Anyone ride a fatbike.

[Mugglechops]

No not mine. A few guys on a motorcycle forum in the US ride them.

[gcouyant]

A bit of a fat pictorial....


You can ride suburban beaches.


You can ride salt lakes.


You can ride desert dunes.


You can ride muddy singletrack.


You can ride wild remote beaches.


You can ride endless clay pans.


You can ride regular MTB Trails.


You can ride nasty rock.


You can explore and find long lost stuff.


You can ride soft river silt tracks around the Murray river.


You can explore outback tracks at sunset....

Fat is not so special purpose after all.... Perhaps fat is poli-purpose.

Fat is fabulous fun.

[Xplora]

If you don't work for Salsa Marketing, you should be. Epic post. I am in love... living the DREAM.

[Mugglechops]

If you don't work for Salsa Marketing, you should be. Epic post. I am in love... living the DREAM.

+1 on that for sure.

[Nobody]

If you don't work for Salsa Marketing, you should be. Epic post. I am in love... living the DREAM.

And here's a guy doing a similar job for Surly (Surly and Salsa have same parent company, so I've read).
http://www.youtube.com/user/coastkid71?feature=chclk

[Xplora]

Another great example from coastkid71, you're right. I think the allure of a fatbike is true offroad biking. My poor 700x28 SportContacts struggle to maintain traction in 1mm gravel, let alone on the beach. The regular MTB hardtail doesn't really give me the options I reckon you should be able to get with an offroad bike - fat seems to be the ticket.

[gcouyant]

If you don't work for Salsa Marketing, you should be. Epic post. I am in love... living the DREAM.

And here's a guy doing a similar job for Surly (Surly and Salsa have same parent company, so I've read).
http://www.youtube.com/user/coastkid71?feature=chclk

Damn, he makes it look easy.... It's inspired me again....

[gcouyant]

If you don't work for Salsa Marketing, you should be. Epic post. I am in love... living the DREAM.

Xplora, when you have a bike that makes you want to ride every time you spot it and makes you feel good every time you throw a leg over it, you do get out and do stuff on it. Those photos were all from the past few months.

Here are a few more of what you can do on a fat bike:


You can ride the soft mineral powder and explore central Australian mound springs.


You can climb mound springs without harming the fragile surface.


You find warm springs that make a perfect shower.


You get to explore deserted towns in the middle of nowhere.


You can race a fat bike.


You can take fat anywhere.


You can make fat friends.


And just to remind you that you're mortal, you can experience the joys of fat flats.

[Mugglechops]

It looks easier than riding my CX bike in the sand.

[gcouyant]

It looks easier than riding my CX bike in the sand.

It is. I rode this section a year earlier on 2.4" tyres and couldn't make it. Riding fat and I don't recall even breaking into a sweat.

[gcouyant]

Hey saronmcm1 have we talked you into fat goodness yet or shall we keep going?

[saronmcm1]

Hi, I am going greyer deciding which bike to buy. Either the Pugsley or Mukluk.
Did you have any problems with chain rub?
I am leaning towards the pugsley, how was the simpson ride? Did you have a modified bike rack to fit your bike in.
The Mukluk 3 arrive in oz this month.

Cheers
Ron

[Nobody]

Hi, I am going greyer deciding which bike to buy. Either the Pugsley or Mukluk.
Did you have any problems with chain rub?
I am leaning towards the pugsley, how was the simpson ride? Did you have a modified bike rack to fit your bike in.
The Mukluk 3 arrive in oz this month.

Cheers
Ron

There is also the new Moonlander to consider with its even bigger 100mm rims and 4.7" tyres.

[Paul.as]

gcouyant, where did you purchase the frame from?

[gcouyant]

gcouyant, where did you purchase the frame from?

I always buy Australian if possible. Frame, wheels, crankset, etc were from Dirt Works.



Wayne (elvis) was sensational and because I was his customer, he jumped in when I destroyed two race tyres a couple of days before the event. Karma. I could have never asked him to move mountains if I had purchased anywhere else.

[gcouyant]

Hi, I am going greyer deciding which bike to buy. Either the Pugsley or Mukluk.
Did you have any problems with chain rub?
I am leaning towards the pugsley, how was the simpson ride? Did you have a modified bike rack to fit your bike in.
The Mukluk 3 arrive in oz this month.

Cheers
Ron

Ron, I was in the same boat. There were several major differences that sealed the deal for me.

The Mukluk is alloy and lighter than the Pug. It's also a stiffer frame.

