Latest / Full Spectrum Cycling / Weekly Dose of Fat – Show #109 – Interbike Preview and Bubble Talk

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Weekly Dose of Fat – Show #109 – Interbike Preview and Bubble Talk · Full Spectrum Cycling

• 0:01
  Places, everybody. It's time for the Radio Dose of Fat show number 109 for Friday, September 16th, 2016.
• 0:14
  [upbeat music] Recorded live at the Roman Baths in the brew capital of Nominlandia, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, it's the super special Interbike preview Dose of Fat with your hosts Sven and Gomez.
• 0:43
  I'm Sven. [laughs] Hey, that makes me Gomez. That does. Welcome to this year's fabulous Interbike bubble show. We're privileged this evening to have Mr. JK Livin joining us on the radio program.
• 0:56
  Your tiny bubbles in the wine. And I'll deflect my attentions and yours to the musical stylings of Meester Crazy Chris Daisy. Hey, guys. [siren blaring] The weekly Dose of Fat is brought to you by The Surly.
• 1:14
  I'm Larry, this is my brother Darryl, and my other brother Darryl Rims. Learn more about bikes, balance, and freedom at surlybikes.com. And now, the king of the east side will tell us what's on the show this week. JK?
• 1:31
  We start off the show with the event of the week. We preview the ever-ready battery of bicycle expos, Interbike. We check in, uh, with the Fatty Farm field report brought to you by Richie Logic.
• 1:46
  We'll take calls from our listener. And in this evening's extra crispy special segment- Shpe... we discuss the [laughs] fat bike bubble [mouth pops] with Ken and Andy from Fat Camp. Ay-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi. Maybe.
• 1:59
  Hey, guess what? It's time for the freaking event of the week. Do-doodle-oo. Boop-a-doop-boop. And we should have Rene Calloway from the Trek CXC Cup calling in to talk to us. On the telephone ringer. Yeah. Hi, Rene.
• 2:15
  Hey there. How are you? I am all right. How are you guys? About 5'9", thank you very much. [laughs] All right. So you have stumbled across the Radio Dose of Fat, and we're here to talk to you about your fat bike race.
• 2:32
  But I know you probably wanna tell everybody about this incredible international cyclocross race that you're running before the fat bike version. So tell us some of the huge stars that are gonna be at your race.
• 2:46
  All right. Well, I thought the fat bikers were the stars. [laughs] She's so nice. They are.
• 2:53
  They're in the premier event slot at the end of the day, so I thought they were the [horn honks] stars, but there's some other people coming, too. Um- Are there any Europeans coming? There are some.
• 3:07
  There are some people coming from across the pond, as they say. Um, there are a, a couple women coming.
• 3:17
  Probably the biggest star is Ellen van Loy, who's gonna come and try to see if she can upset the Americans like Katie Compton and Katie Attow, Elle Anderson, who've been the winners in the past for the women's race.
• 3:30
  Um- Right on. And then the- Hey, guess what? Just, just an aside here. I have a Katie Compton signature Thompson carbon handlebar on my road plus bike. What? Oh, yeah, it's awesome.
• 3:40
  You must be fast, then, riding with- Well, no, no, not at all. Just I, I get some of the, uh, the DNA slathered in the carbon from Katie, but yes. Nice. Yeah, boy. Oh, man. Yeah, that's, that's good.
• 3:52
  And then on the men's side, you have- So you thought you were walking into a fat bike crowd, but, uh, you know, uh, we're obviously- I know... cross-dressing our handlebars. [laughs] Right, right. We're, we're omnivores.
• 4:02
  I'm here. So I just- [laughs] I just wanted to make sure we had somebody from Trek on the line when I pulled the road plus thing out so they don't steal it from us. Oh, yeah.
• 4:10
  [laughs] He w- he wants to, he wants to, uh, he founded a new bicycle segment tonight called Road Plus, so- Yeah, it's, it, it's- Oh... you know, like 40s or bigger. Boy, they're very large.
• 4:21
  And somehow he got worked it into the show. Right? [laughs] See how I am? Right. I, and I also got Trek to buy into the idea. No one prepared me for- [laughs] I was completely unprepared here for this. I know.
• 4:33
  I- Well, enough about, enough about me. How about, what, what do you have to say? [laughs] I feel your pain. [laughs] Well, I'm just, I'm just telling you, you should just come out to the race, come early.
• 4:42
  Come at noon, see the pro women. Come at 1:15, see a whole bunch of, you know, guys too, a bunch of Europeans taking on the Americans, including the world champion. I don't know. And then it's 5:00.
• 4:56
  But then be sure to the fat bike race. You know, all the kits- Make some years based on the fat bikes... all the Lycra comes off, all the flannel goes on- Yeah... and the fat bikers race, right? Right? Some costumes.
• 5:05
  Will there be costumes- Oh... with the fat bikes? I hope some people with costumes. I think that'd be all right. I have a pope hat, so. So just out of curiosity- I think it'd be fun...
• 5:13
  where is, where is this big shindig taking place? It's taking pla- place in the very exciting town of Waterloo, Wisconsin. Trek World Headquarters. It's a pretty big destination. HQ.
• 5:25
  It's right in the back of the Trek factory. That's killer. There's some trails back there. Yeah, they own a big field. They own a big field, and they've cleared it out, and, and that's where we race.
• 5:35
  And you have a killer course set up? And there's gonna be- It is, it-... food-... it's got some fun-... and drank... features. There's, there's lots of beer. There's a lakefront.
• 5:46
  You're, you guys should be fam- familiar with Milwaukee Lake, Lakefront Brewery Beer will be there. Right on. There, there's a- They have the free Collectivo coffee. There's a wing of the brewery- We have treats...
• 5:54
  that's actually dedicated to the three of us. Yeah, it's heard of that. The, oh, there you go. It's called the Clish Wing. [laughs] So- Um, so we've got everything that you need to have a good time. Fantastic.
• 6:09
  Well, we'll have a, uh, link to everything in our show notes. That we will. We appreciate you calling in and letting us know about this. Yeah. I'm gonna be there for the fat bike race, taking pictures and- Excellent...
• 6:21
  maybe wearing my pole pet. Hey, before we let Renee go- All right... do, do you think we should talk about beards at all? Oh, you think? You, do, do- I'm just curious.
• 6:29
  Do you have a, uh- Do you have a, a preferred beard style that you like, Renee?
• 6:33
  A pre- well, you know, I, I, you know, I'm a little bit older, so that whole lumberjack beard thing, you know, I feel like you should be a lumberjack, so I guess I'm more for the closely shaven beard. Right on.
• 6:46
  [laughs] Well, Sven- How you doing? Sven wins then. [laughs] [laughs] But, you know, I- Yeah, 'cause I'm like the creepy hipster English professor beard. I, uh- Oh...
• 6:55
  I, I just would like to know how you would feel about a lumber bruising beard. [laughs] Ooh, I don't know. I'm gonna have to take that under advisement- All right... I think. All right.
• 7:05
  Well- 'Cause, 'cause JK is definitely a lemmy after, like, three Quaaludes and an eight ball and a fifth of Jack or something like that. [laughs] Uh, okay. I mean- A thrash and burn session...
• 7:14
  I definitely- That's, that's what his beard looks like... I feel like with a bottle of whiskey- [laughs]... a bottle of whiskey, then I could like that. There's always whiskey. There's always whiskey.
