Latest / Full Spectrum Cycling / Weekly Dose of Fat – Show #111 – Amelia Kegel talks Hugh Jass Fat-bike Series and Special Guest Illya Rudkin explores Scotland

Transcript

Weekly Dose of Fat – Show #111 – Amelia Kegel talks Hugh Jass Fat-bike Series and Special Guest Illya Rudkin explores Scotland · Full Spectrum Cycling

• 0:00
  The Weekly Dose of Fat, show number 111 for Friday, October 7th, 2016.
• 0:07
  [upbeat music] My friends, this is a journey into sound, a journey in which along the way will bring you new color, new dimension, new value.
• 0:32
  I bring you The Weekly Dose of Fat with these huge, tremendous hosts of our show. It's Sven and Gomez. Ooh, I feel privileged to have him as our color guy. Dude, I had a feeling. [laughs] Tonight's the night.
• 0:50
  I'm your uncle Gomez. It's smelling. And that is JK living over there. Hello, and introducing our band, Smooth Evil, lead by our maestro amigo, Chris Daisy. Hey, guys.
• 1:05
  [siren blaring] The Weekly Dose of Fat is brought to you by Surly and their new... What do they have that's new that you saw at Interbike? Oh, I thought you did a nice improv in the- [laughs]... in the read through.
• 1:19
  [laughs] You were like... Uh, yeah. It's the SRAM Apex build of the Surly Straggler 650B. Surly is bikes, parts, chaos.
• 1:33
  [laughs] Learn more at surlybikes.com. So we're jumping the gun on what's on the show this week? Yeah, I'm jumping the gun. What is- [laughs] Mother Superior jumped the gun. What is on the show this week, JK?
• 1:46
  We start the show with the event of the week. We delve into beards and beer. On this special segment, we wings it. Oh, I got this. We share links- I got this... from the interwebs. I got it. I know the answer.
• 1:59
  [laughs] We check in with the Fatty Farm Field Report, brought to you by Becker Sewing and Design. Our new sponsor. Yeah. Hey, thank- Tupper Becker... thanks, Tupper...
• 2:06
  who, uh, also had a, uh, big debut article there on Monday. Oh, yeah, yeah. About the Trek Farley DXA. That Trek Farley. Right on. Well, the event of this week is our first thing on the old docket here, isn't it?
• 2:22
  It's actually a whole fat bike race series, though. Uh, this is the second year for the huge ass fat bike race series, and all the action of the 10 race series begins early this year, Saturday, October 15th.
• 2:34
  So just, like, next weekend. Wow. And that's, you know, I think that's cool, 'cause I remember when we did your first race 25 years ago, it was in December. Yeah. And that was the earliest race.
• 2:46
  Mm, the next year we did one in November, though. Right, right. Where, where [laughs] we gave points if you give, you had a mustache. [laughs] [laughs] You don't have that anymore in fat bike racing.
• 2:55
  It's coming up with Mo- Movember. This is a, this is a race series from our friends at Wheel & Sprocket, right? Right. And we do have Miss Amelia Kegel on the line. Hello, Amelia. Hello, everybody. Hey, how's it going?
• 3:10
  I can't believe how punctual you are. That's awesome. [laughs] Sorry. Sometimes we have to sit here and twiddle our thumbs till the guests call in, but not today. Aw. So welcome to the show.
• 3:21
  Well, thank you, guys, so much for having me. This is quite a treat. Yeah.
• 3:24
  I, you know, meaning that little intro there where we are talking about the second year of this series and, uh, you've, uh, you got 10 events scheduled for this year. Tell us about the series. Yeah.
• 3:35
  You know, we honestly had so much fun last year, we were just like, "We have to continue this traveling winter outdoor party, like, a little bit longer." So we went from seven races to 10 races this year.
• 3:46
  And, uh, you know, it turns out fat bikes are pretty awesome all season long, so we were like, "Well, why do you need to know?" Preaching to the choir. Yeah. [laughs] Hey, hey, hey. You guys know this stuff. Right?
• 3:56
  [laughs] But yeah, you know, bikers are like-minded people and, like, usually cyclists are more fun than the average population, so we figured may as well throw a couple more weekends in there. Cool. Yeah.
• 4:08
  So, uh, you've, you did this last year. What sort of improvements to this series can competitors look for, forward to this year? Absolutely. Yeah.
• 4:17
  So, you know, last year was kind of our first stab at a race series and, you know, kind of growing up in the bike world, it's always been intimidating to go to, like, big old races, and, you know, you get this, like, nervous feeling in your gut right before you race.
• 4:30
  And so we kind of wanted to eliminate that and just kind of return back to the fun stuff, 'cause, you know, riding your bike, turns out, is, like, pretty great.
• 4:37
  So, uh, last year was our first stab at it, and I must say, like, you know, we weren't as punctual with points and, like, you know, publishing results as we used, or we probably could've been.
• 4:47
  So I think that'll be a vast improvement.
• 4:49
  [laughs] And then, uh, you know, we kind of just learned how to have fun with people, so you'll see lots of, uh, you know, twists and turns and, uh, you know, keep you on your feet the whole time.
• 4:58
  Do you have a beer sponsor for the event? [laughs] 'Cause that- We do. You do?
• 5:04
  So I can't spill the beans too much, but, uh, Milwaukee Brewing has been wonderful and, uh, you know, they're another local family business that's got their start in Milwaukee, so it's been a nice partnership and, uh, it's only going to improve this year.
• 5:17
  Mm. I can't tell you too much, but, uh, it should be fun. Cool.
• 5:21
  I guess we should tell people that this is a race series that's throughout Wisconsin, and I think you even threw in south of the border this year, didn't you? We sure did.
• 5:29
  So, you know, so Wheel & Sprocket's got seven locations. We started off as one little bitty store in, uh, Hills Corners, Wisconsin, and kind of expanded around.
• 5:37
  So the whole, uh, theory behind it is we wanted to show people great places to rock their fat bikes, uh, with close vicinity to all of our locations.
• 5:45
  So, you know, we got some fun stuff up in the valley and then, uh, southeastern Wisconsin, and then, you know, we added that store in Evanston, Illinois, so we're playing down there, too.
• 5:55
  I notice that there's a, a big discount for y- for the entry fees if, uh, folks commit to the entire series and get their registration in early. Plus, you even have a special offer for our listener.
• 6:05
  Tell us how that works. We sure do Yeah, so you know, right in the early bird phase, uh, we did do a crazy $100 to race 10 races, which is almost unheard of.
• 6:15
  But we just wanted to thank everybody for participating and helping us, uh, you know, start something big. So right now the registration's at $200, which is still a 20 buck race, highly affordable.
• 6:25
  Uh, but for all the listeners out there today, we have a special promo code, and it is Kegel, all caps, FATNOMORE. Um, so that'll take $50 off that $200 registration for you guys. Right on. Do you, uh...
• 6:39
  When do you have that going through? Uh, that'll be up till the day before the first Minooka race. Um, and you know what? We might just leave it on for, let's see here, I'll make an executive decision- [laughs]...
• 6:49
  the first three races. Okay. All right. You guys can use that. Right on. So that would... Does that count for not only the whole series, but any, uh, any portion of series? How does...
• 6:58
  Or is it, uh, for when they do for the entire series? It's only if you buy the whole shebang. Gotcha, okay. So you gotta buy all 10 to get that $50 discount. You gotta go to Evanston. [laughs] You can take the train.
• 7:11
  So, yeah, you know, [laughs] that won't get... No. But, um, you know, the way that we're structuring the points this year is, you know, we'll take your best six out of 10 races and do the points race on that. Gotcha.
• 7:22
  Cool. So the, the season finale, that's way out there in March, isn't it? It sure is. We had to make some accommodations to leave space for our friends who like to skinny ski, so, uh, we take off for the Birkebeiner.
• 7:36
  And then we also are, um, taking a weekend off so that people can do the, um, you know, the big race up in Chequamegon. Right, Fat Bike Birkie. Fat Bike Birkie. Yay. Fat, fat little thing. That's it.
• 7:48
  There's also the world championships too, uh- Oh, yeah, that's coming up this year in, uh- In Michigan... Grand Rapids there, hey? So we plan to skate across- exciting...
• 7:56
  the lake and, uh, go do color commentator work over there. Maybe we can come to one of your races. There you go. [laughs] Do you need a comedy team to, uh, I don't know, do the awards or...
