State Of Tubelessness: 2019

Although most tires I test now are tubeless rated, a rare few are not, such as this Tioga Binary.

Note: For the last "State Of Tublessness" address, see the two part report HERE and HERE. 

It is 2019, and almost every new tire design is tubeless rated now, with rare exceptions to the rule. Road tires being the main category where tubes still rule. However; that seems poised to be changing soon as well.

Perhaps no where else in cycling, besides triathlon, does "race on Sunday, sell on Monday" rule what consumers do. Road racers in the Pro ranks have every item down to the last bit of bar tape and GPS data crunching software scrutinized by the cycling media. The writers of this material, produced from races such as the Tour de France and others, drive sales of gear and ideas to a large degree yet in 2019. While this may not be as strong a dynamic as it once was, it still is a major influencer on consumer's buying habits.

With that said, I noted that several media observers at the Tour were commenting on the uptick in tubeless racing tires and wheel usage at this year's Tour. It may take a few years, but if the product produces wins and is seen as a performance enhancing product, my bet is that road cyclists will be flocking to tubeless set ups within a short period of time. These same roadies probably already own gravel and/or MTB bikes that are tubeless, so the technology is not alien to most seasoned cyclists.

So, anymore, if a company produces a new model of tire that is not tubeless rated, it is an oddity, but that happened recently with Tioga's Binary model which I recently reviewed. While this seems weird, there was/is a really good reason that this didn't show up as a tubeless rated casing. I cannot tell you why that is due to an agreement, just that someday soon, a tubeless Binary will emerge, and no one will remember this first salvo into the gravel tire market by Tioga, as the tubeless rated version will, no doubt, be the one everyone will buy. But suffice it to say that tubed tires will, most likely, always be around. They just won't be the high end, performance models once tubelessness gets figured out.

My new-to-me Ti Muk 2 is tubeless. Fat bike tubelessness is a piece of "cake" now.

So, speaking of "figuring it out".....

One of my biggest pet peeves about fat bikes for the first several years that these beasts were available on a wide scale was that the tire and wheel technology was from the dark ages of cycling. Rims were horrible, tires were department store quality, and getting anything to set up tubeless was.....yeah, RIGHT! That was a whole garage-science fair time in fat bike history right there. The Rube Goldberg machine-like manners in which one had to engage in to set a fat bike tire up tubeless was, in a word, ludicrous. Happily now we can leave all that behind since "real tubeless tires" and wheels exist which make all that nonsense unnecessary.

This was never made more clear to me than when I set up my Terrene Tires Cake Eaters on the Whiskey carbon fat bike rims recently. The set up was super easy to do. They have performed above my expectations so far, retaining air better than my tubed fat bike wheels and tires, while rolling far easier than those old dinosaurs. There probably is no better candidate for tubeless tires in the bicycle world than fat bikes. The amount of tube scrubbing tire is just one reason why. I have some past experience with this as well.

I had set up some fat bike tires as tubeless back in the day using some, ahem!, rather sketchy techniques that including double sided mounting tape, Gorilla tape, and several hours of labor to achieve tubeless Nirvana. And it was "worth it" as far as results. The conversion saved a tiny bit of weight, but in terms of rolling resistance, the effect was greatly noticeable and made riding a fat bike far easier than with tubes. However; once the sealant dried up and the tape started to fail, well...... It was too much hassle to keep it maintained, so I went back to tubes until, one day, I could use proper tires and rims. And let me tell ya, it is still really worth it. But now, the maintenance part is super easy. Tubeless tires and rims for fat bikes are the way to go, hands down.

While the effects of rolling resistance lessen as the tube/tire size decreases, it is still there. I have a friend who just went tubeless on his gravel bike and was amazed by the way it rode better. So, while there are several benefits to this way of doing things, we can not ignore a few of the downsides. There are some major bummers, and therefore tubeless tires for bicycles still is not going to be for everyone. Futzing with sealant, maintaining the sealant levels, dealing with a different way of tire to rim interface, and having a few "no go" fits and difficulties with that sort of thing can really put people off. For some, especially those who are familiar with the "Ways Of The Toob", straying from the familiar path is just not tenable. Better to have your peace and sanity than a few less watts of rolling resistance and ride comfort.

Look for further musings on tubelessness in the future.

State Of Tubelessness: 2019

Although most tires I test now are tubeless rated, a rare few are not, such as this Tioga Binary.

Note: For the last "State Of Tublessness" address, see the two part report HERE and HERE. 

It is 2019, and almost every new tire design is tubeless rated now, with rare exceptions to the rule. Road tires being the main category where tubes still rule. However; that seems poised to be changing soon as well.

Perhaps no where else in cycling, besides triathlon, does "race on Sunday, sell on Monday" rule what consumers do. Road racers in the Pro ranks have every item down to the last bit of bar tape and GPS data crunching software scrutinized by the cycling media. The writers of this material, produced from races such as the Tour de France and others, drive sales of gear and ideas to a large degree yet in 2019. While this may not be as strong a dynamic as it once was, it still is a major influencer on consumer's buying habits.

With that said, I noted that several media observers at the Tour were commenting on the uptick in tubeless racing tires and wheel usage at this year's Tour. It may take a few years, but if the product produces wins and is seen as a performance enhancing product, my bet is that road cyclists will be flocking to tubeless set ups within a short period of time. These same roadies probably already own gravel and/or MTB bikes that are tubeless, so the technology is not alien to most seasoned cyclists.

