Sunday, January 26, 2014

Winter trail riding - South March Highlands

Rode about 50km of single track on the fat bike this weekend, including a Saturday night ride at South March Highlands and then a Sunday ride on the same trails. Other than the cold and blowing snow at night, conditions were excellent and it was fast riding. Highly recommended!



This bike is a Norco Bigfoot that I bought last fall. It's been a total blast in the snow. The only mods were replacing the tires (originally Vee Rubber) with the 45North Dillinger front and rear, and swapping the stock joke of pedals with some Saint flats. The Dillingers have a 120 tpi casing that shaves a pound off the bike, rolls and grips a lot better. Otherwise the bike is stock and it's an excellent build for $1500. At some point I may replace the front hub. It's a cone/cup style which is stupid to adjust reliably, and this weekend I noticed it was way too tight. No obvious bearing damage though in spite of some serious abuse in horrible trail conditions over the past few months. Also, the bar grips loosen in the cold and should be replaced with a locking type.

Here's a video of today's ride. Grip was solid. Got a bit tricky when the packed tread narrowed and led to pedal strikes on crust that could rip you off the bike. There's about a 4" sweet spot to ride in. Lots of fun once you get warmed up and the hands finally thaw out.

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