 Continuing on with this series concerning my thoughts and experiences with 29+ tires and gravel, today I am going to tell the story behind the Fat Fargo. Well, a little bit of that story, at any rate. 

See, I covered a lot about the Fat Fargo in a post I wrote recently for the "GTDRI Stories" series which runs on Sundays here. You can read that post HERE. 

In this post I will talk a little bit about how the bike came together and why I ultimately quit using it. So, with that said, let's dive in...

Going back a couple of weeks ago you might remember me talking about the B+ idea and how I was swapping those wheels and tires out into all of my 29"ers. Well, one of those bikes was my Gen 2 Fargo, which I had previously set up as my "mountain biking" Fargo. This set up had an 80mm travel 51mm offset Rock Shox Reba fork on it to keep the axle to crown height in check.

The first test ride of the fat Fargo set up in January of 2015.

My initial test ride was very promising. I was critical of the B+ idea because it was a slightly smaller diameter than 29" wheels and that caused the wheels to have a lack of momentum and as a single speeder, I find that to be a benefit. But, I was pretty encouraged overall. Here is what I wrote about my first impressions back in January of 2015:

"These still seem like a good choice for really rough, looser, back road events like Odin's Revenge to me, but if I cannot live with how they feel on gravel then I think my experimenting will be done. If they make it through that, then they stay on. Time will tell."

Then, as I stated in that linked GTDRI Stories post above, I was injured in 2015. I had a bad shoulder, and this bike ended up being one of the only bikes I had that I could bear to ride for longer than an hour or so.  With a scheduled appearance at the tenth DK200 coming up, I chose to take this and try to just finish the event. But before I got there, I shed some weight by taking off the seat post and fork. 

The Fat Fargo in its final form in the late Summer of 2015.

By the end of 2015 I had pretty much recovered enough that I was able to move back onto my other bikes. Then when 2016 rolled around I was on my Raleigh Tamland Two for gravel along with some Black Mountain Cycles Monstercross action and other test rigs for Riding Gravel. Meanwhile I had the Fargo Gen I, which I was not ever planning on getting rid of, a Singular Cycles Gryphon Mk1, and that made me wonder why I had either the Gryphon, a single speed, or the Fat Fargo just sitting around most of the time. 

Despite a a stellar season of riding in 2015, where I made 152 miles of the muddiest DK200 ever, a big chunk of what turned out to be my last Odin's attempt, and a GTDRI finish, I just found no reason to ride the Fat Fargo at all in 2016. I mean, zero rides at all. 

So, my policy is that if a bike sits around too long with no reason to ride it, and especially if I have no emotional connection to the bike, it has to go. The Fat Fargo was torn apart, the components and wheels used elsewhere, and the frame and fork went to a new owner in the Summer of 2017. 

The fat tires on gravel idea was on hiatus for a bit. Especially so because starting in 2017 I was hitting the pause button on a lot of extracurricular stuff due to an impending job change on the horizon. (Yes....I knew Europa was coming to an end far before it actually happened) So, things like experimenting with 29+ wheels was not feasible at that point. That would all have to wait. 

Next: Another Fat Fargo Idea

Fat Tires On Gravel: From Krampus To Gryphon

A Brief Look At The Fat Fargo

 Continuing on with this series concerning my thoughts and experiences with 29+ tires and gravel, today I am going to tell the story behind the Fat Fargo. Well, a little bit of that story, at any rate. 

See, I covered a lot about the Fat Fargo in a post I wrote recently for the "GTDRI Stories" series which runs on Sundays here. You can read that post HERE. 

In this post I will talk a little bit about how the bike came together and why I ultimately quit using it. So, with that said, let's dive in...

Going back a couple of weeks ago you might remember me talking about the B+ idea and how I was swapping those wheels and tires out into all of my 29"ers. Well, one of those bikes was my Gen 2 Fargo, which I had previously set up as my "mountain biking" Fargo. This set up had an 80mm travel 51mm offset Rock Shox Reba fork on it to keep the axle to crown height in check.

The first test ride of the fat Fargo set up in January of 2015.

