Down Time

I haven't been on a bike in over a week.  But I'm not complaining...

We just got back from 5 nights in the Caribbean.  It was gorgeous.  The water and the beach were absolutely unreal.  I still can't get over how clear and calm the water was... everyday.  I could have floated in that water for hours and hours.  It was a great trip... sun, sand, tropical drinks, seafood, snorkeling, and driving on the left.

I've always kept this blog very bike-centric, but I couldn't resist posting some pics from the trip...

Getting Fatter

'Tis the season for talk of new bike products...

Discussion of an even fatter Surly has been going strong over in the MTBR Fat Bike Forum.  The discussions have settled on a new frame called the Moonlander and a 26 x 4.5" Big Fat Larry tire (presumably just a fatter version of the current Larry tire).

Other items supposedly in the works are a 100mm wide rim called the Clownshoe and a Moonlander crankset.  The fatter rim makes sense with a 4.5" tire, and an unorthodox crank is only natural with the drivetrain issues associated with fat wheels.  The crankset apparently has 2 rings; a 21T and a 33T.  The assumption is that the rings are in the outermost spots (no ring in the usual granny gear position) in order to increase clearance between the chain and the fatter tire.  

The biggest obstacle to a fatter fatbike is probably the drivetrain, and I'm curious how Surly will go about handling it... more offset?  Wider bottom bracket?  170mm rear hub?

It'll be interesting to see what finally comes to fruition... I'm hoping Surly will have all this stuff ready for release later this year.  The 2 biggest industry trade shows are just around the corner... Eurobike is the end of August, and Interbike is mid-September.  Last year Surly had all its new stuff ready to show at Eurobike.

I'm also interested to see where the pricepoint is on this bike... and whether we'll see a lot of fatbike owners sell their current bikes and make the switch for a fatter footprint.  Given that it is brand new, it's an even more specialized bike than current fatbikes, and prices for existing Surly models are already going up, my guess is that it'll be pretty pricey.

No matter what, a complete Moonlander will be beyond my budget.  That said, I'm sure once this stuff hits the market I'll be pricing it out to see how expensive the switch would be... and at the very least I'll be looking to fatten up the front end of the Poor Man's Pug.

Grab Bag

A few random bike related things...

- I recently added a rear rack to my All-Rounder Fargo, and after a lot of searching I ended up choosing a Civia Market Rear rack (formerly called the Hyland rack).  I like the look of the rack, the solid mounting brackets, and the fact that it allows me to run panniers further back than most racks.  With size 14/15 feet, even a couple inches of additional heel clearance is a good thing.

At $50 the Civia Market rack is half the price of some other racks out there.  Granted it won't hold huge panniers as solidly as some racks, but I'm not planning a tour anytime soon.  My pannier use is limited to running errands and carrying small loads... and my small panniers on the Market rack work just fine.

- I ordered a new rear tire for the Fat Front Fargo today... a Geax Saguaro 29 x 2.2.  After a fair amount of research, these tires look to be a good balance of reasonable price, durability, and performance.  The Saguaro is lighter than the Kenda Nevegal that's on the bike now, plus it has a bit more volume.  While the Nevegal probably has more bite, the Geax should roll faster.

- Yesterday I played bike polo for the first time since my crash (and broken hand) last August, and I have to say my polo playing days are over.  My hand is still sore from playing just 3 games yesterday.  I think it simply puts too much pressure on my hand.  Swinging and leaning on the mallet, combined with the adrenaline rush (and therefore not feeling much pain at the time) is tougher on my hand than I had expected.  While I enjoy playing polo, riding in general (especially mountain bikes in the woods) is too important for me to risk it.

- Many of you have probably already seen this, but Surly had a great post on their blog yesterday.  The post was titled "Some Answers to Just About Any Bike Forum Post I've Ever Seen".  Here are some of my favorites...

"If you think your bike looks good, it does."
"If you like the way your bike rides, it's an awesome bike."
"The more you ride your bike, the less your ass will hurt."
"It sucks to be harassed by assholes in cars while you're on a bike.  It also sucks to drive behind assholes on bikes."
"Wheelies are the best trick ever invented.  That's just a fact."
"Yes, you can break your collar bone riding a bike like that."
"The moral of RAGBRAI is that families and drunken boobs can have fun on the same route, just maybe at different times of day."
"Stopping can be as much fun as riding."

Words to live by.

- Surly also teased followers via twitter/facebook that they had a big announcement today.  But then... it was delayed.  I think the odds are 50/50 on whether they are just messing with people or they actually have a cool new product to announce.  There is a lot of speculation that it's a fatter tire and a fatter Pugsley, but who knows.  Well some people do, I suppose.  Whether it is this weekend, next week, at Eurobike, or at Interbike, I'm confident they'll be releasing something cool at some point.

