Latest / Full Spectrum Cycling / Weekly Dose of Fat – 6-28-14 – with Wyatt Hrudka – Show #10

Transcript

Weekly Dose of Fat – 6-28-14 – with Wyatt Hrudka – Show #10 · Full Spectrum Cycling

• 0:00
  Weekly Dose of Fat for Saturday, June 28th, 2014, show number 10.
• 0:06
  [upbeat techno music] From the Fat Bike Radio Studios in the beer capital of America, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, please welcome your hosts of the Weekly Dose of Fat,
• 0:34
  Sven and Gomez. Welcome to the radio program. I'm Sven. And from a remote location, undisclosed- Gomez... Uncle Gomez. I'm not in the murder capital of anywhere.
• 0:51
  Surly Bikes is making with the sponsoring of this show. Our amigos from Surly wants you to know that bikes are still fun. Visit them at surlybikes.com.
• 1:02
  Fat Bike Radio has been heard in over 35 countries, and is available on iTunes. We're, like, huge in Latvia. Huge. Huge. Andy Kaufman, was he from Latvia, that guy? I don't know. From, on Taxi? Latka Gravas? Oh.
• 1:21
  [imitates fast talking] I think he was from Kaspyar. I'm not quite old enough for Taxi. Shut up. It's on, uh, Netflix. Yeah, yeah. Uh, also go ahead and look for us on Facebook and Twitter.
• 1:34
  Hey, Facebook, Facebook friends, Facebook likes, we just eclipsed the, uh, 10,000 threshold. Awesome. So thanks to you- Yeah, thank you [clapping]... users out there all across Canada- Yeah.
• 1:48
  [whistles] You hit a button- Turning on- You hit a button, we took note... the like button on Facebook. [laughs] Update. We noticed it. We noticed it working.
• 1:55
  And while we're thanking people, how about a warm welcome for the Fat Bike Radio band and their leader, Chris Fraser? Yeah, Chris. Wow. Chris is the Hair Club president. He also runs Zion Cyclery.
• 2:07
  It's a pretty nice cyclery, uh, shop there, down there. Uh, yeah, down there. I can't, I can't wait for Fat Camp coming up in September with those guys. That's gonna be a blast. Oh, yeah, man.
• 2:20
  That's gonna be a good time. And, uh, even before that, I'm thinking Fish Day. Ah, good call on that one, too. I'm gonna... I'll be out in Points West during that particular, uh, event, but I think that'll be a good one.
• 2:35
  I'm heading to Colorado and to Saddle Drive, so. Drive your saddle. Drive your s- drive your saddle. You know, that's what we're gonna do. [laughs] You know, uh- [laughs] You guy- We forgot to introduce Colin.
• 2:51
  I can't believe we... He's sitting right here, and we totally didn't say, "Hey, Colin." Hi. Hey, Colin. Hi. I played a show last night. I'm really hung over. Right on. How about you?
• 2:59
  But at least you brought beer, so you got that going for you. What did you br- what did you bring? You have dishes on your face. What, what kind of beer did you bring, Colin?
• 3:08
  Uh, I brought a fucking classic, Bell's Two Hearted Ale, now available in tall boys. Yeah, buddy. It's in a can, son. 7% IPA in a can that's delicious and good every single time.
• 3:23
  Um, recently- Cans are where it's at for microbrews, aren't they? Cans are where it's at for everything. There you go. So anyways, speaking of cans- It, it just leads to Alzheimer's, folks, all the aluminum. Thank you.
• 3:33
  Yep, you're gonna die. Cheers. Bye. [cans opening] [laughs] Ah. Gomez, what do you got on your end? I'm drinking coffee with mother's milk in it. [laughs] From the neighbors that I go and milk every morning. Nice.
• 3:49
  Is it a goat or a cow? [laughs] 'Cause they're both mamas. [laughs] Use your imagination. So what's- Right... what's the deal with Two Hearted, Colin? It's, uh, 7% American Indian pale- Uh-... India pale ale.
• 4:05
  So this beer is made with one type of hop, uh, the Centennial hop. It's, it's hoppy as hell, I can tell you that much. Yeah. Uh, they say, uh, on the box here, "Grapefruit and pine aromas," which are, is very true.
• 4:19
  Um- There's some kind of fruity, citrus-y smell. Yeah. It comes from right over the, right across the big water there, Lake Michigan, over in, in, uh, in Michigan. Bell's makes this fine beer.
• 4:30
  This, uh, this beer has been a staple of many a good evening, and, uh- W- was last evening one of them? [laughs] No. But it's... Nevermind. Um- [laughs]
• 4:43
  This beer actually, I saw, got rated the second-best beer in America. Wow. Well, thanks for bringing it. Back it, best. I hope you're enjoying your coffee- So, uh-... over there, Gomez...
