Eyes Wide Open

Christopher left a comment on Saturday's post which read, in part, "I am glad that you are still enjoying the bike, I have not heard many good reviews of that bike, vs. the Surly or Salsa, but if anyone can make it work it's you."

So far, I am enjoying the bike a lot.  I suspect that, if I had bought the bike with the intention of competing in snow-bike races that it probably wouldn't compare to well with the Surlys and Salsas.  I will probably take it up to the snow and find some snowmobile tracks to follow, and see how it works in the snow.  I figure that the extended rear end will limit the traction on steep climbs (though some Surly Nate tires might take care of that), and it does weigh a few pounds more than the more expensive bikes.

But, for commuting on snowy days, and just knocking around for the fun of it, I don't know if paying more than twice as much for a bike would get me twice as much enjoyment.  I'm having a ball just riding around town on the thing!

Speaking of commuting, I took the fat bike to work, today.  Obviously, the roads are pretty clear, and I didn't need the big tires.  But, I wanted to take it in and show it to some of the guys in the lab.

As you can see, I transferred the Nelson Longflap saddle bag over from the Handsome, and mounted some lights on the bars.  I was concerned about how long it might take to get to work, but it ended up taking 39 minutes, door to door.  That is within a couple of minutes of my normal time on the Handsome (counting stops at lights, etc.)

EDIT:  My morning route is 8.3 miles, and slightly downhill, overall.  I forgot to time my ride on the 9 mile route home from work.

The weather was nice for commuting.  The temperature was 41 degrees F when I left the house, at 5:20 AM.  This was my front-door thermometer reading when I got home, at 4:15 PM.  No wind, partly cloudy skies.  Not too shabby for early January in Denver.

It seems to me that you could fab up a big rack for the back, and mount some Xtracycle Wideloaders and you would have a heckuva nice heavy-duty camping/adventure bike.

All that being said, if I do see a bargain on a Mukluk frameset, I will probably jump on it, just to get the shorter wheelbase.  I have the parts to build it up, courtesy of the Fat Sand Bike, after all...

I am considering changing out the handlebars.  I am no longer a big fan of mountain bike bars.  I'm thinking something akin to mustache bars (there's a surprise).  The bar has to be compatible with mountain bike components, though, so that I can mount the twist shifter for the Nexus hub.

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