• 7:22
  Well, yes, whiskey is always a thing. Yeah. All right, Renee, awesome of you to call in, and thank you for putting up with my, uh, you know, trying to pimp my new thing- The- Yeah... on, on Treks Dime.
• 7:35
  No problem Road plus. Road- Road bike plus? It's road plus. Just road. Is it- Road plus... road plus? Anything has to have a plus on it now. I don't care what it is. All right. Hat plus, microphone plus, shirt plus.
• 7:44
  [laughs] Top of the hill plus. It doesn't really- Top of the hill plus. Hey, if you've got a beer, raise your beer and, uh- Cheers and beers... cheers Great. Cheers. Renee, do you have a beer? Do I have...
• 7:55
  I don't, but I should. You may. Anyway- I'm having a Diet Squirt myself. [laughs] Yeah. [laughs] Thank you very much. So feel free to have a juice or a tea or- Okay... just some healthy water.
• 8:07
  Well, thank you very much again- Okay. All right... for calling and for being such a good sport, and I hope people get to see good sport out there at the, uh, event this weekend. Absolutely. Thank you, guys. Right on.
• 8:17
  Have a good one. See you, Renee. Thanks. Bye. Mm. Bye. Like she'll ever call in again. [laughs] She was awesome. Yeah. You know what we should do now? Take a break and talk about her behind her back.
• 8:32
  [laughs] You have turned into such a wicked little, little troublemaker.
• 8:40
  I've, I've rubbed off on you [laughs] and now it's, with like, complete, again, not complete role reversal, 'cause I totally appreciate everything you do. [laughs] And with that said, how about we take a break?
• 8:53
  [upbeat music] So I heard you need a fat bike. Come to Zion Cyclery in Zion, Illinois. We have all brands: Trek, Borealis, Salsa, Felt, Surly, and more. Yo, we have all the cold weather gears by 45 NRTH and Bontrager.
• 9:12
  Keep those fingers and toes nice and toasty. We fix bikes also, so you have any problem, brakes, gears, suspension, we have the best mechanics in town. So yeah, visit us at zioncyclery.com.
• 9:31
  Hi, this is Eric from Surly. Uh, every time I'm looking for the preferred nomenclature, I listen in to Gomez and Sven on Fat Bike Radio. Nomenclature. Hey, welcome back.
• 9:42
  I forgot to say that before we took the break, we're gonna come back here and talk about, uh, this year's Interbike extravaganza.
• 9:48
  Our, uh, our esteemed colleague Gomez has done a fantastic job of weaseling and wiring and sliming information out of all these people that may and/or may not be at Interbike, and we have a complete list. Sorta.
• 10:04
  A listing. That's, that's the list. I don't- Yeah, it is a list, for sure. So with that said, can we start with Fatback?
• 10:11
  We can start with Fatback 'cause we, right under the wire, they sent us in what we could talk about. Oh, because they have secrets.
• 10:19
  They had embargoed information intermixed with the- Just, just for our, um, uh, non-bike industry people, embargoed means we know about it and you don't. Right.
• 10:32
  It's, it's out there, it's in development, but it's not for public consumption. Because why? Well, competitive advantage. Um- What competitive advantage could possibly be gained anymore by embargoed information?
• 10:45
  I have no idea. I'm just asking a question here. [laughs] I'm on the same side of the embargoed information as you. Oh, yeah. Yeah. All right.
• 10:52
  Anyway, so Fatback, what do we have to learn from those fine folks up there in, um, Anchorage, AK? They're adding a 14-inch and a 22-inch frame to their Corvus lineup, so really extra tall.
• 11:03
  14-inch sounds like young people. Tall kids, yeah. Or- Or short- Or young-... short people... short adults... five-footers. Mm-hmm. Um, they're adding a FLT,
• 11:15
  faster lighter technology, to both the Rhino and Skookum, and, uh- See attached PDF for FLT info. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Threaded bottom bracket, Rhino FLT changes the, uh, dropouts to fixed, and, uh,
• 11:31
  about 550 grams for the 18-incher. Uh, cage mounts on the fork and internal routing and a dropper post for, you know, the derailleur and a dropper post. Uh, they're working on their hubs.
• 11:46
  They've made their hubs 100 grams lighter, and, uh, stronger, stiffer steel axle. Ooh, that sounds so sexy- Right?... for your hub.
• 11:56
  [laughs] Uh, premium Enduro bearings with grease rated down for, uh, minus 40, so- This sounds kinda like a Fat Camp episode with all this techno talk. Oh.
• 12:06
  Yeah, this all plays kind of into the whole Interbike bubble thing. Right? Bubble. So we didn't say, but Fatback will not be at Interbike. No booth on the outdoor or the indoor.
• 12:17
  I, you know, what- But they do have- Is it the amazing Kreskin who's the guy that makes the prognostications? I got one. What? I think we're gonna hear more about people not being at Interbike. [laughs] True enough.
• 12:28
  It's like- [laughs] It's like the appreciation of negative space. Exactly. Oh. For instance, Sven will [laughs] not be at Interbike. Well, this is merely a financial thing, but yes.
• 12:40
  All you people have to buy more fatbike.com gear so we can afford to bring you the best of the best. The best. Or the rest. Speaking of the best of the best, uh, an aluminum single wall alloy rim called the Big Sue.
• 12:54
  This is still from Fatback. Um, performance that matches many carbon rims, weighing in at 625 grams, so that is pretty light. Yeah, and, you know, with being aluminum it should be affordable-er. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
• 13:09
  Uh, wheel sets built up with a bunch of different hubs that they offer, and they're gonna be offering seven build kit options on all of their frames this year. That's just crazy.
• 13:19
  Shimano XT and SLX, Sram and X1, GX1, X01, and Eagle. NX1. Or single speed. That's new. I think that's even more than seven. I don't even know what that is. What the hell is that? NX1? Nix1.
• 13:30
  It's the one, it's the Grupo that they just came out with that's one below GX. One below. So it's a one by 11 kind of, uh-
• 13:39
  In my humble, but not very worthy opinion, I think the GX1 is the most bang for the buck of the Grupos out there. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I agree. Oh, they're doing a single speed as well. Indeed.
• 13:51
  907, our friends from 907 are following suit and not having a booth at Interbike, but they'll be walking around. And, uh, my friend- Carrying their-... Will Ross will be there... fancy carbon bikes on their shoulders.
• 14:04
  Maybe. Maybe wearing them as medallions, or maybe just bringing, "Hey, have you seen pictures of my kids?" And they have little pictures of their new bikes, 'cause they have some new bikes. Bikes. Uh- Barks...
• 14:15
  they have new colors on the Whiteout, they have a new kids fatty, and they have something called the Tundra- Hey... which is also a pickup truck as well Speaking of Alaska- Yeah...
• 14:25
  I'm gonna go ahead and say, what's up, Tupper? Oh man, you're good. It's Tupper Becker, Tupper Becker- Hey, gentlemen, how are you?... Tupper Becker, Tupper Becker.
• 14:34
  Well, we just, we're just about to go into the Colorado portion of the show, but I figured since we were just covering Alaska real quick with the 907 and those fine gentlemens up there at, uh, Fatback, we would talk to another AK local.