• 8:09
  [laughs] What else could we do? Yeah, we always invite personalities. You guys are more than invited, every single race, if you want. She... [laughs] Well, I saw you at, uh, at Chris' thing, but, uh,
• 8:19
  I don't know that you saw me. [laughs] I was lurking. We had quite the crowd. It was phenomenal. Oh, yeah, there was a small gathering. [laughs] Just, just a few of our friends, indeed.
• 8:29
  But, uh, you know, I think that was maybe one of the most perfect days in the world. So I don't think a lot of people really know, but Wheel & Sprocket is totally a local family-owned business.
• 8:38
  Um, and my dad, Chris Kegel, was the fourth mechanic at Wheel & Sprocket when they opened their doors in 1973.
• 8:45
  So he worked his place, his way up and, uh, you know, was kind of like a punk 20-year-old and pretended like he owned the place until that happened. [laughs] So, uh, it's a pretty cool story.
• 8:55
  But, you know, um, my dad's been involved in a lot of advocacy work and, you know, he's always just had this gut feeling that the world would be a better place if, uh, cyclists had more safe places to ride.
• 9:05
  So it's been his life work to kind of create trails on a local, state, and national level, and I think he's been pretty successful at it because he's all about bringing people together.
• 9:15
  So, um, he's able to get, like, the industry and all the bike shops and all the advocates and the riders together to rally behind a common goal, and that seems like a pretty good strategy in this world.
• 9:26
  Seems to work for us. Absolutely. Yeah. [laughs] So, uh, I- But anyways, so yeah, yeah. Yeah. Oh, go ahead.
• 9:34
  I just, well, I just wanted to mention that, um, that your dad is, is, is fighting, uh, uh, cancer right now and, um, the ride that we just alluded to earlier was way, way over 1,000 people to kind of pay tribute and, uh, and salute your dad, and that was a couple, couple weekends ago.
• 9:52
  And JK and I did that thing and, you know, just kind of wondering if you can give us an update on that thing. Thank you, guys. For sure, yeah.
• 9:59
  So, you know, uh, my dad was diagnosed with stage four, um, bile duct cancer, and it's got a real fancy name to it, but, um, essentially, uh, it's not looking like there are too many treatment options.
• 10:11
  However, if anyone deserves a miracle, it's this guy.
• 10:14
  So we're really taking it just day by day and looking at all of our options and, you know, what's amazing is this community of people who have great ideas and, you know, we're really, um, we're really banking on something good here.
• 10:26
  So the prognosis was, uh, you know, anywhere from a couple weeks to a couple months, but, uh, we've heard of people who have had the same type of cancer who have lived years. Wow. So we're gonna, we're gonna do it then.
• 10:36
  We're, we're, we're hoping over here. Absolutely. Yeah. All right, Amelia, well, thanks for sharing about your, your series.
• 10:43
  Um, maybe we can catch up midway through the series and we'll see, see who the hot shoes are that are leading in the points. [laughs] That would be fantastic, guys. Yeah. Thank you very much.
• 10:54
  Yep, thanks for being on the show. Come back and be a guest another time later this year. We will do. All right? All right. Talk to you then.
• 11:01
  Well, thanks for all that you guys do, and keep the hype up for all these, uh, fatties out here. We appreciate it. Okay, bye. [laughs] See ya. All right, have a good one.
• 11:09
  Hey, that was, uh, Amelia Kegel talking about the Huge Ass Fat Bike series. That's in Wisconsin, folks. It pretty much covers a good majority of the state, and it actually starts next weekend, October 15th.
• 11:20
  Plus, don't forget about that discount code for being our listener. You know what time it is? Yeah. That was fun. [bell ringing] Top of the hill. Top of the hill. Oh, that's better. [laughs] There's a cow on the trail.
• 11:35
  What do you want? Oh, that- There's a banquet. Yes. No, that'd be fine. All right. It's, it's Pabst Blue Ribbon Day because, uh- Beer water time... it's still early in the season and
• 11:46
  ad revenue says we buy Pabst right now. [laughs] So, hey, if any of you companies out there really want to make a bang in the, uh, fat bike, uh, market, well, we're the best out there.
• 11:56
  We've been doing it the longest, and aren't we the, the biggest? Heck yeah, we are. [laughs] Out of, out of the park. All right.
• 12:07
  Hey, uh, let's take a break here, and when we come back, we, we've got a caller on the line. We'll, we'll see what's going on there Oh, yeah, callers. [coughs] Yeah, isn't that weird?
• 12:17
  [upbeat music] Whether you carry your bikes on your roof or with a hitch, the best way to get your fat bike to the trail is with a rack from 1UP USA.
• 12:33
  1UP USA uses stainless steel hardware on their all-aluminum racks and come with a lifetime warranty. 1UP USA racks are made in the USA, right in Wisconsin.
• 12:45
  Visit 1upusa.com for more information on the fastest loading, highest quality rack solutions.
• 12:57
  This is Chris Daisy from Zion Cyclery, but you can call me Captain Awesome. You're tuned to Fat Bike Radio. Hey, welcome back to the radio program, everybody.
• 13:10
  Uh, we didn't talk about beards, but we can do that in a little while. Uh, we've got a caller on the line. Hey, caller. How you doing? Hey. Good evening, gentlemen. Travis from Anchorage. What's up, cousin?
• 13:23
  Caller's on the phone. Right on. How you guys doing? Doing, doing good. How's it going up there? Uh, everything's yellow. About most of the leaves are down. [laughs] I thought he was talking about snow.
• 13:37
  Yeah, I'm like, "Wow." [laughs] Right on. No, none of that yet. Nah, we're still, uh, clinging to fall. It was, uh, 28 degrees this morning at my house, and had a killer afternoon ride at about 45 degrees.
• 13:52
  It was kind of semi-frozen, tacky dirt. Nice. It was awesome. Sticky packy. Packy. Cool. Hey, what do you know about racing in your area? When does, when does it actually get underway?
• 14:03
  Is it, uh- Have you started training yet? Yeah, yeah, that's, that too. Well, yeah, I took a ride today and I'm drinking beer, so I- I'd call that training and, uh- Yeah.
• 14:12
  [laughs] Yeah, as far as the race this season goes, uh, I think there's a lot of dates yet to be determined.
• 14:19
  But I stopped by Chain Reaction, uh, earlier this week, and Will was saying they've, uh, got some firm dates for the AH series. So that'll be the Frosty Bottom, Eagle River Rampage.
• 14:32
  He said they're adding, uh, another short track, kind of crit thing over at the Cutty Park, uh, this winter. So yeah, those guys got some stuff planned. And then, you know, all the rest of the other,
• 14:45
  the bigs, um, I haven't seen any solid dates on those. Well, we just, uh, like to remind you event promoters out there that we do have a calendar on the website you can add your event to. Indeed.
• 14:55
  People are already asking, they're, they're, uh, they're sending me notes saying, "When does this race season thing get underway?" I'm like, "I don't know. Fat Bike Racing's kind of laid back.
• 15:03
  They usually don't tell you anything about it until a couple weeks before." But these will start firming up pretty quick, folks, so, uh- Yeah, Global Fat Bike Day plans should be, uh, starting to gel for people, too.
• 15:13
  Well, we know when that is already. Yeah. But, you know, you gotta plan your local, your local thing, you know? You doing any, uh, you doing any, uh, thing on that up there in Anchorage? Or is that, uh, Mr.
• 15:27
  Blackstone again gonna do that, Travis? Uh, I believe it's Mr. Blackstone doing that again. Yeah. Yeah, I haven't heard any o- official announ- announcements, but, uh, certainly keeping the eye on Facebook and,
• 15:42
  you know, waiting to hear about all the good Global Fat Bike Day celebrations and the whole schedule, winter schedule coming out. I've just been passed a note. Right on. It says...
• 15:58
  [laughs] It says, I can't even read this. Oh, it says toy- it says Toys for Tots. I'm just, you know, we did something with that last year. Is that something that has got legs, or what do you think? I don't know.
• 16:10
  I don't run a, I don't run a ride, so it's all what people wanna do. I think that if you wanna do a Toys for Tots, you should do a Toys for Tots.
• 16:18
  I just want people to get on their bike and ride, and I just wanna go for a ride myself and act like a normal person and not be like, you know, I just wanna be an enthusiast in the, on that day. Enthusiast.
• 16:30
  Just like- Enthusiast... just like everyone else is. Enthusiasm. [laughs] So we're going with, we're going with, uh- Enthusiasms... we're going with December 3rd, Saturday, right? That's- Right... the official day.