So, anymore, if a company produces a new model of tire that is not tubeless rated, it is an oddity, but that happened recently with Tioga's Binary model which I recently reviewed. While this seems weird, there was/is a really good reason that this didn't show up as a tubeless rated casing. I cannot tell you why that is due to an agreement, just that someday soon, a tubeless Binary will emerge, and no one will remember this first salvo into the gravel tire market by Tioga, as the tubeless rated version will, no doubt, be the one everyone will buy. But suffice it to say that tubed tires will, most likely, always be around. They just won't be the high end, performance models once tubelessness gets figured out.

My new-to-me Ti Muk 2 is tubeless. Fat bike tubelessness is a piece of "cake" now.

So, speaking of "figuring it out".....

One of my biggest pet peeves about fat bikes for the first several years that these beasts were available on a wide scale was that the tire and wheel technology was from the dark ages of cycling. Rims were horrible, tires were department store quality, and getting anything to set up tubeless was.....yeah, RIGHT! That was a whole garage-science fair time in fat bike history right there. The Rube Goldberg machine-like manners in which one had to engage in to set a fat bike tire up tubeless was, in a word, ludicrous. Happily now we can leave all that behind since "real tubeless tires" and wheels exist which make all that nonsense unnecessary.

This was never made more clear to me than when I set up my Terrene Tires Cake Eaters on the Whiskey carbon fat bike rims recently. The set up was super easy to do. They have performed above my expectations so far, retaining air better than my tubed fat bike wheels and tires, while rolling far easier than those old dinosaurs. There probably is no better candidate for tubeless tires in the bicycle world than fat bikes. The amount of tube scrubbing tire is just one reason why. I have some past experience with this as well.

I had set up some fat bike tires as tubeless back in the day using some, ahem!, rather sketchy techniques that including double sided mounting tape, Gorilla tape, and several hours of labor to achieve tubeless Nirvana. And it was "worth it" as far as results. The conversion saved a tiny bit of weight, but in terms of rolling resistance, the effect was greatly noticeable and made riding a fat bike far easier than with tubes. However; once the sealant dried up and the tape started to fail, well...... It was too much hassle to keep it maintained, so I went back to tubes until, one day, I could use proper tires and rims. And let me tell ya, it is still really worth it. But now, the maintenance part is super easy. Tubeless tires and rims for fat bikes are the way to go, hands down.

While the effects of rolling resistance lessen as the tube/tire size decreases, it is still there. I have a friend who just went tubeless on his gravel bike and was amazed by the way it rode better. So, while there are several benefits to this way of doing things, we can not ignore a few of the downsides. There are some major bummers, and therefore tubeless tires for bicycles still is not going to be for everyone. Futzing with sealant, maintaining the sealant levels, dealing with a different way of tire to rim interface, and having a few "no go" fits and difficulties with that sort of thing can really put people off. For some, especially those who are familiar with the "Ways Of The Toob", straying from the familiar path is just not tenable. Better to have your peace and sanity than a few less watts of rolling resistance and ride comfort.

Look for further musings on tubelessness in the future.

Friday News And Views

And so it begins..... #TIv14 registration started this week.

Trans Iowa v14 Registration Begins!

The post cards, which Trans Iowa has utilized as a way to register for the annual event since V3, are beginning to roll in to TI headquarters. (NOTE: If you want to know all the registration details, check the "Featured Post" on the right margin and click the title, "Trans Iowa v14 Registration Details") The first two cards rolled in on Thursday, and I suspect many more are on their way and will arrive today and tomorrow. 

The first wave of registration is for the past winners and riders of six or more Trans Iowas to get in. There aren't too many of them, and of course, not all will avail themselves of the opportunity to join in all the gravel games planned for next April. So, I suspect perhaps a few spots might roll over to the next wave of registration, which begins Wednesday next week, and will be for past Veterans and Finishers of Trans Iowa post Trans Iowa v8.  I decided that if any individuals hadn't bothered to be back and try Trans Iowa since Version 8 that they likely weren't coming back. That said, the third wave of registration, also reserved for Rookies to Trans Iowa, is for them. Enough has changed since v7 that the event will be pretty new to those older racers anyway. 

The registration won't be as exciting on my end as it was in those days when people were sending me flowers, gifts, and booze, but the post cards are all I really need anyway. It works, it is tradition, and it is simple. I don't see that the process is broken and I don't get many complaints about it either. So, it still is fun and as long as it does what I need it to do, I'll keep doing it that way. I'll post some finer examples if I get any soon.

27.5 carbon fat bike rims from Whiskey Parts.

Will 27.5" Fat Kill Off 26" Fat?

About two years ago now Trek decided to roll out 27.5" fat bike wheels. It was an introduction I didn't see coming, but then again, I haven't gotten much right about fat bikes anyway. I said 170mm rear ends were going to stick around and well.......y'all know how that has gone. I said that we would probably never see single wall, cut out carbon fat bike rimes and well.......they exist now. So whatever I thought about the 27.5" fat bike wheels is probably not worth my talking about and not worth your reading about.

But now that they exist, and now that other companies are jumping in, I have to wonder if that eventually spells the end of 26" fat. I am really curious about how 27.5" is going to work out, but I have heard it can be the bees knees. If other riders start choosing that bigger size over 26" fat stuff then I think the days of 26"er wheels are really going to be numbered. 

But that will take time, if it ever happens. In the meantime, just go ahead and assume I am wrong about that too. 

