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basscyclist thread picture thread

#1,361
Mark Reccord said:
Bummer about the knee, 4Mal. That's a big fear of mine and I'd say my time is coming. I will 100% be switching to an e-mtb if/when that happens.

We finally got a bit of snow so I'm back on the fatbike after riding my Troy most of the winter. I upgraded the bars and pedals and got a dropper for it this year.

View attachment 4616962


Awesome that you finally got your fatbike, @DirtDog! I run about 7/5psi for groomed/hard packed snow and 5/3 (or even a bit less) when it's soft on Vee Bulldozers which aren't hugely different from the Avalanches. You definitely want to be below 10 on those big tires for snow riding. Good god, I only run 22/20 in the summer on 2.5s. I'd be bouncing around like a pinball at 40+. :D
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That’s sweet Mark!

I would be flatting all the time if I ran mid 20s on my Santa Cruz. Old school thought 26x2.1 tubed. Might be different if I was running larger diameter tubeless.

When I was racing XC, I ran closer to 50PSI on relatively low tread tires…conditions depending of course. Hard tail XC.

I’ll fiddle with the PSI today. Shooting for about 5-7 to be on the safe side. I’m not a small guy. Although we’re getting 10cm of snow overnight which might require a different pressure. Mostly riding groomed trails though.
 
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#1,362
Mark Reccord said:
Bummer about the knee, 4Mal. That's a big fear of mine and I'd say my time is coming. I will 100% be switching to an e-mtb if/when that happens.

We finally got a bit of snow so I'm back on the fatbike after riding my Troy most of the winter. I upgraded the bars and pedals and got a dropper for it this year.

View attachment 4616962


Awesome that you finally got your fatbike, @DirtDog! I run about 7/5psi for groomed/hard packed snow and 5/3 (or even a bit less) when it's soft on Vee Bulldozers which aren't hugely different from the Avalanches. You definitely want to be below 10 on those big tires for snow riding. Good god, I only run 22/20 in the summer on 2.5s. I'd be bouncing around like a pinball at 40+. :D
Click to expand...

A dropper came stock on my Bigfoot. I find the stem a bit too short for my liking…front end is really slack so not sure how/if a longer stem would impact steering. Stock pedals are flats. After spending the last 25 years in clipless, this is an adjustment. Winter riding with clipless is frustrating if snow is wet and packable.

Are there any recommendations for winter fat bike specific pedals? I’m wearing a pair of lightweight Salomon winter boots. The heels are already rubbing on the frame. That’ll get old quickly.
 
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#1,364
I'm using Speedplay Frogs on my fat bike , no longer made or available sadly.
They are FANTASTIC with snow/ice/slush , the way they are made , you "push" the mud/snow for entry.
And they have 30° of floating , excellent for knees.
When my cleats are gonna be worn out , I'll have to find new pedal system.
I'll be looking for the most floating system as here too , knees are a bit problematic.

Time ATAC looks like a contender (17°) , just sad that they are now owned by SRAM.

Go for the least restrictive/ more floating possible as your feet needs to move with the legs circling around , very bad for the knee to have a fixed foot. So no flat/platform pedals.

As for pressure , the colder , the more pressure you need to put in.
Check pic joint
PSI.png
 
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#1,365
It's easier to just use Charles' law: the ratio of absolute pressure is the inverse of the ratio of temperature. Keep in mind it's absolute pressure (add 14.7 psi to the usual psig) and it's absolute temperature (K or R rather than F or C). But the calculation takes just a second rather than trying to look stuff up on charts - plus, of course, most bicycle tire pressures are in the 50-100 psig range not 3-12 psig.
 
#1,366
@DirtDog I’ve always used Time clipless pedals. I switched over to flats a few years ago because I was having some foot problems. I quickly found out that I did not like the flats in snow. I bought these and I’m happy.
B34D1B17-1C2D-4DB7-8D61-7DA8A42B1D32.jpeg

They are a great compromise and are used with 45nrth wolvhammer boots. I still switch back to crank bros flats for the other 3 seasons.
 
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#1,367
I dumped all my cleats and matching pedals some years ago in favor of rat trap pedals. At first it took some retraining after spending 35 years or so clipped-in. But I really like being able to just hop on and off the bike and walk in the same shoes I use for riding. I don't see any reason why one couldn't ride in snowy conditions with rat traps. However, my usual snow boots are Bean duck boots and I expect the rat trap pedals would chew up those soles. Maybe I'd wear hiking boots with Vibram soles in that case.
 
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#1,368
DirtDog said:
A dropper came stock on my Bigfoot. I find the stem a bit too short for my liking…front end is really slack so not sure how/if a longer stem would impact steering. Stock pedals are flats. After spending the last 25 years in clipless, this is an adjustment. Winter riding with clipless is frustrating if snow is wet and packable.

