Each year, the fatbike options seem to increase significantly which is great for the consumers. The challenge is trying to filter out the noise of all the new products to figure out what best fit your specific needs.
When first getting into the fatbike world, I built up my bike with a Nate up front and a Larry in the back...after a couple of rides in the snow, I quickly figured out that doubling up on the Nate would be the way to go. The difference in performance in the snow was HUGE! The problem with the Nate is that it is heavy...it is a great all around tire but there is certainly a weight penalty...
enter the Knard....This year, Surly came out with a new option in the tire fray. The Knard is lighter and less aggressive. I was curious to see how this faster rolling tire would do in the snow.
I originally mounted a Nate in the front and a Knard in the back. As I rode I noticed the lack of traction with a Knard mounted in the back. I chalked it up to tire pressure and snow conditions and tried lowering the psi for better traction with the Knard in the back...it still slid out.
The next step was to rotate the tires so I now was running a Nate in the back and a Knard up front. What I quickly noticed was that once the tire went off the packed snow, it was hard to pull it back on to the line.
My initial impressions are that I think the Knard is a great choice on dirt or packed snow, but the knobbyness of the Nate prevails in deeper snow or softer conditions.
There are still a few more rides to be had with the Knard until I am ready to 'categorize' them but my initial impressions have been molded....
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
27 vs 120 tpi Knard
In an effort to 'lighten' the load on the chubby bike, I have been doing some due diligence on tires and tire weights. The knobby beauty that is the Surly Nate is an all around kick-butt tire but it comes with a stiff weight penalty. That weight penalty is in the worst spot for a bicyclist....rotational weight!
Being a tire bike whore (some peeps love shoes, me likey the tires), I opted for the Surly Knard on my recent tire choice for fatbiking. Santa was kind enough to bring home a 27tpi Knard and of course the geek in me had to immediately weight it. When I got my hands on the 120tpi version of that, I had to weight it too....
so the verdict is in...tire weights below:
27 tpi Knard weight: 1685 grams
120 tpi Knard weight: 1345 grams
27 tpi Nate weight: 1830 grams
for you math majors our there, that is a whopping 340 gram ( 3/4 lb) difference for the same tire! for 2 tires, that is a huge 1 1/2 pounds! that is a lot of weight! The sidewalls are significantly thinner and the beads don't set quite as easily but still.....
to extrapolate from the 27 tpi version of the Nate is almost a 1/2 kilo heavier than the 27tpi Knard!!! That is just over a pound of rotational weight on tires alone!
more to come on the Knard performance after a few more rides....
the proof is in the pix:
the Knard up close and personal:
The 27tpi Surly Nate weight...big BOY!
Being a tire bike whore (some peeps love shoes, me likey the tires), I opted for the Surly Knard on my recent tire choice for fatbiking. Santa was kind enough to bring home a 27tpi Knard and of course the geek in me had to immediately weight it. When I got my hands on the 120tpi version of that, I had to weight it too....
so the verdict is in...tire weights below:
27 tpi Knard weight: 1685 grams
120 tpi Knard weight: 1345 grams
27 tpi Nate weight: 1830 grams
for you math majors our there, that is a whopping 340 gram ( 3/4 lb) difference for the same tire! for 2 tires, that is a huge 1 1/2 pounds! that is a lot of weight! The sidewalls are significantly thinner and the beads don't set quite as easily but still.....
to extrapolate from the 27 tpi version of the Nate is almost a 1/2 kilo heavier than the 27tpi Knard!!! That is just over a pound of rotational weight on tires alone!
more to come on the Knard performance after a few more rides....
the proof is in the pix:
the Knard up close and personal:
The tread pattern reminds me of a bigger version of the Small Block 8's....maybe these are the BIG BLOCK 8's?
27 tpi Knard weight:
120tpi Knard weight:
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Fatbiking Phils' Trail
After a day of skinning and backcountry fun on Saturday, it was time to get out on the chubby tires on Sunday. The wifer and I decided to hit up Phil's trail to see how rideable that system was. We had a fair amount of snow recently and I was unsure how rideable the Phil's trail network was. The variables were how much snow they got, how packed down it was, and what the snow conditions were.