My initial test ride was very promising. I was critical of the B+ idea because it was a slightly smaller diameter than 29" wheels and that caused the wheels to have a lack of momentum and as a single speeder, I find that to be a benefit. But, I was pretty encouraged overall. Here is what I wrote about my first impressions back in January of 2015:

"These still seem like a good choice for really rough, looser, back road events like Odin's Revenge to me, but if I cannot live with how they feel on gravel then I think my experimenting will be done. If they make it through that, then they stay on. Time will tell."

Then, as I stated in that linked GTDRI Stories post above, I was injured in 2015. I had a bad shoulder, and this bike ended up being one of the only bikes I had that I could bear to ride for longer than an hour or so.  With a scheduled appearance at the tenth DK200 coming up, I chose to take this and try to just finish the event. But before I got there, I shed some weight by taking off the seat post and fork. 

The Fat Fargo in its final form in the late Summer of 2015.

By the end of 2015 I had pretty much recovered enough that I was able to move back onto my other bikes. Then when 2016 rolled around I was on my Raleigh Tamland Two for gravel along with some Black Mountain Cycles Monstercross action and other test rigs for Riding Gravel. Meanwhile I had the Fargo Gen I, which I was not ever planning on getting rid of, a Singular Cycles Gryphon Mk1, and that made me wonder why I had either the Gryphon, a single speed, or the Fat Fargo just sitting around most of the time. 

Despite a a stellar season of riding in 2015, where I made 152 miles of the muddiest DK200 ever, a big chunk of what turned out to be my last Odin's attempt, and a GTDRI finish, I just found no reason to ride the Fat Fargo at all in 2016. I mean, zero rides at all. 

So, my policy is that if a bike sits around too long with no reason to ride it, and especially if I have no emotional connection to the bike, it has to go. The Fat Fargo was torn apart, the components and wheels used elsewhere, and the frame and fork went to a new owner in the Summer of 2017. 

The fat tires on gravel idea was on hiatus for a bit. Especially so because starting in 2017 I was hitting the pause button on a lot of extracurricular stuff due to an impending job change on the horizon. (Yes....I knew Europa was coming to an end far before it actually happened) So, things like experimenting with 29+ wheels was not feasible at that point. That would all have to wait. 

Next: Another Fat Fargo Idea

Fat Tires On Gravel: From Krampus To Gryphon

 The Experimental Phase - Part 2

 Continuing on with this series concerning my thoughts and experiences with 29+ tires and gravel, today I am going to tell the story behind the other one of two ideas I had to mimic the Mukluk/29+ idea I had seen work so well at Odin's Revenge in 2014. You can go back to read the previous post here. 

While "B+" was appearing on the scene, and while I was messing with that, I still had this burning idea for the 29+ Mukluk idea I had seen at Odin's Revenge as it was ridden by Mike Johnson. One of the things I learned about Mike's set up was that he had to have a part made to accommodate the larger diameter of the 29+ wheel since that was larger than a 26" X 4.0" tire, which is what the Ti Mukluk was designed for. 

Stuffing the 29+ tires mounted on Velocity Dually's into a first generation Ti Mukluk would not work. The rear tire interfered with the "brake brace" across the seat stays above the tire. So, Mike contacted a friend of his, a fellow Trans Iowa rider and winner of T.I.v7, Dennis Grelk, to machine him some new swinging drop out plates. Dennis obliged him, but figured that if he was going to do one set, he may as well do three. 

By the time I came around two sets had been spoken for and I got my mitts on the third set. As far as I am aware, those were the only "DG Dropouts" ever produced for the Ti Mukluks. While it would have been awesome to have had these be through axle, that wasn't yet a thing when Dennis made these, so they all were quick release style. Dennis essentially had to engineer these bits to be longer and allow the proper clearance at that pesky frame brace to make it all be safe to ride. This raised the bottom bracket just a touch, but not much. That comes into play into the story later.

The 29+ wheel in stock Alternator drop outs set all the way back.

The arrow pointing to the DG Dropout which allowed the 29" wheel to have about an 1 1/2" of clearance at the brake bridge.

That was a critical piece which I needed to have to make this 29+/Muluk idea work. I ended up calling this by Mike's name for his set up: The Muktruk. This was perfect since the idea was really manifested as being worthwhile at a mucky, wet gravel event. 