• 14:46
  Yeah, man. And, uh- I got, yeah, I got a pop quiz for you. So is Becker Precision Sewing and, uh, and Beer Drinking gonna have a booth at Interbike? Oh, God, no. No. [laughs] No, no. Never.
• 14:58
  [laughs] No, I g- I gotta keep it small. I like, I like the, the workload I'm at now.
• 15:03
  As, as soon as I go to Interbike, you know, things blow up and you get big, and then, then you're actually working for a living and not having lots of fun, you know? Working for a living, working. [laughs] I know.
• 15:13
  I saw you- Yeah... I saw you riding a motocross bike on the Facebook the other day. Yeah, I like, I like the, the, the enduro stuff in the summer on the You know what I like to call them? Motorcycle pluses.
• 15:24
  It's a new thing, I like them. [laughs] I like to call them moto plus. Yeah, right. It's a new, it's a, it's a new motorcycle thing. Moto plus, man. It's a new thing. So have you seen the, uh- Thank you.
• 15:33
  No, very, very cool bikes... new 907 kids bike? Um, yeah, I did. I was, uh, I was over at one of my local shops, Goldstream, talking to my buddy Wes and, uh, Tyson there, and we were talking about the new 907 stuff.
• 15:45
  And, uh, yeah. Yeah, it looks cool. I'm pretty stoked that they got a kids bike out.
• 15:49
  Um, I, I wish that everyone would've had those, like, you know, four years ago when I really, really, really wanted one, but, uh- But yours is im- Now the little guy is picking up those 24 inch...
• 15:58
  is yours is imported from America. [laughs] Yeah, it is. Your voice. So, so is the, so is the 907 kids bike, is that a 26-inch or 24-inch or 20-inch or 16? I thought it was a 24. 24. Right on. I thought it was 24, yeah.
• 16:14
  Yeah. Cool. They're pretty sweet. They've only been leaking, they've only been leaking things down the in- inner part of their leg on the internet- Yeah... about their n- about their new products.
• 16:23
  So they crapped in their pants. Yeah. Maybe. And it leaked down their leg. Yeah. Fatback's got plenty of different types of them coming out in the spring.
• 16:27
  There are many different types of things that can drip down the inside of your leg. [laughs] It could be liquid carbon fiber, it could be liquid fun, it could be caca de vaca. Liquid love. [laughs] Exactly.
• 16:39
  [laughs] Could be, could be skim, ma- ma- yeah, uh, don't get me started. So you know who else is up on our list, is Borealis, that is not gonna have a booth, but Steve will be there.
• 16:52
  And, uh- Steve, you know, Steve's from Wisconsin- Oh wow, they're, they're rad... so he's a hardworking guy. Yeah.
• 16:55
  So he wouldn't shirk his responsibility, though he may keep his people back at the old factory shop area so they can do their work. Well, Kevin Renn said that he's working with him, so, uh- I bet you Renn's-...
• 17:06
  who knows? I bet you Renn is gonna be at, at Interbike. Oh, yeah, he's looking forward to talking to you. That fork is rad. And forking over some money for advertising. Yeah. Kevin, call out. Hey.
• 17:16
  [laughs] So Borealis is- Oh, we're broke... has a new set of B+ carbon rims that we're gonna be, uh, testing here. Right. I have some excellent new Vee Tire, uh... Oh, we jumped, we jumped ahead.
• 17:29
  You jumped the, you jumped the shark. Yeah. Surly's gonna have the outdoor demo booth with Wednesdays and Ice Cream Trucks and their new Karate Monkey with the B+ out of the single speed with the 29. Um, and
• 17:42
  here's one that, here's one that, uh, Tough's gonna be keenly interested in. Keenly. Salsa. Salsa. Salsa does not go to Interbike, and our friend Mike Remer, a gentleman that I like to refer to as Remer,
• 17:59
  uh, you, you emailed him, right? I did. I emailed him and he said, "Um, we don't do that thing, so we're just gonna pass."
• 18:05
  'Cause I invited him to come on the show and tell us what's new with Salsa, and he was just like, "Yeah, we're gonna go ahead and pass." But you know what happened? You know what? I dug deeper. Deeper
• 18:18
  Um, you know, I wouldn't be the, the crack journalist [laughs] That I, that I claim to be, if I didn't just go to my sources and find Justin Julian's cell phone number. I'm gonna dial that right now.
• 18:31
  Beep, boop, boop, beep, boop, boop, boop, boop. Beep. Boop. It says, "Calling." This is Justin. Hey, Justin. Gomez wants to say something to you. Hey, Justin, it's Gomez from Fat Bike Radio. How's it going? Hey.
• 18:49
  Good, how are you, Gomez? [laughs] It's going good. Aren't you kind of wondering how he got your phone number? I gave it to him. [laughs] Oh.
• 18:57
  [laughs] We played- I, uh- We played this all up like it was, we were pranking you. Gal dang, I got pranked. Oh, you know, we got caught in our own- Gal dang... our own complex web of lies. Gal dang, I got pranked.
• 19:07
  [laughs] You guys, man. You guys, I tell you what, man. You guys are running crazy, man. So we have Justin on the line. Oh, by the way, where's my- Y'all something good. Where's my, where's my scotch?
• 19:17
  I just said the F word. [laughs] Oh, damn. [laughs] 'Cause Kevin never got to say the F word last week. Oh. He had the bottle of scotch waiting and never said it. Oh. Well, anyway, Justin, what's up?
• 19:30
  So we're call- Not too much. Not too much. We're calling- Just remarried... we're calling to talk to you about the, uh, the 17 line. Uh, we kind of- Yeah... saw it on the internet. Looks pretty exciting.
• 19:42
  Carbon Mukluk is the thing that caught my eye. Yeah. Why don't you tell us what we got coming up?
• 19:47
  We're excited about, uh, we're excited about having another year of still pushing fat bikes and, and keeping this, keeping this momentum moving forward for Salsa.
• 19:58
  Uh, you know, we took what we thought was a great platform, uh, with our two, basically our two best selling fat bikes, the Mukluk and the Blackborow, and kind of merged those two bikes together, and off spawned the carbon love child of those.
• 20:13
  [laughs] So we were able to get a five, five-inch tire capable carbon fat bike with keeping the 100 threaded bottom bracket, and, uh, not having to push the key factor out too far. Right on.
• 20:26
  So you guys also make the Carbon Beargrease still. So what differentiates- Yep... the Carbon Mukluk from the Carbon Beargrease? Uh, geometry or- Really it's just-...
• 20:36
  you know, what, what's kind of the difference between those two? Yeah, it is, it is geometry. I mean, the Beargrease has been a great platform for us.
• 20:44
  Uh, it's still, what I would say, one of the premier endurance racing fat bikes. Uh, but we wanted to push the envelope with tire size.
• 20:51
  So Mukluk, we were able to bring a, bring a bigger tire size to the picture, and also shorten up the chainstays. So what I think is probably our most progressive fat bike geometry is on the, on the Mukluk now.
• 21:04
  But people do love the Beargrease, and it rides super well, so we didn't wanna abandon all those customers for this year. That's a nice bike. Absolutely. It's, it seems to be the racer's choice in the Midwest anyway.
• 21:18
  Yeah, and I mean, for groomed trails where a four, four and a half-inch tire is plenty, that bike still, uh, is a arsenal killer right there. It'll just, it does what it needs to do. Death Star.
