As soon as I saw the Growler Cage, I thought of our test pilot, Colin. He works all day brewing delicious craft brewed beer for Lakefront Brewing in Milwaukee (The Beer City) and rides his Gravedigger Pugs from ‘where his crib be’ in River West, along the Milwaukee River, on the newly gentrified “river-trails” – back and forth, commuting on [...]
Written by Andy Oleson & Gomez Andy is up first with his review of the Bike Bag Dude – Chaff Bag – I usually never really have the Need, or make an Excuse, or even require a Reason to go for a bike ride. But today I had all three simutaniously! The “Need” was, I’ve [...]
By: Chris Zito The puppeteers at Black Ribbon HQ, delivered a set of 45NRTH Dillingers to me just in time for one of the bigger dumps of the snowy season. In the past I have mostly ridden Endomorphs, well, since the time when they were THE option and gum-walled. Up until recently when I [...]
Written and Photographed by : Colin Ford – Bike Black Ribbon Test Pilot – Former Undisputed Bantam-Weight Pugsley World Champion So earlier this winter, some time during January, I ordered a custom Trash Bags Facemask. It’s made from Polartec Windblock fabric and Cordura, with a awesome fuzzy furry inside. Made for Couriers (by couriers) in the Frozen Northland of MPLS the facemask can be [...]
Sled-Hed v 1.0 – aka – the widow maker I read a parable on the surly blog the other day about a rope and pvc-pipe fat-bike sled that inspired me to build Sled-Hed v1.0. Noah had his arc and I….well I have a kid’s psychedelic plastic sled that I bought at the local hardware…. which (in [...]
Back in November, I shared my plan to have our amigos at Oveja Negra Threadworks make a custom frame bag for my Moonlander. I’ve had some fun, playing up the “Space Suit” theme, to the point where you all probably think I’m some sort of delusional space cadet, so its time to drop my NASA comedy routine [...]
We’ve been messing about with custom-cut Vinyl from our buddy Corey to enhance fat-bike rims and personalize your ride. This Pugsley was built to showcase the rims and so we could get some good photos of the concept and to test the durability. More on the long-term prospects down the road. This is still largely [...]
Houston this is Moonlander; all systems are go…..again… After almost one full earth orbit, my Surly Moonlander (Thparkle) is in need of a replacement, heavy duty frame bag. In the last eleven months, We’ve put lots of hours in, riding together with a frame bag made by our west coast amigo, Cale (the locust). Thparkle [...]
Around these parts we ride fat-bikes on the beach a lot and cleaning up the rig after a ride is a chore made easier by the White Lightning Easy Clean Tire Brush. Easily adjustable to fit even the biggest fat tires like the Big Fat Larry on a Rolling Darryl rim shown below, I’ve found [...]
We’ve been riding The PDW Daves mud shovels all over creation out here on the west coast. from desert rides to Beach rides they have seen a bit of everything. (even a touch of mud) so its time to put together our final Impressions. What – The mud shovels are a set of removable [...]
I’ve wanted a great rear rack solution for my Nuvinci N360-equipped Schlick Northpaw for some time and had previously used a Planet Bike Versarack. While I got the Versarack to work OK, it was not ideal for the Seattle Sports Rain Rider panniers I have. The main issue was that the effective straight rail on [...]
I’ve been using a pair of Salsa Anything Cages on my Moonlander for the last few months for fat-packing trips and I plan on using them full time, this winter to carry liquid assets inside a water bottle koozie. The anything cages are designed to mount onto Enabler Forks that come standard on some Salsa [...]
TufRack of Ontario, Canada has announced a new version of their proven, off-road, MTB hitch-rack tray, that will accommodate a BigFatLarry. The rack above is their final prototype, before powder-coating. The fat rack will come powder-coated in either Black or (Hi-Viz) Yellow. The hi-viz yellow is designed to assist motorists see your precious cargo and avoid [...]
Here’s the rest of what I collected, while working the show today. Surly Rubber Tree I revisited the production sample of the new Krampus and took some detailed shots for y’all. The Krampus demo fleet is rocking a 3rd generation prototype yolk, so all of the photos that you’ve seen before this are not exactly what you’ll [...]