By the time I got around to doing this idea in 2014, Salsa Cycles had produced a new hubset for fat bikes which required a 150mm, front brake standard fork. Previously the Mukluks had held on to the vestiges of the Pugsley's design for the front fork which utilized a 135mm spaced rear brake standard caliper. So, I had to buy a new fork to use with my new hubs which were purple, of course! 

A set of black anodized Velocity Dually rims were sourced and I built up the wheels, set the Knard tires up on there, and along with the drop outs I had from Dennis, I was able to finally put the MukTruk together in August of 2014.

The MukTruk in all its glory.

I wanted to like this set up. I really, really wanted to. But in the end, that jacked up bottom bracket height was just too much for me to deal with, and the bike just didn't feel right to me anymore. So, one thing led to another, and by October of 2014 I had sold the wheel set I built, sold the tires, and converted the bike back to a fat bike while retaining the DG Drop outs to allow for fatter rubber than I could have put in this bike before. 

So I ended up here. This is how I kept the bike until I sold it several years ago.

29+ was still on my radar. I still had the itch to get a bike with drop bars and a proper geometry for gravel that could be a bikepacking bike or a severe conditions bike. But back in 2014, that didn't exist yet. There were bikes that stoked my fires though. Two of which I actually got the chance to ride in 2014 and both used 29 X 3.0" tires. 

A Borealis fat bike conversion with 29+

MG's 29+ super-rare Singular Rooster with 29+ wheels.

The Borealis fat bike conversion I rode in the Fall of 2014 was revelatory. The geometry was 100% better than the MukTruk's. The bike was a fantastic MTB rig and I got to ride it pretty solidly for over a month before I had to send it back. This was a review bike for the now defunct "Twentynine Inches" site. 

Then I got to test ride Matt Gersib's rare Singular Rooster 29+ bike. I doubt that there are more than a few of these Singular models out there, and it was a blast to get to ride Matt's. (He still has it, by the way) This was another great example to me that a proper 29+ bike could happen. 

And you might be thinking "What about the Deadwood/Fargo with 29+?"

Close, but not quite. The 2016 Salsa Cycles Deadwood.

 Salsa Cycles took some inspirations from.....somewhere. I wouldn't claim that I, or Mike Johnson, or maybe some others, had anything to do with what Salsa Cycles came up with, but they were certainly watching what was going on with us gravel/MTB/bikepacker/fat bikers out there. At any rate, in the Summer of 2015, Salsa dropped a bombshell in their Deadwood, a bike that clearly came from the Fargo and which was stuffed with 29+ wheels and covered in a fantastic copper-colored paint scheme. 

I got to see one close up, and well..... There wasn't a whole lot of tire clearance. The geometry of the bike was pointing toward a pretty tall bottom bracket, and after having seen what some folks did with Deadwoods, namely put on much smaller diameter wheels with much skinnier tires, I was validated in those suspicions. The Fargo with the claim of multiple sized wheel capabilities came out next, but stories of minimal clearances with 29+ and high bottom brackets kept me at bay. This was not "that bike" that I was looking for either. Close, but not quite. 

Meanwhile, in 2015, I struck upon a pretty good set up. Driven by injury and a desire to try the fat tires on gravel, a bike emerged from my stable and made 2015 one of my best gravel riding seasons ever. 

Next: A Brief Look At The Fat Fargo 

Fat Tires On Gravel: From Krampus To Gryphon

 The Experimental Phase - Part 2

 Continuing on with this series concerning my thoughts and experiences with 29+ tires and gravel, today I am going to tell the story behind the other one of two ideas I had to mimic the Mukluk/29+ idea I had seen work so well at Odin's Revenge in 2014. You can go back to read the previous post here. 

While "B+" was appearing on the scene, and while I was messing with that, I still had this burning idea for the 29+ Mukluk idea I had seen at Odin's Revenge as it was ridden by Mike Johnson. One of the things I learned about Mike's set up was that he had to have a part made to accommodate the larger diameter of the 29+ wheel since that was larger than a 26" X 4.0" tire, which is what the Ti Mukluk was designed for. 

Stuffing the 29+ tires mounted on Velocity Dually's into a first generation Ti Mukluk would not work. The rear tire interfered with the "brake brace" across the seat stays above the tire. So, Mike contacted a friend of his, a fellow Trans Iowa rider and winner of T.I.v7, Dennis Grelk, to machine him some new swinging drop out plates. Dennis obliged him, but figured that if he was going to do one set, he may as well do three. 