• 4:53
  the, uh, the Two Hearted Creek is right up there, uh, in the Upper Peninsula- The Yooper... where we did the bike packing trip. This beer is made for adventures into the Upper Peninsula. It says so. Awesome.
• 5:10
  Well-suited for adventurous trips anywhere. They changed it when they were like, "Ah, nah, we should probably market to everyone, not just Yoopers." The, the Yoopers. They're... Yeah, I can't talk about this.
• 5:21
  I have embargoed information about beer, y'all. [laughs] All right. You're slipping shit, son. Son. Son. Son. [laughs] So a couple of weeks- From my lo- from my location. This is your dad. Dad.
• 5:37
  Dad, uh, we're gonna tell you about this. A couple of weeks ago, we featured Wyatt Hrudka, I'm still saying his name wrong, from Wyatt Bikes in La Crosse. Big cat.
• 5:45
  In a, we did an interview with him on the website, and today we've got him on the horn, and we'll discuss his company, his personal rig, and his new Kickstarter project right after this from Becker Sewing.
• 5:59
  You're tuned to Fat Bike Radio. What do Jeff Oatley, Kevin Breitenbach, and Heather Best have in common? They're all world record holders and champions of the Iditarod Trail Invitational. And
• 6:17
  they all chose Becker Gear frame bags and hydration packs. In fact, the top three men in the ITI 350 raced Becker bags. Tups Becker makes frame bags, hydration packs, and rack bags for long distance adventure.
• 6:33
  Becker Gear is custom designed and purpose-built to fit your bike. Fat, skinny, and everything in between, Becker Gear is the bag maker of champions. Hi, this is Eric from Surly.
• 6:45
  Uh, every time I'm looking for the preferred nomenclature, I listen in to Gomez and Sven on Fat Bike Radio. Nomenclature. Well, we're back from the break and we've got Wyatt on the line. So Wyatt, welcome to the show.
• 6:59
  I gotta ask you, just how do you pronounce your last name? And- Well, thank you for having me. Um, my last name is pronounced Rutka, and that's the American way to say it.
• 7:09
  And I think the Eu- Eastern European pronunciation is Rutka. Okay. Um, so and I think that's harder for Americans to say, so they just stick with Rutka. Okay. Yeah, it's, uh, like there's an Easter cheese.
• 7:20
  It's a specialty Eastern Slovak or whatever kind of a delicacy that's mostly sugar, [laughs] but, uh- Yes... yeah, it's also called Rutka or Rutka, how do- well, however you would say it. Yes. Anyway, [laughs]
• 7:34
  so- [laughs] So how did a guy with a Slovak-sounding last name like that end up in Western Wisconsin making bicycles? Well, actually I was, actually grew up in Manitowoc, um, Wisconsin, which is on the eastern side.
• 7:46
  Right on. And- Yeah, we got a good friend- I grew-... over there that runs a bike shop. Uh, George runs a really great- Yeah... bike shop in Manitowoc, yeah.
• 7:54
  Yeah, actually, George and I go back a couple years, and when I was in Manitowoc, um, in high school I actually worked at the same bike shop George did before Geo- George opened up Broken Spokes.
• 8:05
  And I went off to school and then I started, I was the mechanic at the University of Wisconsin La Crosse, um, for the rental bike program. Oh, cool.
• 8:14
  And I saw a lot of students, you know, coming to me asking questions, "Oh, can you adjust my gears on my bike? I have a lot of problems with it." So I'm like, "Yeah, sure. Why not?"
• 8:22
  And I saw this as being a common problem. I'm like, you know, why don't, you know, college students just ride single speed bikes or fixed gear bikes? They're simple and reliable. Awesome, yeah.
• 8:31
  So I did a little bit more research on the web and found that there was either bike filters that were affordable, but they were poorly made with low quality material, or they're h- you know, more expensive in the $700, $800 range just for a single speed bike- Right...
• 8:46
  because they were brand name. Sure. And I thought, "Hey, this might be an opportunity," so I started designing a frame and hooked up with a manufacturer overseas.
• 8:56
  And from that point on I started selling fixed gear and single speed bikes, and people love the bikes. Very good. So, yeah.
• 9:02
  Well, so, w- uh, from, I mean, it's, that's an awesome, uh, you know, intro to a program on how to get a bike company started is to find a need and fill it. So what led you from doing that to fat bikes?
• 9:14
  It seems like they're a little bit different kind of an animal, so what, what made that transition or, uh, addition happen to your company? Yeah.