In the meantime, I was made aware of a new 27.5" carbon fat bike rim from my friend, Ben Witt, who happens to be the head honch over at Whiskey Parts. The No. 9 carbon rim is typical of many of the other Whiskey Parts rims, double wall, and tubeless ready, of course. These would lace up into a really sweet set of wheels for a 27.5" wheeled fat bike set up. I'm looking in to maybe switching over to 27.5" fat bike stuff, and these rims could be a good start on my way to that. 

We'll see........

Better than your Zip-Loc baggie? It's certainly more high tech!

 It's A Pouch Thingie:

I was just made aware of a high tech "pouch" gizmo that basically does what a sandwich baggie does, only, I guess, even better? That's what they say anyway.

It's called the "Multi Pouch" and comes from Spurcycle. Yes.......the same company that does those bells. This does the job of keeping your smaller, flatter valuables, like bank or credit cards, or that anachronism called cash, from getting wet and from getting lost. 

It's light, bieng made from that Cuban Fiber stuff, and it can be folded in a couple different ways, making it a versatile choice for packing with other things. It's light, and it is somewhat transparent, soyou can actually see what you packed in there. Anyway, I thought it might actually be a better deal than going through Zip-Loc baggies left and right. Those don't seem very durable to me.

I could see this being useful as a wallet, or a small paper map case, or as a place to stow smaller bits and pieces for........whatever, that you don't want to lose in a bigger bag of stuff. For under $30.00, it is a lot more expensive that the "dirt bag way" of using Zip-Locs, but it seems maybe a bit smarter. Maybe. 

Have a great weekend and get out there and ride those bikes.

Friday News And Views

And so it begins..... #TIv14 registration started this week.

Trans Iowa v14 Registration Begins!

The post cards, which Trans Iowa has utilized as a way to register for the annual event since V3, are beginning to roll in to TI headquarters. (NOTE: If you want to know all the registration details, check the "Featured Post" on the right margin and click the title, "Trans Iowa v14 Registration Details") The first two cards rolled in on Thursday, and I suspect many more are on their way and will arrive today and tomorrow. 

The first wave of registration is for the past winners and riders of six or more Trans Iowas to get in. There aren't too many of them, and of course, not all will avail themselves of the opportunity to join in all the gravel games planned for next April. So, I suspect perhaps a few spots might roll over to the next wave of registration, which begins Wednesday next week, and will be for past Veterans and Finishers of Trans Iowa post Trans Iowa v8.  I decided that if any individuals hadn't bothered to be back and try Trans Iowa since Version 8 that they likely weren't coming back. That said, the third wave of registration, also reserved for Rookies to Trans Iowa, is for them. Enough has changed since v7 that the event will be pretty new to those older racers anyway. 

The registration won't be as exciting on my end as it was in those days when people were sending me flowers, gifts, and booze, but the post cards are all I really need anyway. It works, it is tradition, and it is simple. I don't see that the process is broken and I don't get many complaints about it either. So, it still is fun and as long as it does what I need it to do, I'll keep doing it that way. I'll post some finer examples if I get any soon.

27.5 carbon fat bike rims from Whiskey Parts.

Will 27.5" Fat Kill Off 26" Fat?

About two years ago now Trek decided to roll out 27.5" fat bike wheels. It was an introduction I didn't see coming, but then again, I haven't gotten much right about fat bikes anyway. I said 170mm rear ends were going to stick around and well.......y'all know how that has gone. I said that we would probably never see single wall, cut out carbon fat bike rimes and well.......they exist now. So whatever I thought about the 27.5" fat bike wheels is probably not worth my talking about and not worth your reading about.

But now that they exist, and now that other companies are jumping in, I have to wonder if that eventually spells the end of 26" fat. I am really curious about how 27.5" is going to work out, but I have heard it can be the bees knees. If other riders start choosing that bigger size over 26" fat stuff then I think the days of 26"er wheels are really going to be numbered. 

But that will take time, if it ever happens. In the meantime, just go ahead and assume I am wrong about that too. 

In the meantime, I was made aware of a new 27.5" carbon fat bike rim from my friend, Ben Witt, who happens to be the head honch over at Whiskey Parts. The No. 9 carbon rim is typical of many of the other Whiskey Parts rims, double wall, and tubeless ready, of course. These would lace up into a really sweet set of wheels for a 27.5" wheeled fat bike set up. I'm looking in to maybe switching over to 27.5" fat bike stuff, and these rims could be a good start on my way to that. 

We'll see........

Better than your Zip-Loc baggie? It's certainly more high tech!

 It's A Pouch Thingie:

I was just made aware of a high tech "pouch" gizmo that basically does what a sandwich baggie does, only, I guess, even better? That's what they say anyway.

It's called the "Multi Pouch" and comes from Spurcycle. Yes.......the same company that does those bells. This does the job of keeping your smaller, flatter valuables, like bank or credit cards, or that anachronism called cash, from getting wet and from getting lost. 

It's light, bieng made from that Cuban Fiber stuff, and it can be folded in a couple different ways, making it a versatile choice for packing with other things. It's light, and it is somewhat transparent, soyou can actually see what you packed in there. Anyway, I thought it might actually be a better deal than going through Zip-Loc baggies left and right. Those don't seem very durable to me.

I could see this being useful as a wallet, or a small paper map case, or as a place to stow smaller bits and pieces for........whatever, that you don't want to lose in a bigger bag of stuff. For under $30.00, it is a lot more expensive that the "dirt bag way" of using Zip-Locs, but it seems maybe a bit smarter. Maybe. 

Have a great weekend and get out there and ride those bikes.

News And Views: The Day Late Edition!

Ready for hunting season?

