The Fat Bike Experience

Greetings,

Its been a long while since my last post, as I've been busy with preparing for races to direct and also time.  After taking on the Finley 5K and doing the Finley Tag Team Relay Race last year, this summer has really grown on the race directing side of things. I have taken on 2 more 5K's, timing for a 5K/10K event, and also added another Tag Team Relay Race to the calendar.  I'm learning more as I go and trying to develop a good system for all events to run as smooth as it can.

With all this preparation time, its cut into some workout time for sure.  About two weeks ago, I bought a new 'fat bike', a special all-terrain bike that has 4" wide wheels on it. It really looks odd compared to other regular bikes.  When the tires are twice as wide, they almost look like a motorcycle tire. The one I bought was from a local discount store, one you'd consider an 'entry level' bike to the fat-biking craze.  It was the Mongoose Brutus, a single speed fat bike.

My first ride was for 10 miles and it was a very fun ride to go on. With my GPS on, I was getting 10-12 miles/hour on the bike, even with a single speed only to go on. Hills were tough, but temporary. Downhills were a brief rest.  Overall after my first ride, I was thinking it was a fun purchase for some enjoyable riding.

Not quite the case: on my next ride, just a quick 4 mile loop I did outside of town, I started hearing pops and squeaks in the frame.  Some online questioning on facebook groups and reading reviews on it, the bike itself was either the world's most awesome bargain for a fat bike, or a bothersome bike where you'll spend more time fixing than riding. The latter was the case for me: I tried adding grease to the bearings, and although the wheels rolled smoother, I really heard some squeaks/pops just taking it throughout the streets by my house. Online posters about my questions on the bike's issues said "Take it back" in unison.

So, I took it back, the store looked at it, and I thought I heard a slight squeak again.  I decided to take it back home and give it a longer ride than just the parking lot. After going around the block, and after numerous tweaks with the wrench, the pops/squeaks got a lot worse.

And my fat biking experience ended the next day. I swapped it out with a regular mountain bike, a 29" Schwinn High Timber bike. 

Will I go back to a fat bike? It will depend on the price of what I can find and afford.  I feel the bike I got was one of those that was rushed, put together just to fill a niche, and sold at a discount rate to make it a mass appeal bike . It may be good for beach cruising, but for grinding up the gravel roads around my neck of the woods, it certainly couldn't handle much.  In comparison, I have had a Schwinn OR2 hybrid bike, a bike made for gravel & pavement conditions (almost mountain bike-like tire but with a smoother, slightly thinner look to go fast on pavement when needed) for two years plus... and haven't heard one squeak out of a few hundred miles on it. That's why I decided to stick with another Schwinn for my riding needs.

Upon further reviews, if I decide to get another fat bike in the future, there are others in the $500 to $1000 range that I could save up for and would have a better quality build to them. The high end ones are $2-3K and is a bit out of my range for my need. 

I have seen some fat bike pages on Facebook where people will take the $199 Mongoose Beast (found at Walmart) and basically use it as a 'hot rod' bike to build up. Some people will modify the rear wheel's cog to make it easier to pedal. Others will even drill holes in the bike's rims to cut weight on the bike itself. I guess if you have the time & money, plus patience, its a bike where you could spend $200 at first and another $2-300 or more to soup it up. I just don't have that time or the handyman skills to soup up a bike.

So, for now, I will stick with gravel grinding away on my OR2 or try some roads out with my new High Timber. 

As for running, I took about a 6 day layoff from running, and when I returned to the track, the Subsonics were hit again in 400m segments every 2 minutes.  I told myself to hold back a bit, and aimed for 90 second times.  90 second intervals with 30 seconds rest felt easier than I thought. I think that's a good sign that the Subsonic interval routines are working well.

Keep rocking on, everyone.

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Lift. Dominate. Repeat.
Rats Alley Barbell Club
Coach Rick Karboviak
http://occupyfirstplace.com
http://tinyurl.com/rkofp