• 9:22
  Well, fat bikes and single speed bikes, road bikes are completely different. Um, they're on a different end of the spectrum. And what really got me started with fat bikes...
• 9:31
  Well, I guess I should say this first, is that when I started seeing fat bikes around La Crosse, I'm like,
• 9:36
  I, I thought it was gonna be a fad, to be honest, because I'm like, "Why would someone on a, wanna ride a bike- Hey... like that?" Hey, Wyatt. But definitely- Th- [laughs] thanks for calling our website a fad.
• 9:45
  I appreciate it. [laughs] I'm sorry about that. No, no. Yeah. Um- Go ahead. [laughs] And I thought, I th- I thought to myself, you know, I shouldn't be judging the bike if I'd never ridden one. True that.
• 9:58
  So I actually met with George Topit, who I was talking about earlier. Right. And we went for a bike ride in Manitowoc, uh, and we went to Point Beach State Park, and we took a ride through the woods.
• 10:08
  I believe I was on a Bear Grease at the time, and we rode through the woods and then we went onto the beach, and it was the coolest thing I've ever experienced on a bike.
• 10:16
  To be able to transition from going in the woods and then going onto a beach, you can't do that with a normal mountain bike. And it was- Yeah, very true... just the greatest thing.
• 10:23
  And then, you know, you can ride at night on the beach and for the moon rides, and it's just a great time.
• 10:29
  So at, from that point I'm like, "Well, I really have to make one of these bikes and offer my customers this option so they can ride year-round."
• 10:36
  I, it, I think it's, you, you hit the nail on the head is that no other bike can do what a fat bike does.
• 10:41
  And, uh, you know, we're, we're in the phase of fat bike growth where all the majors are getting in, and there's a lot of things happening, [clears throat] and some of the bikes are not quite hitting the nail on the head as far as, you know, the experience, whether it's tires or geometry or whatever.
• 10:59
  You know, there's reasons why certain of them, uh, maybe they're not, they don't get it yet.
• 11:04
  You know, it's nice to hear that you understood the experience before you designed the bike and, and you designed the bike to match the experience. I, I think you're gonna have a good product.
• 11:13
  I mean, I spent very little time on it quickly one day at the, uh, Manitowoc, uh, race in the, in February, and, you know, for the short ride, you, you're pretty close on it already, so, [laughs] uh- Well, thank you.
• 11:27
  Yeah.
• 11:27
  And, uh, you know, that, and I think there's a lot of companies out there that wanna get in the, build a fat bike 'cause it's a growing market, but they're actually not taking the time, you know, to spec out the geometry correctly.
• 11:39
  What kind of bike are they trying to make? Are they m- trying to make a bike that can handle four-inch tires or five-inch tires? Right. And they use a, you know, 100 millimeter bottom bracket and the chain line's off.
• 11:49
  So, you know, you have to really find out and do your research on what companies are offering a bike that's specced out properly for the type of riding that you wanna do. Right.
• 11:57
  Well, for years now, at least three, I've been saying that a guy needs more than one fat bike. Once I sold all my mountain bikes, I wanted a trail bike, I wanted a beach bike.
• 12:06
  I even have a fat bike that's made for riding on the road with slick tires on it. So it, you know, in, in our area in Milwaukee here, we got tons of potholes.
• 12:14
  There's just, you know- They, they never can keep up with them. And riding a s- for me anymore at my age, a skinny fixed gear or single speed bike, which I did when I was younger, just I, I gotta pay more attention.
• 12:27
  I gotta dodge and, and bunny hop potholes and, you know, you gotta be more actively involved. And the- Yeah... the road fat bike, I, I can just cruise over.
• 12:34
  If I happen to be sleeping when a pothole shows up, well, it jars me a little bit, but I don't totally- [laughs]... you know, I don't totally go, uh, crash. [laughs] Exa- exactly.
• 12:44
  You know, I, I love riding my single speed and fixed gear bike around town, but I love riding my fat bike even more, I have to, to be honest with you, because anything gets in your way, you pretty much, well, except person or a car, you can run it over.
• 12:55
  Like you said, a pothole. Yep. Um, you know, sticks or debris in the roads or, you know, you just have more control of the bike- Yep... on a fat bike Even a, even like a s-... as opposed...
• 13:04
  a sandy wash when after a big rain there's all a bunch of junk in the street, you can just kinda like plow right through it, so. [laughs] Oh, yeah, exactly. All right. So y- you obviously have been riding fat bikes.
• 13:15
  Uh, w- let's talk a little bit about your particular bike. Um, basically I'm just gonna be looking for, you know, how did you spec it out.
• 13:22
  Start with the frame and fork and, you know, kinda we'll go through the drivetrain and how you got your, uh, rider cockpit set up.