Niner Doesn't Do A Fat Bike:

Several days previous to Thursday of this past week, Niner Bikes was teasing a "new model" bike to be revealed the 16th. Rumors were running rampant that they would introduce a fat bike, or maybe a B+/Mid-Fat bike. Thankfully, and wisely- they did neither of those things.

Now I can hear you out there, (well......not really, but it is a figure of speech!), saying something like "why in the world would you think that they shouldn't do a fat bike?" That's easy........because everyone is doing a fat bike. Honestly- there are so many fat bikes now I cannot imagine the marketplace has moved to seeing them as mountain bikes enough to support more entries into the market now. Later? Maybe. Things like the Bucksaw, King Kahn, and Foes new full suspension fatty might start a change there, but it will take a while.

Anywho....Niner basically evolved the three models they waved their wand over, and in a world where most companies are pushing the next big thing, it is refreshing to see a company not only refine, but push mid to entry level bikes in their line ups to new levels.

Carbon rim, knobbly tire, and tubelessness = awesome.

Fat Bike Tubeless:

I recently had the opportunity to build a set of fat bike carbon fiber rim wheels and set the tires up tubeless. Here's my take on the system- the Whiskey #9 rim, and the 45NRTH Vanhelga tires, which are rated tubeless ready.

Whiskey #9 rim: Now this isn't my first rodeo with carbon rims. I've built a few sets dating way back to 2003. I know what carbon rims feel like when built, and I have to say that the Whiskey #9 rims acted more like their metallic brethren than not. They were out of round by a tic, untrue by a tic, and one was slightly less in diameter than the other. All things not uncommon at all with run of the mill aluminum rims, but definitely not what I expected from rims that cost this much and made from carbon fiber. Does it really matter? Well, you should expect better tolerances at these prices, but really, as long as I was able to true it all up- no. It doesn't really matter. It just is. 

As for the tubeless nature of these rims, well they worked perfectly with the Vanhelgas. More on that in a bit....

Vanhelga Tires: Okay, first off, the tread pattern is aggressive, the tread blocks are soft, but they don't just fold over, and the bead talon looked really good from the aspect of being tubeless ready. I didn't weigh these, but they felt reasonably light. Now for mounting. Oh my God! The fit the first time was super tight. My hands ached for two days after mounting these with tubes to set the tape on the inside of the rim well. Oh.......and the rim tape flat out sucks. If you buy Whiskey #9 rims, you will get a roll of this worthless blue tape. Tell your wheel tech, or if you build yourself, be advised, not to use the stuff. I got it to work, but Stan's would be waaaaay better. Why? Because the Whiskey tape is stiff, non-compliant, and wrinkles if you look at it sideways. Trust me, it is one of the worst tubeless tapes I have ever been exposed to. Okay.....now on to the good stuff!

The tires set up with a simple floor pump. I used Dawn dish soap in a straight from the bottle application to the beads to allow them to pop into place easily. I got the beads to set up at 20psi this way. There was zero leakage from the beads or valve stem (Which is the excellent Bontrager valve stem, by the way). I used 6oz of Stan's in each tire and after a couple wrinkles in the tape were sealed up, I had no leakage after 48 hours. Good to go.

The Vanhelgas on the 70mm wide Whiskey rims were about 5mm wider than the 45NRTH Dillingers on Marge Lites and waaay lighter. A worthy upgrade here. These are not my wheels nor is it my bike, but if I get further feedback, I'll pass it along.

Bottom Line: Expensive, but effective tubeless system for fat bikes with a few "wrinkles" that need ironing out.

Snow tested.

Blackborow DS Update Coming Soon:

I have had the Blackborow DS in the snow a couple of times since I got it, but I want to see if we get some truly deep, thick snow cover before I give my final assessment on this new model from Salsa Cycles.

So far, I have seen the bike do things that I was hoping for. It is more stable due to great geometry and wider, grippier tires and wide rims. Those Lou tires have a really good roll on hard pack or pavement, but those paddles really give me greater traction than I've ever experienced on a fat bike before. The "DS" part has been rust free and has given me no worries so far. This is especially good seeing as how I have dealt with wet, "car snow" of late, which is usually the worst thing for bicycle drive trains around here.

Finally, I have taken note of a couple of negative comments left on the Salsa Anything Cage HD review I did and I have tested for those comments. A review update is coming which I think you might find very interesting from the stand point of how the straps work with non-round and smaller water bottle type loads.

Okay- that's a wrap. Have a great weekend and ride yer bikes!

News And Views: The Day Late Edition!

Ready for hunting season?

Niner Doesn't Do A Fat Bike:

Several days previous to Thursday of this past week, Niner Bikes was teasing a "new model" bike to be revealed the 16th. Rumors were running rampant that they would introduce a fat bike, or maybe a B+/Mid-Fat bike. Thankfully, and wisely- they did neither of those things.

Now I can hear you out there, (well......not really, but it is a figure of speech!), saying something like "why in the world would you think that they shouldn't do a fat bike?" That's easy........because everyone is doing a fat bike. Honestly- there are so many fat bikes now I cannot imagine the marketplace has moved to seeing them as mountain bikes enough to support more entries into the market now. Later? Maybe. Things like the Bucksaw, King Kahn, and Foes new full suspension fatty might start a change there, but it will take a while.

Anywho....Niner basically evolved the three models they waved their wand over, and in a world where most companies are pushing the next big thing, it is refreshing to see a company not only refine, but push mid to entry level bikes in their line ups to new levels.

Carbon rim, knobbly tire, and tubelessness = awesome.