As luck would have it, all three variables were primO. The trail had been packed down by other fatbikers, as well as hikers, skiers, and snowshoers. It made for a great day. We parked over by the highschool by NW Crossing and rode the access trail along skyliners to gain access to the Phil's network. We rode up to road 300 and then re-traced our steps for a great out and back.
We ran into other fatbikers in the parking lot upon our return to Phils....shhh, the secret is OUT...fatbiking is FUN!
By the time we wrapped up, the temps were warming up and we were talking about how we had perfectly timed our ride for snow conditions, as they snow was now starting to warm up and get soft.
The fatbiking possibilities here are enormous!
As luck would have it, all three variables were primO. The trail had been packed down by other fatbikers, as well as hikers, skiers, and snowshoers. It made for a great day. We parked over by the highschool by NW Crossing and rode the access trail along skyliners to gain access to the Phil's network. We rode up to road 300 and then re-traced our steps for a great out and back.
We ran into other fatbikers in the parking lot upon our return to Phils....shhh, the secret is OUT...fatbiking is FUN!
By the time we wrapped up, the temps were warming up and we were talking about how we had perfectly timed our ride for snow conditions, as they snow was now starting to warm up and get soft.
The fatbiking possibilities here are enormous!
Monday, January 7, 2013
COB Backcountry - Moon Mountain
I ordered a Backcountry route book for Oregon that arrived in the mail on Friday. I immediately proceeded to get to the table of contents and browse the possibilities of what the state had to offer. Josh had touched base earlier in the week for a tentative backcountry rendezvous on Saturday so the timing was just about perfect.
We had our sights set on Tumalo and then the book arrived and I thought it would be good to try something new....so we set off with Todd Lake as an objective....We missed a turn and ended up deeper towards BrokenTop than we had expected but saw a little peak that looked like it had some possibilities. At this point we were 4 miles into our skin in and we figured we could backtrack to our missed turn for Todd Lake or just take advantage of the peak in front of us.
After a somewhat short skin, we changed from tour to ride mode and scraped our way downhill. The snow was crusty crusty crusty! It had a very hard crusty layer but once you broke through it it was softer snow. The problem was you had very little control on the crust until you broke through which was unpredictable at best. After a couple of quick turns, my edge caught the crust, broke through it, and send me flying to a nice face-plant. The recent warm up had consolidated the snow, but has also left that hard layer. It will be something to keep an eye on as additional snow sets up on top of that layer.
We scraped our way down and then readied ourselves for the 4 mile skin out. It was pretty flat on the way out so it was fairly quick going as we headed back to the car. When we did the little peak, we had no idea what we had just skinned up and rode back down. We got back to the car and put the pieces of the puzzle together to figure out we had just been up Moon Mountain.
The rest room at the parking lot...they have been getting just a little bit of snow out there!
following the ridge up the moon
converting from tour to ride...
masked men on the moon
We had our sights set on Tumalo and then the book arrived and I thought it would be good to try something new....so we set off with Todd Lake as an objective....We missed a turn and ended up deeper towards BrokenTop than we had expected but saw a little peak that looked like it had some possibilities. At this point we were 4 miles into our skin in and we figured we could backtrack to our missed turn for Todd Lake or just take advantage of the peak in front of us.
After a somewhat short skin, we changed from tour to ride mode and scraped our way downhill. The snow was crusty crusty crusty! It had a very hard crusty layer but once you broke through it it was softer snow. The problem was you had very little control on the crust until you broke through which was unpredictable at best. After a couple of quick turns, my edge caught the crust, broke through it, and send me flying to a nice face-plant. The recent warm up had consolidated the snow, but has also left that hard layer. It will be something to keep an eye on as additional snow sets up on top of that layer.