• 16:39
  Yeah, that's- First... oh, but if you, and if you work on Saturday and you wanna get together with your buddies that also work on Saturday, on Sunday, that works, too. You know- Or on a Friday...
• 16:48
  that's, that's the 4th, I'm sure. Friday afternoon, you know? That's the 2nd. Whatever you wanna do. You just went back in time.
• 16:54
  [laughs] It's, it's sort of the, uh, you know, international date line, plus or minus 25 days or hours or centuries, whatever you wanna make it, you know? Free form, beautiful. Free form Friday. Uh, Global Fat Bike Day.
• 17:08
  Well- I, uh, speaking of, uh, Alaska, I saw that, uh, Greg Madison, uh, Fuzzy John from Fatback were at the Trans Cascadia
• 17:19
  where, last time I checked, John Fuzzy, Fuzzy John, you know, was in, uh, sixth place, and he was racing a new, uh, their new FLT, uh, carbon bike. McThinger? Yeah. Was it a Skookum?
• 17:38
  FLT Skookum. That's it. That's, was that Fast Light or something? Fast Light Technology or Feather Light or- Fast Light Technical. Yeah, somewhere in there.
• 17:49
  [laughs] I pr- I probably not even got the letters right, but it's the, their new bike that is the lightest and slickest. So he was feeling, he was feeling really strong. His Strava numbers were looking good. Okay.
• 18:03
  And sure enough, you know, it was a, it was a, you know, bunch of hairy riders there in the Cascade Mountains. It's a beautiful thing Cool.
• 18:16
  Well, let's take a little station ID thing here and when we come back we're gonna talk to Ilya Rudkin. He's from Great Britain though so that's totally the wrong accent.
• 18:27
  But we'll, we'll talk- Ilya Kuryakin from The Man From U.N.C.L.E. [laughs] We'll- Agent Ilya Kuryakin. We'll talk with him right after this.
• 18:35
  Hey, this is Kevin Breitenbach from Fairbanks, Alaska, a ride tech fan, and I listen to Fat Bike Radio with Sven and Gomez. Hey, welcome back to the show everybody.
• 18:45
  Uh, this week our special guest is Ilya Rudkin who currently hails from somewhere in Scotland.
• 18:51
  Uh, for the folks at home, Gomez put Ilya and I together for this little interview because Ilya's done a couple of, uh, super travelogue type stories for our website along with some, uh, really good videos of his adventures as well as some tinkering with his bike packing setup and we thought you'd all like to, uh, know a little bit more about Ilya.
• 19:10
  So welcome to the show Ilya. How you doing? Hello. Great. Thank you very much for having me on the show. Yeah, thanks for, uh, you know, doing your contributions.
• 19:19
  I think, uh, a lot of people may lose the sight of the fact that this site isn't really about Gomez and Sven.
• 19:25
  It's, it's more about what all you people are doing out there and, uh, people making contributions like yours and taking the time to get their stories out there, we really appreciate that. Yes.
• 19:34
  It's something I'm quite, um, passionate about. I mean, um, being in Scotland want to show off the place, um, attract people to the place. So it's a ulterior motive.
• 19:46
  Um, get there, enjoy, enjoy myself, enjoy it with my wife, and show people that, um, Scotland has other things out there in the wilds and do that on bike. Yeah, right on.
• 20:01
  So, uh, you started your adventure kind of in London and had done like day trips or maybe weekend trips and something made you decide that being in Scotland was, uh, the place you wanted to be.
• 20:12
  How'd you, how'd you get that going? How did you make it work? Is, uh, is there work in Scotland? [laughs] Well, um, it started back in, um, 2000 actually.
• 20:22
  Um, we decided we need to get fit and so we got to- into mountain biking, um, having been a road cyclist before that. Um,
• 20:33
  and ha- and then we lived in London and we used to travel down to Wales, so at, at least once a month, um, once a month or travel around on local trails.
• 20:44
  Then, um, once a year we would travel up to Scotland 'cause we, it was more remote and, uh,
• 20:53
  and we found as we gradually travel- went up there over the period of about eight years, so we got to know more and more about the place and we decided during that time that we kind of wanted to move, expand,
• 21:11
  get up there early before we got too old. Um, had enough of city life and we decided to make the move.
• 21:22
  Uh, so we moved up there in 2010 and we've been here now six years, just over six years and even though Scotland's a smaller place I must say even on my doorstep when I first moved here
• 21:40
  like everywhere else in Scotland there's so much to discover and I'm still discovering it. And so with the fat bike and, and the videos I'm trying to sort of show that as well and we'll give it a bit of a story. Sure.
• 21:56
  So y- did your discovery of fat bikes kind of coincide with moving to Scotland? It seems like the timeline was sort of similar. Uh, no. I mean, I've been riding mountain bikes and racing and stuff. Um, it was a...
• 22:11
  I moved to Scotland in 2010 and there's a cycle club up here and, uh, joined with that and one of the guys had bought an ONONE mountain bike. Uh, you might have heard of those guys. Uh-huh. Yep. And
• 22:28
  he brought it out on one of the Saturday rides and he said, "Come here, let's have a go on that." So he, we went to the top of hill and we just let have a scoot and it was so much fun.
• 22:38
  Um, but I left it a couple of years because even though I really liked it and I was really fascinated, I could build one of those, um, I thought, well in reality it's not quite what I want.
• 22:51
  So I held off a bit waiting for the technology and the components and stuff to mature a little bit more and so
• 23:03
  I think it was about two years ago I saw an advert by Charlie The Bike Hanger and, uh, he was advertising Bucksaw's and I thought, "Oh, he's got one of those, one of those, a full suspension m- fat bike.
• 23:19
  Now that's the kind of thing I like." And, uh, so I took note of it, but again I had too many bikes. I still have too many bikes. So I, I waited a bit and then I went, we went to Norway two, two years ago
• 23:37
  and one of the guys who's, was, um, a bike, the bike leaders showing us around some of the trails of Norway, he actually had one of the Bucksaw's
• 23:47
  and, uh, so I kind of fell, fell in love with it and I mean, I didn't get to ride it. I just saw it. Came back and decided I wanted to build one. Very cool. Well, we can talk about the bikes in a little bit.
• 24:02
  You've got a couple different ones. Yeah. You just mentioned Norway. I know that you, uh, in Scotland there a lot of the, a lot of the land is open for public use.
• 24:10
  Is that kinda like how Norway and cross-country skiing goes? You can, you can use the land as kind of as you please? Uh, what's the, what's the setup like? Yes, you can.
• 24:20
  Um, with- within reason, as long as you don't cross any agricultural land with, um, crops in or go into other people's back gardens and stuff. Sure. Um, you can pretty much go anywhere.
• 24:32
  Um, there is some exceptions in when it's, um, deer season, when they go out shooting, so you gotta ask the landowners that, um, are they shooting so you don't get shot. [laughs] Yeah, yeah, probably a good plan.
• 24:46
  [laughs] And otherwise, you can pretty much go anywhere.
• 24:52
  Um, so there's a general access rule, leave the place as you found it, don't do any damage, um, and respect the countryside, and it- it's worked out pretty well up here.
• 25:04
  Um, the rest of Britain is all kind of a little bit envious. Um, Wales is trying to get an open access policy in 'cause they can see the benefits it's given Scotland. Um, so yes, you can pretty much go anywhere, um,
• 25:22
  any place, any time. And- Yeah. Yeah, it's quite a bit different- So-... than the way it is in most of the US here.
• 25:27
  Everybody wants to hold onto their little chunk of, uh, their, their little paradise and, and keep it from everybody else. But, uh, yeah, definitely envy that kinda access for sure. Yes.
• 25:38
  I mean, it does, it does have its downsides a little bit, only in the fact that, um, when we look at a map, we know we can go anywhere,
• 25:47
  but we have no idea of necessary conditions under the f- what will be underneath the tire. [laughs] So- So it creates the adventure for you...
• 25:58
  yeah, you can end up with some pretty epic stuff, but I would say that most of the time you're, you're really chancing it and, uh, you'll be walking. All right.
• 26:10
  Well, it, it, it sounds like, at least from watching your videos and from some of the stuff you've written, that, that fat bikes make this, uh, adventure a little bit easier than even a traditional mountain bike.