Fat Bike Tubeless:

I recently had the opportunity to build a set of fat bike carbon fiber rim wheels and set the tires up tubeless. Here's my take on the system- the Whiskey #9 rim, and the 45NRTH Vanhelga tires, which are rated tubeless ready.

Whiskey #9 rim: Now this isn't my first rodeo with carbon rims. I've built a few sets dating way back to 2003. I know what carbon rims feel like when built, and I have to say that the Whiskey #9 rims acted more like their metallic brethren than not. They were out of round by a tic, untrue by a tic, and one was slightly less in diameter than the other. All things not uncommon at all with run of the mill aluminum rims, but definitely not what I expected from rims that cost this much and made from carbon fiber. Does it really matter? Well, you should expect better tolerances at these prices, but really, as long as I was able to true it all up- no. It doesn't really matter. It just is. 

As for the tubeless nature of these rims, well they worked perfectly with the Vanhelgas. More on that in a bit....

Vanhelga Tires: Okay, first off, the tread pattern is aggressive, the tread blocks are soft, but they don't just fold over, and the bead talon looked really good from the aspect of being tubeless ready. I didn't weigh these, but they felt reasonably light. Now for mounting. Oh my God! The fit the first time was super tight. My hands ached for two days after mounting these with tubes to set the tape on the inside of the rim well. Oh.......and the rim tape flat out sucks. If you buy Whiskey #9 rims, you will get a roll of this worthless blue tape. Tell your wheel tech, or if you build yourself, be advised, not to use the stuff. I got it to work, but Stan's would be waaaaay better. Why? Because the Whiskey tape is stiff, non-compliant, and wrinkles if you look at it sideways. Trust me, it is one of the worst tubeless tapes I have ever been exposed to. Okay.....now on to the good stuff!

The tires set up with a simple floor pump. I used Dawn dish soap in a straight from the bottle application to the beads to allow them to pop into place easily. I got the beads to set up at 20psi this way. There was zero leakage from the beads or valve stem (Which is the excellent Bontrager valve stem, by the way). I used 6oz of Stan's in each tire and after a couple wrinkles in the tape were sealed up, I had no leakage after 48 hours. Good to go.

The Vanhelgas on the 70mm wide Whiskey rims were about 5mm wider than the 45NRTH Dillingers on Marge Lites and waaay lighter. A worthy upgrade here. These are not my wheels nor is it my bike, but if I get further feedback, I'll pass it along.

Bottom Line: Expensive, but effective tubeless system for fat bikes with a few "wrinkles" that need ironing out.

Snow tested.

Blackborow DS Update Coming Soon:

I have had the Blackborow DS in the snow a couple of times since I got it, but I want to see if we get some truly deep, thick snow cover before I give my final assessment on this new model from Salsa Cycles.

So far, I have seen the bike do things that I was hoping for. It is more stable due to great geometry and wider, grippier tires and wide rims. Those Lou tires have a really good roll on hard pack or pavement, but those paddles really give me greater traction than I've ever experienced on a fat bike before. The "DS" part has been rust free and has given me no worries so far. This is especially good seeing as how I have dealt with wet, "car snow" of late, which is usually the worst thing for bicycle drive trains around here.

Finally, I have taken note of a couple of negative comments left on the Salsa Anything Cage HD review I did and I have tested for those comments. A review update is coming which I think you might find very interesting from the stand point of how the straps work with non-round and smaller water bottle type loads.

Okay- that's a wrap. Have a great weekend and ride yer bikes!

Fat Bike Tire Musings

Vanhelga on Whiskey #9 rim (L) and Lou on Clownshoe (R)

Today I have a few thoughts on fat bike tires. I mentioned it a bit in yesterday's post, but the Lou tires on 100mm rims are revelatory in my experience. It will be interesting to try out my old Big Fat Larrys on the 100mm Clown Shoe rims at some point too. I'll likely do that this Summer. But the thing is, this combo is so much more capable with the conditions I like to ride in that I cannot see myself going back to 4.0"s or skinnier rims. Not for bushwhacking.

The only thing that is missing from the Lou/Clown Shoe combo is that these tires are not tubeless and the rims are not tubeless designed either. (Yes....split tube, yadda,yadda,yadda.... Read on!) If this sort of set up was designed to be tubeless? Wow! That would rule. Which brings me to............

The Vanhelga and Whiskey #9 carbon rims I built up for a customer at the shop where I work were also a revelatory experience. I have been pretty vocal about Surly/45NRTH's products pricing and lack of tubeless features. While this doesn't do anything but make affordability worse, it does bring tubeless functionality to fat bike riders that actually works well, at least it sets up well tubeless.

I've set up a lot of tubeless tires and the Vanhelga/Whiskey #9 combo is amongst the best I've done. Easy inflation with a floor pump, (and no- I didn't use a Bontrager Charger), but the tires were a bear cat to get on the rims. That's good, but in the field serviceability may be tough. (NOTE: Whiskey does not condone the use of tire levers.) That said, I could do the deed bare handed. albeit it took a lot of hand strength and my paws still ache from the effort. That's a small price to pay for tire bead stability at low pressures though, I'd say.

The Vanhelga tires themselves seem really aggressive in terms of tread design. The size is 3.8-ish on the 70mm wide Whiskey rims, so don't go expecting big flotation characteristics here. The grip should be outstanding though. Maybe if I had a "fat bike as mountain bike" set up, I'd consider these. The Vanhelgas are, at any rate, a good view into what could be for all fat bikers. If this sort of set up could be done on aluminum rims, (less expensive), and in the 4.8" size on 100mm wide rims, I'd be very interested.