• 21:32
  And, uh, do you see a cur- What are you riding, Justin? Right now I am, I'm patiently waiting for my new Mukluk to show up. I've always been a Beargrease rider, um, but I'm excited to try the new Mukluk.
• 21:46
  I've got to spin around on it at our, at our, basically our model year launch out at Saddle Ranch, so got to ride it in the mountains of California, Lake Tahoe this year.
• 21:57
  But, yeah, that'll be my, that'll be my go-to winter bike. I also ride a Buxaw. That is my go-to all year round bike, so [laughs] uh, not as short for a fat bike, for sure. Killer.
• 22:10
  Justin, how do you see the transition from where Buxaw is now to, have you, uh, done any refinements for 17 with Buxaw? Do you see that going to more travel, a midi sized tire, uh, or even a bigger sized tire?
• 22:28
  Yeah, I mean, right now it's, uh, it's one of those things where getting people to ride full suspension fat is our first and foremost. It's on all three of our demo trucks.
• 22:38
  We want people to ride it to really understand what that much tire and what that much traction can do for somebody, right? Mm-hmm. And, um, no- It's amazing...
• 22:47
  we don't have any, we don't have anything cooking on changing the Buxaw right now. Um, this year we brought out some, I think, beautiful new colors, and a murdered out black- Oh, cool...
• 22:58
  carbon one, which is a, definitely a crowd pleaser. But yeah, I mean, right now I think that we've got the right, the right amount of travel and the right amount of, um,
• 23:10
  of spec to match up with that, that it's, it's a really perfect platform for a full suspension fat bike rider. Well, very cool. I mean, that tire size and rim size is great. Uh, that's our buddy- Yeah, I mean-...
• 23:23
  Tupper Becker from up there in Alaska, Justin. Just so you know, we've got a lurk- Hey... we got a lurker on the line. [laughs] Yeah.
• 23:30
  Well, no, like I j- I was trying to keep it a secret so Justin doesn't know I was online. [laughs] But we got a, we got a- I did... Facebook bromance going on, so. Bromance. [laughs] Oh, yeah.
• 23:40
  But T- uh, Tuff sent me some, uh, salmon his wife smoked. Woo. Speaking of smoking- It's dandy. It's dandy indeed, Dave... I, I'm gonna go ahead and mention the Borra cent- It is dandy...
• 23:49
  Centium box, that, uh, thing is just, it just is awesome. [laughs] You bring up this box. I have no idea what it's about.
• 23:55
  Well, I know, but that was just because, uh, our buddy Travis was so good at telling me what this, uh, this finely crafted German box that my Borra Centium lock came in could be used for, which is to store very, very precious green things.
• 24:11
  [laughs] We have, we have- Precious... we have Justin on the line. From Salsa Cycles- Hey, Justin, how's it going?... talking to us about- Hey, glad-... their 17- Glad to have you on the line. Thank you...
• 24:20
  I like the way your mind drifts off into, into these segues that make for awesome podcasting. Um, yeah, segues are really cool. Have you ever ridden one? [laughs] Justin, I appreciate you- I like the off-road segues.
• 24:34
  [laughs] There you go. You heard it here first. Justin- Yep, Mukluk... and, and Greg are, uh, gonna be testing that, uh, new Segway off-road.
• 24:44
  Yeah, me and Dean and Justin, we're gonna go hang out and stuff and ride downstairs. It'll be cool. Sweet. Well, all right.
• 24:52
  We won't see you guys at, uh, Interbike, but, uh, hey, we're gonna have to catch you somewhere down the line and, uh, get a ride on that new, on that new Mukluk Carbon.
• 25:01
  Yeah, maybe you could come and, uh, just ride- Yeah, I'd love to... ride some trails around, uh, you know, Southeast Wisconsin or something. Yeah. That'd be sweet. Well, we'll have to figure it out.
• 25:09
  Yeah, we'll have to have you guys get it figured out and then bring a bunch of bikes over and have a weekend of riding and camping or whatever is in store.
• 25:17
  We just got back from, uh, the Northwoods of Wisconsin for ride camp and had a great time up there, so I'm ready to come back and ride some more trail. Groovy. Sure are. We saw pictures.
• 25:28
  I saw my friend Karen Dubois, uh, attended and looked like it was a great time. You had great weather and a good turnout, and I looked at some of the seminars- Yeah...
• 25:37
  and whatnot, it's just, uh, it- that's just all super positive stuff. It's, uh...
• 25:42
  It really is, you know, the, the heart of getting people involved and getting them outside and, you know, showing them how to use these incredible tool toys things that, you know, we all love. Tools and toys. Yeah.
• 25:56
  Tool that is a toy, toy that is a tool, I guess. [laughs] Yeah, I mean, that's, that was our main goal is just to keep people excited about riding and, uh, give them an opportunity.
• 26:07
  Sometimes people just need a, a opportunity to take that first step, and that's what we were hoping to, to accomplish. And it was a- I think we did a pretty decent job this year. Excited for next year, let's say that.
• 26:16
  And it's a- Well-... family event, so they- Oh, yeah... you have kids and, uh, I saw, I saw a picture of a, of a little Mukluk today on the internet. Is that a, a bike or a tent? Yeah, I- Or a shoe? [laughs] A bike.
• 26:31
  [laughs] A little pink Mukluk. I don't know how that... That ha- I don't know how those little guys snuck out. Yeah, there was a 20-inch, uh- [laughs]...
• 26:38
  Muck 20 and a Muck 24 roaming around for the kids to play on and give us feedback on. Right on. So- Well, I mean, you know, you're th-... could be something in, could be something coming...
• 26:48
  Salsa's tagline is adventure by bike, right? Right. So there you go. Correct. I mean, that's pretty much what you guys do, adventure by bi- I mean, you can't really say it in any less words than that. Indeed. Awesome.
• 27:02
  It's perfect. That's right. All right, Justin, thanks for calling, man. Wait, we- Yeah, thanks for calling, guys... wait, we called him... have a, have a good night. Oh, yeah. [laughs] All right, Justin, good night.
• 27:13
  We'll see ya. Good night. Justin Julian, brand manager from Salsa Cycles. Adventure by bike. Adventure by bike.
• 27:22
  We still have Tupper on the line, but we also still have other stuff to talk about from your- My, my computer screen went blank. We were talking about- Yeah... Borealis.
• 27:30
  Well, yeah, we were talking about Borealis and, uh- Oh, we got the Surly, and then we were on the Salsa... we, uh, yeah... now we're to Otso. Yeah. Otso? Otso. Our friend. Otso. Otso? How do you say this? I'd say Otso.
• 27:43
  I think the- O-T-S-O... O T S, right? Otso. In a lot of language. I would say- Hodor! Oh. Hodor! [laughs] Uh, so it's a, it's a brand new- Why is there, why is there, why is there no Hodor Bike brand yet?
• 27:55
  Oh, well- Thank you very much. Uh- Again, you got Road Plus and Hodor. That, right there you have, you have a, you have... You, you just lost $3 million [laughs] in the next 10 years of your life. That's what I do.
• 28:06
  I give money away like it's water. So Otso or Otso is a new bike brand from Wolf Tooth, so I, I assume that they'll be there with their new bike, and, uh, Vee Tire has three new fat tires. They got that big slick daddy.