• 13:30
  The frame, it's, um, it is American-made bike and it's made in Portland by Zen Bicycle Fabrication, and it's made from 6061 American-sourced aluminum. Oh, yeah. And we just- And what with the... I actually- Y-...
• 13:42
  kind of missed that point, is that you went with aluminum. I know Zen does steel a lot too, but that's a, you know, aluminum is a, I think a good fat bike choice. Yeah, yeah. We decided to go with aluminum.
• 13:52
  We're, we're familiar with, uh, steel frames with our single speed bikes, uh, but we wanted to try aluminum just because, you know, weight is somewhat of a, it's a pretty big factor when it comes to fat bikes.
• 14:00
  So we wanted a fat bike that was lightweight and you could, you could race it if you want, or you can just take it for the weekend on the trails and, you know, be comfortable in any situation with it, and we thought aluminum was the perfect choice for that.
• 14:12
  And it is actually just shy of 4.5 pounds, and that's powder-coated and with the details and everything on it. Okay. And then- And so you call it the Drift, right? Is that the name of it? Yeah. We, we call it the Drift.
• 14:25
  I was trying to name a, name the bike and it, or when I was trying to name the bike it was difficult, 'cause I wanted something that stood out, but then I'm like, "Well, you know, think of names that represent La Crosse or that's familiar with La Crosse, that would fit well with a fat bike."
• 14:38
  La Crosse and the surr- surrounding areas is known as the Driftless region. Right on. And so I'm thinking drift. I'm like, "Oh, that's kinda neat," you know?
• 14:45
  You ride through snow drifts with it, and you can, or you can drift off the, off the normal path and, you know, cruise on doing the trail. So I thought, "Hey, that fits it pretty well."
• 14:54
  And ever since then it just kinda stuck with me, so that's, that's the name of the bike now. Yeah, it's a good name.
• 14:59
  We, uh, we go to Decorah, Iowa a lot, and I think that's kind of on the other edge of the Driftless region, but it's- Yep...
• 15:05
  you know, uh, it's very similar to La Crosse terrain, just big bluffs and awesome trails and, uh, you're, you're lucky to be living where you're living. You have the Wyatt frame. What are you using for a fork on it?
• 15:18
  Yeah. Well, the, for the fork, um, well, we actually tried out, when, since the bike is a prototype, we tried out the MRP, um, formerly White Brothers fork. Right. And w- we liked it.
• 15:30
  Um, it didn't have the tapered head tube. It was just a, a s- straight tube. So then we're like, "Well, we kinda want something with a tapered head tube just to match our..."
• 15:39
  Or I should say a tapered stem to match our tapered head tube. I j- I'm sorry. It's a steerer tube, not a stem. What am I talking about? Stem [laughs] Right. The stem- Anyway, um-...
• 15:48
  I mean, stem goes on the steerer tube. Um- The handlebar's connected to the stem. Yeah. Yeah. There, there we go. That's it. [laughs] There's a song in there somewhere, I think. Um, and I build bikes, right? Right.
• 15:56
  So anyways, we, um, so it was, it weighed a little bit more than we want to for being a carbon fork, so we're like, "Well, let's, let's design one."
• 16:04
  And I actually had my factory overseas, uh, make this fork for me, and it end- it ended up just being just around 750 grams, so- Wow... about 1.6 pounds. And it was actually lighter than the carbon fork.
• 16:16
  I'm like, "Heck, we're gonna use this. It's a tapered head tube, aluminum fork, and it's very clean looking, and it matches our bike very well." Very good. Yeah.
• 16:23
  You know, maybe we should test one of those on one of our bikes. Get... [laughs] Yep. For sure. You can get, get some, uh, get some promo on fatbike.com by sending us a fork. Thank you.
• 16:32
  Uh, so you got that, uh- [laughs] So you had the fork made for you. How about, uh, drivetrain? What are you doing for, uh, running gear? Yeah.
• 16:39
  For the drive- drivetrain we have the X7 derailleurs front and rear, and we have the sh- X7 shifters as well.
• 16:46
  And for a crankset we're running the X5, and, and that's set up as a two by 10, and we just feel we wanted more gears and more option for people. Although we do like the one by 11. Yep.
• 16:57
  But I feel like there's more options right now for people to modify their bikes if we set, had it set up as a two by 10. So where were- And it just gives people more option... on your, on your personal bike is kinda...
• 17:06
  You know, I, uh, I like the, uh, the specing of the production bike, but a guy in the industry gets to ride anything he wants, you know? So what do you have on your personal bike? Yeah, exactly.
• 17:16
  What I have on my personal bike, I'm actually running the one by 11. I like it 'cause it's very simple and it kinda sticks with our whole idea of a bike being simple, um, reliable.