• 26:21
  Have you found that to be the case? Yes, definitely so. Um, s- uh, got into mounted f- fat bike this year, um,
• 26:32
  having built it, and the first thing I did in, back in March, was I took it up to, took it up to the, up to the mountains and went in the snow, and immediately I found that I could do stuff or ride places that, uh, my normal mountain bike wouldn't let me do.
• 26:51
  Um, so and since then, I have not touched my mountain bike. A lot of fat bikers find, find that that's the case because it's, it's, it's so much more capable for most things.
• 27:01
  I mean, if you're racing a World Cup cross-country race, maybe not so much, but that's not what most people do. So, uh, I think you- Oh, yeah, I agree with that... you're preaching to the choir here for sure.
• 27:13
  So in your stories, you talk about your bikes, um, you know, one being a stock Canyon Dude and the other a custom, uh, Bucksaw that you were talking about a bit earlier. Um, let's talk a little bit about the bikes.
• 27:25
  You know, in, uh, in the US we don't have the Dude yet, although I think they're entering the market. I've seen some rumblings that they're making a, some push to get into the US. Uh, so how is the Dude specced out?
• 27:35
  You mentioned it's a good value and, uh, just kinda curious how that one's set up. Yes, I mean, as, as I mentioned before, I, I do like to build my own bikes and I find it a really satisfying thing to do.
• 27:48
  Um, and I do like the challenge of finding, um, components that are not necessarily next year's components, but good value or cheap, but of high quality, and that's what I do for the Bucksaw.
• 28:03
  But with the Dude, um, because it's an online purchase, you don't actually walk into a shop, that's how they're, uh, Canyon have, have entered the market.
• 28:16
  Um, so it's significantly cheaper and I really couldn't match, given the spec, what I could find cheaper by discount, um, without doing a lot of searching and still kind of have a good bike. Um, so
• 28:33
  with that, and we needed a bike fast 'cause my wife decided she wanted a bike, we just bought one stock and very pleased. It's, uh, this particular one is an all Shimano
• 28:46
  two by 11 setup with, um, RockShox Pluto forks, carbon frame. Um, and it's a very nice bike and the wheel set is very nice too with, um, Swiss DT.
• 29:03
  Um, so yes, I really couldn't match it. Um, and we're really pleased with it. So cool. Um, with the Bucksaw you took a little more, um, hands-on approach with just really speccing it out the way you wanted it.
• 29:16
  What kind of components did you pick for the Bucksaw? Well, the Bucksaw was, my intention was to replace one of my existing bikes as my normal sort of everyday bike to do everything
• 29:30
  and so I wanted components that I've trusted before and Hope, um, a component supplier here in the UK, you've probably heard of it in the S- Oh, yeah. Yeah... US. Um,
• 29:43
  um, had, uh, have, um, fat bike components, so I specced out all the hub, cranks, bottom bracket, headset with Hope. Um, so I know I've got longevity there.
• 29:59
  Um, the wheels I'd seen on the original Bucksaw with the Whiskey 70 carbon rims and I normally, well, on my other bikes have a, a tubeless setup and I wanted the same on the mountain bike, uh, on the fat bike
• 30:15
  and I had a look at doing the ghetto setup- But I really didn't want the risk of doing a ghetto setup and then getting stuck out in the mountains where it had failed. Mm-hmm. Sure.
• 30:30
  So I went for the, the Whiskey rims knowing that they are proper tubeless setup rims and they wouldn't get me, give me any hassle. And plus it makes some very nice, um, wheels. Cool.
• 30:46
  So you worked with, uh, I know you mentioned that you worked with, uh, Charlie the Bike Monger on the wheel set. Have you, um, had a chance to meet Charlie or, or ride with him? No, unfortunately not.
• 30:56
  Um, I've only heard of him by reputation and I've... Quite a number of few years ago, I bought some snack bars off him and since then he, he's, he's been emailing me occasionally.
• 31:09
  And so it was just in one of these emails that, uh, he, he had emailed that we'd got a new Bucksaw in and, uh, and it went from there really.
• 31:20
  So when I decided to get the Bucksaw, I got in touch with him, see if he'd get the frame for me. I was lucky because, um, there was only two frames in the country, of which I got one. Um- Whoa...
• 31:33
  and I asked him about what he could do for the wheels. Could he get the... Could he buy the rims and put them on Hope hubs, Hope Patso hubs? And he said, "Yeah, sure." So, um, I let him do that because having...
• 31:50
  I could build wheels and I like building wheels, but to be honest, the faff with trying to sort out spoke length and that sort of thing, I thought I'll just let the professionals do it. Yeah. Right on.
• 32:03
  Well, if you get a, if you get a chance to meet him, he's, he's a real fun guy. We- he's been to Interbike a few times and, uh, we've had the, had the pleasure of meeting him.
• 32:11
  He's, he's a lot of fun, so, uh, hope you get to hook up with him someday. I hope so one day too. Yeah.
• 32:18
  So, um, one of the things that you do, uh, on our site is, um, you know, you help with, uh, putting those videos on there. I know you like to show off the Scottish countryside as well as down by the sea by the beaches.
• 32:31
  It, it looks like you... A lot of work goes into making those. Um, tell us a little bit about how you produce the videos. Um, the videos are, um, a sort... They, they are with two GoPro cameras.
• 32:45
  Um, and it's a balancing act between I would like to make some, some video, I would like to take some shots, and actually doing some riding.
• 32:56
  Um, so in some of the videos, uh, one of which you haven't seen yet, I spent six hours, um, filming a two-mile section of track. So that's one extreme. Yeah, yeah, sure. And so you don't get any riding in if you do that.
• 33:14
  [laughs] Yeah, it's def- definitely a balancing act. Whereas, whereas if you... Yeah, so, um, and on the other extreme you're, you're going, "Oh, you're not stopping for another video take now. Just come on, let's ride."
• 33:26
  Um, so you have to let people know in advance that, uh, you plan to do that kind of stuff.
• 33:34
  Um, and it has been a learning process and it's one of those creative things that, um, like with making the bikes, I like to make the videos. And yes, so the... I've got a proper video sort of editing suite set up and,
• 33:50
  um, I've seen some of the videos out there and I thought, "You know, I could do a, a really good job here," and I'm, I'm beginning to see some of, some of the success and the feedback.
• 34:01
  It seems to be working out quite well. Good.
• 34:04
  I know I, I watched the one where you, um, had made some modifications to your bike packing gear for the, uh, the handlebar bag and you, you detailed that pretty well I thought and it just, um...
• 34:15
  I think that's the kinda stuff that's really interesting 'cause you're out there using it and you're coming into these problems and you're solving them, and then you're showing people how you solved the problem.
• 34:23
  I think that's stuff that, that our, uh, site viewers would like to see more of.
• 34:27
  It, it's, you know, it's, it's, it's hard to spend a bunch of money on something without knowing it works for somebody else, and I think something like this shows how to make that happen. Yes.
• 34:38
  In, in the case for that particular, um, video is, I was out on a ride thinking, "I'm sure there's not a lot of, um, people out with fat bikes with the setup I have, with standard mountain bike bars,
• 34:50
  have these problems." Um, the... And the problem is, is to some of your, um, listeners, is that handlebar bag on a suspension fork mountain bike touching the tire, 'cause I want a suspension fork.
• 35:07
  Um, I'm not prepared to go to a fixed fork just to go bike packing. Um, so OutKit, um, produced this, um, harness. They call it the Kanga Harness and I thought, "That's just the thing I need."
• 35:24
  And they're pretty, pretty popular over here, but, um, uh, they're the only people I know that make such a thing. Everybody else just supplies a handlebar bag, handle bag,
• 35:36
  bar bag and you have, you have to get on with it. Uh, and as you've seen in the video, some, for some particular bike setups, um, it doesn't quite work
• 35:47
  and it's especially the case I found out on the trails because we're not riding gravel, we're not riding tarmac, we're actually riding proper mountain bike tracks. You can imagine the bags are bouncing up and down
• 36:02
  every time, every moment and so, um, you really don't want to keep having that bag touch the tire. Yeah, for sure. I thought I would like to share that with people. Yeah. Yeah, it was... It, it looked good.
• 36:15
  I think you detailed it real well. Um, I mean, you normally are using the Apidura bags for, for everything and, uh, this made that that much more usable.
• 36:26
  Yes, definitely So how do you typically load up your bike for a bike-packing adventure? Well, I think, um, we're what we called a little bit novice. I mean, you've got an idea.
• 36:39
  We've done camping before, but we've never done it on a bike. And so we've got these bags and so what we found out very early was we, we do like our luxuries a little, little bit, so we don't go ultra light.