• 28:19
  Oh, that's looking so cool. And, uh, we'll, we'll actually be getting some of those for testing. Ken Blakey Schell, who will be on the line here, uh, he should be calling in right now, uh, to talk about the bubble.
• 28:31
  So let's race through the rest of these things. 45 North redesigned the Hoosker Doos. Uh- A tire that was already great. Yeah. Yeah.
• 28:39
  And so, and they took some knobs off, so but, you know, maybe we gotta ride it, and then, and then [laughs] if it's bad, we can call them Hoosker Don'ts.
• 28:47
  [laughs] [laughs] But if they're good, we'll call them Hoosker Doos 2s or something. Hoosker- Or the new Hoosker Doos... or Hoosker Doos [laughs] Electric Blue.
• 28:56
  [laughs] So they have a new aggressive studded tire as well? Something called the Warchild or something. Well, I'm out of here, gentlemen. You guys sound like you're pretty deep in it. All right, Tupper. Bye, Tupper.
• 29:09
  Have a good night. Arrivederci, America. My Lord, I don't think we can even get the rest of this incredible thing in before we, uh, roll on into the bubble discussion. I don't know. Should we...
• 29:20
  Let's take a break- All right... real quick like. [upbeat music] What do Heather Best, Kevin Brightonbach, and Jeff Holy have in common?
• 29:29
  Well, they're all world record holders and champions of the Iditarod Trail Invitational, and they all chose Becker Frame Bags and Hydration Packs for their championship run.
• 29:39
  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. You're tuned to Fat Bike Radio.
• 29:59
  Hey. Hey. Once again, we're back. It's time for the Fatty Farm Field Report. The Fatty Farm Field Report is brought to you by Ritchey. The folks at Ritchey have a very special offer to our readers- Special offer...
• 30:12
  and listeners on their Commendo frame and fork for just- They go Commendo... 375 bucks. Just use the discount code Julio at checkout. This is just one of those things where it's like- Do it. Yes. You gotta be kidding me.
• 30:27
  That is a righteous deal. Righteous. Our friends at OneUp Components are doing a little bit of a sale too thing on some stuff that they kinda just didn't make quite right, but good enough for you people.
• 30:37
  If you wanna save 30%, go ahead and check the link out on the show notes, 'cause I'm not gonna read that thing, 'cause it's really long. Purple Anno, that's the...
• 30:48
  We have a buncha links, but I just wanna go into this bubble segment, the extra crispy bubble segment. You know why? 'Cause guess who we got on the line. Ken and Andy, yo. That's right.
• 31:00
  We'd like to welcome the stars of the number one rated fat bike docudrama podcast they call Fat Camp. Please welcome Ken and Andy. Howdy ho, gentlemen. Howdy ho. Yo, what's up?
• 31:15
  Gr- greetings from across the, uh, pond here, guys. Uh, it's like the little mini narrow pond, eh? Oh, yeah. Looks like a dingus. Yeah. Hey, so let's proceed alphabetically.
• 31:25
  Andy, would you lead the congregation into hymn number 506, The Fat Bike Bubble Hath Burst, oh Lord. Lordy, Lord. Praise. Thank you very much for that. Uh, the bubble.
• 31:36
  So I, I'm supposed to talk about this bubble, but a- as you guys know, uh- You just said bubble butt... well- That's actually pretty funny. [laughs] Bubble butt. I, I did say bubble butt. Yeah, you did. But
• 31:47
  I, I say it again. When it comes to knowing anything about anything, I usually defer to, uh, to someone who knows a, a shit-ton more than I do.
• 31:55
  And, and my opinion of the bubble is, uh, uh, not nearly as, uh, knowledgeable as, uh, the leader of this camp, and, and I'm gonna just turn it right over to Ken right away.
• 32:05
  And guys, y- put on your seatbelt, 'cause this is gonna be a long one. So turn up your headphones. [laughs] Hopefully I won't babble too long. Sorry.
• 32:16
  [laughs] So, okay, Gomez ended up asking us this awesome question a couple weeks ago, and it got me all stoked. So I've been thinking all sorts of stuff about what about this fat bike bubble?
• 32:29
  So, um, one thing, and once I started thinking on this, I was like, okay, we can now talk about new bike sales, we could talk about fat bike ridership, we could talk about innovation in fat bike world.
• 32:41
  You know, there's a lot of different things that you could describe sort of as being bubble-ish or whatever. Or you're wondering if it's gonna be at a bubble.
• 32:47
  And I guess I am gonna break this out into kinda a couple different categories. All right.
• 32:53
  And I would say as far as our, our, our new bike sales, if you're a bike shop owner in the listener world, um, I'm guessing, yeah, we're gonna start seeing a level on off of the sales.
• 33:03
  I just, I just- As far as ridership goes- I just heard a sales figure from a bike dealer in Northern Illinois.
• 33:10
  For 2016, he told me his fat bike sales January 1 to September 1 in '16 were up 30% over his sales in, uh, 2015. So that just relates to the one aspect- Well-... that, that you have brought up. So go on.
• 33:28
  Yeah. And, and, and that's, and that's really awesome that I'm hearing. I think we're gonna see certain areas that are continuing to have a super strong growth.
• 33:35
  Um, but I think there's some other areas that kind of are tapped out a little bit more. And as a whole, my guess is we're gonna see a, a slowing of new bike sales. But- Just like over- But also-...
• 33:46
  overall or in the fat bike realm only? Just pretty much in the fat bike realm, if I had to guess.
• 33:51
  And I guess the reason why I'm saying this is because if you look at what's happened in the fat bike industry, we've had enormous amount of innovation that's gone on.
• 34:00
  You know, in the last five-ish years, we've had tubeless tires, we've had suspension, we've had, you know, carbon both in frames and in rims. We've had all sorts of stuff going on with drivetrains.
• 34:11
  We've had, you know, 170 to 190 spacing. We've had 135 to 150 spacing. We've had four-inch tires to 4.8-inch tires. We've had all this crazy stuff going on in fat bike world. Mm. So
• 34:25
  not only have we had a whole bunch more people getting into fat biking, but there's a lot of people that jumped into fat biking five years ago and are like, "Wait a minute," after a couple years, "I need another bike, because there's so much cool stuff going on."
• 34:37
  So you know what, uh- So I think we've seen a lot of- Ken, you know what this sounds like to me is, like, the early days of mountain biking through, like, maybe- Yes... eight or 10 years ago.
• 34:46
  But where mountain biking took, like, 20 years to go from kind of something that was serviceable, and heavy, and, and durable, and solid to the most advanced stuff you can get now with carbon and this and that, I think the fat bike industry did that in, like, what, three years?
• 35:01
  [laughs] Yeah. It did it really fast. And it just kinda got up on- Yeah, I mean-... par with what other, um- But the next level of development- Right, right... is much more difficult- True that...
• 35:11
  to execute and execute well, which is a full suspension fat bike. 200 gram savings on a frame- [laughs]... from this year to last year.
• 35:20
  So, so let's say, you know, if, if fat bikes follow the same development that mountain bikes did, we had rigid mountain bikes without SIS. We had bikes with SIS that then got front shocks.
• 35:34
  We had bikes that had V brakes with dual suspension. We had... So I f- Oh, absolutely... I, I feel that fat bikes- And, and we-... are going to develop- At least fat bikes never really had any kind of cantilever brake.
