Latest / Full Spectrum Cycling / Weekly Dose of Fat – Show #106 – George Miller from Framed and Chewy!

Transcript

Weekly Dose of Fat – Show #106 – George Miller from Framed and Chewy! · Full Spectrum Cycling

• 0:01
  The Occasional Dose of Fat, show number 106 for Friday, July 29th, 2016.
• 0:06
  [upbeat music] From the Fat Bike Radio Studios in the beer capital of America, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, please welcome your hosts of the Weekly Dose of Fat, Sven and Gomez.
• 0:37
  All right. Hey, Colin Forbes, ladies and gentlemen. Hi. I heard he's gonna be in town this weekend. I heard. I don't know if he's- Sorry... he's here yet or he's just on his way. Colin, if you're out there listening,
• 0:48
  uh, I don't know, take two steps back [laughs] and... Never mind. Hey, I'm your Uncle Gomez, and over there across the table, in the Land of Enchantment, is our man JK Levin.
• 1:00
  Hello, my strange friends that I haven't seen for so long and conversely. I must introduce you also to crazy Chris Daisy, or Daisy Chris Crazy. Hey, guys.
• 1:15
  [siren wailing] [laughs] Thank, thanks Dave for that, uh- Yeah, the moniker... tagging him with the moniker. Another, uh, davelunds.com original. And soon to be hashtagged. Indeed. [laughs] #CCD? Yep.
• 1:29
  [laughs] The Occasional Dose of Fat is brought to you by the Surly Junk Strap. With over 101 uses, the Surly Junk Strap runs the gamut from bike packing to light biking. Yeehaw.
• 1:45
  Strap your junk at surlybikes.com. Pa-koo. Pa-chow. [laughs] Hey JK, what's on the show this week? We start off the show with the event of the week. We welcome George Miller from Framed Bikes.
• 1:59
  We check in with the Fatty Farm Field Report, brought to you by Quiring Cycles. The Quiring Triple B is the fattest ride on two wheels, featuring the new generation of 5.05-inch tires.
• 2:10
  Visit quiringcycles.net to see the next level of bicycle exploration. We'll take calls from our listeners.
• 2:17
  We'll talk about the new Salsa lineup, and call the golf course that the USA Cycling National Championships will be held. That's Fat Bike National Championships, folks. Yeah, yeah. At a golf course.
• 2:29
  And in this evening's special segment, a man with three fat bikes. That's right. We, uh... In our special feature this, uh, this evening, Sven Armer in the spotlight, a man- One...
• 2:46
  with three- Two... fat bikes... and a half. [laughs] Does 27 plus count as a fat bike? Oh, hell yeah. [laughs] So our event of the week, uh, I saw this on the fabulous, uh, interwebs. It's over there in the UK.
• 3:03
  We tried to hook up with the folks over there at Kyles Galen Kilmine Diane Cycling and, uh, uh, what is it? Kyleside. What are you saying?
• 3:14
  Uh, we tried to hook up with this dude, but i- it just didn't work out, but we still wanna feature this as our event of the week, 'cause it's a fat fricking bike event in the summertime where you ride over, like, it's, it's, d- it's a clam dig.
• 3:28
  It's a, it's a, it's a s- all you can eat crab meat cocktail sandwich and a bike ride, or maybe not. And it's a ride for cancer, and I don't know why people would ride to get cancer, but I don't know.
• 3:42
  So- So they, they ride across the bay at low tide? Yeah. Apparently. I, it looks... This picture looks like low tide. It looks cool. Yeah. I think you'd wanna get rolling.
• 3:51
  I, at least fat bikes float if the tide comes in and you haven't made it across yet. I know. Well, they probably- The Red Sea opening kinda [laughs] thing. [laughs] Maybe they have rent a tug to...
• 4:03
  [laughs] That sounds dirty. [laughs] Maybe they have a helicopter. Helicopter. Helicopter. So, uh, we will have a link to that- And we could-... in the show notes. Yeah, we, we, we have a link.
• 4:14
  And we could have had so many other events. There's a lot of groovy events going on. You guys are gonna go play at the Riverwest 24. Ring. Ring. Ring. And, uh, there's the Wausau 24 and, uh, God knows what else.
• 4:31
  There, there's events a- plenty. And- S- most of them have some fat bike contingent within them... if not officially, there will be a presence. Presence. Indeed. Presence. [bell ringing] Oh. Nice. Top of the hill, lads.
• 4:48
  Top of the hill. Cheers. It's been a- Pretty flimsy... it's been a while- Whoop... since we, uh- Shit. Cheers. [laughs] Don't spill all over yourself. Clang. Hey, Colin. [laughs] Clang. McStanger. Ca-clang, ca-clang.
• 4:59
  McClinger. Do not spill on the technology. This is still- [laughs]... beer from, uh, our friends over there at Oscar Blues. So for those of you out there that had show 106, eh,
• 5:16
  we're into the, uh, 107's a prime number. I think that that's probably a good, good bet. Well, I just don't really drink beer here at the shop without, uh, being doing the show, so it could last a while.
• 5:28
  [laughs] We'll put our shoulders into it and see what we can come up with right after this. Oh, yeah. It's a station break time. You're tuned to Fat Bike Radio. So I heard you need a fat bike.
• 5:45
  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.
• 6:01
  [upbeat music] 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 zioncycle.com
• 6:21
  All right, everybody, we're back. Hey, this week we've been, uh, we've invited Mr. George Miller to the radio program, but before we talk to him, we actually have to dial him up on the ringy-dingy thingy,