Fat Fargo Meets Theo

I got out for a couple laps around Theo Wirth today, mostly to see how the Fat Front Fargo would do on the tight, twisty trail.  I was surprised at how well it rode... maybe it's the fact that I'm getting more familiar with the bike, but it felt even better than it did at Murphy.  I figured this bike would be in its element at Murphy; the long wheelbase and low bottom bracket presumably creating a bike that would ride best on a fast, flowy trail like Murphy.  But this thing was an absolute blast to ride through all the tight turns of Theo.

We're getting rain tonight so I'll be staying off the singletrack for a day or two, but once the trails are dry again I'll be out getting further acquainted with my new favorite bike...

Open Streets MPLS

There was a great bike/walk/skate event in Minneapolis yesterday called Open Streets Mpls...

Ciclovia Poster from Open Streets MPLS Website

The event closed a stretch of Lyndale, a major Mpls avenue, to all cars and motorcycles... and opened it to walkers, bikers and skaters.   This type of event is commonly called a ciclovia, which translates to "bike path" in Spanish.  From 10am to 2pm, a portion of Lyndale Avenue became 20 blocks of people enjoying the day, talking with their neighbors, and visiting local businesses.  It was a great time, and I hope the organizers get the support needed to do similar events in the future.  Click here for more info on Open Streets MPLS.  It was fun to see the street filled with people (and not cars)...  there was food, music, yoga, people of all ages, and bikes of all shapes and sizes...

Music on Wheels... Cadillac Kolstad

Train of Interconnected Recumbent Trikes

A Couple Hundred People Doing Yoga in the Street

Just Bikes...

I used Lyndale Ave as part of my route to Theo Wirth park, where I did some exploring and checked on the condition of the singletrack trails...

I also rode the new River-Lake Greenway yesterday, which is a bike route from Lake Harriet to the Mississippi River via 40th and 42nd streets.  It includes a lot of signage, and some nice traffic controls to help reduce motorized traffic.  

This new bike route, along with the ciclovia, made for a fun ride to Theo and back.  Here are a few more pics from the ride...

Cricket Players in Bryn Mawr Park

All in all, a great day on the bike.  Makes me proud to live in such a great city...

Loring Park and Downtown Minneapolis

P.M.P. Update

A couple weeks ago I de-studded my studded Endomorph tire.  It was a relatively simple process... pull the latex off the inside of the tire, remove the nut on the outside, then unscrew/pull the bolt from the tire.  A simple, yet time-consuming job.  I then put a small dollop of latex over each hole on both the inside and outside of the tire.  After the tire was de-studded, I installed it on the Poor Man's Pug.   You can see the little white latex spots on the front tire in the pic below...

While it doesn't roll as well as the Hookworm, the Endo has such a low profile tread the difference wasn't that noticeable.  The biggest difference was with the steering; the Endo has the tendency to pull while turning.  Again, not a big deal... and it didn't take long to get used to the change in the handling.  I might also experiment with the tire pressure to see if that helps.  I'll probably keep the Endo up front year-round unless I'm taking the P.M.P. on a long road ride (doubtful)... I like the added volume of the Endo, and the height it adds to the front end.

Today was the first ride with the Beard foot straps... so far I like them even more than my first pair.

Fat Fargo Meets Murphy

I got out for a lap around Murphy yesterday before I had to start working... and it was gorgeous.

This was the first nice weekend we've had in a really long time, and based on the parking lot I wasn't the only one that had been looking forward to spending time in the forested hills of Murphy-Hanrehan.  This was my first time riding Murphy this year - usually my first Murphy ride is in April or May... not June.  Even with a ton of work to do, I couldn't resist getting in a lap.  The combination of a late start to the season, an absolutely beautiful day, and the first ride on the Fat Front Fargo at Murphy made for a lot of anticipation.

And the Fat Front Fargo didn't disappoint.  It felt great on the fast, flowy trail at Murphy.  I know this trail like the back of my hand, so I was able to get a much better feel for how the bike handled off-road than my previous ride at Battle Creek.  At Murphy I know where to let the bike run, when to get ready for climbs, and how to hit all the corners.  I'm used to riding a really heavy full-suspension bike on this trail, and it was an eye-opener to be riding a (somewhat) fully rigid bike here.  The climbing efficiency was most noticeable, but I liked how it descended too.

When I first built up this bike, I was a bit concerned about how the fat front would impact the geometry and how the bike would handle in the turns.  After yesterday's ride, those concerns have disappeared.  The bike felt great through every turn.  It had a stable feel while cornering, but the handling wasn't too slow either.  Overall I'm really happy how it turned out.  The next test will be a ride at Theo... another trail I know like the back of my hand, but a much tighter, twistier trail than Murphy.  I have little doubt it'll handle Theo's turns superbly.

Right a away I did notice more pedal strikes, especially in the prairie section at the start of the trail, which is understandable given the low bottom bracket height of the Fargo.  The prairie sections at Murphy are often pretty narrow and cupped, so it's easy to catch a pedal on the uphill side of a turn.  Once I noticed it, the pedal strikes became a non-issue... it's just a matter of being conscious of your pedals.

The first of many fun Murphy rides this season.  I'm already looking forward to going back...