• 36:53
  We're not totally minimalist, so we do have a few bits and pieces in there that, um, perhaps aren't quite so necessary. Um, so but
• 37:04
  we keep the sleeping bag and the tents in the handlebar bag, which you can imagine get quite heavy, that set up. Mm-hmm, sure. And then we keep, um, we tend to keep any- anything heavy on the saddle bag at the back,
• 37:23
  and then we put clothes and lighter stuff and food, um, in our backpack. Um, and so we carry a full tent. We don't carry a tuft tarp or anything like that, so, um, and we've got sleeping bags
• 37:40
  and- I, I can't imagine just a-... jet boils [laughs] I can't imagine just a tarp like, uh, if it was open to the, to the breeze with, um, with the midges you mentioned in your, [laughs] in your video.
• 37:51
  Those things look like they're quite persistent. Yeah. [laughs] Yeah, that would've been a nightmare. It was a nightmare anyway.
• 37:58
  Um, and as you probably saw in the, um, Sand- Sandwood Bay video, you can see those midges stuck to the forks. Yeah, yeah. Sure. And that's just overnight. Um, and, and they would...
• 38:13
  I mean, they can cover you literally, as in you can't see your gloves anymore. It's, it's not, it's not like a mosquito, right? It's more like a really small fly. Yeah, it's a very small fly. It's about,
• 38:27
  in, in metric, it's about two, at most, about two, three milliliters, three milliliters long. Um, but it's, um... they come out in swarms, and it's only the female that bites. Um, but man, does it give you a little nip.
• 38:43
  Huh. And you go through several stages, as in, yeah, there's one or two, and then there's a few more, and then they come in and think, "Oh, yes, it's not too bad."
• 38:55
  And then after 10 minutes, it- they're in, uh, they're incessant. [laughs] It, it seems like we're lucky in a, in a lot of the rest of the world that they're, they're fairly, um,
• 39:08
  narrowly focused on areas like in Scotland there. [laughs] Yeah. Well, well, that's the one thing I wish wasn't here.
• 39:15
  Well, at this time of year also, um, now it's getting cold, um, they start disappearing, so we don't have them all year. Yeah, sure. Um, we normally have them between Ju- end of June through to the end of September.
• 39:30
  Sounds like there's- Just when the sun's out... sounds like there's some, some adventures coming up in the cooler weather and you can, uh, can appreciate that they're, they're gone for the time being. Yes, definitely.
• 39:41
  And talking about cooler weather, that's one of the other things I'm looking forward to on the fat bike, is to opening up the season a bit in terms of, of the riding.
• 39:50
  Always ridden in snow, but looking forward to, um, getting up more into the mountains where there's a little bit of snow and the bikes can ride across, that kind of stuff. Very good.
• 40:02
  Well, um, I, I wanna thank you for sharing your experiences with us and, um, I hope you can, you know, talk to us again maybe after, uh, some more adventures.
• 40:10
  And if you keep those stories and videos coming, I'm sure our, our readers will really appreciate seeing them. Yes, I look forward to that, and I do have a few more videos on the, in the pipeline. Very good.
• 40:25
  Well, thanks for taking time out to talk to us, and, um, we'll catch you down the trail. Thank you very much, Craig. All right, bye. Bye.
• 40:35
  Let's take a quick break here, and when we come back, we'll dive into the Fatty Farm Field Report. So I heard you need a fat bike. Come to Zion Cyclery in Zion, Illinois.
• 40:47
  We have all brands, Trek, Borealis, Salsa, Felt, Surly, and more. Yo, we have all the cold weather gears by 45NRTH and Bunchfucker. Keep those fingers and toes nice and toasty. We fix bikes also.
• 41:04
  So you have any problem, brakes, gears, suspension, we have the best mechanics in town. So yeah, visit us at zioncyclery.com.
• 41:19
  You're tuned to Fat Bike Radio. Excellent. We're back. How about that Fatty Farm Field Report? We have a new sponsor. The Fatty Farm Field Report is brought to you by Becker Sewing and Design.
• 41:36
  Tupper, yeah, he here. He makes the goodness in frame bags and other gear. [laughs] Storage dealios. Other gear storage dealios. That, that's a technical term. I know he does, uh, he does a lot of stuff with, uh,
• 41:52
  dog sled- Right. Yeah, that's-... covers and whatnot... 'cause I didn't know what to call all that stuff. They're just- Yeah... bags to put stuff in. And holsters. And you can probably check him out at beckergear.com.
• 42:04
  Yeah, that guy, Tupper. He's a good egg. You know Tupper, don't you there, Trav? Did you say holsters? [laughs] I haven't met Tupper personally yet, but, uh, you said holsters and that, that piques my interest.
• 42:18
  Yeah, he said on, uh, on last- Last show... last show, show 110, he said the, the most common thing that he has people ask him for custom inserts is for pistols. There's a lot of people, you know, like to pack the heat.
• 42:35
  Pack the heat They like to, they like to light their cigarettes with.44 Magnum. Pa- pow! [laughs] Yeah. Just cigarettes. It's only your extra pipe, man. [laughs] Yeah. Right on.
• 42:51
  So, uh, we did kinda wrap up Interbike, but after we talked last time, I just found this thing in about can't put e-bikes in the corner brought me to mind to Baby, you know, from- Don't put Baby in the corner...
• 43:04
  Dirty, Dirty Dancing. You were at Interbike. E-bikes are not in the corner anymore. What d- what does that mean for us? You rode one. Well,
• 43:12
  everyone else, all the, all the good bike companies [laughs] not being there, kinda made e-bikes not in the corner. It was like- Oh, yeah... "Well, yep, there they are." [laughs] Yeah.
• 43:22
  They're, they're all over the place, and they're, you know, just as eager as they ever were to show you their fabulous bike. But I tell you what, e-bikes, I've ridden one now,
• 43:33
  and- And that w- and that wasn't a fly-by-night one, either No... that was- I rode the specialized Levo that we're having, uh, Craig Smith test, um, for us. But
• 43:45
  Greg has ridden one, and I think that, th- I think that we [laughs] need to expose this to more of our local testers, just to get their ideas about it. Right. You know? It, there's no stopping it.
• 43:57
  I've seen the plans, dude. Specialized, in their instruction sheet, had a full six fatty FSR Levo e-bike, top speed 20 miles per hour. Like, holy shit. So, I can see- It's, it's coming... a whole new thing.
• 44:11
  It's called uphill racing. Maybe. Oh, yeah. Maybe. It's coming. These bikes are, are [laughs] these b- uh, these bikes are coming, so I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.
• 44:21
  You know, instead of burning all that gas taking a pickup truck to shuttle you to the top of the downhill runs on your, on your full suspension bike, bud, help you get up there and do some more runs quicker.
• 44:32
  Yeah, one run up- 'Cause you're still-... one run down... you're still working, you know? [laughs] E-bike it- I mean, I think you can still work yourself, but you can probably do two runs-... and load up...
• 44:38
  probably do two runs to one, or two runs to, you know, three runs to one by just being able to get up to the top of the hill quicker on the fire road, not on the trail. Relay race. I know, man.
• 44:47
  I'm, I'm call- I'm calling them non-trail bikes myself. I, yeah. That, putting them on single track is, it goes against my grain. I, although, and I- When you, when you gas it and you hit the tree, you're like, "Oh!"
• 44:59
  But you don't gas it, you just pedal. [laughs] Right, right. All you... Yeah... we're talking non-throttle assisted, just pedal assisted. Right. Yeah. Right. You just pedal, and all of a sudden you're going really fast.
• 45:11
  [laughs] It's kinda crazy. Yeah. Anyway, so we've all ridden one now. Uh, uh, still, it, it's troubling. It's [laughs] I'm not- [laughs] I'm not gonna mince words here.
• 45:26
  [laughs] I'm not losing sleep over it, but I [laughs] exactly. I'm, I'm not exactly at peace with it. Yeah. Yep. That's gonna take some, uh,
• 45:38
  well, just like mountain bikes back in the beginning, gotta figure out how they're gonna be used. Yeah. 'Cause people are gonna use them whether you want them to or not. Oh, right.
• 45:46
  'Cause, so, so this is, this is [laughs] I've, I've thought about this. I thought, "Oh, well, here we go. We're gonna have, like, e-bike tracks." It's gonna be, like, this semi
• 45:59
  luge track of flowy trail that they'll put the old people on. [laughs] Yeah.