We scraped our way down and then readied ourselves for the 4 mile skin out. It was pretty flat on the way out so it was fairly quick going as we headed back to the car. When we did the little peak, we had no idea what we had just skinned up and rode back down. We got back to the car and put the pieces of the puzzle together to figure out we had just been up Moon Mountain.
The rest room at the parking lot...they have been getting just a little bit of snow out there!
where we probably should have zigged instead of zagged....
converting from tour to ride...
Friday, January 4, 2013
Gorilla Growler
The latest addition to the Bend cornucopia of beer options is the Empire Car Wash/Goriila Growler over on....yup, you guessed it: Empire Road. They officially call themselves Gorilla Growlers and you can grab a coffee or fill your growler as you are getting your car washed. I skipped the car wash option and went straight for the growler goods.... It is on the north end of town and they offer a little over 20 beers on tap ranging from Ales to IPA's to Porters to Seasonals to Ambers. The brewers include local favorites like 10 Barrel, Silver Moon, Deshcutes, Good Life, Boneyard, and some slighty further local options like Pfriem, 3 Creeks, Ft George, Ninkasi, Double Mtn, Klamath, etc....They have a pretty decent selection of beer and I will probably end up going back for a growla' re-fill. A refill will run from $9 to $10, with the premium options running a wee bit higher.
The first foray to Gorilla Growler....
from the outside, it just looks like a car wash:
The current beer menu:
The first foray to Gorilla Growler....
from the outside, it just looks like a car wash:
Where the goods are:
and the taps:
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
2012: Year in Review
2012...as per the Mayan calendar, this was the year that the world was supposed to end. Fortunately, for us planet Earth kept her twirl on as she continues to circumnavigate the Sun. As 2013 started, you cannot help but reflect on the year that was 2012...
For us, 2012 was the year of Phat & the year of Change. We discovered fat, phat, phattie, obese, chunky, porky, chubby tires and the rest is history...well sort of...semantics aside (since we really started riding fat in 2011), we learned a lot about the world of fat bikes.
We learned about snow conditions and what types of snow ride well...we learned of tire choices...we learned how to layer up to stay warm...our vocabulary increased to include words such as pogies, 9zero7, fatback, uma, fat sheba, gnard, etc....it was a year of learning to ride a bike again...thumbs up!
2012 was a big year of change in the household. We closed a chapter and moved a state. We forgot how much change a change in residences and jobs entails. The chapter continues to close as we replace what was stolen when our garage was broken into and wiped out...old chapter...new chapter is ON!
2012 was a year of absurdities...a year of being theft victims & a year of getting shot in the face with a paintball gun while riding a bike...
2012 was a year of being embraced by a new community and of many new chapters! It was a year of seeing the possibilities! of taking advantage of the access and enjoying the process along the way.
A year that included wiener dog races....
From a biking perspective, my personal highlights included The Whiskey 50, The Togwotee Winter Classic, The High Cascades Hundie on the singlespeed, the 24 Hrs of Spokane, and my mack daddy big kahuna of the TransRockies 7 day stage race...as well as endless miles of smiles on trail....it was also the year we discovered cyclocross and the Halloween ruckus-ness that is Halloween Cross!
From a splitboard perspective, it was good to see some of the possibilities of our new backyard...I got a couple of laps in at Tumalo Mtn and saw the many many lines of exploration.
It was a year to re-kindle some old friendships, make some new friendships, maintain existing friendships, and even letting some friendships run their course.
Thanks Hersey for being my partner in crime in suffering during the TransRockies...you DA' MAN!
It was a year of watching the dogs provide endless entertainment
As the sun sets on 2012, it is time to look at 2013 with a re-charged battery and outlook. Cheers to you 2013!!
For us, 2012 was the year of Phat & the year of Change. We discovered fat, phat, phattie, obese, chunky, porky, chubby tires and the rest is history...well sort of...semantics aside (since we really started riding fat in 2011), we learned a lot about the world of fat bikes.
