But Glen is always thinking... and he pondered this hack.
And I'll be a monkey's uncle. It's not as stupid as it looks. And it looks pretty stupid.
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| Seatpost shim. The weird-o frame takes a 29.4mm post. |
Of course, I've not ridden it in the snow yet. But it's pretty easy riding: with the crazy-slack angles (further amplified by pushing the front of the bike a few inches skyward), and the tall bars.
It puts you right over the rear wheel and removes weight over the front wheel. So maybe. Just maybe, it will float, while the rear wheel does all the work. And if I can find a cheap (free) fatter tire for the back, I can go to about 2.5 there.
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| The weirdo frame also took a (surprise!) Italian-threaded bb. The only one Glen had laying around was a sweet titanium one. Nice! |
And the biggest bonus here? And Joe2 called this as soon as Glen popped it out of the stand -- the bike is a wheelie machine. Like: just pedal and you can lift the front wheel.
More to come on this I'm sure.
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| The other fat tire will be homemade-studded by people that hang out in Glen's garage. I need to get the hardware for that. You should go hang out at Glen's garage sometime! |
Sick mutant!!!! It's the year of the snow bike, My bro is obsessed with surly's new moonlander. Of course buying one sidesteps shop time pleasure.. Skills, buds, brews....speeking of that Russian Brewing can do no wrong. Don't know how Dillon got his hands on supplication, but if you like that... Pliny the Elder rules as far as the IPA world goes. If u can get it, please get an extra for me!'
ReplyDeleteIf you wanna borrow a Maxxis Ardent 2.6" or a Vredestein Bull Lock 2.35" until I put them back on my mountain bike next spring, you can. Or you could order either from Jenson USA for about $20.
ReplyDelete- Ventura
Brian -- the moonlander is pretty stinkin sweet. And by the time i'm done fussing this bike, i'll probably have put the time (if not the $) into a snow-bike solution that would've just been better off spent on a moonlander/pugs. Time will tell.
ReplyDeleteMaddie told me this morning, "that is the dorkiest bike on the earth."
Ventura: deal. Hook me up. I'll get them back to you in time for spring riding. If you can make a hang, I'll buy you beer in return for a seasonal-borrowing of your tires.
Negative. Bottom bracket. Drop.
ReplyDeleteHow's the wheel flop??? Holy smokes I think I did something like this before only with a suspension fork and a formerly all rigid, non-suspension-corrected frame, and the handling/flop was sooo effin' bad. Hope the wheelies don't pop at some inopportune time where traction is a minimum. But wheelies are sweet.
Not naysayin', I'd ride the stink out of it. That guy from 26" slicks bike looks way more legit, but this has the cool nerd factor that I really like. Pump track?
Christopher: you'd expect the front wheel to just dive into a flop, but the stinkin' tire contact patch is so f'ing huge, that it slows that tendancy down. So far anyway. We'll see.
ReplyDeleteOf course Pat's fat bike is way more dialed in. That guy is obsessed and has been working every potential variable of fatbike minutia in his giant brain for the last 6 months... it's simply not fair to compare.
Ventura: yes! we've heard legends of another Benniditos, but they appear to be myth. There can be only one.
ReplyDeleteI think you are going to want a real fat bike tire in the back too. You are going to be fishtaling everywhere when it gets marginal and the fat bike is made for the margnalia.
ReplyDeletesaid the man with a whole week on the pugs...
Let's not overthink this, people. Just trying to have some fun with an otherwise complete turd of a bike.
ReplyDeletePhat, like!
ReplyDeletenothing wrong with what looks like an Old Chub seat post shim! i've used lesser brands of beer for old quill stems in modern threaded setups!
ReplyDeleteGood eye C.J. Indeed, it is an Old Chub.
ReplyDeleteYou are wise in the ways of the shim.
What is it? Something that can handle 2.5" tires and has an italian BB? Strange.
ReplyDeleteMy English Roadster has slack frame angles and is very stable on slick surfaces, gravel, snow, etc. The only time I crashed it was on wet ice. It was so slick I could hardly stand up. Then it occurred to me to ride in the lane that had already been plowed.
ReplyDeleteI also have a set of studded tires on a repurposed ten-speed. It looks like a cross bike on steroids.
I learned to ride on the snow when I had a paper route at age 13. That was 48 yeas ago.