• 46:05
  [laughs] You leave Mom and Dad there with their e-bike, and then you'll go ride the, the, like, harder trails or the more natural trails or something. That's like, uh- Like a habit trail...
• 46:14
  it's like with sel- self-driving cars coming- [laughs]...
• 46:16
  nobody will be able to drive anymore at some point, so there was talk that a whole state like Colorado might become a driving park, so you could go drive your car your actual self. Not that this is the same thing.
• 46:28
  What's different? [laughs] Boom. Uncle Gomez's mind is blown. [laughs] That's it. Hey. Oh. Did you see that we've got another, um, plus tire size, 16 plus?
• 46:43
  I actually have a pair in, out there in the old, uh, Thunderbird 2. On the, for the, for the trailer? For the trailer. Right. Yeah.
• 46:52
  We're not really supposed to talk about it too much, 'cause they're not gonna come out until later on in the season. Right. Yeah.
• 46:58
  But we, we have a- I just, I saw a picture after the show coverage, and I was just wondering that, you know, it's on a trailer here, but do they have any, do they have any bikes with that size yet? I don't know.
• 47:07
  That'd be cool. That would be cool. I have not seen one. It, uh, it hauled wood rather well this, uh, this last little camping trip. I'm just fresh off a camping trip up to, uh, Traverse, Wisconsin- Tra-...
• 47:22
  to ride the beach and- We were-... try out these crazy, uh, fatty slick tires. Yeah. What, what's the official name of those? New slicks. I, we were calling them the Mc- The Apache-...
• 47:30
  the McSlicks or something before, but... The Apache Fatty Slick from Vee Tire, and they are big, dude. They are- Yeah, they are... they are, they are as big as a Bud and Lou, but completely bald, and- [laughs]
• 47:46
  Just asking for trouble. [laughs] Yeah. [laughs] I mean- Screaming. You know, the last time- Don't even sneeze near me...
• 47:52
  the la- see, the last time we got in trouble, Gomez wasn't even here, and I could just be like, "He's here," or we would have, we would have been... [laughs] So these tires are bald, you're saying?
• 48:02
  I'm saying they- We're looking at them right now. They seem to have a little, a little sand sticking to the side of them, but that is a m- massive tire.
• 48:09
  It, at 20 PSI, and you're supposed to run them 20 PSI for the road, it does not fit through my fork anymore.
• 48:16
  It did just barely when they were just s- brand new, but now they've stretched enough that, yeah, 20 PSI rubs pretty bad.
• 48:24
  So we're gonna have to put this on, uh, Ken Blakey Shell's triple B that runs the 505s, and he can ride dunes on these things. I'm telling you- [clears throat] Oh, yeah...
• 48:35
  it was straight up Baller on the sand, the, it worked great. In the mud though, holy crap. [laughs] Then think you should put studs in them then. It's like riding on ice in the mud, like wa.
• 48:48
  [laughs] I could see, that'd make for an interesting, like, short course race- Oh-... on these tires on, like, wet grass Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah.
• 48:56
  Everybody'd have to have their, their game on for the, uh, bike handling skills.
• 49:01
  The tread area is actually kinda tacky, and when you ride in soft, dry sand, [laughs] it picks up a ton of sand and dumps it on the back of your calves. [laughs] Just kinda, it's a added beauty treatment.
• 49:14
  [laughs] A, a lot of people, a lot of reviewers wouldn't go there, but you know, sand packing is, uh, is a hobby. And, uh, you know, the benefits are, are just take a look at my calves.
• 49:25
  I have, like, I have the calves of, of a teenager. Teenager. [laughs] Teenage muscle calves, both- [laughs] If teenagers had tattoos and lots of hair- They do... and stuff. Hey. Hey, what? I don't know.
• 49:40
  [laughs] We don't, we don't, we started doing readers questions a little bit before, but, uh- Oh, this is a doozy too... I, well, first of all- Everybody-... we need to- [laughs] Everybody- We need to-...
• 49:50
  get a pencil and paper [laughs]... a filler here. Yeah, 'cause I wanna know what your answer is. This is a, I'm gonna, I'm gonna call her out.
• 49:56
  Her name is Valerie, she's from Vermont, so that, that narrows it down pretty good. She said her husband recently bought a framed Alaskan fat bike. Right on.
• 50:06
  She wants to get him a trainer or bike stand so he can ride indoors during inclement weather. What stand do you rem- recommend?
• 50:15
  [laughs] To which I replied, I don't think that exists, but that is a question that, does it need to be answered? I think that, uh- No. No, [laughs] it doesn't.
• 50:25
  They're made for- I think that you just need to just, I will rent you a space in the alley for your husband to escape- Hey, here's an idea... indoors. When it's snowing out- It's a portal.
• 50:35
  [laughs] He's not- I'll send it to you in an email. All right. But you can go out and ride, right, in the snow, but what about those tires- [laughs]... what about those tires on the ice right there?
• 50:45
  You wouldn't go anywhere, so it'd be like riding a trainer. Ah. It'd be like on rollers.
• 50:48
  You'd just be like z- z- z- z- Yeah, you could staple the, you could staple the front one to the ground [laughs] No, it'd be like you're- Yes... you're- And just spin... well, if you had- Yeah, lock it into the mud...
• 50:56
  yeah. It'd be like a roller, but not quite. We just invented ourselves- You have to get a little gear thingy- Ah... that goes on the front.
• 51:03
  Maybe a piece of dental floss between the back wheel and the front wheel to get 'em to both to spin, and you could be z- z- z- z- z- z- z. Bad mcass right there. [laughs] That's good thinking, Sven.
• 51:15
  Well- And that's why you should send your questions in to sven@fat-bike.com. Right. Or gomez@fat-bike.com. Fat-bike, yeah. [laughs] Let's, let's, oh, let's see what Gomez's answers are.
• 51:32
  Our, our friend Jo- [laughs] our friend John asked, "Where can I buy the Revelate Wampack?" I don't know where. Yeah, revelate.com.
• 51:38
  I would assume your local bike dealer 'cause they got good distribution for those things. Yes, indeed. If you're bike shop- John, go to your local bike shop or contact revelatedesigns.com. Yeah. Yeah.
• 51:50
  Same with shop, though. They have an e- e-shop, bam. Yeah, they do. Delivered right to your door. Next thing you know, old Jed's a millionaire. You're cooking, you're making your own tea on your back while you're riding.
• 52:03
  You know what? Yeah. Here's one of, here's one of those general questions we get a lot, and I don't, I d- we don't answer 'em very often.
• 52:08
  But, "I'm in the market for a fat bike in the $2,000 range that will accommodate four and five-inch tires. What do you recommend?" Holy hell, Batman. Well- Is that a, is that a open question or what?
• 52:19
  What part of the country do you live in? Right. Would be, like, if you live in the mountains, I would say more of a Wozo would be the thing that comes to mind right away. That's- Wozo?
• 52:32
  Yeah, the Kona Wozo, 'cause it, it's totally moto and a fat bike, you know? It's got that west coast or rocky mountain front end to it, called Colorado fat bikes. Right.
• 52:46
  Yeah, there's a bunch of different- I think you kinda hit the nail on the head when you said, "Depending on where you live," partly- If you lived in Minnesota- But, yeah, well, if also, if you have a local bike shop that knows the conditions where you are, that's where I'd always direct somebody.
• 52:57
  You got it, yeah. Or find somebody riding a fat bike and see how they ride. But there's, uh, there's tons of choices in the $2,000 range anymore. Mm-hmm. I mean- True that. And if you were just at a $2,000,
• 53:09
  I'd be like, "Okay, I'll spend 1,000 and, uh, some change, and then have that extra accessory to make it Transformer." 950 on your side. [laughs] Yeah, to make it Transformer style.
• 53:22
  Oh, now, okay, now I can have my trail, I can have my snow, I can have this. You can have your own set of wheels. Yeah. And it comes, it comes down to availability too. Yeah. Sure. If you live in Anchorage- Yeah...
• 53:32
  you can buy a Rhino probably for that money, uh, from Fatback, or a 907, uh, their straight aluminum bike, uh, whatever they're calling it these days. The Tundra. Tundra. Oh, the Tundra, that's it.
• 53:45
  [laughs] The Tundra from Down Under. I was waiting for it. [laughs] All right, Travis, way to contribute. Travis, good call. [laughs] Way to go.
