Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Lunch time 1/2-Fat bike ride



There's finally a bit of snow here. A quick 5-miler on the half-fat bike shows more promise than I'd expected, frankly.

The front wheel sort of plows through everything and the bike's whacked slacked (then uber-slacked by the giant fork), forces me to sit down. Seriously. When I get off my butt to stand the weird geometry is like an invisible bully just shoving me back down. Luckily, the bike is geared for super fast, low-gear spinning.

Yes. I'm actually riding a bike here. Crazy, right?
I've got the paddle WTB tread on the back under all my weight. As a result, I sort of "plane" in that boat way of planing, not bike way, over the snow.

This might just work. The real test comes when this nice, cold, powdery snow melts a bit, then refreezes into deadly frozen slush ruts.
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4 comments:

  1. UnknownJanuary 18, 2012 at 5:05:00 PM PST

    What is the front tire?

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  2. NotJanuary 18, 2012 at 10:03:00 PM PST

    What pressure are you running the rear tire at? If it's the 2.6 you might get away with 20 PSI or even less. Or 25 PSI if you really want to avoid fixing a flat in the snow. ;)
    - Ventura

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  3. John SpeareJanuary 19, 2012 at 9:13:00 AM PST

    Sean - it's from a "Sun Spider AT" bike. Cheap fat rubber.

    Ventura: I wasn't able to fit your tire in there unfortunately. In fact, let me know when you want those back and I"ll get them to you.

    I think the rear is about a 2.3. I don't know what the PSI is exactly, but I'd guess about 25-30. It does ok. Compared to the front though, the rear squirms around in the compacted dry snow, while the front floats it more.

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  4. NotJanuary 19, 2012 at 6:49:00 PM PST

    I need the tires back by April, or March if we have an early, dry spring. ;)
    - Ventura

    ReplyDelete