Fat Bike Tire Musings

Vanhelga on Whiskey #9 rim (L) and Lou on Clownshoe (R)

Today I have a few thoughts on fat bike tires. I mentioned it a bit in yesterday's post, but the Lou tires on 100mm rims are revelatory in my experience. It will be interesting to try out my old Big Fat Larrys on the 100mm Clown Shoe rims at some point too. I'll likely do that this Summer. But the thing is, this combo is so much more capable with the conditions I like to ride in that I cannot see myself going back to 4.0"s or skinnier rims. Not for bushwhacking.

The only thing that is missing from the Lou/Clown Shoe combo is that these tires are not tubeless and the rims are not tubeless designed either. (Yes....split tube, yadda,yadda,yadda.... Read on!) If this sort of set up was designed to be tubeless? Wow! That would rule. Which brings me to............

The Vanhelga and Whiskey #9 carbon rims I built up for a customer at the shop where I work were also a revelatory experience. I have been pretty vocal about Surly/45NRTH's products pricing and lack of tubeless features. While this doesn't do anything but make affordability worse, it does bring tubeless functionality to fat bike riders that actually works well, at least it sets up well tubeless.

I've set up a lot of tubeless tires and the Vanhelga/Whiskey #9 combo is amongst the best I've done. Easy inflation with a floor pump, (and no- I didn't use a Bontrager Charger), but the tires were a bear cat to get on the rims. That's good, but in the field serviceability may be tough. (NOTE: Whiskey does not condone the use of tire levers.) That said, I could do the deed bare handed. albeit it took a lot of hand strength and my paws still ache from the effort. That's a small price to pay for tire bead stability at low pressures though, I'd say.

The Vanhelga tires themselves seem really aggressive in terms of tread design. The size is 3.8-ish on the 70mm wide Whiskey rims, so don't go expecting big flotation characteristics here. The grip should be outstanding though. Maybe if I had a "fat bike as mountain bike" set up, I'd consider these. The Vanhelgas are, at any rate, a good view into what could be for all fat bikers. If this sort of set up could be done on aluminum rims, (less expensive), and in the 4.8" size on 100mm wide rims, I'd be very interested.

Friday News And Views

Meet The Maker

Most fat biking freaks know all about Surly fat bike rims, or do you? They are not manufactured by Surly at all, but by a company called Alex Rims. They make stuff under their own name as well. In fact, I used to use their workmanlike TD-17 Disc as a 29"er hoop back when. Anyway......

I found a link to a Polish site that had information saying that Alex Rims are going to release a version of the Rolling Darryl and another, slightly less wide fat bike rim. See the post here and use Google Translate to read it if you want.

You'll also see there that Alex Rims is releasing a 29+ hoop. This is all relevant to those of you looking for bargain hoops that are of decent quality, as I have found Alex rims to be quite serviceable if not very spectacular. They just work. Typically they are pretty reasonably priced as well.

Curiously, there is also news on the bottom of that post revealing the fact that Alex Rims is also doing a 36"er rim that will be tubeless ready. Hmmm......... Could someone actually be considering releasing a mass produced 36"er mtb? Alex Rims do a lot of OE work, so that could be, but I'd be willing to bet that a unicycle wheel would be a safer bet here. But.......you never know.

Registration: 

Hey, remember when I wrote this big, long post about registering for T.I.V11?  It had the following line in it:

"30 spots for Finishers will also be up for grabs by post card entry starting October 27th. Again- DON"T SEND ENTRIES SOONER!! They will not be accepted"

Notice that I stated very clearly that post cards sent early would not be accepted? Yeah? Well, someone didn't listen.  Someone actually tried to send my boss a letter containing a post card and with it a note that instructed my boss to wait until the 27th of October and then hand me the card. There was also some money with instructions to buy the shop some beer.

Bzzzzzt! You've been red flagged! 

First off, this is an unfair tactic to those who will actually play by the rules. On that basis alone I have to disallow this entry. This person just left me no choice in the matter. Secondly, my boss is quite possibly the worst person ever to have asked to buy the shop beers. Well.......unless you like Miller Lite. Because that is what he would buy. I told him to not bother. But the offending potential entrant wouldn't have known that. That's just collateral damage there!

 So, besides that oddity, Trans Iowa registration kicks off next week, and I am sure more crazy stuff will happen. I can just feel it. I also can about guarantee some more folks will do some things that will be outside the parameters of the instructions I gave or their cards will be unreadable. Some folks will miss T.I.V11 on technicalities. It happens every year.........

2015 Beargrease XX1

Beargreased Lightning:

At the shop the other day I had the honor of building up this 2015 Salsa Cycles Beargrease XX1. They should just rename this the "Beargreased Lightning" and shorten it to "BL-XX1". Why?

Because it weighs 24.38lbs in a size Large. 24.38 freakin pounds!!! That's just nuts right there.

This is with tubes, mind you, and if you went tubeless on this beast, it would easily drop a couple of "el-bees". Okay? So we're looking at a potential weight with pedals of a bit over 22 pounds. Blame this on a liberal sprinkling of carbon fiber. There isn't a whole lot of metal bits on this rig. Even the rims are carbon fiber here.

Sure.....it costs a lot of money. Over 5G to buy this one, but you have to pay to play when it comes to light weight bicycles. In the case of the "BL-XX1" model, it is well worth it if you race one of these fat bikes in Winter events. It is worth it if you want a premium, all year around mountain bike. It is worth it if you like to have fun and go fast and have the cash to spend. I don't know many folks who would turn down one of these rigs if money wasn't a barrier. It's that nice.