• 53:51
  Hey, if you wanna weigh in on any of this stuff, let us know, but, uh, here is another one of those vague ones I'm curious about. This is, at least he's honest.
• 53:59
  So I'm, "I'm hoping instead of slogging through pages of website info on, on Interbike and other coverage, if you could simply please tell me if there are any new 27.5+ tires with widths of 2.5, 2.6, 2.7 or- [laughs]...
• 54:14
  2.8 inches." Wow. [laughs] So are there any [laughs] plus bike tires in the- Maybe. [laughs] Well- I would, I would look at Schwalbe. I would look at Vee, dude. Vee has excellent plus tire options.
• 54:29
  Uh, what, was he looking for 27 fives? 27.5 plus, but it, is 2.5 a plus? I don't think so. I think 2.8 is about where a plus starts. Yeah, 2.8 is where, where it really starts, but he's covering the gambit.
• 54:41
  I think he has a bike where they just, he's trying to fit him in a bike and is like- Oh...
• 54:46
  "Oh, they don't quite fit, but sometimes some of them might, so I'm gonna have to, like, get casing measurements and put these in my..." 1982 Ibis, you know, mountain bike or something and make it 27 plus Uh,
• 55:00
  good luck with that. Yeah, well, I'd get a caliper out and, you know, chase guys down the trail and measure their tires and put the fattest one in you can, 'cause I think it's pretty cool WTB, Schwalbe,
• 55:13
  uh, Vee Tire- Well, WTB does make some tires that have multiple widths for the- Uh-huh... uh, type of tire as well, so. And, and Bontrager,
• 55:22
  and Bontrager and WTB have a great number, and for that matter, Stans has a ton of different widths. I mean, if you can't dial your... It's, but the trouble is, you know, the way they measure tires. Yeah.
• 55:39
  You know, the, the rims you can... A 30 millimeter wide rim is a 30 whate- you know, I don't know. Time's different. I remember. But, you know, three, a 2.1 or a 2.5 could be the same width, yeah, the way they measure.
• 55:52
  Right on. The thing, with the thing. We had some kinda, what was it, an internet contest where you were asking people to call in and- Uh-huh... tell us what they loved about fat biking- Uh-huh...
• 56:05
  and you, and you'd send them some sand in an envelope or something. I send them a, uh, a sticker pack- A-... with a new sticker. Oh, yeah.
• 56:14
  And they send- Hey, speaking of sticker packs, folks, we got one left of the old sticker pack in the old- So there's gonna be a new-... fatbike.com store... sticker pack. But it- Watch out...
• 56:22
  but it ain't happening tomorrow. That's right. So we gotta, we gotta, we gotta build up our sticker stock. But this new one is, uh, that's cool. It's a Yeti wheelie co- kind of deal. Yeti wheelie. We are calling him.
• 56:33
  So let's, uh, let's have a listen to a couple of the brilliant submissions for how these people earned their stickers. Hi, Uncle Gomez and, and Sven, and JK. This is Irv Spanks.
• 56:48
  Your, uh, secretary, she sounds a little stiff. Um, what I like about fat biking is it brings a lot of different guys from different types of biking all together. I went on the,
• 57:06
  uh, sunset ride out of Zion Cyclery last weekend, and there was a little bit of everybody out there.
• 57:14
  At the end of it all, we got together, we all had a beer, and the one common thing about all of us, we like bikes, and we're all into fat bikes. It was very cool. Hi, my name is Dave.
• 57:26
  I like stickers, and fat bikes, and people named Gomez and Sven, and riding with them, and lots of other things. Thank you. Goodbye. Hey, my name is Joe Castillo.
• 57:42
  I, uh, ordered plenty of stickers from you guys because I love the radio. I love what you guys are doing. Um, one thing I love about the sport, it gets me outdoors, gets me on my bike. I just, I just love the fat bikes.
• 58:02
  Sven and Gomez, JR. Just wanted to, uh, send a note, um, all about fat biking. Helps me get out in the winter, not stuck, uh, inside all winter. I can actually, uh, hit the trails still, which is awesome. Sven, Gomez,
• 58:19
  it's your buddy, Evan. I'm just calling to answer your weekly question, and the best answer I can give
• 58:29
  for why I like fat biking is the same answer I give anybody who asks me, and it always relates back to a, a place and time when riding was always fun.
• 58:44
  Uh, road tar strips were lava, and every curb was a ramp jump. Nowadays, I can travel outside the boundaries of my neighborhood, and I can head to the forest where the roots are ramps and all the road is lava.
• 59:00
  But the best part about fat biking is that it brings me adventure every time I ride it. You guys have my address, and if you don't, you know who I am, damn it. Pure genius, those guys.
• 59:17
  Hey, thanks for putting all that effort into that. Boop. [laughs] Boop. Boop. Nice. Yeah. Now, as per normal weeks, we got some links. Blanket thanks.
• 59:30
  Hey, three cast members from the iconic '80s cycling film, American Flyers, met on stage at Interbike. Oh, yeah, they did. Was Kevin Costner there? [laughs] I don't know. Jackie Earl Haley? Were you there? Dennis Quaid?
• 59:43
  I saw it, I saw it in, in, uh, the, The Show Daily, that it was, uh, uh, Animal. Is that the guy's name? Buongiorno Papa. Or whatever. No, Cannibal. Buongiorno Papa. The Cannibal. No, the Animal.
• 59:53
  I think he's supposed to be the Cannibal, but he's the Animal. Rae Dawn Chong- It was like they-... and-... they brought them back... the hot... I'm, I can't say that anymore. [laughs] Damn it. The lady from Baywatch.
• 1:00:05
  [laughs] Not Pamela Anderson, though. No, uh- Alexandra Paul. That's the one. I'm still thinking about Breaking Away. A damn- What are you- [laughs]... keep saying that? [laughs] Darling. Cutters! Cutters!
• 1:00:17
  So no Costner, huh? Well. No Costner, no Cutters. [laughs] Gee. Other. [laughs] In our special segment this evening. [laughs] We're- [laughs] Speaking of special segments, may I have another PBR, please, JK? Fuck yeah.
• 1:00:35
  [laughs] I got him. I got him. I think I actually put beer up the nose. Yeah. Whoop. Up the nose. Whoop, whoop, whoop. Beer up the nose, folks. Through the nose. That's right. All right. It's only PBR, though.
• 1:00:46
  [laughs] It's a cleanse. It's like a neti pot. So we talked about this, and every, every show we are going to-... share with you guys the next trend in cycling. We're gonna introduce it to you.
• 1:01:01
  We're gonna tell you how to have fun with it, then we're gonna trash it, and then we're gonna tell you that it's done. And then n- next week's show you can learn what's next. So the next big thing in cycling
• 1:01:16
  is- Do, do tell... you remember those Heely things that you used to, like, slide around [laughs] in the mall? [laughs] Oh my God. Oh, man. You're on a roll. [laughs] Oh, do it. Oh, do it. Do it. [laughs] Come on. Oh.
• 1:01:30
  Yeah. I got that one down. Ooh. [laughs] The next big trend is fat e-Heelys. Brap. Did, did you get the domain name already? [laughs] Of course. That's- We have a site.
• 1:01:45
  We already have 3,700 posts, and we have 1,500 followers on Instagram already. Fatheelys.com. [laughs] And, uh, we're all gonna go to the biggest mall up there in Minneapolis.
• 1:01:59
  We're gonna visit QBP to see their new fat Heely model, the, uh, Womchuck, and, uh, we're gonna roll around the mall, get some drinks, get, you know, loose in the corners, and, uh- [laughs]
• 1:02:17
  And then we'll- [laughs] And so next week only then- [laughs]... 'cause we're gonna trash it the following week. No, we're gonna trash it right now. Oh.
• 1:02:25
  [laughs] Oh, fat Heelys are, uh, just for geriatric fun-seekers, not the cool people. I thought it'd be, like, a fat e-swing bike- [laughs] You were talking about. [laughs] Don't blow all your ideas. Right.
• 1:02:40
  We have to have- An idea a week apparently now that you- Right... now that you made it public. Cut that out of every show. It's just- Cut that part out... it's, it's, it's like shooting fish in a barrel. Ooh. Yeah. Hey.
• 1:02:48
  What's that all about? Hey, Donald. Hey, Donald. Once, once it's, uh, once it's rec- That's a potato head. Once it's recorded- That's a potato head. [laughs] No. Once it's recorded- Yeah...