Sven has been here before, but today was my first time in the maze called Interbike. We popped my interbike cherry today, to bring you all of the fat…all of the time! Just like we promised! Phil Wood fat-bike design exercise! Custom Fork crowns on the Manitou Fork. 185mm Cassette Hub. Also available in lower [...]
Carver O’Beast Carbon Fork Written and photographed by Porter Million Specs: Full carbon 3K weave 570 grams uncut 1-1/8″ x 300mm carbon steerer 135mm hub spacing Front disc offset (spacers included upon request) 45mm fork rake 465mm axle-to-crown Post mount disc caliper mount Clearance for 4.7 inch tires Retail $299 Purchased at: I won the fork [...]
Our amigo James Healy of Snow Frog Design and Crutchbuddies tested out a full set of Oveja Negra’s bags on our recent fat-packing trip along las orillas del Lago Superior. Oveja Negra Threadworks – Bike Bags by James Healy When Gomez proposed I join him on the super sweet beach ride in the UP from Whitefish [...]
This popped up on Phil Wood’s website today – http://www.philwood.com/ We’ll post more information when it’s available…..in the meantime just drool a little on your keyboard!
Portland Design Works has introduced two fenders designed specifically for fat-bikes. The Dave’s Mud Shovel™ front and rear fenders feature an extra long, wide design to block snow, water, and sand. The front fender attaches to the downtube of your fat-bike and is: 6.5″ (165mm) wide 19.5″ (495mm) long While the rear fender attaches to [...]
As you read this, mi amigo James and I are starting a fat-packing trip from Whitefish Point to Grand Marais in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. James will be testing some Oveja Negra bags on our 3 day, seventy mile journey. James took a few preview shots on his test run of the Oveja Negra set-up – [...]
Fat-bike riding on the beach is one of my favorite things to do. Carrying gear while beach riding presents a few issues that are not as big a deal in more traditional bike packing. The main issue, of course, is water. Not only is it wet but suspends particles like sand really well and that [...]
The Revelate Gas Tank Top Tube bag is one of my favorite ways to carry my camera on all our fat-bike rides, especially beach rides. It is easy to grab my Canon S95 out of the bag while riding for impromptu shots of riding mates. The Gas Tank mounts high on the top tube of [...]
Vacation season is here! We thought we’d put a list of gear together for folks that want to try fat-packing this summer. We asked our Left Coast Correspondant, Cale to help put a list of gear together for your shopping pleasure and many items on this list have been field tested on his trip down [...]
Have you ever wanted to trap your fat bike and can’t figure out how to make it fit? I have. And I got sick of being forced to ride my skinny bike because of this problem. Luckily I’m redneck enough to figure out how to Appalachian Engineer something that exists into something I want. And [...]
So, you may remember an intro post waaay back in the day on some bikepacking bags made by a small company called Porcelain Rocket. Well, rest assured they have not been sitting in a box gathering dust. Rather I’ve been waiting until I had more miles on these bags than most people put on bikepacking bags in a [...]
Straight out’s Fairbanks – (in the) with an AK – Becker Sewing & Design is another one man bag operation (like Barking Bear and Porcelain Rocket) that has sprung up in the face of the fat-bike revolution that has spread across the world from the land of moose and permafrost. We have NOT gotten our [...]
Our fat-bikes are subject to a lot of varying conditions and many of them, from snowy/slushy winter days to sunny beach rides, are unfriendly to the health of your chain. We will be looking at various chain cleaning systems over the next several months starting with the cleaner I’ve been using weekly for over a [...]
While Gomez and I were in Northern Michigan’s Mitten for the St Fattys Day event we had the opportunity to chat with Jason Snell from Barking Bear Bagworks located not far from the event location in Conway, MI. He had several bags built specifically for fat-bikes including the Pugsley and the Moonlander. I followed up [...]
I purchased a brand new Lazer Helium Helmet last summer. I based my choice on the sizing spec’s that I read on the inter-webs and the advice of my, bike wizard, Jim Huber. Seems the word on the street is, if you have a ginormous skull, Laser is the best fit. [...]