• 35:49
  Yeah, yeah. Except for the first Pugsley maybe that- Thank you... yeah, but otherwise, yeah. So. So
• 35:56
  with that in mind, I think that, uh, you know, the dual suspension is my answer to someone says, "Well, the burble of, bubble has burst." Burble. Yes. The burble has burbled. The burble. The burble.
• 36:08
  The burble, burble, bubble, wobbles, wobbles. Is why are these companies with [horn blaring] the best chance to- Eee... stay in the market? No. [laughs] Not even close. Uh, developing these full suspension fat bikes.
• 36:23
  You know, that's, that's a lot of tooling. Well- That's a lot of engineering The, the thing is though, [clears throat] I don't think you necessarily, everybody needs a full suspension fat bike.
• 36:31
  That's what's a little bit different than the mountain bike world.
• 36:34
  Um, in the mountain bike world, I, you know, suspension is a really big deal based upon most geographic areas, and I think that's gonna end up being a factor in the fat bike world, but it's not gonna be as big a factor as in the mountain bike world.
• 36:47
  Um, in the fat bike world, I think a lot of people can get by with either front suspension or fully rigid.
• 36:52
  Um, so, you know, I don't think we're gonna see this enormous, like everybody's gonna have a full suspension fat bike in their lineup.
• 36:59
  Um- Let's see, the areas- But I do think we're gonna see some, we're gonna see some really good development in that, which will be awesome.
• 37:05
  And I, I think it might even extend into, you know, the downhill range, where we're getting these big-hit bikes that are 150 millimeters. Well, see, I think a guy in- I wish I had 150 millimeters myself, actually.
• 37:15
  [laughs] If a guy in Downeyville, California,
• 37:19
  so far the big hit, real gnarly mountain bike crowd looks at fat, look, those are the people that haven't bought a fat bike yet, and I think that dual suspension fat bikes could make inroads in those markets where, like central California, there are a lot of fat bikers there.
• 37:38
  Yeah, th- th- there'll be some conditions where, you know, a fat bike with full suspension will just absolutely rip.
• 37:44
  Um, it's just gonna be a matter of figuring out how to make the tires durable enough, and then how to dial in the suspension so your, your basically your suspension curve is right to deal with the bounciness of the tires.
• 37:55
  Boy-oy-oy-oy-oy. And once it is, you're set to dial it in. Oh. Yeah, yeah. No, for sure, because they do- Well, you're gonna find out. You're gonna, you're gonna take this journey, and man, I, I wish we could
• 38:06
  just provide you with a consistent supply of big, tall, full suspension [laughs] fat bikes for you to test, dude. [laughs] Yeah, 'cause Ken's no, he's no small drink of water, that guy.
• 38:19
  I think the only thing- You're like 6'5" or something, aren't you, Ken? 6'3", 6'5"? Yeah. Yep. 6'5", so three- That's just, that's freakishly tall.
• 38:26
  [laughs] Yeah, and then I'm not, I'm not exactly a lightweight guy, so I tend to break stuff, too, so I'm, I'm a good test dude. Let's put it that way. Speaking of, speaking of people that like to break stuff,
• 38:37
  I wish I could say Dave Lunz is on the line, but it's not Dave Lunz. [laughs] We have our friend from Rochester, Minnesota, Mr. Ron Moffitt. Hey, Ron. How are you doing? Chewy. Hi, guys. Um- [laughs]
• 38:52
  Gary, I didn't think we were gonna talk about strippers. What's this talking about Bubbles? I thought- Oh... we weren't gonna talk about her. Well, we both love Bubbles, and- [laughs] I do. Without a doubt.
• 39:05
  And there's enough- What, what was, what was Michael Jackson's chimpanzee's name? There's enough Bubbles- Bubbles. Yes, it was. Bubbles. Come here, Bubbles.
• 39:11
  There's enough Bubbles for, for both of us to, to be happy for the rest of our lives. [growls] [laughs] Chewy. [growls] Plus, I mean- [laughs] The, the, and it's like basic kindergarten, uh, etiquette, man.
• 39:22
  You know, share with, share with your bud. Right. By the way, uh, Ron Moffitt, we still have, uh, Andy and Ken on the line from up there in, uh, Minnesota. Uh, where is that called? Minneshuda? Minnee, nee, nee, nee?
• 39:35
  [laughs] Manistee. That's the place. Manistee. It's on the other side of the, uh, the small finger looking pond. It's the C- it's the Seacow with an extra S in the middle. Right on.
• 39:44
  Those guys are still on the line, so don't offend them or y- you, whatever. Oh, no, no- Or, or do offend them... this is, this is the note that he's [laughs] he gave me. Moffitt, point, counterpoint.
• 39:55
  [laughs] Point, counterpoint. That's it. Ron will, Ron will be one point, and Ken will be- I'm just keeping you honest. [laughs] Talk carbon bicycle frames right now. Uh, but- Carbon?
• 40:05
  I thought we were talking big jump, which is just a big, squishy travel, full, full suspension fat bikes. Other than Minnesota, that's the dumbest fucking thing I've ever heard of.
• 40:15
  [laughs] It might just- Even though there's a company in Minnesota- It might just-... it's still fucking stupid. [laughs] It might just be for, for Minnesota, but, you know, I'm, I'm just thinking about,
• 40:25
  uh, Moab or frigging- When did you become so pliant? I don't know. [laughs] Hey, hey. Hey, you- It's all that time you spent up north in the woods by yourself.
• 40:38
  Yeah, the bike, the fuck- the bike companies are throwing tons of dollars at us. He's like, "I can't let that $10 bill go by. I just have to be pliant." Yeah, that's right. [laughs] That's ri- that's right.
• 40:48
  Well- [laughs] Yeah, the, the dual sus- The only thing I'll say, it's no different than anything else, it's just- Oh, my God. [laughs] I just have no answer for that.
• 40:58
  I, I gotta tell you this, people have been waiting for that line. Okay, so if I'm gonna offend anybody, at first I'm gonna offend the bike companies. Right on. All right? All right.
• 41:04
  'Cause the bike companies are gonna do what they wanna do anyway, 'cause they don't really give a fuck unless they're making a nickel anyhow. Uh- Right. They're, they're in business to make money...
• 41:10
  rapid fire shifting is a perfect example. Nobody liked rapid fire shifting. It's shit, and they said, "You're going to use it whether you like it or not." They're gonna do the same thing to the fat bike market.
• 41:21
  I'm gonna have to get, get- Damn. Dave just, you know, okay, here's the, here's the real problem I got with, with this rapid fire business is Dave was a diehard twist-shift guy from, well, ever.
• 41:35
  And he's like, "Oh, them new ones, 200 and some dollars, they're kinda like, I keep shifting two or three gears 'cause they're too sensitive." You have to, you have to, you have to learn the shifter.
• 41:45
  Yeah, well, he's sort of a dumbass. [laughs] Well, I- Right, Ron? I mean, really, right? Really. Right. Well, without a doubt, yeah. [laughs] That's his whole thing. So do we, did we completely extinguish Ken?
• 41:58
  Can we get maybe- No, those guys are still here. Ken's still on there. I'm still here. Um- Yeah, we wanna vote for Ron. We wanna vote Ron for president. Yeah, so do we, actually.
