Surly Nate 120 tpi

The other day we featured a bike that was sporting Surly's new(er) nobbie Nate fat bike tires.  Seeing as we just took stock of a few of the tires we figured we should feature them on their own too.  

When fat bikes first appeared on the market they were intended mainly for use on snow and sand, where extremely high volume, low pressure tires help float over, instead of cutting into, such terrain.  However, as the bikes have gained a wider acceptance folks have begun using them for other things too, like trail riding.  In most situations a fat bike won't be as fast on the local singletreack but they might be a solution to getting beaten up by all of those roots and rocks.  Essentially the high volume tires, when run at low pressure, provide you with a form of light action dual suspension. They also provide good grip over technical terrain, sort of....

The problem with fat bike tires until recently was that they were designed specifically for rolling in a straight, flat line on top of snow and similar terrain, and accordingly they didn't really have much grip when the going got really technical. Adding knobs to the tires adds weight to an already heavy piece of rubber. However, if you're spinning out at the bottom of a hill because you can't grip the loose dirt the weight becomes a secondary concern, so the 27 tpi steel bead nobbie Nate was born.

As expected though it was indeed heavy.  1.62 kg per tire to be exact.  Yup, that's just over 3 1/2 pounds for those using old math, and that's the weight we found on our own scale - we've seen the weight listed even higher on other sites.  Fortunately things have gotten a little lighter with the fairly recent introduction of the 120 folding bead tpi Nate.  It weighs in at 1.36 kg by our count (some sites have it listed lighter).  For some reason that doesn't sound like much to us when expressed in metric but the truth is that's more than half a pound weight savings per tire.  Not bad. Or at least better.

The higher tpi also provides a more supple ride, so there's really no down side other than the slightly higher cost of course.  The 27 tpi steel bead is $85, whereas the 120 tpi folding bead is $135.  

Finally, it's worth noting that the tire casing on the Nate is close to the same width and height as the Larry or Endomorph, so if you're riding either of those the Nate should fit your set up BUT beware that the extra nob does create a bit more width and height - that shouldn't likely be a problem in the front but you'll want to make sure it doesn't cause you any chain line issues in the rear.

29er vs. 26 inch wheels

This is arguably the most hotly debated subject in mountain biking these days, and we have plenty of customers asking us if a 29er or 26 inch wheeled mountain bike is better for their needs on an almost daily basis, so we figured we'd take a stab at the answer here. Truth be told there's no info below that hasn't already been shared on umpteen other websites so we're not really adding anything new to the dialogue, but if you want our opinion here it is...

Clown Shoe Rims

Okay, we've made of a lot of fat bike related posts on here recently, so we're declaring a week long moratorium* of sorts...after this post.

It all started a few years ago with the 65mm Large Marge rim (the fat bike craze, not these posts), and the stakes were raised more recently with Darryl 80mm rims.  Now Surly has come out with the outrageously wide 100mm Clown Shoe rims.  These are the rims that come stock on the new Moonlander.  

If you have an existing fat bike (if you got one from us you're likely riding a Pugsley or a Mukluk) and you don't want to spring for a whole new ride just to accommodate the larger rims you may be able to use them with your existing bike.  

First the bad news: They will not work in the rear end of a Pugsley because the seat stays just aren't far enough apart.  Well, that may not be entirely true if you wanted to run the Clown Shoes with something smaller than a Big Fat Larry (like, say, an Endomorph or a Nate), but you'd still have a problem because the Pugsley rear end is offset.  Yes, the Clown Shoe is drilled to be laced offset as well, but to a different dimension than the Pugsley (16mm vs. 24mm, or something like that) so you're just out of luck there.

Up front you could accommodate the Clown Shoes on a Pugsley by setting the bike up with a Moonlander fork.  That fork is centred (ie. non-offset) and the Clown Shoe rims are drilled to also be laced without a dish, so that set up will work fine, and will accommodate any tire you'd like.

Compatibility with the Mukluk is more of a guess to us at this point.  It looks like the stock Mukluk front fork should be able to accommodate the larger width of a Clown Shoe rim and a Big Fat Larry (the widest overall combo available at the moment), and because the Mukluk fork is not offset it is compatible with the Clown Shoe in that regard, but until we build a wheel like that up for the Mukluk we won't know for sure.  Yes, we could take some width measurements but we never trust exactly how the tire is going to seat on the rim, what rim and tube flex will do when the bike is actually ridden, and how much gunk will stick to the tires and be a problem clearing the frame or fork even if the rubber technically fits.  Of course even if the Mukluk's front end doesn't accommodate the larger rim and largest tire (and we think it might) you can always stick a Moonlander fork on the from to work with the larger wheel combo just like we suggested for the Pugsley above.