• 17:25
  There's n- n- there's less shifting involved. So I, I do run the one by 11. Cool. Yeah. Well, I mean, it's obviously, you know, for a price point you're gonna spec good quality, uh, reliable stuff.
• 17:35
  But yeah, you know, the, the guy in the industry gets to run whatever he wants to run, so, you know. Exactly. Uh, in the... So how about just rider controls?
• 17:43
  Are you, on your personal bike, you got, uh, bar, stem, seatpost, grips, that kinda stuff, what do you actually like to run that makes you happy?
• 17:50
  You know, I'm actually happy with how the stock set up is as far as the cockpit goes. Okay.
• 17:54
  I just, uh, we have it set up as the Truativ T30 bar, uh, the T20 stem and seatpost, and we are using the ODI Ruffian lock-on grips, as well as the Speed Bee saddle from WP, WTB. Cool.
• 18:08
  And we, we like that set up how it is, so... And that's what I personally ride as well. How about, uh, you know, just wheel set, tires, spokes, uh, s- hubs, that kinda thing? Yeah, um, I still have the bike set up.
• 18:20
  I have it s- or as it is spec, um, as a factory bike, and it's set up with the Dually rims, uh, by Velocity, made in USA. We wanna stick with that as much as we can.
• 18:31
  And we're using the Hustler 2 tires on there, as well as, uh, DT Champion spokes, along with a front Origin 8 hub, and then we have a, I have an imported hub to run the 11 s- uh, 11 speed cranks, or cassette in the back.
• 18:45
  Okay. Yeah, cool. And I, the reason I'm running the 45 millimeter rims, or the Dually rims, with the Hustler 2s, I, I just feel like it gives it a more round profile.
• 18:55
  Um, it's, it, you know, you have more control when you're turning, especially when you're riding in summer and stuff, you get a little bit more speed out of it, and our focus is trying to be an all-terrain bike.
• 19:04
  Yeah, we've been running 50 millimeter rims around here for a while, and, uh, definitely a- you know,
• 19:09
  y- you can still ride them on the beach, maybe not in the softest of the soft stuff, but you're not totally handicapped on the beach.
• 19:16
  And then the trails, I just, I love how a 50 millimeter, or a 40, whatever the Dually is, 45 millimeter rim feels. So, um- Yeah, it's-... cool. Um, well, that's, yeah, good to hear about your bike.
• 19:27
  And, uh, I do know, I know you launched a Kickstarter project recently, uh, to fund- Yes, we did... you know, to help fund the Drefe folks.
• 19:35
  I gotta tell, as a little, little side note here, running a bike company, mostly a losing proposition. So if you wanna help Wyatt- [laughs]...
• 19:42
  fund this new frame, he does have a Kickstarter project going, and, uh, tell us a little about that.
• 19:47
  Yeah, I started the Kickstarter project, uh, Ju- June 16th, I launched a Kickstarter project, and what I'm doing is I'm hoping that I can raise enough money to put the bike into production and offer it to, you know, customers as one of our, uh, as an alternative model to our normal single speed and fixed gear bikes.
• 20:06
  And right now, if you go on our site, you, there's an early bird special on a frame and fork for only $799, so you get an American-made frame along with a, you know, a nice tapered imported fork.
• 20:18
  And then for, we also have a super early bird special for a complete bike, and we only have 10 of those available that we're selling at this price, and that's $1899. Wow. So you're getting a- That's-...
• 20:28
  a spec'd out bike-... awesome... for $1899. Um, great deal. There's only 10 of those available.
• 20:34
  And then we're doing just a regular early bird, bird special with that at $1999, and there's 15 available of that model, and it jumps up from there.
• 20:41
  So, you know, if you really want one of these bikes, um, get on Kickstarter and pledge a rewar- reward, help us out, try to get this bike into production, and you're getting a killer deal at the same time.
• 20:50
  Yeah, for sure. I mean, you can't, can't buy an off-the-shelf bike spec like yours for that kind of money, so it's a good deal. Definitely jump on that if you guys can. So right on, Wyatt.
• 21:01
  Uh, thanks for being on the show. I'm, I'm, great talking to you. Yeah, thank you for having me. Yeah. We'll talk to you, uh, again soon. All right, sounds good. Thank you. Thanks. Bye. Thanks, Wyatt.
• 21:13
  All right, thanks, Wyatt. Next up is a heaping helping of the old Test Kitchen, where we bleed information that we couldn't bleed even just yesterday. [laughs] But first, a word from one of our sponsors.
