Yesterday was the most fun I had so far on the fat bike. The MUP was covered in dense rolling drifts that could support the weight of my bike. It was like my own private skate park.

In the evening I snowshoed over to an island in the park where a 4 foot drift had blown across a narrow path I ride on. Using a shovel I reshaped the drift so I could ride over it. Just as I was finishing up in the dark I saw a coyote about 30 feet away. I don't think it had noticed me because when I slapped my shovel against the ground it ran off.

I haven't been wearing my heart rate strap this winter, but decided to put in on yesterday when I rode through the same snow as the above video. While "giving it" to keep my momentum up my heart rate was up around 176. Going across snowmobile tracks in a field that leads to the MUP I was able to manage about 11 km/h with my heart rate around 171.

Without the heart rate strap my bike computer just assumes I'm being lazy. For yesterday's ride it showed 1100 Calories, the same ride the day before without the heart rate data just 400 Calories.

That looks fun. :thumb:

What part of that video doesn't look fun to you?

I have been looking at one of these so I can have better access to remote areas during winter for photography. Do they handle as well as they look in the video?

Fat bikes are quite stable, even at low speed. You do need a packed base to ride on though, so you can't just take off into deep powder.

In soft snow the amount of effort needed to keep moving forward can be enormous. And if you stop it can be difficult to get started again. And going uphill may require extended periods of pushing.

To carry additional gear during the winter I think a 5" tire on 100mm rim is the way to go. I've got that on the front of my bike and it seems to stay on top of the snow better than the 4" tire on 82mm rim that I have in the rear. This year there should be a few more frame options available that support 5" / 100mm.

A lot more info over at mtbr's fat bike board: http://forums.mtbr.com/fat-bikes/

gecho, thanks for that info. I'll check ut the link you gave me. I figured it would be better than walking through the snow.

Fat bikes are great - they can take a lot of effort like gecho mentioned under certain conditions. Then again, walking with a load can be worse. I don't do landscape photography as I suspect you do, but I do shoot sports with a Nikon D3s and a full load of lens and hauling my kit around is painful enough!

I've actually found my fat bike good for most winter conditions, except for the mess we're going through right now in southern Ontario. The heavy, wet snow/slush/rain mix makes for large, hard to plow into ruts, and I'm still building up my experience to "float" over them. I almost fell 20 times the other night. Then again, I might have fallen far more on a "regular" bike, and I did pedal by some poor soul walking his bike out from a snow drenched area while I cruised on by.

I was riding today and got bogged down at the bottom of a slope. Usually that means a bit of pushing since its tough to get started in soft snow even on flat ground. Instead I let lots of air out of the back tire just short of bottoming it out. Tons of grip but I had to pump the tire back up as soon as I got onto firm ground. When I had checked the pressure with my gauge it read around 2 psi.

Fresh snow yesterday, too much of it. I went 1 km before I encountered a part of the path that was 3 feet deep and decided to turn around and go snow shoeing instead. I got enough of the path packed down yesterday I should be able to go for a decent ride today. The side streets will also make good riding having been packed by cars.

We have been getting a lot of fresh snow and the roads are a mess.

Ask me if I care ?

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikep...pugwinter1.JPG

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=305407
No snow, just sticky mud from snow melt. 15 miles of rocking good time. I'll need to share the trails soon with others, that makes me sad panda;)
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=305408

Fresh snow everywhere + intensifying sun = sunburn! Even with SPF-60 sunscreen on I keep getting darker. But its still cold enough that I need to wear a balaclava so I have an oval shaped tan from my upper lip to an inch above my eyebrows.

Next warm day I need to go snowshoeing with just a hat to even out my tan again. I need to limit it to about an hour before applying sunscreen. Last time I ended up a bit red.

gecho - tis the season on the prairies when you have to bundle up and use sunscreen.

I plan to head down into the river valley tomorrow to check the trails which should be snow packed and might even get down along the river... it is supposed to be a balmy 0 C here.

My snowshoe fat bike trail making worked well, except for the fact the city decided to start clearing the MUP from my end of the city. 3 of the 5km of track I laid down yesterday was gone when I got there to try it out today. I made some tracks in a park closer to home this morning. They were a little trickier to ride since they didn't have a chance to set up over night.

I took my GoPro camera with me on my ride, but the lower part of the image was mostly washed out from the brightness. I guess my camera needs sunglasses too.

I have been saving up to get a Fattie for next fall, but I am really considering a Wall-Mart one to tryout and see if I like the fatness at all before I commit to big money on one.....

Several people over at the mtbr forum already have the beast in their hands, so its probably a good place for info. Holding off on a fat bike might not be a bad idea. If you want to be able to run 100mm rims and Bud / Lou tires, there are frames with 186 and 190mm hubs coming out that will handle them without using an offset wheel like the Moonlander does.

http://forums.mtbr.com/fat-bikes/

The custom rack I built for Le Pug is now off for some bead blast and powder coating... should have it back next week and am looking forward to testing it out.

:)

That's it! Shut down the thread! Winter is over! Whoo Hoo! Spring Riding! Yee Haw! Roll'em out!

I was lead to believe winter was over! You got me out of bed for nothing!

http://i969.photobucket.com/albums/a.../bIMG_0231.jpg

The "Portage".

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikes...rack%20(2).JPG

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikes...rack%20(7).JPG

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikes...rack%20(8).JPG

Install took all of three minutes as it was built around the frame offset and is plug and play.