• 1:02:57
  you can always go back and call people on it, Donald. No. So don't deny that you said this in the past. [laughs] Once a week is a distinct possibility. Actually, like, I laughed so hard I cried. [laughs] Oh my God.
• 1:03:13
  So you got that going for you. So yeah, fat Heelys are so yesterday. Tune in to show 112 on Adam 12, uh, where we'll introduce you what will replace fat Heelys, fat e-Heelys.
• 1:03:28
  God, they're so, they're so dull now- [clears throat]... that I even forgot the e part. Hey, you know what? So dorky. I, I totally forgot about [laughs] this, but, uh, aren't we supposed to call Dave this week? Oh.
• 1:03:39
  Taco, Taco, Taco Dave. Oh. Taco Dave. I think I told him- Can we get him on the show? Yeah, yeah. Hey, let's see if we can get Taco Dave on the show- What's, what's the number?... since we got some time to kill. Oh, no.
• 1:03:47
  I'm gonna put him on the show, Dave. I know. That's what... No, no. I'm trying to figure out the number. Oh, okay. [laughs] Well, I'm gonna put him on the show, though.
• 1:03:53
  I know, but I'm gonna tell you what the fucking number is. I'm gonna put him on the show [laughs] though. I'm gonna tell you the number. [laughs] How many times you gonna- [laughs] Wait, we could do this all day long.
• 1:04:02
  I know. [laughs] This is called filler. We... [laughs] Oh, shit. How many Daves do I have in here? Oh, see what happens. Okay. Hey. While, uh, while these guys are getting Dave on the line- [laughs]...
• 1:04:16
  uh, let me just, uh, share with you some thoughts about... Yeah, have you ever, uh, thought about a new T-shirt with, like, a really cool-looking design on it? We've got a store and stuff- Right...
• 1:04:29
  with T-shirts and hats, and we're thinking about, uh, long sleeves maybe. The thermal seal skin mansierre of your dreams. [laughs] That would be a thing. Wow. You go out and wear it under your [laughs] wolf pack.
• 1:04:48
  What do you think? I like it. Not, I don't know nothing about what you're talking about, but- I don't know nothing about- We're just spitballing here with the mansierres. Right.
• 1:04:57
  But, uh, we'll have new, uh, more colder weather stuffers coming up here. Yeah. Including, uh, what do you call those things? A toque for your face. Hoodie, eh? Oh, yeah.
• 1:05:06
  We're gonna be getting stuff in there, but, uh, I don't know, you know. A beard- You'll just have to keep your eye. We'll tell you about it... a beard thing? A beard thing? For those with, uh- All right.
• 1:05:15
  Buck, buck, buck. Let's see. Uh, let's see if we can get Dave on the horn. Dude, I have, like, destroyed my shins. Look at that. Ow. Oh, yeah. That was a good pedal strike. [laughs] B+ wheels in the sand. This is- Yeah.
• 1:05:29
  This is the American Legion. Hi. Is, uh, is Dave available? Hi. Can we talk to Dave? This is, uh, this is Sven Gomez and- Absolutely... JK. Hold on one second. Yep. Thank you. Taco Dave, it's for you. Taco Dave.
• 1:05:46
  Taco Dave, may I take your order? Hey, Dave. It's, uh, it's, it's Greg and JK and, uh, Gomez from Fat Bike Radio. Hey. How you doing this week? [laughs] You guys are hungry, huh? Uh-huh. How you doing?
• 1:05:58
  Are you, are you safe? Let me turn off KLH so I can get your order.
• 1:06:02
  [laughs] [laughs] Oh, he's listening to some classic rock radio in the background there at the, uh, the old American Legion Post 331 up there in Shorewood. Yes, sir.
• 1:06:13
  Uh, he's- So how's the radio life treating you guys today? Oh, I don't know. We've tripped all over ourselves for the last 45 minutes pretty good. My shins are bleeding. Yeah? [laughs] Yeah.
• 1:06:23
  [laughs] Gomez just had a rough road, man. Yep. [laughs] Ask Dan Lloyd over there, man. He'll patch you guys up. Oh, yeah. Tell, yeah, tell him to bring the kit with him. That'd be all right.
• 1:06:32
  [laughs] Hey- S- so what's good tonight? All right, man. So what's going on with you guys? You gonna need some food, eh? Yeah. What, what... Gomez wants to know what's good tonight. What's good, dude?
• 1:06:44
  We got beef tacos, chicken tacos, bean tacos, hard shell, soft shell, nachos, and a whole lot of fried food if you like fried food. [laughs] [laughs] I'll put me down for two chicken tacos, brother.
• 1:07:02
  Two chicken tacos And one beef What about your other Goomba? One beef, one beef. All right. One beef, one beef. All right. Hey, do you have a beef- I think I can manage that... do you have a beef with us calling you?
• 1:07:16
  [laughs] It's all about beef around here. All right, bro. We'll see you in a little bit. All right, man. Bye. Peace. Buenos noches.
• 1:07:30
  That was Taco Dave from down there at the Legion Post, where we're headed right after the show. [laughs] So, you know, we've- I bet- We've handed around the taco order.
• 1:07:38
  We've, we've, we've, we've made the taco order, and now we've put the taco guy on the show. I'm thinking we're like Dave Letterman. We could have him on- Dave Letterman... you know, the- Yeah.
• 1:07:49
  He should have his own segment now. I, you know what? I- Every Thursday. I'm betting Travis is- [laughs]... Travis is hungry now, 'cause he's hearing about tacos. [laughs] Yeah, I'm feeling shunned, man.
• 1:07:59
  But- I was, I was like, "Where are my five tacos?" [laughs] Yeah, we'll, we'll have to airmail them to you special delivery by stork or eFat- Make sure they're on, make sure they're on corn tortillas, please.
• 1:08:09
  Right, on eFatBike delivery. I think it's a new thing. [laughs] Oh, we did it again. I blew my, I, I blew it. [laughs] You blew it. It's my only idea for the next three weeks. Sucker alert.
• 1:08:19
  [laughs] Show number 114, we can bring it back, and then we can circle back to 111. Hey, d- so, uh, yeah, 111. Got anything to say about that? One, one, one. [laughs] The number of the one by the beast, five houses down.
• 1:08:37
  [laughs] Five blocks. Five blocks. [laughs] All right. Travis, any, uh, any, uh... You just wanna primal scream? You know, what do you wanna, what do you wanna do? It's your show now.
• 1:08:53
  [laughs] Oh, my show now. [laughs] Great, I'm in charge. It's a really big shoe. Uh- All right. All of you, all of you strip down. [laughs] [laughs] And- And things got weird right away.
• 1:09:08
  [laughs] And, and, and we're saying goodbye to Travis on this fine note. And I'm sobered up. [laughs] Wow. Start punching each other as hard as you can. Ah. [coughs] And we are getting out of here.
• 1:09:20
  Thanks for calling in, Travis. [laughs] We'll talk to you next week. [laughs] You guys have a good one. All right, man. Later. All right. See you, Travis. Bye.
• 1:09:28
  Our show this evening has been brought to you by the bikes, parts, and chaos. And I'd like to think that we, we ourselves- Pro- provide-... each bring-... just a small-...
• 1:09:42
  a small tornado of chaos to the Surly Bike cast that sponsors this show. You can learn more about Surly, freedom, and chaos at surlybikes.com. Call 818-918-2453 anytime day or night and leave us a message, you know.
• 1:10:00
  Hey, since we already talked about new designs in the T-shirt shop coming up there- Mm-hmm... how about letting, uh, our, our listeners run the show? [laughs] That was awesome. I know. Thanks, Travis.
• 1:10:10
  You, you, you outdo us, and we, we ain't even sent you a check yet. I know. We're not taking our clothes off. I don't do nude, you know. Anymore- You know... anymore is the operative term here.
• 1:10:21
  [laughs] Burned my hand on the stove once, I tell you. [laughs] Join us next week when we'll talk about how fat bikes have eclipsed, I don't know. And the decline of the fat Healy market.
• 1:10:40
  Oh, yeah, fat Healys, so yesterday. You know what's in? Tune in next week and you'll find out. Next week, next month, next number is the 112. It's gonna be good. Uh- Not like this one. [laughs] Not like this one.
• 1:10:56
  Well, till then. [laughs] [upbeat music] Did you see the floating walking heads? You've been listening to Fat Bike Radio's weekly dose of fat.
• 1:11:09
  Find us on the web at fat-bike.com/radio. We'll see you next time.
• 1:11:18
  [upbeat music]