• 21:29
  Hi, I'm Steve with Borealis Bikes, and I'm gonna tell you a little bit about our brand-new Echo fat bike frame. The Borealis Echo is the first available carbon fat bike frame designed around the RockShox Bluto fork.
• 21:39
  It delivers nimble shred ability with clearance to handle up to five-inch tires.
• 21:43
  Complete bikes can be built for under 25 pounds, which makes the Echo the lightest suspension fat bike frame on the market, with unmatched handling.
• 21:50
  The result is truly a year-round fat bike that takes on all disciplines of mountain biking. Visit Borealis Bikes to find a dealer near you. We promise, once you go fat, you'll never go back. Fat bike radio.
• 22:04
  It's the Test Kitchen, Test Kitchen, where we test new stuff.
• 22:11
  Hey, first up in this, uh, metal test kitchen, we got a VP Components 100 millimeter square taper bottom bracket that I saw our buddy Earl out in Madison, Wisconsin at Revolution Cycles there. He posted this up.
• 22:27
  It's a very, uh, it was very economical. I think he said the retail was $8, but don't quote me on that. [laughs] Uh, so which means that now you got an old square taper crank, boom. I got some- Put that on your Pugsley.
• 22:42
  You're rolling old school. Yeah. What do you guys think? I got some Cook Brothers I wanna throw on a fat bike. That's gonna be awesome for that.
• 22:48
  That's literally the most affordable crank option you can think of, 'cause you could go to some random bike shop parts bin, find an old set of square taper cranks, buy an $8 bottom bracket, wham, bam- Thank you, ma'am.
• 23:05
  [laughs] And, uh, yeah, it, so- And there it is. Yeah. Uh.
• 23:10
  So, uh, we sent, we sent our correspondent, Spinner Axel, out to Revolution Cycles, and, uh, he took pictures, and he met Earl, and they danced, and, uh, there's gonna be an article- There was dancing...
• 23:22
  um, next week on the site. Dancing. Check it out. Very good. Don't call Spinner a cyclist. [laughs] Cyclist.
• 23:30
  And bi- [laughs] embargoed information till just days ago come two stories that we broke minutes after the embargo was lifted. Oh my God, 45 North has- What?... like tubeless tires and rims, guys. Oh. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
• 23:46
  They, uh, got the, they got a little negative backlash on their, on their saying that they were the first, or that it was here now, since people have been doing tubeless by themselves.
• 23:58
  But, uh, this tire should improve it. It makes sense that if you manufacture a tire with a buttery smooth and, uh, meticulously formed bead, that it's going to work better.
• 24:15
  And they have the whole intra-company Whiskey Parts Number Nine fat carbon rim- That is made to match, so- Pointed out to us by some random case worker... uh, it's gonna be very interesting.
• 24:26
  We have a pair of these tires, so we'll be, uh, uh, I'm gonna ride 'em for a bit, and then I'm gonna send them around to the, uh, test pilots.
• 24:37
  This is a snow tire, but, uh, probably the closest thing in competition- As the set, the front tire looks good on it. I, I think it's gonna be a good tire... with it after looking at it is probably a Nate.
• 24:45
  It's a really aggressive four-inch tire.
• 24:48
  So- Yeah, and the, the, uh, tread blocks are a little lower than a Nate, but they're nicely spaced apart, and I, it looks like a great tire to me just from looking at the tread pattern and knowing what I like to ride.
• 24:58
  I think it's gonna be a good one. Well, tubeless or not, y- just because it's tubeless ready doesn't mean you can't throw a tube in it, folks. Right, exactly. Uh, and obviously they- So-...
• 25:09
  they, uh, the intra-company promotion brought to the fore that they also designed Whiskey Parts, uh, made a fat carbon rim that works tubeless as well, not just with the Van Halga, but, uh, other tubeless ready tires.
• 25:25
  But them real nice 120 TPI Surly bicycles tires that have been out for about three years? They're not tubeless ready. Oh, man, what a- Yeah, Orbea-... that'd be totally tubeless ready... Orbea has- You should see-...
• 25:37
  has sealant compatible tires. Absolutely. That's so. You should see the, the size of the stick that's in Sam Derrickson's tire. He brought it- Oh, my God, that was awesome... he brought it back to the shop.
• 25:46
  It's like a three-quarter inch diameter stick going through his big fat Larry, and he's running those tubeless, and it sealed up immediately, finished his beach ride, and we're just gonna vulcanize a little patch on the inside of the tire and send him back on his way, but that shows you what tubeless can do.
• 26:04
  That thing was seriously, uh, just a l- It was-... amazingly large stick. It was the size of your thumb. Yeah, easily. Well, my thumb's kinda small, but it was pretty good size. Don't try this at home, kids.