We learned about snow conditions and what types of snow ride well...we learned of tire choices...we learned how to layer up to stay warm...our vocabulary increased to include words such as pogies, 9zero7, fatback, uma, fat sheba, gnard, etc....it was a year of learning to ride a bike again...thumbs up!
2012 was a big year of change in the household. We closed a chapter and moved a state. We forgot how much change a change in residences and jobs entails. The chapter continues to close as we replace what was stolen when our garage was broken into and wiped out...old chapter...new chapter is ON!
2012 was a year of absurdities...a year of being theft victims & a year of getting shot in the face with a paintball gun while riding a bike...
2012 was a year of being embraced by a new community and of many new chapters! It was a year of seeing the possibilities! of taking advantage of the access and enjoying the process along the way.
From a splitboard perspective, it was good to see some of the possibilities of our new backyard...I got a couple of laps in at Tumalo Mtn and saw the many many lines of exploration.
It was a year to re-kindle some old friendships, make some new friendships, maintain existing friendships, and even letting some friendships run their course.
Thanks Hersey for being my partner in crime in suffering during the TransRockies...you DA' MAN!
It was a year of watching the dogs provide endless entertainment
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Backcountry Recon - Crater Lake
The plan for Sunday was to roll up to Crater Lake for day two of our backcountry weekend. We got a bit of a late start and rolled into the lower lodge at around 11:30. We pulled into the lower lodge and Hodgie started to point out the ridge line and descent that he had been eyeballing and drooling over. After we got done wiping the dribble off our mouths, we decided we wanted to get another look at the slope and headed up to the lodge at the rim to check it out.
We continued to be uber impressed by the line and kept talking about the best approach. During this time, the tick tock of the clock pressed onwards and appeared to fly by as we were taken in by beautiful scenery. It might be one of the most scenic days I have had while at Crater Lake. We took several pictures and then glanced at the time. It was already passed noon and we decided the prudent thing would be to leave that line for another day. We did not have a good idea of how long the approach would take (or the subsequent descent)....not to mention we all wanted to be able to dig a snow pit and check out the conditions of the snow stability.
As an outdoor enthusiast you realize early on that part of actually doing something often means having to scout it out and doing your due diligence to plan it accordingly, and then being able to actually do it on a different day...sometimes that all synchs up to be able to do it the same day but as the danger goes up, the trepidation and pucker factor also go up for me.
I chalked the day up to a solid recon mission with the intent to get back to the area when we had more time at our disposal and did not feel 'rushed' to give it the proper respect it needed (snow analysis to determine avie risk). The line is clearly the avie path as there are no trees in the slide path at all...hmmmm.
Crater gets just a wee bit of the snow stuff:
The line we were looking at in the middle right -
The old lodge with Garfield Peak in the background
Hodgie scoping and plotting...
ohh yeah, there is some sort of lake thingie there too
Mt Thielsen in the background
Mt Scott
the boys posing:
Wizard Island
The post card pic:
We continued to be uber impressed by the line and kept talking about the best approach. During this time, the tick tock of the clock pressed onwards and appeared to fly by as we were taken in by beautiful scenery. It might be one of the most scenic days I have had while at Crater Lake. We took several pictures and then glanced at the time. It was already passed noon and we decided the prudent thing would be to leave that line for another day. We did not have a good idea of how long the approach would take (or the subsequent descent)....not to mention we all wanted to be able to dig a snow pit and check out the conditions of the snow stability.
As an outdoor enthusiast you realize early on that part of actually doing something often means having to scout it out and doing your due diligence to plan it accordingly, and then being able to actually do it on a different day...sometimes that all synchs up to be able to do it the same day but as the danger goes up, the trepidation and pucker factor also go up for me.
I chalked the day up to a solid recon mission with the intent to get back to the area when we had more time at our disposal and did not feel 'rushed' to give it the proper respect it needed (snow analysis to determine avie risk). The line is clearly the avie path as there are no trees in the slide path at all...hmmmm.
Crater gets just a wee bit of the snow stuff:
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