• 42:09
  [laughs] You know, nobody could do a better thing for this country than to vote Ron Moffitt in for president. So you guys, so you guys don't think that dual suspension is the next thing that, that...
• 42:20
  And I think it's gonna be really hard for some of these smaller companies to make a dual suspension bike Why? They don't need it...
• 42:27
  five, five factories made everything in the whole bike world There's, there's five guys in, there's five guys in Moab that would ride it.
• 42:33
  I mean, otherwise everybody else that's riding it realizes they don't need it, at least around here, you know? And I- Why?... I've been out to, we go out to Arizona.
• 42:41
  We ride our fat bikes fully rigid because there's spots that it's nice to have at least a front suspension, but you still don't need full suspension.
• 42:49
  And I, you know, and I just, I, I don't, maybe I just don't ride that way, so I don't understand full suspension in the first place. It's more to fucking work on. It's way... This is, you know what this is?
• 43:00
  Oh, I would, I would totally- This is the same conversation we have for single speed... I would totally never own one, dude, [laughs] because it's a maintenance nightmare. [laughs] You, you have a full suspension bike.
• 43:11
  And it hangs with no fork on it right now for the last seven years, the last time I went to Sprida. And it was one of the first bikes that could actually take a fat bike there. Yeah. Well, I wanna, I wanna try it.
• 43:20
  I have a Sur- It's a Turner... I have a Turner. Turner Burner, baby. Yeah. Burner? R, R- But I gotta, but I gotta say- RFS or something?...
• 43:28
  fat bike and full suspension is, I mean, there's places where it'll work, but it's a pretty narrow niche. It's not something that's gonna end up working everywhere, and it's gonna be silly for a lot of situations.
• 43:38
  There's a lot of times that you want a little bit narrower tire, uh, tire to end up fitting into some slot or whatever. And- Dude, my, my clunker is-... a big fat tire is not gonna be good there...
• 43:46
  that, that, that accurately describes my clunker bike- I haven't-... and I love riding so much. [laughs] Are they called... Don't, we don't call it clunker plus yet? 'Cause that's [laughs] trademarked. Clunker plus.
• 43:58
  Trademark fatbike.com. That's a fucking winner right there. Clunker plus. Thank you. I knew I'd get on one some sooner or later. [laughs] Fuck yeah. I'm 100% with clunker plus. Clunker plus. Clunker plus a check.
• 44:09
  And luckily it's- Clunker plus a dog... what we're trying to finish here anyway. Clunker plus a ride. I got a lot of clunker plus ideas. [laughs] I'm gonna register clunkerplus.com right after the show.
• 44:19
  No, I'm already doing it. So don't- I already bought it... don't even worry about registering... yeah, I already got it. [laughs] I got my... Yeah.
• 44:25
  [laughs] Well, I think that, do you think that everyone that should have a fat bike, do you think everyone has one and that we're really looking- Oh, no, no, no. No, no. Oh, no, and that's what I was gonna say.
• 44:36
  The ni- the nice thing about the fat bike industry is the bubble hasn't burst because there is a whole new crop of people that are just starting to get into the market. Two reasons.
• 44:46
  First of all, they don't ride in the winter, but they're finding out how fun they are to ride in the dirt, and personally, most shops that I know are just starting to realize that they can sell bikes all y- fat bikes all year round.
• 44:57
  Right. There's a lot of them that just don't get it. Yeah. That's 'cause- Um, but I've got- Like they got- I've got people asking all the time looking for used ones... cross-country skiing for how many years? Right?
• 45:05
  Right. It replaces- I'm sorry, what's that? Well, well, cross-country skiing has kinda died off, and bike shops need something. Yeah.
• 45:11
  And they, a lot of them did cross-country in the past, and now a fat bike is gonna start to take up some of that, you know, off-season- But a-... unquote, quote, unquote, quote, quote, quote thing...
• 45:23
  but a fat bike will get a person out in the dirt that's not very comfortable riding in the dirt, and it's gonna be a casual ride. They're not gonna go out and race it.
• 45:30
  The guys that are fast on fat bikes are already out there. What fat bikes are gonna do is they're gonna get a whole different group of people to go out on nice casual rides on their fat bikes.
• 45:38
  They're really comfortable on the tires. That's the other reason they really don't need full suspension. That throws them into another pi- price market that those guys aren't gonna spend the money on anyway.
• 45:47
  So, you know, guys that are looking for used ones all the time, um, you're seeing this group of people are starting to buy the ones that people have that have got upgraded, you know, gone symmetrical and different rear ends.
• 45:59
  No, absolutely. But, uh- But, but, Ro- Chewy, Chewy, how- Yes... does- Yes... how do we know that the bike industry works on a five-year replacement schedule?
• 46:12
  They have to design something into what we do that makes us replace our [laughs] shit. So what is, what do you think that's gonna be if it's not dual suspension? Well, I, I don't know because- Like the next thing?...
• 46:25
  because- No, no, no. The next thing that they-... they pretty much shot themselves in the foot by taking everything so fast.
• 46:30
  I mean, look at how, how fast we've gone from the original Pugsleys and fat back and- Eh, just capitalism-... and all... and the internet did that, man... what we have now.
• 46:38
  I mean, it was like, that's just, that's just people going, "No, I, no, I think that's a bike industry sa- saying they're not gonna make the same mistakes they did with 29ers and hold back." Yeah. Yeah, no, that's right.
• 46:49
  So that was all the sales up front. They all jumped on it right up front. Yeah, we talked about this earlier on. Have you? It's like the, the mountain bike thing took 20 years to mature or more.
• 46:57
  I mean, it's still maturing because all 29ers, 27 plus fat bikes, they're all offshoots of the original mountain bike idea. But that took 20 years- Right...
• 47:06
  to get to the point where the technologically, um, fancy bikes are really high-end and, and awesome. But fat bike, it took like three years because that e- technology already existed.
• 47:17
  You didn't really have to reinvent it. You just had to apply it to the new thing. So the development time- Yeah, yeah, true. Right, yeah. Yeah. That's, that's exactly it. Well. Yeah. And, and, and- And I-...
• 47:28
  and everybody was beating each other up to be the first one out there with it, too, and they made some...
• 47:32
  The mistakes they made were a lot smaller than when they came out with like, some of the companies that came out with the first 29er frames were horrible riding beasts because they just
• 47:42
  made it bigger so that a 26 could in, fit, a 29 could fit on a 26-inch frame. And it really didn't take everything into consideration, so they were crappy handling bikes.
• 47:51
  Where the fat bike jumped into it faster and easier because it was, it was, they, they, they learned from their mistakes, I think.
• 47:59
  Well, and, and I think fat bikes still have, like the ones that we ride on the beach, a Pugsley is still, or a Moonlander, is still an awesome riding bike on a beach because the geometry's made for slow speed, and it's easy to ride in really soft conditions.
• 48:15
  But as the, the market got bigger, people went into the more performance-oriented stuff, where basically you're replacing your mountain bike, so it has to perform like your favorite, you know, mountain bike.
• 48:27
  All right, with that, let me call timeout Wait, what? I'm gonna call timeout, and let's take just a- 'Cause I gotta get another beer...
• 48:34
  let's take a quick break, and when we come back, let's give, uh, JK and Andy maybe a, a couple of, uh, seconds to talk. Oh, all right then. [laughs] We'll, we'll be right back.