• 26:14
  Hey, if you don't wanna experiment- Don't ride with a stick in your tire... don't bother going tubeless, but if you do, you'll love it. Thank you. Yeah. Have a nice day. [laughs] So- I wanna g-...
• 26:22
  the, the bottom line here on these, uh, Van Halga and the Whiskey Parts Number Nine is our test pilot, you might know him, Jesse Lalonde, up there in the Twin Cities, badass racer, uh- Badass racer...
• 26:35
  they're not over here. Uh, he's been testing these, so I d- and he has a new bike, and he is rocking 'em hard, so he'll be writing a, uh, review of both of these coming up here in the next month or so. Right on.
• 26:51
  Jesse's- And then we have a-... one of the fastest guys we know... what else we have in the test kitchen? What's the w- what's with the- I have this crazy-... what's with this water blaster thing? Tell us about that.
• 26:58
  That's, like, uh, crazy. Before we transition- So-... I wanna give a shout-out to Adam Blake for showing me how to make a tubeless fat bike tire three years ago. Adam Blake. Works at Boo Bicycles- You rule, brother...
• 27:12
  now, folks. He was a shop rat up until recently when he was, uh, elevated to the level of master, master of Boo Bicycles. Love you, brother. Yeah. I would've, I would've called it more of a, a shop samsquanch.
• 27:27
  Samsquanch. He's way too big to be a rat. [laughs] True that, although he is getting smaller lately. That's good. He's losing weight. Looking good, too. Looking good, Adam. Thank you. It's that Colorado life, right?
• 27:38
  That's where everything- Starting to get his, uh, his mountain legs and lungs, uh, down. He's been posting a lot about riding every day. I think once he shaved the beard down he- So we salute you-...
• 27:47
  lost that a little bit... Adam Blake. All right. All right, so our last item here, I have a crazy kid's toy that is made to attach to your handlebar. [laughs] It is a remote controlled- This-...
• 27:58
  aimable water blaster that can shoot water for 30 feet. [laughs] That thing is- It comes with a little- Yeah... control that goes- Yeah...
• 28:06
  right up next to your grip, and you can rotate it left, rotate it right, and fire. Without even taking your hands off the handlebars? Well, this is, this is gonna be a must-have for fish day and any beach ride.
• 28:17
  And without taking your hands off the handlebars, you can rotate it. This is, like, the coolest- Right... thing in the world. You can aim it. Maybe, and you bought one for yourself, but not Colin and me. That, uh, uh...
• 28:27
  [laughs] Hey, man, you gotta get your own. Yeah, he wants to have the new- It's a hard, it's a hard case. It really is... yeah, nah, don't worry about it, guys.
• 28:34
  I'll just go all retro grouch on you and just have a sling-mounted Super Soaker, and you can deal with it, 'cause I can ride no-handed. Yeah, boy. Oh, there you are. So there's the- You are.
• 28:43
  I'm thinking actually this could be the secret weapon of all good derbies on the beach. [laughs] Yeah. [laughs] I aimed it at your bunghole, and you suddenly put your foot down. I wasn't gatoring. Oh.
• 28:55
  [laughs] It was Herradura vodka. No, tequila. Yeah, I got tequila in my eyes. Yeah. With all that lake water, I did some beach riding this week. The ale wives and the algae bloom is- Oh, it's nasty down there... whoa.
• 29:10
  Ooh, boo. Yeah. Man, that smells so good, decaying fish and decaying algae. It all smells real good.
• 29:15
  All the, and all the river runoff is going into the lake, too, so it's gonna be- Yeah, all of, all that agricultural, uh, slurry going out into the lake and making everything a rich culture.
• 29:26
  How was, uh, how was Keweenaw? Did you get a decent ride in? Oh, I redid the, the nuclear reactor ride just north of Point Beach- Oh, right on...
• 29:36
  um, that we did, and I only got in about four miles from Keweenaw going south, but it was on a day when it ha- you had northeast winds, and it was just blowing in, and it was washing out all of the rideable parts of the beach.
• 29:52
  Gotcha. But it looked like, I, I did hit a bluff where I just couldn't get through. Okay. But it is wild country between Keweenaw and just north of, of Point Beach.
• 30:03
  There's a lot of agricultural lakefront, uh, and of course the big houses here and there, but w- it looks like, from Google Earth, it looks like it would be very good riding, so. Cool.
• 30:16
  Yeah, no, I, it looked good on the...
• 30:18
  I'd, I'd stopped down there one time in the past, and the waves were coming in from the southeast, and they were really blowing out the whole thing, but so it's gotta be, uh, it's gotta be weather specific, but it looks like a good stretch.