By the time I came around two sets had been spoken for and I got my mitts on the third set. As far as I am aware, those were the only "DG Dropouts" ever produced for the Ti Mukluks. While it would have been awesome to have had these be through axle, that wasn't yet a thing when Dennis made these, so they all were quick release style. Dennis essentially had to engineer these bits to be longer and allow the proper clearance at that pesky frame brace to make it all be safe to ride. This raised the bottom bracket just a touch, but not much. That comes into play into the story later.

The 29+ wheel in stock Alternator drop outs set all the way back.

The arrow pointing to the DG Dropout which allowed the 29" wheel to have about an 1 1/2" of clearance at the brake bridge.

That was a critical piece which I needed to have to make this 29+/Muluk idea work. I ended up calling this by Mike's name for his set up: The Muktruk. This was perfect since the idea was really manifested as being worthwhile at a mucky, wet gravel event. 

By the time I got around to doing this idea in 2014, Salsa Cycles had produced a new hubset for fat bikes which required a 150mm, front brake standard fork. Previously the Mukluks had held on to the vestiges of the Pugsley's design for the front fork which utilized a 135mm spaced rear brake standard caliper. So, I had to buy a new fork to use with my new hubs which were purple, of course! 

A set of black anodized Velocity Dually rims were sourced and I built up the wheels, set the Knard tires up on there, and along with the drop outs I had from Dennis, I was able to finally put the MukTruk together in August of 2014.

The MukTruk in all its glory.

I wanted to like this set up. I really, really wanted to. But in the end, that jacked up bottom bracket height was just too much for me to deal with, and the bike just didn't feel right to me anymore. So, one thing led to another, and by October of 2014 I had sold the wheel set I built, sold the tires, and converted the bike back to a fat bike while retaining the DG Drop outs to allow for fatter rubber than I could have put in this bike before. 

So I ended up here. This is how I kept the bike until I sold it several years ago.

29+ was still on my radar. I still had the itch to get a bike with drop bars and a proper geometry for gravel that could be a bikepacking bike or a severe conditions bike. But back in 2014, that didn't exist yet. There were bikes that stoked my fires though. Two of which I actually got the chance to ride in 2014 and both used 29 X 3.0" tires. 

A Borealis fat bike conversion with 29+

MG's 29+ super-rare Singular Rooster with 29+ wheels.

The Borealis fat bike conversion I rode in the Fall of 2014 was revelatory. The geometry was 100% better than the MukTruk's. The bike was a fantastic MTB rig and I got to ride it pretty solidly for over a month before I had to send it back. This was a review bike for the now defunct "Twentynine Inches" site. 

Then I got to test ride Matt Gersib's rare Singular Rooster 29+ bike. I doubt that there are more than a few of these Singular models out there, and it was a blast to get to ride Matt's. (He still has it, by the way) This was another great example to me that a proper 29+ bike could happen. 

And you might be thinking "What about the Deadwood/Fargo with 29+?"

Close, but not quite. The 2016 Salsa Cycles Deadwood.

 Salsa Cycles took some inspirations from.....somewhere. I wouldn't claim that I, or Mike Johnson, or maybe some others, had anything to do with what Salsa Cycles came up with, but they were certainly watching what was going on with us gravel/MTB/bikepacker/fat bikers out there. At any rate, in the Summer of 2015, Salsa dropped a bombshell in their Deadwood, a bike that clearly came from the Fargo and which was stuffed with 29+ wheels and covered in a fantastic copper-colored paint scheme. 

I got to see one close up, and well..... There wasn't a whole lot of tire clearance. The geometry of the bike was pointing toward a pretty tall bottom bracket, and after having seen what some folks did with Deadwoods, namely put on much smaller diameter wheels with much skinnier tires, I was validated in those suspicions. The Fargo with the claim of multiple sized wheel capabilities came out next, but stories of minimal clearances with 29+ and high bottom brackets kept me at bay. This was not "that bike" that I was looking for either. Close, but not quite. 

Meanwhile, in 2015, I struck upon a pretty good set up. Driven by injury and a desire to try the fat tires on gravel, a bike emerged from my stable and made 2015 one of my best gravel riding seasons ever. 

