All Things Bikes and Tacos! (...and every vehicle imaginable)

pre ride for my first race of the season. you cold weather folks need to visit me in Arizona. Primo weather right now!

 

Been riding a Fatboy for a couple of years, bought my wife one for Christmas this year.

 

That looks like a lot of fun! We rarely get any snow of any quantity here. One snow ride last winter

 

I think we are doing a trip to Arizona late Winter/Early spring. Have to find a place thats not FL/GA that she likes the climate so we can move. That or we just go back to CO.

 

If you guys have time to ride let me know. Heads up, if your seriously considering moving here summers are tough. A dry heat is still hot as hell when it’s over 110. Check out Prescott, weather is about 15 degrees cooler then Phoenix. Small town vibe, great XC trails but work is a little hard to find. Good luck in your search.

 

You mean you don't enjoy riding while it feels like you are standing in front of the open oven?

SLC only gets to about 100 at the hottest and I still wait till it gets almost dark (and only 80*) before I go out.

 

What type of terrain do you anticipate riding? I have a Mukluk, which seems to be popular in my area. Conditions here can vary quite a bit with our weather patterns or even northern vs southern exposed terrain. The Mukluk seems to handle whatever conditions it's thrown into. If you knew that you would typically be riding groomed trails, the Beargrease might be faster or more fun. Of course, how comfortable you feel on each bike is important too.

 

I use flats, since they'll accommodate any footwear. Right now, I wear insulated boots for riding. 45Nrth sells winter boots that work with clipless pedals, but they are pricy.

 

Is it a dry heat? During the summer here it will be mid 70s to low 80s and I will look like I just went swimming. Even worse if it’s hotter.

I remember when I visited reno a little over a year ago I’d wake up to 60s at like 7 or 8 and mid day it would be 100+. That was July so idk if august morning are warmer but I could get used to that.

 

Hot is just hot after a certain point. But I def don't miss the Virginia "swimming pool effect" during the summer.

That said, AZ, UT, etc suffer from 1. sun exposure to an extreme and 2. Humidity's estranged cousin; 9% humidity. Nothing like sucking down a big nalgene of water pre-ride and feeling dehydrated 2 miles in.

 

I still wear my 5.10s with thick wool socks underneath, but our snow tends to be nice and crusty (and groomed in a lot of places). If I know there's gonna be fresh, I wear my 400g thinsulate flight boots. Nice and toasty. But if its colder than about 25* I just go skiing.

 

Yeah I agree, you wouldn’t catch me exerting energy when it’s 100+, or even 90s tbh. Humidity is the worst though.

 

From my research and the little bit of experience I had this weekend, it doesn't look like it's possible to plow through snow, so most likely it would be packed or groomed runs. Most of our snow is super dry powder generally ends up in drifts, as opposed to stacking up like snow with a lot of water content. One

Could you still use the 45Nrths with flats still?


Some have said that they swap out 29x2.8 for spring and summer riding and use it as a cross-country trail bike. How many of you are actually doing that, as opposed to a dedicated CC trail bike? How much difference would there be from having a dedicated CC trail bike versus having a Fatty and two sets of rims? I already have a Jeffsy that I use and mainly run single track enduro type runs on, but it gets kind of pogoey even when locked out, so I don't really do cross country with it.

Thnx for the input in advance

 

My main riding partner dual sports his fatty between a 29er and a 26 fatty. He doesn't seem to be bothered at all by it here in northern Utah. That said, he's more of a conservative rider, so if you were planning to be steezy, a dual wheeled fatty is far from a true quiver killer. I'd rather have a fatty for snow/sand/trailish riding, then something in the 130-150 range for the chunkier stuff.

Edit: I see you specifically said CC style. I would say for slower all day pace riding it would do ok. I wouldn't enter Crusher in the Tushars with it, but it would be a good lunch lap cruiser.

 

Almost finished with the indoor setup for when it's 40 degrees outside and the wind is blowing 20+ mph like it has been the past couple of days. Still need a mat and perhaps a trainer tire (or maybe a dedicated wheel). Rode it for about 45 minutes tonight and the setup worked great.

 

You can ride through a few inches, but it really tests your balance and cardio. Wetter snow is better than powder for plowing through. Packed trails are way more fun.

Yes

I have a hard tail CC bike, but I haven't really touched it since getting a FS trail bike. Although, there isn't a whole lot of terrain in my area that is CC friendly. What I might consider, is swapping out my fat tires for skinnier tires if I wanted to get into bike packing. As someone mentioned, the Salsas have tons of rack mounting options, so I could see making that jump.

 

Anyone rode in or around Albuquerque, NM? I will be there late next week with a little free time and was looking to rent a bike and explore some good trails. Let me know of the must do rides if you've been!

 

What gear ratio are you running?
I am trying to gauge chain clearance around that protector, its larger than the alloy frame by a bit.

I currently have 30/16 installed, and have at times had 30/16-18-20 and 32/18 depending on time of the season and where I am riding. Stopped at my local SC dealer and it took about 2 seconds before I decided to order up a carbon Chameleon frame. Went up a size to an XL as well, and I plan to swap everything over except headset. Probably plan to start at 32/18 but I will not accept much if any chain slap at these middling ratios.

 

My new fork/bar/stem setup should be delivering today. It may sound silly, but I don't really know what all will be involved in swapping and cutting the bar and fork steerer tube?

I would assume the bar is simply a measure to the desired overall length multiple times, then carefully cut with hacksaw.

The fork is what has me unsure if this is something I can install at home or if installation requires specialty tools that only the LBS will have and need to complete.
Any suggestions from the more experienced riders in the mix?

I'd really like to become more hands-on with bike/wheel building and maintenance. I feel I have the mechanical aptitude, but lack the appropriate tools and experience.

 

There’s no magic, just measure multiple times but make sure the measurements are correct

My preferred cutting tool is a tubing cutter. Pretty cheap, and unless you buy or make a guide, a hacksaw is pretty difficult to get a square cut with. Something like this, available at any hardware store:
https://www.globalindustrial.com/p/...MI7pbi_aT05gIVgshkCh2UXgYOEAQYBSABEgKDKPD_BwE