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The Sami people are legendary reindeer herders who live in the northernmost regions of Russia, Finland, Norway and Sweden. There are 180 words representing snow and ice. The same can be said for cyclists who spend the winter in any northern climate. Due to seasonal changes in sunlight, temperature and precipitation, coupled with the increasing irregularities of climate change, it is almost guaranteed that no two days of cycling will be the same in winter. There, a fat bicycle can save the soul of the cyclist.
Some people might think that biking in winter sounds like the most terrifying creepy hell. Indeed, to have an interesting and safe journey, you need to develop a strategy: Which tier is suitable for single-digit temporary workers? Studded tires or unstudded tires? Can my lamp work? Will I ride on icy roads or sidewalks to kill myself? In addition to riding in summer, it is very important to ride in advance, because mechanical failures (such as hypothermia or frostbite) can have great consequences.
However, riding in winter, floating in a quiet monochrome landscape, there is also a deep meditation. It is time to abandon Strava’s constant pursuit of goals and enjoy the magic of fleeting winter. Riding into the night and arriving at about 4:45 pm when I lived, the atmosphere of Jack London, the most suitable for survival, was amplified exponentially.
In the long history of bicycles, fat bicycles are relatively new: In 1980, Frenchman Jean Naude (Jean Naude) came up with a smart idea to run low-pressure Michelin tires to drive 800 on the Sahara Desert. Many miles. In 1986, he added a third wheel and stepped on nearly 2,000 miles from Algiers to Timbuktu. At the same time, cyclists in Alaska welded the rims together to form a wider surface on which to ride Iditabike, a feast of 200 miles along snowmobile and dog swoop routes. Meanwhile, a man named Ray Molina in New Mexico is using 3.5-inch tires to make 82mm rims to ride the dunes and Arroyos. In 2005, the Minnesota bicycle manufacturer Surly created Pugsley. Its 65mm large Marge Rim and 3.7-inch Endomorph tires allowed the masses to use fat bikes. This repair technology became the mainstream.
Fat bikes used to be synonymous with “slow speed”, and the steel frames of the earliest behemoths may have been like this. Stepping on the pedal with bottomless white fluff is a cruel exercise. But times have changed. Brands such as Salsa, Fatback, Specialized, Trek and Rocky Mountain continue to develop with lighter structures and expanding tires to cope with more extreme conditions , And standardized components such as dropper seatpost.
In January, Rad Power Bikes launched a new electric RadRadover. In September, REI Co-Op Cycles launched its first fat bike, a rigid aluminum frame with 26-inch wheels. Today, the highest-end weight is lighter than many mountain bikes. The 2021 Salsa Beargrease Carbon XO1 Eagle carbon fiber frame has a rim and rod weight of 27 pounds.
I have been riding the 2021 Salsa Beargrease Carbon SLX since the snow started in northern Minnesota on October 15th. It is the same bike as the XO1 Eagle, but with a little less carbon content, and the end of the transmission system is slightly lower. Among Salsa’s three fat bike models (Beargrease, Mukluk and Blackborow), Beargrease is designed to have the ability to travel quickly, thanks to its progressive shape, capable of handling multiple rim sizes and tire widths under different race conditions The abilities and numerous accessories point out additional equipment, food and parts to challenge long-distance competitions, such as the challenging Arrowhead 135.
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Although Arrowhead 135 will soon be out of my well-known cab, the carbon black Beargrease is still a responsive journey from the mud and ice of the mixed season to the driving route of powdered powder. This bike is equipped with 27.5-inch wheels and 3.8-inch wide tires, with rims up to 80 mm, which optimizes its performance on neat and flat trails. But it can also run 26-inch wheels on 100mm rims and is equipped with up to 4.6-inch wide tires to float on rough snow. It can even be converted to 29-inch tires and use 2 to 3-inch tires on 50mm rims for a year-round tour. If you want to add a front suspension to soften bumps, the frame is compatible with the front fork and has a maximum stroke of 100 mm.
When I first tested Beargrease in northern Minnesota, the temperature was 34 degrees and the trace was a mixture of mud and ice. As we all know, the worst feeling experienced by people who encounter this situation is that you can prove that you have locked your collarbone when the bicycle slides out from under you on the ice and your face has touched the ground. And need stitches. Fortunately, that did not happen. Beargrease feels stable, agile and safe, even if the tires are not nailed to the cold part. Its agility lies in its more aggressive geometry: a longer front center (horizontal distance from the center of the lower bracket to the front axle), short rod, wide bar and 440 mm chain, making it feel more like off-road bicycle.
Despite riding in the cold muddy stew of Minnesota’s shoulder season in the next few days, Belgrade’s Shimano 1×12 SLX drivetrain and Sram Guide T brakes still performed well. Unlike my own steel fat bike, Beargrease did not sprain my knee. This is a common problem with fat bikes because of their weight and wider Q factor (between the pedal connection points on the crank arm when measured parallel to the bottom) Distance from the bracket axis). Salsa deliberately reduces the Q factor of the crank to limit knee pressure, but the lightweight carbon fiber frame also helps. Sometimes, in my riding, a dropper seatpost will come in handy. Although the bike is compatible with a 30.9mm seatpost, it is not part of the build.
For racing cars or longer trips, there is no shortage of places to store equipment. On both sides of the bicycle’s Kingpin fork, there are three-pack bottle cages or Salsa brand “Anything Cage”, which can be used to load any other lightweight equipment you need. On the frame, there are two bottle cages inside the triangle, an accessory mounting rack on the bottom side of the down tube, and an upper tube rack that can accommodate a bicycle computer and an upper tube bag.
It is still autumn, which means that the heavy snow has not yet started to fly. But Beargrease gave me ample reason, I yearn for winter and some well-groomed corduroy.
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