• 30:29
  [laughs] You said blowing out. Blowing out. [laughs]All right, next on the agenda, our friend, uh, Jordan Wakeley has been just killing it over there in Michigan on his Borealis Yampa set up with the 29 plus wheels.
• 30:47
  He just took second in the Lumberjack 100. And I got him on the phone and here's what he had to say. Well, congratulations, Jordan. You've just been killing it this spring on your 29 plus rig Borealis Yampa.
• 31:01
  How many podiums have you grabbed this spring? Uh, so far I'm up to eight or nine first places and, uh, two or three second places. Uh, I've yet to be off the podium.
• 31:11
  So, uh, last weekend you took second at the Lumberjack 100. Tell us about that. Oh, the Lumberjack was a great race last weekend.
• 31:18
  Um, you know, six years ago I went from not knowing if I could finish the race to damn near winning it this year. That's awesome. So, uh, was it close? Did you, did you lead out the race?
• 31:29
  Were you in the lead for most of it and then get caught at the end? How did the, uh, how did the finish story end?
• 31:36
  Uh, I entered the single track in second place and, uh, there's a $200 premium to the first rider to the top of the first climb.
• 31:44
  So I went to that, I attacked it hard and, uh, Christian Tanghe, he came with me and we rode the first 50 miles together. And Christian started cramping up and I was off just by myself for about 30 miles.
• 31:56
  And then, uh, lo and behold, Christian caught me with about eight miles to go and, uh, he really put the hurt on me. Amazing. Coming back from cramps.
• 32:04
  But, but 58 seconds off of Christian is, uh, I'm, I'm real happy with that result there, so. Well, I really appreciate you being, uh, part of our show, and keep up the good work, my man. All right. Thank you much, Gomez.
• 32:16
  All right, take care. I wanna say something. Uh, shout out to the, uh, the dudes at Borealis Bikes. Your Instagram posts of wicked fucking air on your Borealis bikes have been awesome. Keep up the good shred. Rad.
• 32:32
  Those guys shred. [laughs] All right. Yeah, Jordan is, Jordan's a fast guy, man. And so the, uh, Lumberjack 100 wasn't relegated to fat bike status. It was a real race with real fast guys on real fast bikes.
• 32:50
  And Jordan- And, and a stacked field. That- A stacked field... northern Michigan, uh, race crowd is, is world-class athletes. Yep. It's all the iron in their blood. All the iron in their blood. Iron butterfly. All right.
• 33:08
  Well, besides getting in gear to test and talking to cool racers and that type of thing, we actually really love to hear from our readers.
• 33:15
  We love to hear about their gear, their adventures, and frankly, you guys help make our site not just Sven and Gomez. We'd really love to hear from you.
• 33:24
  If you've got a story to tell and a few pictures of it, send it to info@fat-bike.com and we'll work with you to make the story, you know, sing and get your personal views told.
• 33:39
  A great example of a story that we love to hear is, uh, uh, one that Troy sent in f- about a fat packing trip. Fat packing, say that five times. On North Stradbroke Island off the coast of Brisbane, Australia.
• 33:53
  He really takes the time to document it in photos and wrote a nice story about it and it makes me wanna renew my passport, go to Australia, ship my fat bike for $500 or whatever it costs to get it down there, and ride on this place because it looks awesome.
• 34:08
  [laughs] Another feature that we love to hear about is our readers' rides features. Do you have a rig? I got a rig. We could, like, look at each other's rigs if you send us some pictures and maybe write a poem about it.
• 34:22
  I'm working on my rig right here. A sonnet. Kids and bike, something like that. You know, just do whatever you like in that. But, uh, yeah, get creative and, uh, send us a story. You too could be on the interwebs.
• 34:37
  Otherwise, it's just an endless stream of pictures of my bike leaned up against crap. [laughs] [laughs] All right. Well, you know- [laughs]...
• 34:49
  we kinda winged it this week, and, uh, obviously the results speak for themselves. If you're still listening to this crazy thing that we're doing, we're gonna have a contest next week,
• 35:01
  and, uh, we're gonna announce it on Monday afternoon. Mm-hmm. We're gonna have fabulous prizes. That's our show this week. [laughs] Thanks. [laughs] Thanks to all you jerks for tuning in.
• 35:14
  [laughs] Before we go, let's take a moment and thank our sponsor, Surly Bikes. Hey, Surly Bikes are what you kids call rad.
• 35:26
  Visit the surlybikes.com Be sure to listen next week when we welcome Bill Fleming from 907 to the show. All right, bye. Cheers. Beers. Beers. You've been listening to Fat Bike Radio's Weekly Dose of Fat.
• 35:43
  Find us on the web at fat-bike.com/radio. We'll see you next time.
• 35:51
  [upbeat rock music]