Last year in the Arrowhead 135 Todd McFadden took on the best riders that Alaska could throw at him and emerged victorious in a record setting time of 14 hours, 20 minutes. The previous year’s winner Kevin Breitenbach and Multi-Year Champ, Jeff Oatley, tried to outlast Todd, but in the end, just couldn’t put in any time on him. The competition between the two Alaskans and Todd helped drive the pace from the start to the record setting finish! Jeff finished just 30 seconds behind Todd and Kevin finished third in 14:25:00. Todd shared all of the details of his Arrowhead race with Sven and I at last year’s Fat-Bike Birkie Race, where he finished third to Jorden Wakeley- 1st and Jesse LaLonde – 2nd. Todd is most dangerous when the length of the race gets into the Ultra endurance category and he told us that he’ll be racing his new Carbon Beargrease in both the Arrowhead 135 and the ITI Invitational in 2014.
Race Bike Details –
Frame Beargrease Carbon
Color Matte Carbon w/Yellow Green
Fork Salsa Makwa Carbon, Tapered, Thru-Axle, Suspension Corrected with 51mm Offset
Rear Der SRAM XX1
Cassette SRAM XX1 10-42t
Chain SRAM XX1
Crankset SRAM XX1 Fatbike, 28t
Bottom Bracket SRAM PressFit GXP, 41 x 121mm
Headset Cane Creek 40 IS
Stem Truvativ T30
Handlebar Salsa Carbon Flat, 11°, 700mm
Grips Salsa Backcountry Lock-On
Shifter SRAM XX1
Front Brake SRAM XX
Rear Brake SRAM XX
Brake Lever SRAM XX
Rotors 160mm Front/140mm Rear
Seatpost Truvativ Noir T30 Carbon
Saddle WTB
Front Hub New Salsa Front Hub 15 x 142mm, 32h
Rear Hub Salsa Fat Conversion Hub, Alloy Freehub body, 12 x 177mm, 32h
Spokes DT Swiss Competition
Rims Surly Holy Rolling Darryl*
Tires 45N Dillinger 26 x 4.0″, 120tpi Folding, Ultralight*
Pedals Crank Brothers Egg Beaters
Seat Bag Revelate
Frame Bag Revelate
H-Bar Bag Revelate
Pogies 45NRTH Cobrafist
*Tire selection will be a race day decision…either Big Fat Larry’s on Rolling Darryl’s or 45 North Dillingers on Clown Shoes!!
Check out a short video about Todd, Fat-Bikes & Duluth!
What was the weight of this snow machine? Is that a Jandd bag I see too? They make great stuff…in the USA!
Whats the reason for the 2 different poagies in the video and in the photo?
In perpetration for the AH 135 and the ITI, I did a week long comparison of the 45 North poagie and the Dogwood Design poagie.
Todd, what were the results from testing these two out?
Todd is super modest and a great guy to spend a day with on the trail. He pushes an unbelievable pace and i cant wait to see what he does in this years race. Tough not to route for such a guy. when you’re as fast as Todd the bike is nearly irrelevant. its the rider not the ride.
Interesting criss-cross with the rim and tire combos.
BFLs on the RDs (5″ on the 80’s) vs Dillingers (4″) on the hundies.
Something to think about…
I noticed the same thing. Anyone know what the reasoning behind that would be? I was considering having an inverse option available for different conditions, BFL on 100s and HuDu on 80s.
Awesome story, newbie to race champ in such a short time!
I forgot the BG is only 170mm in the rear and it won’t take rubber over 4″ on 100mm rims out back, so that factors in.
What type of boots are you wearing? I’m looking for winter riding boot recommendations.
45NRTH Wolvhammers are the best boot available at this time.