We can say without a doubt that the Clown Shoe will work in the Mukluk fork with a 3.7 inch wide tire such as a Larry or Nate because (and follow this closely) a Clown Shoe with a 3.7 inch wide tire is very close to the same net maximum width as an 80mm rim (such as the stock Darryl) with a 4.7 inch tire (such as the Big Fat Larry), and we've run a Darryl/Big Fat Larry combo up front on a Mukluk with no problem.  Why would you want to run a Clown Show and Larry instead of a Darryl and a Big Fat Larry if the net width is pretty much the same?  Because with a wider rim width the tire sits differently and with low pressure it provides more traction because it flattens out more, even though it clears the fork with pretty much the same width.  This is especially applicable if you want to run Nates or Black Floyds, which only come in a 3.7 or so width (as opposed to the Larry / Big Fat Larry, where you have the option of two tire widths with the same tread pattern).  The only way to effectively make the Nates or Black Floyds  'wider' is to increase the rim width.

Finally, it looks like there's a chance the Clown Show / Big Fat Larry combo will even fit in the rear of the Mukluk (the larger rim with a Larry or other 3.7 inch tire will fit for sure), and this is helped by the non-offset nature of the rear of the Mukluk (compared with the Puglsey) BUT for some not satisfactorily answered reason the Mukluk actually comes stock with minor chain rub issues which will only be emphasized with a larger rim, tire, or both, so think about that before you decide to beef up the rear.  There are ways to compensate, but you'll want to talk to us or do your own research first.

So there you have it, sort of.  Hope it's more helpful than it is confusing.

*the moratorium will last a full week unless something new fat bike related unexpectedly shows up in the shop  before then.

Coloured Rolling Darryl's

Yup, you read (and you see) that right!...we have coloured Rolling Darryl's in stock now, just in time for Christmas.  How appropriate that they come in green, red, and white.  They cost the same as 'regular' black Rolling Darryl's ($210 per rim), and oh my are they pretty.  Your fat bike will never the same.

As with the regular Darryl's these are drilled to be laced up either as a non-dished or an offset wheel, so they'll work with your Pugsley or your Mukluk, or any of the other fat bikes out there.

We'd be happy to build you up a new wheel set - just name the colour.

Replacement Wheels

If you've recently 'pretzeled' one of your bike wheels you're certainly not alone.  We have customers come in pretty much daily with damaged wheels, or wheels that have simply been ridden hard and long enough that they're worn out, whether that means broken spokes, untrue rims, or grinding hubs.  In some cases we can fix the wheel, but if the rim is really bent out of shape or if the hub is really spent than it's usually less expensive to replace the whole wheel with a new, prebuilt one than to rebuild what you've got.

That's why we have a basement full of new wheels.  We have road bike wheels, 29er's, 26 inch, rim and disc brake wheels, freehub, freewheel, and single speed wheels, and even coaster brake wheels in stock, and of course we've got them in all sizes for both front and rear.  Most of our wheels range in price from approx. $50 to a little over $100 each.  Of course we can also build you a new wheel from scratch with the hub, rim, and spokes of your choice (in which case the cost can go as high as you want), and we usually have a few prebuilt higher end wheelsets to choose from as well, but most of our customers simply need a relatively inexpensive prebuilt wheel to get them back on the road.

In most instances we can swap the tire and rear cassette (if applicable) in just a few minutes while you wait, so if you have a damaged wheel we can usually get you back on the road right away.  If we think we can fix the original wheel instead of replacing it we usually have to keep it for a day but we'll still get you out there again soon. 

Wheels: Easton EA90 XC 29er's

With the ever increasing popularity of 29er mountain bikes comes more wheel choices, and the market is just becoming mature enough that we're starting to refinements to previous models. Easton has previously put together good 29er wheels, but for 2011 they're offering improved design on many models, including their EA 90 XC set.

The 2011 model drops 30 grams of weight to come in at about 1500g for the complete set - not bad at all for a UST 29er wheelset. There still aren't many UST specific 29er hoopsets out there so it's good to see that what's available is worth it. At a very reasonable $1330 for the set these wheels are definitely worth it. The gorgeous red anodized hubs and matching nipples don't hurt either.

Custom Wheelsets / Speedway Rims

Did you know we employ pro custom wheel builders? We build up many high-end custom wheelsets every year, and we replace rims, spokes, hubs, and do minor damage repair to many others. If you need a repair, or if you're dreaming of having a sweet wheelset built up with your choice of hubs from top rate manufacturers like Chris King, Paul Components, White Industries, DT Swim, etc. let us know.

Pictured above Liam is putting together a custom, specialized set of wheels using really wide Speedway rims to be placed on a Fatback winter specific bike that will be used in a winter enduro bike race called the Arrowhead 135 (more about that in another post).