Next: A Brief Look At The Fat Fargo 

Fat Tires On Gravel: From Krampus To Gryphon

 The Experimental Phase - Part 1

 Continuing on with this series concerning my thoughts and experiences with 29+ tires and gravel, today I am going to tell the story behind one of two ideas I had to mimic the Mukluk/29+ idea I had seen work so well at Odin's Revenge in 2014. You can go back to read that post here. 

That year, 2014, was a pivotal year for alternative wheel sizes. But first, we have to understand one thing about bicycle design that, without this innovation, none of what followed would have happened. That means this innovation is very influential, and to my mind has been the biggest influence on bicycle design in the last 30 years. What is it? 

The disc brake.

Without the disc brake, alternative wheel sizes and tire sizes would have been hindered by having to make a frame and fork for each wheel size instead of allowing for anyone to slap any sized disc wheel in a frame to  'just see what would happen'. It is arguable that 650B for MTB, 650B for gravel bikes, all "plus-sized" tires, and fat bike conversion wheels would have never happened without the disc brake. 

So, a shout out to disc brakes for, at the minimum, making all these niche wheel choices possible. Following is one example of a story that would not have happened without the disc brake's existence on bicycles. 

A "spy-shot" of a 650B+ WTB Trailblazer sent to me in 2014.

Not long after the 2012 (I think it was this time period) Interbike show I got a message from 29"er pioneer, Bob Poor which tipped me off to an idea he had for a 650B tire that was wider than most and due to that, it had an overall diameter which approximated a 29" wheel. This was all hush-hush at the time, but the word was that WTB was the company that was going to push this idea forward.

During late 2013 and into 2014 I kept hearing bits and pieces of news that led me to believe that 650B+, as it was being called, was actually going to happen. The idea was that many then current 29"ers could convert to a fatter, more plush ride by simply swapping in a 'B+" wheel set. Initial tires for this size were set to come out as 2.8" wide and on wider rims the ride was claimed to be transformative. 

I made mention of this development, which was to be released at Interbike in 2014, on my blog in August of that year. I got so much blow-back, saying the idea was preposterous and would never happen, that a "spy-shot" was sent to me to prove that the idea did, in fact, exist already. And as we all know, it still is around these days, albeit in a much less popular form.

This all led up to myself getting one of the very first sets of "B+" tires made. A set of WTB 650B X 2.8" Trailblazers. This was a significant development for myself in terms of gravel riding, but that would take some time to evolve into what became, for me, the most successful use of 650B+ wheels. 

Much wheel swapping between bikes in my stable happened. The whole idea was that you could put these B+ wheels into almost any 29" frame and make it go. Well.....not really in reality. No, that did not pan out 100%. In fact, I had three 29"ers in which the rear wheel would not work in my possession alone. This raised a question. What other 29"ers existed that this idea wasn't going to work out on? So, it was obvious to me that the promise of the B+ idea, at least in its conceptual form, was not what it was cracked up to be. Not 100%.

That's not to say it was a bad idea. But it was an idea that, in the end, got its own frames and forks which made the fitment issues with 29"ers go away. Meanwhile, I came to the conclusion that this was a wheel for things beyond singletrack. 

One of the first bikes I tries 'B+" tires on was my OS Bikes Blackbuck

The Fargo Gen I with the B+ wheels.

After a while my experimentation led me to try these new wheels and tires on my Gen I Fargo. One ride on that set up revealed a couple of things. First that the bike didn't really accommodate the width and lowered bottom bracket resulting from the wide tires and slightly smaller diameter of the B+ wheels. Secondly, Holy cow! Was this idea a home run or what? 

Forget about mountain biking on B+ wheels and tires, this entire set up for bikepacking would be the bomb, and I knew this immediately. A non-suspension corrected frame was 100% the only way it would ever really work, in my mind, at least. So, with that thought in mind, I looked for something that would do what I was thinking. There was nothing commercially viable at that point though. Yes, I could go custom, but that was outside of my means. 

But that attempt was the seed that grew toward a result that has been manifested in my Gryphon Mk3. But we're getting ahead of ourselves here. A lot happened between 2014 and now which factors into this story. 

