Fat Bikes 2020/2021 Fat Bike Winter rides.

[nay]

Some snow to justify my presence on this thread:

 

[nay]

But really just back to the brown pow. It did snow here, we just waited for it to melt. Some shade ice was ridden, so it still counts. My youngest son (second pic) is making huge progress in his new to him Canyon Torque.

 

[Tom K.]

^^^ Nice shots -- but flannel is so last year!

Big climbing day for me with a friend, down in Missoula. We rode almost all snow and ice, but it sure isn't very thick. The elk burgers he fed me afterwards made it worthwhile!

Summit shot:

 

[Slim]

Would a bike with 177 mm rear spacing (rather than the more standard 197) maybe come packaged with a narrower crankset and q?

Kona Wozo for instance.

Normally, yes, but it is still waaayyy wider than normal bike. The two bikes that specifically advertise narrow stance width, are the Rocky Suzy Q, and Otso Voytek.

Q-Factor and the Voytek

Simply put, Q-Factor on a bicycle is the distance between the outer surfaces of the crank arms. This affects how far apart the pedals are, which in turn affects the biomechanics of pedaling and the handling of the bike. A bike fitter's rule of thumb for a good lateral fit is to have the hip...

otsocycles.com

But for someone who has issues on their regular mtb, even those probably won't work. (@EricG )


By the way, sometimes you can squeeze a crankset meant for 177-rear into a 197-rear fatbike. I did that on my current Salsa Mukluk Carbon.
I think Specialized Fatboys came like that (at some point)

 

[nay]

^^^ Nice shots -- but flannel is so last year!

Wait even tech flannel that isn’t flannel made for riding???

I did take it off. Got too warm

 

[Tom K.]

Wait even tech flannel that isn’t flannel made for riding???

"Fake" flannel is even worse. Shameful, even!

 

[Joel]

My 12 Speed bits came and I got them on my Farley. I like the new lower gear. The Sunrace cassette is not to bad, I bought one of their "best" ones. Only 27g heavier than the XT and $70.00 cheaper. Seems to shift well.

CAIC still indicates things are bad for the front range and still no snow down here where I would ride. Guess that's how it goes sometimes. I do have other things to work on, but I wouldn't mind getting out in the snow, skis or bike.

 

[firebanex]

Last week was such a mess for me, didn't get to ride at all. Among other things, the weather dropped out the bottom to a consistent -30* and there was wind. Ugh. I received my second Covid vaccine dose on Tuesday and didn't ride my usual Tuesday night. Then woke up at 5am Wednesday feeling crap, body aches, head ache, joints sore, and my skin hurt. So I didn't go to work and pretty much sat around, Thursday was spent catching up and Friday was for getting everything else done.. But during the week I got a very important upgrade done to my wifes Farley to make it more of a 4season capable bike since she loves it so much. Stuck a Wren 110mm suspension fork on it! It looks so sick.

Hopefully next week I can get back to riding again, temps are going back up to more manageable negative teens.

 

[Tom K.]

No pics, but we had an interesting ride today. From one trailhead to another, there is about 1.2 miles that never seems to get walked or ridden in and packed down well, so it's like riding a tightrope.

My young friend, who can now outclimb me while whistling a merry tune, did NOT do well on this portion. Got pretty frustrated.

Would it be mean for the "old guy" to admit some enjoyment from this?!

 

[nay]

There is snow in these pictures. Also fake flannel. Was a kinda warm for that, but we are also in a major wind cycle.

 

[Tom K.]

^^^ Boy, that looks fun. It's only mid-Feb, but this winter has been so "skinny" that I feel my mind starting to drift to mtb already.

 

[nay]

^^^ Boy, that looks fun. It's only mid-Feb, but this winter has been so "skinny" that I feel my mind starting to drift to mtb already.

I know - we’ve just kept riding because it’s been so much better and now the season actually approaches.

 

[Tom K.]

Glorious, sunny ride yesterday. Too cold to ski (-28 or some such thing and blasting at the summit). I've been amazed at how comfortable fat biking is at zero to five degrees, provided it isn't windy.

Too cold to pull the gloves for a picture, though!

Also, pogies. They kind of bug me, so I pulled them and wore medium thick winter biking gloves, and I was fine. Surprising. Learning all kinds of new stuff!

 

[firebanex]

Yup, even at -30f a pair of mid weight bike gloves in poagies is sufficient when riding.

 

[Tom K.]

Good ride today. Got up to the mid-teens, but was overcast and breezy. Yesterday's dead calm bluebird conditions felt warmer at 5 degrees! Tried some toe warmers for kicks and they sort of worked, but I don't think they get enough oxygen in tight shoes to really kick in. They got much warmer after the ride, on the way home, in my loose slip-ons.

 

[Slim]

Finally have a picture again.
It’s been cold here all week (highs around 0F/-18C), so not wanted to take my gloves of to use my phone. I did bring the camera one ride, will post those pics another time.

Today my hands were warm from mostly ascending, and the river looked so cool, I had to take some pictures of my wife on Lester River.

I love riding the rivers, they are so scenic with the rock walls, and you don’t get to bike them any other time, that makes it extra cool to me.

 

[Tom K.]

I love riding the rivers, they are so scenic with the rock walls, and you don’t get to bike them any other time, that makes it extra cool to me.

That sounds so darn cool!

Waiting for pics of you cleaning a Class IV drop.

In the upstream direction!

 

[Slim]

That sounds so darn cool!

Waiting for pics of you cleaning a Class IV drop.

In the upstream direction!

Funny, that picture is class IV, I did ride it up, not too steep. I walked the class V stepped falls, due to the thin ice at the bottom and no functioning rear break ;-)

 

[Joel]

Not an out in the woods fun ride but did go around the hood ( a three mile loop around my neighborhood ). Mostly it was colder than I have tried with the Wolvhammer boots, 7F when I did the ride, still looking for sub zero.

At 7F, bike shifted fine, mineral oil brake fluid gave no problems ( still really like these Magura brakes ), and stayed toasty warm. I'm still wearing the same stuff I BC in where -14F plus wind was not an issue.

As I was finishing up the loop, I was actually starting to over heat.

Funny how that loop takes me about 12 minutes on my garage bike ( Trek FX ), this ride took me about 15 minutes. Definitely feel the fat tires in the snow.

 

[nay]

Caught the incoming storm. Most of my trails are out of action for awhile since they are clay based, but it was pretty fun.