First Look – Borealis Tejon Fat-Bike – by Andy & Alice Amstutz

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    It’s been a while since the Black Bike Ribbon Test Pilot – Youth Division was put to work but with the recent release from Borealis Fat Bikes, Uncle Gomez hired Alice to test out their 24in kid’s fat bike….The Tejon.  Kids get older and grow faster than a good night’s sleep so this’ll probably be the last youth bike that finds a temporary home in my garage. 

    The out of the box assembly was slick, quick and required no tricks.  After a couple turns of a hex wrench here and there, Alice swung her leg over the top tube and bolted out into the neighborhood not to be seen for the next 20 minutes. 

Borealis spec’d their kid-friendly fat bike with some fine bits and kid appropriate parts with an MSRP of $596.00.  Here’s the parts breakdown on the Tejon – you get to pick green, purple or yellow highlights on a Silver Frame:

FRAME Aluminum

FORK Aluminum

BOTTOM BRACKET Threaded

CRANK LENGTHS 127mm

FRONT DISC ROTOR Shimano 160mm

REAR DISC ROTOR Shimano 160mm

BRAKES Shimano Hydraulic Disk 160mm

BRAKE LEVERS Shimano Alloy with Reach Adjust

CHAIN 8 SPEED

RIMS Aluminum Double Wall

HUBS 6 bolt for 32H w/ QR

SPOKES STAINLESS BLK SPOKE , W/12mm BRASS NIPPLE

NIPPLES Brass

TIRES Kenda 24″ x 4.0 BLACK

INNER TUBES Kenda 24″ x 4.0 1.0mm tube

REAR DERALLEUR Shimano TX-800

RIGHT SHIFTER LEVER SRAM MRX

CASSETTE Shimano CS-HG200-8 / 12-14-16-18-21-24-28-32

GRIP Black Rubber

STEM Alloy 52mm 7° Rise

HANDLEBARS ALLOY 600mm, BACKSWEPT: 9°

SEAT POST ALLOY DIA: 27.2mm

SEAT CLAMP Aluminum 31.8mm

SADDLE Black w/ Steel Rails

PEDALS BLACK PLASTIC w/REFLECTOR

BELL Aluminum (Every Bike Deserves a Bell!)

     Borealis also claims a weight of 30lbs and by gosh my handy dandy Park Tool weigher thingy told me they were right!  Not bad for a kid’s bike and a fat one at that.

     “This bike is really fun, dad!”. And that comment was based on a 12 year old’s urban assault ride ten minutes outta the box.  We can’t wait to see how it performs on our mid-summer sandy two tracks and old school trails. So look out summer of ‘19 for here comes a kid on a rad fat bike ready to shred some gnar and bounce around the woods.  Stay tuned in a couple months for the detailed review from the Youth Division of the Black Bike Ribbon Test Pilots.