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Six Months With the Surly Ice Cream Truck: A Three-Season Review

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Six Months With the Surly Ice Cream Truck: A Three-Season Review

Six months ago, I hung up my modern mountain bike and began riding a fat bike with thumb shifters and cable brakes as my only bike. Accustomed to the niceties of lightweight wheels, four piston brakes, and an 11-speed drivetrain, I’ll admit I didn’t have a lot of faith in this experiment. I had a feeling I would be itching to get back on my other bike long before the snow melted.

You see, not especially long ago, I held some fairly strong opinions about fat bikes. I worked in mountain bike media, had access to all the newest technology, and was convinced that fat bikes were so far outside the realm of acceptable mountain bikes that I chose to write them off. To me, it seemed that fat bikes were being marketed as mountain bikes but were really just inflated touring bikes. That is, until I had the chance to spend six months on the Surly Ice Cream Truck with a RockShox 100-millimeter travel Bluto fork.

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The Just Desserts of Gluttony

Eddie Master is method actor, his art form, mountain biking. In this short but powerful documentary film, Eddie risks his title as “King of the Enduro” in order to prove a point to the world, that there is no shame in fat bikes, and in order to do so, he piles on weight like he’s auditioning for a cameo role in another Eddie M’s The Crumps series The man simply sacrifices everything for his art,  and takes the Morgan Spurlock approach to the proof is in the pudding by simply eating all of the pudding. If you are not sold on fat bikes now, you better start cutting out coupons, because after you watch this video you are going to be buying bulk and living large with a whole new take on meaning of “The fat of the land.”

State Bicycle Co’s Singlespeed Off-Road Division

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State Bicycle Co’s Singlespeed Off-Road Division

First debuted at Interbike, State Bicycle Co’s new singlespeed off-road division is now available for pre-order with a mid-November delivery. Their affordable cross bikes are available with a Reynolds wheel upgrade – which is almost as much as the bike itself, or as frames to be built us to your specification. Blastin into the fat marketplace are two singlespeed fat bikes, one coming in under $500 with an admittedly fun coaster brake setup and another with disc brakes for under $700.

See the full State Bicycle Co Off-Road Division below.

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Hunting for Monsters Full-Length

I’ve been stoked on this project since first posting about it! Now you can rent or buy the 11-minute documentary Hunting for Monsters at Vimeo!

“Lake Iliamna, Alaska’s largest lake, is home to many native communities, the worlds largest sockeye salmon run, potential site of the controversial Pebble Mine and the elusive Lake Monster – Illie. On a hot mid-July, Bjørn and Brent were deposited to the far shore of Cook Inlet in a landing craft cargo ship and began their human powered journey through Iliamna country to Bristol Bay, hoping to catch a glimpse of the illusive creature and slice of Alaska where monsters can still roam free.”

The Salsa Bucksaw Full Suspension Fat Bike

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The Salsa Bucksaw Full Suspension Fat Bike

Well, this morning we saw the Rock Shox Bluto fat bike suspension fork, with its tapered steerer and ample clearance. Problem is, a lot of the available fat bikes have traditional 1 1/8″ steerers. Although, over the past year, a lot of the fat bike offerings have converted to tapered steerers but the Salsa Bucksaw is the first to be designed around the Bluto. To add to the radness, they’ve added a rear shock too. That makes it the first full suspension – using Salsa’s Split Pivot™ system – fat bike in production.

Wow.

Available in the fall of 2014, the Bucksaw 1 will be $4,999 and Bucksaw 2 will be $3,999, and both will come with the RockShox Bluto fork.

See more at Salsa and make sure you read the Developing Buchsaw post!

Glenn Charles: 500 Miles on a Fat Bike – The Lost Coast

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Glenn Charles: 500 Miles on a Fat Bike – The Lost Coast

Photos by Glenn Charles

We’ve all read the various theories on tire and wheel size when it comes to long distance cycling or touring but surely, few consider to ride their fat bike for 500 miles on (mostly) sealed roads. The Lost Coast is a relatively untapped goldmine for road porn. It’s a route I want to do some day and Glenn Charles’ photos from a recent ride he did with some friends shows why.

Seriously, if you’re in the mood for some inspirational photos, check out this story on Glenn’s Website!

Los Angeles You’ve Been Rad!

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Los Angeles You’ve Been Rad!

Is the riding in LA the best in the country, or did a group of my close friends make it that way and present me with a great time, every time I’m in town? Who knows. I enjoy riding in LA, be it MTB, road or cross and while I love to ride road here, I’ve only begun to scratch the surface of the real dirty Los Angeles.

Oh and Ty can really boost his Surly Pugsley!

I Feel Fat

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I Feel Fat

But it’s almost winter, so I guess it’s ok. Last week, Surly sent me one of their limited edition Pugsley fatbikes and I’ve been having a blast on it! Don’t worry, a full write-up is on the way.

I Think I Need One: Surly Limited Pugsley

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I Think I Need One: Surly Limited Pugsley

Ever since riding a Krampus back in Minneapolis, I’ve had this little notion stuck in my head: go full fat. Say what you will about Surly (be nice) but they’ve helped establish a new sub-genre in dirt riding (see this thread for some history). Their fat bikes are taking the industry by storm and it’s not often you see something “special edition” coming out of their doors.

Save for this special brute:

“We ordered a very small number of these (around 500 world wide). The bike has an Surly OD crankset, SLX shifters, front derailleur and hydraulic brakes, with an LX rear derailleur. Also it’s got polished silver Holy Darryl rims and shiny bits all over the place. Plus those snazzy two-tone 60tpi Nates (baby!). ”

Uhhh, sign me up? See more at Surly!

Bunyan Velo: Issue 03

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Bunyan Velo: Issue 03

One of my favorite publications just released their third issue online for free! Check it out above and see more information at Bunyan Velo. Free publications like this rely on reader support. If you can, make a small donation here.