Jay P and the Fat Bike Push

Today, Jay P started the 350 mile race from Knik to McGrath, Alaska. We will be following and cheering on his progress over the next several days. You can follow his progress by clicking here. Jay was pretty busy the past week getting ready, so he didn’t have time to write a blog this week. So I thought we would share one of his blogs and his photos from last year. And as the Togwotee Winter Classic is coming up in the next couple of weeks and that race is notorious for soft snow conditions, I picked this blog about pushing….. enjoy! (more…)

2013 Scott Genius 900 Review

Ok, if you haven’t figured it out by now, we are extremely excited about the 2013 Scott bikes. Here’s just another review, this time of the Scott Genius 900 series from Bike Radar. We are carrying the 2013 Scott Genius 920 and 940. You can see all our 2013 Scott’s here. (more…)

A Diary of a Custom Bike Build

Eric and his new Custom Fat Back Fat Bike

We’ve hooked another cyclist into our world of Fat Bikes - this time it is Eric and we are building him a frame-up custom Fat Back. Seeing that his bright orange Fat Back frame has been sitting on the back counter of the shop for a week while we wait for the parts to come in, I thought I would take this opportunity to talk about custom, frame-up builds. Yup, we do that - in fact Brandon, our shop manager, has a process for helping customers build up a custom bike that takes all sorts of factors into consideration when determining what parts to use. So let me take you through the process with Eric (happy new bike owner), Brandon (whiz at crafting the part selection for custom bikes) and Michael (ace mechanic who will complete the build). (more…)

2013 Fat Bike Summit Report

Overview of the 2nd Annual Fat Bike Summit & Festival

January 25-27, 2013

Sawtelle Mountain Resort in Island Park, Idaho

Report compiled & written by Estela Villaseñor & Bob Allen

For more details on the event please visit FatBikeSummit.com

The Event

On January 25th, 2013, approximately 40 fat bike enthusiasts, some with young families, and 20 Land Managers braved the Greater Yellowstone region’s internationally-renowned winter conditions to attend the 2nd annual Fat Bike Summit at the Sawtelle Mountain Resort in Island Park, Idaho. The Summit, co-hosted by Minnesota-based Quality Bicycle Products and Fitzgerald’s Bicycles in nearby Victor, Idaho, brought together public land managers, two Idaho congressional staff, the local chambers of commerce, a private nordic ski area executive, tourism professionals, non-profit land and trail organizations, an international bicycle advocacy organization, fat bike riders, and members of the bicycle industry. Seminars and discussions included fat bike winter access issues; making use of gateway communities and the benefits of recreation-based economies; and engaging public and private resources.

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Scott Bikes Now Arriving in the Shop

Scott & Pivot Mountain Bikes are arriving in the shop

I realize we’ve been talking about fat bikes and riding on snow for quite awhile now, but watching what Michael has been building up in the shop has got me itching for a little dirt (and short sleeves and warm sun!). Right now we have a Scott Genuis 730, a Scott Spark 900SL and a Carbon Pivot Mach 429 in the bike stands. In between scheming a rush down to the desert, I thought I would share with you all what’s up for the spring & summer. (more…)

Jay P talks about his Salsa Beargrease

Jay P's Salsa Beargrease

Beargrease, what is that? Well, besides being an iconic long distance sled dog race in Minnesota as well as I’ll assume it is some sort of indiscretion from an actual bear (don’t want to now from where), it is also a new Fat Bike model from Salsa. With Salsa having offered the fully functional Mukluk for several years, this past year they have introduced the Mukluk’s complement, the stripped down lightweight racer version - The Beargrease.

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Winter Riding: What to Wear on your Body to Keep Comfortable

Stay Comfortable, Stay Warm Fat Biking

It seems like fat bike riding requires a bit of magic to figure out what to wear to be comfortable. Wear too little and you’ll be cold - too much and you’ll sweat too much and ultimately be cold again. Moisture management is the key to keeping comfortable - you need to generate heat to stay warm, but you don’t want to generate so much heat that you sweat too much. And remember that unlike road cycling where your speeds higher speeds generate a colder wind chill and thus you need to bundle up more, fat biking is not fast - so you won’t have the colder wind chills. So finding the balance of layers and insulation to keep comfortable while on long or even short rides can be both a learning process and a challenge. And remember that what works for me might not necessarily work for you - so experiment with your system. (more…)