Are there any recommendations for winter fat bike specific pedals? I’m wearing a pair of lightweight Salomon winter boots. The heels are already rubbing on the frame. That’ll get old quickly.
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Funny, I'd consider a 69 degree head angle to be really steep and a 50mm stem right in the sweet spot. That's the same as my Northrock. I went to 800mm bars. FB steering is pretty slow but lots of them come with much longer stems. That's a preference thing. I've become accustomed to short stems, wide bars and slack angles.

I ride pinned flats year round. I've never gotten on very well with clipless pedals of any kind, I just keep going back to flats. I put composite Nukeproof Horizons on the fatbike this winter and they're not bad. Very grippy and dont' pack up. I just wear my RC Powerline flat pedal shoes all winter but it doesn't get as cold here as it does in Ottawa. My local and most of my Ottawa buddies mostly swear by Time ATAC clipless pedals year round. They don't gather mud so I think they don't gather much snow either, compared to SPDs. I have heard people say that clipless pedals can result in cold feet as there's a mechanical connection to the pedal/crank that wicks heat away from your feet, but I'm not sure it's true.

Fatbikes are hilariously stupid to steer on pavement with snow pressures. It's worth trying for a laugh.

So on my trail/enduro bike I'm running tubeless with 2.5" Maxxis Assegais on 30mm rims. Double Down casing in the rear with an insert and exo+ in the front, so fairly heavy duty. For me and our local trails, traction beats all. Think SMH with less dirt and more rocks and roots, usually wet with way bigger elevation changes. If I go below 22 in the rear, I hear lots of rim dings so that's my limit. Can get away with 20 in the front with the exo+ casing. 20 feels a bit squirrely with the regular exo sidewall.
 
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#1,371
osv said:
@DirtDog I’ve always used Time clipless pedals. I switched over to flats a few years ago because I was having some foot problems. I quickly found out that I did not like the flats in snow. I bought these and I’m happy.
View attachment 4617245
They are a great compromise and are used with 45nrth wolvhammer boots. I still switch back to crank bros flats for the other 3 seasons.
Click to expand...

Thanks @osv I'll look into those.

I've been using Shimano 535s since forever. Have a couple of spare pair on hand if/when the installed sets ever fail. They just work and they can take a licking.

Except for in wet snow. When I did winter riding in "days of yore", I called it the "icecube on icecube interface" once snow was packed into pedals and cleats.

Edit: those Wolvhammer boots look awesome! Not cheap, but awesome! Reminds me of my Salomon XC ski boots (Adventure edition)...not the same Salomon boots I wore the other day. Wonder if I could retrofit some cleats onto those boots? Tread depth might be an issue. Need something with a slimmer heel profile than what I used.....

Invalid Link Removed
 
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#1,372
The wolvhammers are nice and comfortable. I’m not sure if you could mod the Salomons as you would need a fairly stiff plate embedded into the sole to accept the cleat. My brother has boots by Lake. He really likes them, but I’m not sure of the cost compared to the wolvhammers.
 
#1,376
Man! That steerer tube and stem. You gotta be like NBA tall Jefferator ;-)

I road a very well tuned Miyata on a demo back in the 80's. Shop owner set it up as a mirror image of his Eddie Meryx. After riding them both ... they were sooo close. Just beautiful. The Japanese factories were turning out some beautiful steel tubes then.
 
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#1,378
Well, a week with the fat bike and I’m really liking it! Need some above freezing temps to give it a bit of a wash already.

some observations:

Stock seat sucks. Going with my tried and true WTB saddles.

Stock pedals - nylon flats. Gotta change them for the summer. Probably will put a set of M535s on….got a spare set in my parts bin. Will need to figure out a solution for next winter.

Stock stem - short stubby zero rise little thing. Replaced it with a Race Face stem from my parts bin (10* rise, 100mm). Steering is pretty slack, this makes it a little bit more of what I’m used to.

Tires - love the stock tires. I have them at at least 10PSI. There’s still a bit of give. On the pavement they’re just fine. On melty spring hardpack (we call it corn snow around here), they do great as well. Not as great when going off piste, though. I need a good low pressure gauge. My current air compressor inflator gauge is not very precise (like +/- 5PSI)

Been riding it every other day and having a blast! Should be pretty good for the upcoming season of mud around here.

LOVE the 1x12 drivetrain and the dropper post.

Grips - stock grips are a bit anemic. I’m used to Oury grips. Will go for a set of Oury bolt-ons.
 
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#1,380
fdeck said:
Bottom bracket on my dirty commuter has been ticking, so it's time for some TLC. Hope something's just loose.
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There was something creaking in my bike after I greased the bottom bracket the first time last summer. This time around it's completely fine, couldn't tell you what I did wrong in the first place. Same spindle, same caged balls, same type of grease, it was either the right amount of grease this time or the right amount of tension.
 
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