The deal here though is that it kind of casts a pall over anything heavier. That's too bad, because you can have a blast on a fat bike that weighs 5, 8, or even 10 pounds heavier. You don't have to spend an enormous amount of cash to get into this sort of bike and have a blast on any sort of terrain. Take the Mukluk 3, as an example, which goes for a very reasonable $1899.00 and weighs about 34 pounds. Point is, I hope my posting about this crazy bike doesn't put you off from getting jazzed about fat bikes, because they are a ton of fun. Try one and see.......

Friday News And Views

Meet The Maker

Most fat biking freaks know all about Surly fat bike rims, or do you? They are not manufactured by Surly at all, but by a company called Alex Rims. They make stuff under their own name as well. In fact, I used to use their workmanlike TD-17 Disc as a 29"er hoop back when. Anyway......

I found a link to a Polish site that had information saying that Alex Rims are going to release a version of the Rolling Darryl and another, slightly less wide fat bike rim. See the post here and use Google Translate to read it if you want.

You'll also see there that Alex Rims is releasing a 29+ hoop. This is all relevant to those of you looking for bargain hoops that are of decent quality, as I have found Alex rims to be quite serviceable if not very spectacular. They just work. Typically they are pretty reasonably priced as well.

Curiously, there is also news on the bottom of that post revealing the fact that Alex Rims is also doing a 36"er rim that will be tubeless ready. Hmmm......... Could someone actually be considering releasing a mass produced 36"er mtb? Alex Rims do a lot of OE work, so that could be, but I'd be willing to bet that a unicycle wheel would be a safer bet here. But.......you never know.

Registration: 

Hey, remember when I wrote this big, long post about registering for T.I.V11?  It had the following line in it:

"30 spots for Finishers will also be up for grabs by post card entry starting October 27th. Again- DON"T SEND ENTRIES SOONER!! They will not be accepted"

Notice that I stated very clearly that post cards sent early would not be accepted? Yeah? Well, someone didn't listen.  Someone actually tried to send my boss a letter containing a post card and with it a note that instructed my boss to wait until the 27th of October and then hand me the card. There was also some money with instructions to buy the shop some beer.

Bzzzzzt! You've been red flagged! 

First off, this is an unfair tactic to those who will actually play by the rules. On that basis alone I have to disallow this entry. This person just left me no choice in the matter. Secondly, my boss is quite possibly the worst person ever to have asked to buy the shop beers. Well.......unless you like Miller Lite. Because that is what he would buy. I told him to not bother. But the offending potential entrant wouldn't have known that. That's just collateral damage there!

 So, besides that oddity, Trans Iowa registration kicks off next week, and I am sure more crazy stuff will happen. I can just feel it. I also can about guarantee some more folks will do some things that will be outside the parameters of the instructions I gave or their cards will be unreadable. Some folks will miss T.I.V11 on technicalities. It happens every year.........

2015 Beargrease XX1

Beargreased Lightning:

At the shop the other day I had the honor of building up this 2015 Salsa Cycles Beargrease XX1. They should just rename this the "Beargreased Lightning" and shorten it to "BL-XX1". Why?

Because it weighs 24.38lbs in a size Large. 24.38 freakin pounds!!! That's just nuts right there.

This is with tubes, mind you, and if you went tubeless on this beast, it would easily drop a couple of "el-bees". Okay? So we're looking at a potential weight with pedals of a bit over 22 pounds. Blame this on a liberal sprinkling of carbon fiber. There isn't a whole lot of metal bits on this rig. Even the rims are carbon fiber here.

Sure.....it costs a lot of money. Over 5G to buy this one, but you have to pay to play when it comes to light weight bicycles. In the case of the "BL-XX1" model, it is well worth it if you race one of these fat bikes in Winter events. It is worth it if you want a premium, all year around mountain bike. It is worth it if you like to have fun and go fast and have the cash to spend. I don't know many folks who would turn down one of these rigs if money wasn't a barrier. It's that nice.

The deal here though is that it kind of casts a pall over anything heavier. That's too bad, because you can have a blast on a fat bike that weighs 5, 8, or even 10 pounds heavier. You don't have to spend an enormous amount of cash to get into this sort of bike and have a blast on any sort of terrain. Take the Mukluk 3, as an example, which goes for a very reasonable $1899.00 and weighs about 34 pounds. Point is, I hope my posting about this crazy bike doesn't put you off from getting jazzed about fat bikes, because they are a ton of fun. Try one and see.......

Friday News And Views

Will it be too muddy at Odin's Revenge for this?

Odin's Revenge:

Well, this is it! I have left, most likely by the time you've read this, for Odin's Revenge taking place near Gothenburg, Nebraska. There is still a question as to exactly what the course will be depending upon rain events. If they happen, word is we'll be doing two laps of a shortened course. As of Thursday, the course was still dry and rideable. What happened overnight last night and what may happen tonight will have a big effect on what course we end up doing.

I'm okay either way. I am looking forward to riding anything we can out there and completing whatever course they decide upon. The rig is dialed in, the clothes were packed yesterday, and travel is happening now with good people.

Odin's is going to be tough, for sure, but I feel as good as I have ever felt going into any event. I've done some work and now it is time to see if it will pay off. I'll admit that I did some silly stuff last year that I am not going to plan on doing this time. The temperatures look to be reasonable this year, so with a good pre-race regimen I should have my best chance of a finish I can get barring something beyond my control.

There will be a report on the goings on, as I always write up, starting next week on Monday.

Trans Iowa Masters Program course.

