Winter Cycling - Pioneering Snow Bike: The Six Pack

Last night the local bicycle commuter association had winter cycling pioneer Roger Cowles discuss his first rides on the Iditarod trail in the late 80's. He and his friends tried a number of radical designs including replacing the front tire with a ski. Ultimately he had to custom-build his own bike for the deep snow, lacing six wheels together, and here it is in the flesh:

http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs411.snc3/24825_1383332391500_1477701250_1043525_214884_n.jpg

http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs451.ash1/24825_1383334831561_1477701250_1043534_2788691_n.jpg

I did not get to ride it home, sadly. He made the center tire slightly prouder than the other so that it could ride on that tire on the flats. The design was so stable he could ride it at extremely low speeds, using those odd handlebar extensions to rest and to help pus through the deep snow.

His original quad design featured a Sturmey Archer five speed internal hub.

Roger had a lot of entertaining tales about his time on the trail, including mushers who thought he might be an escaped mental patient.

I want to ride one! I wonder how that wide bottom bracket would feel on the knees and ankles though.

Wow - that makes my Surly Pugsley (http://www.flickr.com/photos/vikapproved/sets/72157610461277546/) look tame...thanks for posting....:thumb:

Okay, I give up.

What the are the pink rods on the bar-ends for?

Okay, I give up.

What the are the pink rods on the bar-ends for?

Pushing the bike along through unrideable sections.

apparently he is not alone. I did a quick search on the subject and apparently some mental hospital just opened their doors! makes winter commuting in Massachusetts look like Florida

http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/news/thisweek/2006/032206/icicle.html
http://ecoagile.com/SportMeetsSurvivalAnIditarodWithoutDogsNYT20081223.aspx
http://www.alaskaultrasport.com/tours_trips/winter_training_camps.htm
http://velofolk.wordpress.com/tag/iditarod-trail-invitational/
video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjsDLQh2-JU

Yeah it's developed into a full fledged extreme sport since the early days. You can buy factory made extra wide frames and rims.

I could have used bigfoot for this morning's commute, since we just got a fresh 8" in Anchorage overnight. I just hoofed it instead.

I'm bummed that I missed seeing this beast at the Winter Bike Fest. But the skiing at Alyeska was sooooo good, I couldn't tear myself away before close. And the cruel bastards ran the lifts until 8:30! It was all I could do to ski all day again on Sunday.

I wonder how that wide bottom bracket would feel on the knees and ankles though.

Do your legs not pivot side to side at the hips ?


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Do your legs not pivot side to side at the hips ?


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.They do. My ankles pivot side to side also. I'm wondering if that little
bit of extra sideways pivot would be uncomfortable or not.

Okay, I give up.

What the are the pink rods on the bar-ends for?

They are the float arms, for the float balls which are visible at the ends. Together the float arm/ball apparatus controls the ballcock - if one had an out of control ballcock they would experience trailside flooding.

The last thing one wants on a ride is an out-of-control ballcock.