• 48:48
  [upbeat music] Chumba USA builds innovative, technically superior bicycles that are race ready, ride driven, and tested to withstand the harshest conditions and tackle the toughest and roughest terrain.
• 49:02
  Learn more about Chumba's American-made Ursa Major at chumbausa.com. [upbeat music] You're tuned to Fat Bike Radio.
• 49:18
  We are coming back from break, and I'm going to, uh, hand the mic over to Mr. JK Livin to see what he has to say about le bubble. Bubbles. Bubbles. [laughs] No, I don't think I'm a bubble. I don't know. I'm
• 49:36
  slightly blissfully ignorant about some of the machinations on the higher level, so I just like what I ride. God bless you, my friend. [laughs] [laughs] Ri- right now JK- Cheers...
• 49:48
  JK's out there testing some 29 plus rims and tires and- Yes, the... Yes. I mean, I've, I've- Which he, which-... I've gone from one pierced or moved the bubble, if- Right... are we talking about that bubble?
• 50:01
  No, you just, you just- Or am I redefining the bubble? You took your normal fat bike and- She's not really fat bubble. She's plump bubble. [laughs] Yeah. Husky.
• 50:09
  [laughs] It's the summer thing, and I think we've seen this happen a lot- Yeah... in the Midwest. I d- I'm sure Ken and Andy have seen it as,
• 50:16
  you know, plus bikes are kind of the shizzle for this area, and as much as I, for the last six years, have ridden a fat bike all year round- Mm-hmm... not so much this year. I don't know, dude. I have a, I have a
• 50:29
  24-pound front suspension fat bike. Yeah, but you don't have a 23-pound front suspension [laughs] plus bike. God damn it. You know, it's like, ugh, I, I don't know. I have a plus bike, too. It was like- I ride both.
• 50:42
  It was like having a- I just like... Yeah, I don't know. Yeah. It's like- Was it having a transformer? I wasn't quite aware. I don't see that having anything to do with the bubble.
• 50:48
  Well, that's the nice thing is you- That's actually ex- the expansion of the bubble. Right, you can transform one bike into multiple purposes, to some extent. I tell you one thing.
• 50:54
  If, if, if people are saying, "Well, talking about the bubble is talking about the state of the market," I think that people should rejoice because prices are coming down, people. [typing] [laughs] Sp- Definitely.
• 51:10
  And speaking of, uh, I think that the, we said we were gonna let Andy chime in here. So I, and I s- And?... and then I started talking. [laughs] Good God. All right. No, that's okay. [laughs] Andy. Hello?
• 51:23
  Yo, yo, yo, yo, yo. Yeah, I'm right here. I think, uh, maybe one thing that hasn't been mentioned yet is that, and this is happening, um, locally around here, is that we're gonna start grooming our nuts off.
• 51:34
  And, um, when, when you said, like- [laughs] Sorry. [coughs] Wow. Yeah. That literally sounds- I'm just gonna say, "Right on. How you doing?"
• 51:43
  [laughs] You know, there's, there's people that'll go out, like Ken and I, and we'll bust through, you know, five, six inches of powder and work our butts off going four miles an hour and have a great time.
• 51:53
  But if you can groom it, I think that, um, people will be like, "Oh, I, I can take my cross-country skis. I don't have to do that anymore. I can go... You guys are grooming 15 miles of, uh, nice bike trail.
• 52:05
  I might wanna go get a fat bike." And so, like, I think that's gonna have an effect, too, on, on le bubble, on, you know. Abso- absolutely. I think that's a good call. [laughs] Well, I think that we're gonna- So-...
• 52:17
  stop talking about the bubble very soon, because once snow hits, I think th- this season is just gonna be a technicolor every weekend, a race, great stuff. People are just gonna expand upon the fun that we had last year.
• 52:33
  Speaking of races, let me just make this one thing available to folks. We do have a calendar. Oh, yeah? So all you gotta do is go to our website and go where the calendar thingy thing is and submit your event.
• 52:45
  And, you know, we'll take a day or two to approve it, but it'll be on our calendar, which anybody can find all over the country, all the stuff that is happening. And I'm gonna say this. And we might call you up.
• 52:57
  I'm, I am gonna say this. If you, if you register on there, w- we'll probably call you up. If you have a cool-looking race flyer, I'll email you and say, "Hey, can we make you the event of the week?"
• 53:06
  And then you call, and then we talk to you on the radio, and then we'll- And then you get all offended, and then you leave... freaking cousins for life. [laughs] No, I'm sorry.
• 53:13
  No, no, this is serious because- Ken and Gomez will make it rain fat bike awesomeness. [laughs] That's what she said. We won't need fat bikes anymore 'cause every, all the trails are gonna be groomed.
• 53:23
  You guys are gonna be out there with $10,000 groomers making it like a highway. See, now here's, here's the scene in my head.
• 53:29
  When you started talking about grooming, Andy, I imagined Chewy, myself, and, uh, Scott Quiring dressed in the je- full Jedi robes, but in the mist, like we're dead, talking to you, telling you- [imitates lightsaber]...
• 53:44
  "Andy, grooming is the dark side. [laughs] Once down the path of the grooming, throttle twist, forever shall it challenge your tires now." Consume you it will. [laughs] What he said.
• 54:01
  Well, it's just one element away from a paved road when you're riding groomed snow. Yeah. You just put some limestone in there and bye. You can, you can, you can ride them on, on Black Floyds. Yeah.
• 54:13
  Yeah, or those new four and a half inch Vee Tire. What's the new Vee Tire? The, they got... Oh, I f- forget what the real name is The, the four and a half inch...
• 54:20
  I keep on calling it the Big Slick Daddy 'cause it, it looks like- Big Slick Daddy. Mamba Jamba Super Slamba, that's what I like. [laughs] That's what he said. Fat bike takes all flavors I'm getting an e-bike- Uh-huh...
• 54:32
  and we're gonna take, I think we have a homemade sledge, a plastic grooming device- Sledge... that we're gonna do some grooming out on the farm- All right, um-... with his e-bike...
• 54:43
  I just gotta say goodbye to Ken, Andy, and- Really?... the lovely Ron Moffitt. Crap. You wanna keep talking to him? We can talk to him for all night, but- Shizzle... tacos are waiting. Uh, yeah.
• 54:54
  [laughs] We're out of time for this Fat Bike group therapy session, boys and girls. JK's over there ordering tacos. No, he's not. Trying. Where the hell are our tacos, JK? God damn it.
• 55:07
  Our show this evening has been brought to you by the bikes, parts, and chaos of Surly Bikes. Learn more at surlybikes.com. Ta-ta. Call 818-918-2453 any time, day or night, and leave us a message.
• 55:22
  That's 818-918-BIKE, by the way. And talk about- See how clever we are?... the fat bike of Bublé. Yeah, we have a Bublé. You should always call in and make your presence known.
• 55:35
  Thanks to Ken and Andy, Tim Krieger, Elvis, Ron Moffitt, the Lionites, and that crazy Spartan King, whatever- Sparta! Till next week. Till then.
• 55:50
  You've been listening to Fat Bike Radio's weekly dose of fat. Find us on the web at fat-bike.com/radio. We'll see you next time.
• 56:05
  [upbeat music]