2023 Mountain Biking

[Tom K.]

The single wall nexties are rather stiff and feel quite strong anyways.

When I got mine three years ago, Mike Curiak, and old endurance racing buddy and best wheelbuilder of all time, was pretty firm about "snow use only, Tom".

But he now says they've proved out for summer use also, provided absolutely no rim strikes.

So you're set!

 

[firebanex]

Good thing is, I don't ride my fatbike on dirt and 99.9% of the time the rocks are under snow. Pretty safe from rim strikes *crosses fingers*.

There was a massive snow storm in Anchorage in the last couple days which has delayed the arrival of the -4 offset chainring I need to run my rear Nextie wheel. Oh well, should arrive tomorrow along with a bunch of snow for my area. I went for a ride anyways.

Todays ride, I had a few snippets of trails that I knew about that I wanted to see if I could link together for additional routes this winter. They linked but.. it involved riding down a sketchy psuedo road lined with abandoned cars and various things. It had other trail users tracks but I'm not sure if it's terribly viable but I now know of an additional bit of trail to access one of the main winter areas I ride in. I was a touch early for the actual good colors of the sunset, but it was still good enough for a picture.

 

[Tom K.]

Good thing is, I don't ride my fatbike on dirt and 99.9% of the time the rocks are under snow. Pretty safe from rim strikes *crosses fingers*.

Same, mostly, but I've got my OEM set of unstudded D4s on a pair of Wampas that I kind of stumbled into when I first got the fat bike bug. They usually just hang on the wall, but I've been using them this fall to mix things up by riding the FB on dirt while waiting for the snow.

 

[chris_the_wrench]

I'm saving 2.9 pounds going from the tubeless studded D5's on Mulefut 80s to tubeless studless Husker Du on the nextie 95mm rims.

 

[chris_the_wrench]

The fancy fancy riders get i9 fat hubs built up with HED rims but the rest of us do the Nextie/DTswiss 350 combo.

Not sure if Im fancy, but I got some industry 9 hubs enroute. If anyone happens to have a I9 Hydra Shimano micro spline free hub body laying around they want to sell or trade for a sram xd let me know. Still gotta order rims and spokes and tires...Hopefully they see snow this year!

 

[cantunamunch]

Not sure if Im fancy, but I got some industry 9 hubs enroute.

OOOOOOOOO.

 

[chris_the_wrench]

OOOOOOOOO.

I wanted gold but had to settle for black…

 

[Tom K.]

I wanted gold but had to settle for black…

Good contrast with the white snow.

Excellent fashion intuition!

 

[chris_the_wrench]

Any of you done any riding in the Methow Valley of Washington? I've ridden some of their trails up in the 'alpine area' by Mazama(which were REAL fun), but Im wondering more about down near Sun Mountain and other lower elevations. I've looked at Trailforks and gotten some good ideas on distance and elevation, but I'm wondering about how smooth vs rocky are they? @Tom K. I think you've been there?? Are they smooth and polished like lion mtn to beaver lakes, or abit more rugged?

 

[robertc3]

Any of you done any riding in the Methow Valley of Washington? I've ridden some of their trails up in the 'alpine area' by Mazama(which were REAL fun), but Im wondering more about down near Sun Mountain and other lower elevations. I've looked at Trailforks and gotten some good ideas on distance and elevation, but I'm wondering about how smooth vs rocky are they? @Tom K. I think you've been there?? Are they smooth and polished like lion mtn to beaver lakes, or abit more rugged?

I have done some riding at Sun Mountain, not a ton, but some. We rode Thompson Ridge, Pete's Dragon, Climb It Change, Magpie, and a couple of others. They are not smooth, but they are not as rough as what you would find on the west side of the Cascades. Are you trying to gauge time or just get a feel for the trails?

 

[chris_the_wrench]

Are you trying to gauge time or just get a feel for the trails?

'Feel'. I was really eyeballing the Chickadee to Thompson Ridge Loop.

Im hoping we can head up for a couple days after Turkey day, but they may have snow by then and be closed for mtb'ing. If not this fall, definitely once they dry out in the spring. I've only been to that area once, but I really enjoyed it.

 

[Tom K.]