Friday The 13th! Sven was out pounding the pavement yesterday and one of our local bicycle dealers slash fat hyphen dot com readers suggested that we do more ({[HOW TO]}) stories right here in on the interwebs, so here we go…. Fat-Bikers seem to have made the stainless steel flask standard equipment on their mounts [...]
Here’s a quick review of SKS’s Fat-Bike Friendly Aircon Floor Pump from our ole pal Blatz! What can be said about a floor pump that hasn’t already been talked about? They all do the same job, taking the air that we breathe and stuffing it into a tube, or tire casing if tubeless is your thang. The [...]
Sunlite has come out with a pair of affordable frame bags of the top-tube mount variety. The Epic Tour and Epic Tour XL. Both bags share common features with the main difference being the physical size. On first glance the bags seem well constructed. The 600 Denier fabric seems durable and is coated to be [...]
Our newest contributor to the site is Sierra van der Meer. Sierra lives and rides up in the Yukon, so we thought she’d be a perfect candidate to test out the Ruroc Helmet System for us. You can enjoy more of Sierra’s words and pictures at http://northsixty.com/ Imagine driving to work on a dark winter morning. Coffee [...]
Most of us have had the jaw-dropping experience of holding a Surly tube in our hands, but we have to ask ourselves, ‘Are they necessary?’ ‘What are the advantages and is it worth the weight for the riding I do?’ A bunch of us in Alaska (and many other places, too) have been running standard [...]
Out of the Sierra Madre Mountains - Old Man Mountain (OMM) has a rich history in Mountain Bike touring racks that reflect their company philosophy – “don’t discriminate, innovate”. That’s why OMM built the first mountain touring racks designed to work with suspension mountain bikes and why they’ve brought that mind-set to their racks made for Fat-Bikes. [...]
Fat-Saddle? This past weekend at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show Selle An-Atomica officially launched Titanico X – the saddle for riders between 190 and 280 lbs. Titanico X builds on a dual layer laminate technology developed for their Limited Edition Ostrich Hide saddles to reduce stretch and provide maximum comfort to heavier riders. The [...]
There’s a lot of talk about how to carry your fatbike on your car, with tons of custom jobs and modifications out there. Maybe I got lucky and had the style that works with all bikes, but after driving thousands of miles this past year with two fatbikes on my roof, I can say the [...]
Written by Blatz – aka Mark Petterson Gomez passed on a pair of Bar Mitts pogies to me and asked me to give them a try. Bar Mitts are made of Neoprene with Velcro and a zipper. They retail for around $50 to $65. Installation is pretty simple with one exception*. The Velcro strap used [...]
Now that I’ve given you an overview and a detailed install of the MK Fat-bike Fenders, the lingering question still remains – How do they perform? Obviously full coverage fenders provide just that – full coverage. This winter has been a perfect time to test these black beauties out. Not one to let a dirty [...]
Let’s review the SKS Fat Bike Fenders, Grand M.O.M. and Grand D.A.D. The Grand M.O.M. is a rear specific fender and the Grand D.A.D. is the front specific of the same type. As most SKS products I have seen or used, these Mud Guards have excellent manufacturing quality and nice design features. Installing the rear [...]
In the last installment I talked about the drool worthiness of these MK Fat-bike Fenders. There is no doubt about it, these fenders look fantastic. However, no matter how good they look, the ultimate question is how do they perform? Well, before we get to that, there’s the install. These fenders install similar to other [...]
Fenders . . . What can you really say? When there’s a need, there’s a need. They keep you and your bike clean. They’re there. Glamorous? Bling? These are not terms normally associated with fenders. Not so with the full wood beauties being turned out over at MK Fenders (www.mkfenders.com). Both glamorous and bling worthy, [...]
Bikepacking has been Experiencing a huge jump in popularity lately thanks to events like the Great Divide Race, Arrowhead 135, and the Iditabike, but bikepacking isn’t just for the super hardcore racer. It’s an excellent way to explore the area around you by just riding out your front door and seeing where that dirt road [...]
Fresh on the testing Schedule is Ruroc’s RG-1 integrated helmet system. The moment that I laid eyes on this set-up I was in love with the shock-troop, blast shield, futuristic style. The RG-1 is like a super-sonic jet fighter for your face. Ruroc is based in the UK and is having a hard time keeping these babies [...]