Trans Iowa Masters Program Attempt:

This day marks the start of Steve Fuller's TIMP ITT attempt. This one is a solo, "time trial" type attempt at the route to set the fastest unsupported through-ride of the 377 mile route.

Steve is a two-time Trans Iowa finisher and has finished other gravel events as well. He's got his work cut out for him this time though, since the course has been rained on and it is "front loaded" with most of the routes B Level Maintenance roads. (Read: Dirt- no gravel, lots of mud.) Rain is covering some parts of the Western end of the route and more may occur before Steve gets all the way out of that area.

Follow Steve's progress on his SPOT Tracker. It updates every 10 minutes and Steve started this trek at 5am this morning.

Whiskey No. 9 Carbon Fat Bike Rim

Fat Bike Wheels Join The 21st Century:

As mentioned yesterday, the fat biking world finally, after 10 years or so, got caught up with the times in terms of tubeless tire technology. A true "system" now exists and will be available from 45NRTH/Whiskey this Fall. But they aren't going to be the only ones.....

Bontrager will also have tires and rims meant to go tubeless together. I cannot believe that Specialized won't do the same thing. I look for a Roval branded rim from them soon.

Then you have the Sun-Ringle' Mulefut, Stan's should be coming out with a wider Hugo type rim, and I am pretty sure Velocity is trying to figure out a "triple-dually" type rim as well. (I made that Velocity name up! I like that though. Just think, a 45 X 3 or a 135mm rim!)

Of course, there are tires coming down the pike as well for all of this stuff. Fat bikers will rejoice for sure. Interestingly, I mused about what effect this may all have on Surly/45NRTH and I saw someone that runs a shop remark on this same thing on a public forum yesterday. The word was that QBP lowered their fat bike tire prices across the board on Surly tires "since the molds had been paid for now". Uh-huh. Conveniently so, on purpose or not, I think. But either way, that's a refreshing change to see happen these days and bodes well for fans of Surly's tires.

But the whole point is that things are shaking out now which we were only dreaming of two years ago. Fat bikes are finally catching up and becoming "mainstream" in terms of the technology, and this will only be a good thing going forward for fans of the fattest tires.

Okay, that's a wrap. Go for a ride. ya'all! Summer doesn't last forever!

Friday News And Views

Will it be too muddy at Odin's Revenge for this?

Odin's Revenge:

Well, this is it! I have left, most likely by the time you've read this, for Odin's Revenge taking place near Gothenburg, Nebraska. There is still a question as to exactly what the course will be depending upon rain events. If they happen, word is we'll be doing two laps of a shortened course. As of Thursday, the course was still dry and rideable. What happened overnight last night and what may happen tonight will have a big effect on what course we end up doing.

I'm okay either way. I am looking forward to riding anything we can out there and completing whatever course they decide upon. The rig is dialed in, the clothes were packed yesterday, and travel is happening now with good people.

Odin's is going to be tough, for sure, but I feel as good as I have ever felt going into any event. I've done some work and now it is time to see if it will pay off. I'll admit that I did some silly stuff last year that I am not going to plan on doing this time. The temperatures look to be reasonable this year, so with a good pre-race regimen I should have my best chance of a finish I can get barring something beyond my control.

There will be a report on the goings on, as I always write up, starting next week on Monday.

Trans Iowa Masters Program course.

Trans Iowa Masters Program Attempt:

This day marks the start of Steve Fuller's TIMP ITT attempt. This one is a solo, "time trial" type attempt at the route to set the fastest unsupported through-ride of the 377 mile route.

Steve is a two-time Trans Iowa finisher and has finished other gravel events as well. He's got his work cut out for him this time though, since the course has been rained on and it is "front loaded" with most of the routes B Level Maintenance roads. (Read: Dirt- no gravel, lots of mud.) Rain is covering some parts of the Western end of the route and more may occur before Steve gets all the way out of that area.

Follow Steve's progress on his SPOT Tracker. It updates every 10 minutes and Steve started this trek at 5am this morning.

Whiskey No. 9 Carbon Fat Bike Rim

Fat Bike Wheels Join The 21st Century:

As mentioned yesterday, the fat biking world finally, after 10 years or so, got caught up with the times in terms of tubeless tire technology. A true "system" now exists and will be available from 45NRTH/Whiskey this Fall. But they aren't going to be the only ones.....

Bontrager will also have tires and rims meant to go tubeless together. I cannot believe that Specialized won't do the same thing. I look for a Roval branded rim from them soon.

Then you have the Sun-Ringle' Mulefut, Stan's should be coming out with a wider Hugo type rim, and I am pretty sure Velocity is trying to figure out a "triple-dually" type rim as well. (I made that Velocity name up! I like that though. Just think, a 45 X 3 or a 135mm rim!)

Of course, there are tires coming down the pike as well for all of this stuff. Fat bikers will rejoice for sure. Interestingly, I mused about what effect this may all have on Surly/45NRTH and I saw someone that runs a shop remark on this same thing on a public forum yesterday. The word was that QBP lowered their fat bike tire prices across the board on Surly tires "since the molds had been paid for now". Uh-huh. Conveniently so, on purpose or not, I think. But either way, that's a refreshing change to see happen these days and bodes well for fans of Surly's tires.

But the whole point is that things are shaking out now which we were only dreaming of two years ago. Fat bikes are finally catching up and becoming "mainstream" in terms of the technology, and this will only be a good thing going forward for fans of the fattest tires.

Okay, that's a wrap. Go for a ride. ya'all! Summer doesn't last forever!