Next, The second idea I had and its eventual demise, but with an element to it that made a big difference to this story.

Fat Tires On Gravel: From Krampus To Gryphon

 The Experimental Phase - Part 1

 Continuing on with this series concerning my thoughts and experiences with 29+ tires and gravel, today I am going to tell the story behind one of two ideas I had to mimic the Mukluk/29+ idea I had seen work so well at Odin's Revenge in 2014. You can go back to read that post here. 

That year, 2014, was a pivotal year for alternative wheel sizes. But first, we have to understand one thing about bicycle design that, without this innovation, none of what followed would have happened. That means this innovation is very influential, and to my mind has been the biggest influence on bicycle design in the last 30 years. What is it? 

The disc brake.

Without the disc brake, alternative wheel sizes and tire sizes would have been hindered by having to make a frame and fork for each wheel size instead of allowing for anyone to slap any sized disc wheel in a frame to  'just see what would happen'. It is arguable that 650B for MTB, 650B for gravel bikes, all "plus-sized" tires, and fat bike conversion wheels would have never happened without the disc brake. 

So, a shout out to disc brakes for, at the minimum, making all these niche wheel choices possible. Following is one example of a story that would not have happened without the disc brake's existence on bicycles. 

A "spy-shot" of a 650B+ WTB Trailblazer sent to me in 2014.

Not long after the 2012 (I think it was this time period) Interbike show I got a message from 29"er pioneer, Bob Poor which tipped me off to an idea he had for a 650B tire that was wider than most and due to that, it had an overall diameter which approximated a 29" wheel. This was all hush-hush at the time, but the word was that WTB was the company that was going to push this idea forward.

During late 2013 and into 2014 I kept hearing bits and pieces of news that led me to believe that 650B+, as it was being called, was actually going to happen. The idea was that many then current 29"ers could convert to a fatter, more plush ride by simply swapping in a 'B+" wheel set. Initial tires for this size were set to come out as 2.8" wide and on wider rims the ride was claimed to be transformative. 

I made mention of this development, which was to be released at Interbike in 2014, on my blog in August of that year. I got so much blow-back, saying the idea was preposterous and would never happen, that a "spy-shot" was sent to me to prove that the idea did, in fact, exist already. And as we all know, it still is around these days, albeit in a much less popular form.

This all led up to myself getting one of the very first sets of "B+" tires made. A set of WTB 650B X 2.8" Trailblazers. This was a significant development for myself in terms of gravel riding, but that would take some time to evolve into what became, for me, the most successful use of 650B+ wheels. 

Much wheel swapping between bikes in my stable happened. The whole idea was that you could put these B+ wheels into almost any 29" frame and make it go. Well.....not really in reality. No, that did not pan out 100%. In fact, I had three 29"ers in which the rear wheel would not work in my possession alone. This raised a question. What other 29"ers existed that this idea wasn't going to work out on? So, it was obvious to me that the promise of the B+ idea, at least in its conceptual form, was not what it was cracked up to be. Not 100%.

That's not to say it was a bad idea. But it was an idea that, in the end, got its own frames and forks which made the fitment issues with 29"ers go away. Meanwhile, I came to the conclusion that this was a wheel for things beyond singletrack. 

One of the first bikes I tries 'B+" tires on was my OS Bikes Blackbuck

The Fargo Gen I with the B+ wheels.

After a while my experimentation led me to try these new wheels and tires on my Gen I Fargo. One ride on that set up revealed a couple of things. First that the bike didn't really accommodate the width and lowered bottom bracket resulting from the wide tires and slightly smaller diameter of the B+ wheels. Secondly, Holy cow! Was this idea a home run or what? 

Forget about mountain biking on B+ wheels and tires, this entire set up for bikepacking would be the bomb, and I knew this immediately. A non-suspension corrected frame was 100% the only way it would ever really work, in my mind, at least. So, with that thought in mind, I looked for something that would do what I was thinking. There was nothing commercially viable at that point though. Yes, I could go custom, but that was outside of my means. 

But that attempt was the seed that grew toward a result that has been manifested in my Gryphon Mk3. But we're getting ahead of ourselves here. A lot happened between 2014 and now which factors into this story. 

Next, The second idea I had and its eventual demise, but with an element to it that made a big difference to this story.