The Mukluk has a vertical dropout (Pug's horizontal) which makes removing the rear wheel a lot easier when running disk brakes. Those who race a Pug sometimes have no rear brake fitted because it's a show stopper if you have a flat tyre and repair it in a competitive environment.

The Mukluk is symmetrical. ie the frame grows in width equally. The drive side of a Pug is essentially a regular bike and the width grows on the non-drive side. Have a look at how Pug wheels are laced to see what I mean. I can't do a bike that isn't symmetrical. The down side is that you have to run a special 170mm wide rear hub and skewer. The Pug runs 135 front and rear.

I have no problem with chain rub using the hive cranks and 9x3 drive train. In granny 1, the chain gets close but when taught it has a couple of mm clearance. Another competitor with a Mukluk this year had moved to an 8x3 drive train to move the cassette out a bit for additional clearance. He was however running the standard rims. I am running roll'n Darryl 80mm wide rims for the weight savings.

Paul and I swapped bikes briefly (he ran a Pug with no rear brake) and you can feel the cushiness of the Pug's steel frame but it steered slowly compared to the Mukluk. Certainly not as precise. We both pretty much agreed. Paul by the way won the race so it can't be all that bad...

On the bike carrier Ron, we manufacture a specific option for those who wish to carry fat bikes. It'll support the new Moonlander wheels too.

Just on the Moonlander - I'm not yet convinced for this race. Certainly will be better for sand that has particles with rounded edges because that sand moves under the wheels and you need a lot of flotation. I can climb Simpson dunes spinning in granny one so going wider doesn't offer any real advantage other than to be able to not have to spin as hard. Hope that makes sense.

Mind you, I reckon that a symmetrical frame with even wider tyres would be even fatter fat fun! Especially in a Ti frame.....

[Nobody]

Mind you, I reckon that a symmetrical frame with even wider tyres would be even fatter fat fun! Especially in a Ti frame.....

And it looks like it should be available now or soon too.
http://salsacycles.com/bikes/mukluk_ti/

[gcouyant]

[ have no problem with chain rub using the hive cranks and 9x3 drive train. In granny 1, the chain gets close but when taught it has a couple of mm clearance. Another competitor with a Mukluk this year had moved to an 8x3 drive train to move the cassette out a bit for additional clearance. He was however running the standard rims. I am running roll'n Darryl 80mm wide rims for the weight savings.

I should have mentioned that I'm running the Hive (E13) crankset rather than that on Murray's bike which was a standard build. The better crankset gives you the ability to space the chainwheels out for good clearance. I think that the high end builds now run this crankset. Not a bad piece of gear actually and pretty light and stiff for a 100mm crankset.

[gcouyant]

Mind you, I reckon that a symmetrical frame with even wider tyres would be even fatter fat fun! Especially in a Ti frame.....

And it looks like it should be available now or soon too.
http://salsacycles.com/bikes/mukluk_ti/

Yes..... I know....... Wayne told me about it when buying my frame.

Waiting for the good news on price.....

[saronmcm1]

Hi, well I am a broken man from all the photos and videos on the net.
Just put the deposit down on a pugsley.
I really liked the mukluk but not available in oz until late december at this stage.
Hopefully pick up late next week.
Cheers
Ron

[steve-waters]

gcouyant - that is some amazing stuff you have riden and seen on your bike thanks for the post.

Makes me want to get out do so much more on bikes...maybe even a fat one.

[gcouyant]

gcouyant - that is some amazing stuff you have riden and seen on your bike thanks for the post.

Makes me want to get out do so much more on bikes...maybe even a fat one.

Oh Steve, we live and breathe remote travel adventure by 4x4 and bicycles. We have a bit of a reputation for this activity with our bicycle carriers and have some sensational like minded customers. You should see the stuff they get up to!

Ron, congratulations on the purchase! Fantastic news! What colour?

You asked about this year's Simpson desert ride. I just finished the race report - but it is a personal account. It's at:

http://www.isi-carriers.com/trips/sdbc/ ... -prep.html

[BillP]

I got a pair of Fatbacks last year. Most fun I've ever had sitting down.

Riding helmetless along the beach and up the desert and anywhere in between.

Yep its one hell of a novelty. Ha Ha Bill P.

[Olefin]

Well I'm convinced, Stockton Beach plus Fatbike equals cycling heaven

I have a Fatback. On Stockton beach at noon it's like powder skiing - you can't quite see the shape of the dune as you launch off the top. You hope there is a gradual return to horizontal.

Fantastic!

On matters of hygiene? No problem with sand in the chain if you use wax lube. Salt water on titanium? Stay out of the water.

[AUbicycles]

Thanks for sharing all the pics - makes me curious