Any of you done any riding in the Methow Valley of Washington? I've ridden some of their trails up in the 'alpine area' by Mazama(which were REAL fun), but Im wondering more about down near Sun Mountain and other lower elevations. I've looked at Trailforks and gotten some good ideas on distance and elevation, but I'm wondering about how smooth vs rocky are they? @Tom K. I think you've been there?? Are they smooth and polished like lion mtn to beaver lakes, or abit more rugged?

Generally smoother than Pig Farm, and rougher than the Whitefish Trail.

There is a loop out of Twisp called Angel's Staircase that is truly special, but probably already snowed out for the season. If you pedal throught Cooney Lakes area during prime larch season, yikes!

The stuff right in and around Sun Mtn. Lodge is fast and flowy and smooth, with the exception of the "outer" trail that might be Black Bear, which is a bit more old school in style and bumpiness.

EDIT: You know that the Winthrop area is world class when it comes to groomed xc skiing, right? And we haven't been in awhile, but I suspect they are doing fat bike grooming these days.

 

[robertc3]

'Feel'. I was really eyeballing the Chickadee to Thompson Ridge Loop.

Im hoping we can head up for a couple days after Turkey day, but they may have snow by then and be closed for mtb'ing. If not this fall, definitely once they dry out in the spring. I've only been to that area once, but I really enjoyed it.

We did the Chickadee to Thompson Ridge and it is mostly smooth, some patches of rocky, but only to spice it up, not to make it crazy rough. Here are some shots from our May trip to give you the feel. I would be surprised if the trail was snowfree after Thanksgiving.

 

[nay]

That's fine, awesome even. I can even envy that.

Now imagine loading up that fantastic experience with angst, guilt and FOMO over missed day(s). And then being vegan-preachy about it to other riders. I cry 'WHY?' - though I know it's mostly rhetorical.

Oh it’s just the ski once a week maybe twice vs. getting in 4 days. There’s a problem with getting next level fit along with getting older…you really need it. I’m still femur bone rebuilding, but any more than 2 days and I feel it.

I don’t obsess about every day, but by day 3 I need the brain goodies that exercise delivers to be a good human and the body needs it, too. It’s nice to be able to carve out 2 hours in winter instead of a whole day and the fitness and downhill brain overlap with skiing doesn’t make much of a venn diagram.

 

[firebanex]

Finally got the bike fully done, chain clears the tire, gears redone, brakes adjusted, and had time to go ride. Of course I forgot to take a beauty shot of it, just went and rode it instead. Losing so much weight off the wheels feels different. The front of the bike feels like I have a ton of self steer now as the wheel seems less gyroscopically stable? I don't know, might also be a geometry thing with the bike. It is after all a 2016 frame and I could use a bit more stack and reach on it. Bit more slack would be nice too, its somewhere around a 69* HA.

 

[scott43]

I need a mountain bike. That is all..

 

[scott43]

 

[firebanex]

Commuted to work today for the fun of it. It takes over twice the time to get there compared to my summer times but I had way less time spent on the road. I think I had 2 of the 10 miles on quiet residential roads, 3 miles on bike paths turned winter snowmachine routes, and the rest was on the dog mushing trails that lead me to a gravel pit behind my workplace. Took an hour and 10 minutes to descend 800ft and ride 10 miles. Summer time it takes barely 30 minutes to cover the same distance but sticking to the roads & paths.

 

[Tom K.]

Commuted to work today for the fun of it. It takes over twice the time to get there compared to my summer times but I had way less time spent on the road. I think I had 2 of the 10 miles on quiet residential roads, 3 miles on bike paths turned winter snowmachine routes, and the rest was on the dog mushing trails that lead me to a gravel pit behind my workplace. Took an hour and 10 minutes to descend 800ft and ride 10 miles. Summer time it takes barely 30 minutes to cover the same distance but sticking to the roads & paths.

Sounds like a great way to start the work day.

Did you ride home at the end of the day? Not sure a post-work 800 foot climb on a fat bike is optimal!

 

[cantunamunch]

? Not sure a post-work 800 foot climb on a fat bike is optimal!

Not sure about this. HOW I WISH I had a chance like that to vent post-work.