• 6:32
  which I kinda forgot how to do. [laughs] Here we go. Here's some dialing music. I, I got the- Da, da, da, da, da, da... I got the number. Da, da. [laughs] I'm gonna put this number to my forehead like, uh- Kreskin?...
• 6:45
  Kreskin, the Amazing Kreskin and, uh... All right. I am now dialing the digits. Ding, ding. I thought that that was Carnac. Kreskin, wasn't that, uh, Johnny Carson? Yeah. Carnac. I think.
• 7:02
  I thought Kreskin was the- Look it up... Carnac, Carnac guy. We got the Google. We have the technology. We have the Google to do that with. Johnny Carson, Carnac. He was Carnac the Magnificent. See?
• 7:16
  So Kreskin was what it was based off. Good evening, it's George. Hey, George. It's, uh, Sven, Gomez, and JK all here talking to you on the, on the telly ringer. What's up, dudes?
• 7:29
  Well, uh, we, we called to talk, uh, fat bike stuff with you, and, uh- Awesome...
• 7:35
  you know, you, uh, guys are among the first to talk about the new 12-speed SRAM, your Eagle-equipped fat and plus bikes, that SRAM Eagle group. We just wanna figure out what you think of that thing.
• 7:49
  We wanna be smart like you and know how that rides. Y'all, y'all want some knowledge. [laughs] We've, we've got that. Yeah. Nice. Nice. So 12 speed, the Eagle. The Eagle has landed. Yeah.
• 8:04
  Yeah, uh, the Eagle has landed, so to say. Um, the phoenix has riven, or has risen. Uh, yeah, I mean, it's the size of a dinner plate.
• 8:14
  It's kinda ridiculous looking when you, when you actually mount it to, like, a plus bike or even a fat bike. Uh, it, it, it takes a little bit to get used to even just the look of it a- aesthetically. Mm-hmm.
• 8:26
  Um, but, uh, performance-wise it's, uh, it's pretty amazing. Uh, myself, I've gotten about, oh, 40-plus, little bit over 40 to 50 miles on it.
• 8:38
  Um, and since we're such a small group of dudes who are really kinda pushing this whole brand, um, we kinda trade it off here. Um, but in my experience here in the Midwest and in Minneapolis, uh, riding St.
• 8:51
  Paul, Minneapolis, a little bit of Duluth with it, um, it seems a bit overkill for somebody in, in my spectrum, 29 years old, rides couple days a week- Mm-hmm... um, with only a few hundred feet of elevation rise.
• 9:05
  Uh, but if somebody who's... You know, I typically run GX 32, uh, in the front. So,
• 9:14
  um, for somebody else who's gonna be riding, you know, uh, Ca- Harbor, you know, East Coast, West Coast, it can really make a huge difference to those guys. Or even somebody who's not, uh, gonna be in the best of shape.
• 9:29
  I don't know if you guys know anybody like that. Um- No, no, we're all the pillar of, uh, fitness over here- [laughs]... at, uh, Fat Bike Radio. [laughs] Yeah, yeah, it's the pillar of fitness.
• 9:38
  Uh, so I, I could see it being a definite benefit for a lot of people out there.
• 9:43
  Uh, for me personally, I don't think I'm gonna make the necessary switchover yet, um, because of where I geographically am doing 99.9% of my riding. Mm-hmm.
• 9:53
  But, you know, something like Outerbike, I'm definitely gonna see how it comes in handy while I'm chugga-lugging up Bootleg Canyon. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, that's a good climb out there, for sure.
• 10:03
  So the, the- Dude, it's dry, it's 105 degrees, and usually I'm just warped and dead by midway.
• 10:10
  So the Eagle is a 32-50 as the, as the bailout gear, and regular 1x11s are 30, 32, and then the back is a 42 bailout gear. So that is- Mm-hmm.
• 10:27
  Yeah, what's that, what's that work out to mathematical range-wise? Oh, there's no math questions. [laughs] There will be no math in the show tonight. I'm not, I'm not a scientist here, guys. That's your job. [laughs] So
• 10:39
  SRAM XX1 just shifts so good. Does Eagle equal or better that? Um, I'd say probably equal to... I can't tell you any real difference in shifting.
• 10:57
  It's just as crisp as any XX1. Mm-hmm.
• 10:59
  Uh, right now, I know we got the X01 on there, and we've got a 34-tooth, uh, race space carbon crank on it, and I can definitely tell you that there's some, it's, there's some chain pull and a little bit of difference in the Q fac- like, where that chain is gonna be running.
• 11:17
  Uh, but with that new chain on there, it's pretty spectacular.
• 11:22
  But I could see it kind of wearing a little bit quicker, um, on chains and parts than your normal, you know, even jumping up to, like, the 42 to, like, a 32-42, um, or, like, 34, uh, 50.
• 11:37
  So the shifting and the derailleurs are still really crisp, and hitting those limits are still, I mean, they're really... I, I, I can't tell you if it's any different than- Hmm... than kinda the X1.
• 11:47
  It's, it's that top-down series from SRAM. So what models, uh, in your line, uh, fat or plus bike are going to be available with this, uh, SRAM Eagle group?
• 11:58
  Um, so right now we're gonna be featuring, uh, kind of a limited edition build. We, we got- The, a limited edition build going right now, which is our, uh, Framed Alaskan Carbon.
• 12:12
  Uh, and that's gonna be coming with, you know, like I said, the framed, uh, hub carbon wheels, uh, 80 mil tubeless set up with some Maxxis Minions on it, uh, carbon cranks, and the Eagle.
• 12:28
  Um, and we're gonna be dropping this one with either a, uh, carbon Alaskan fork. It's gonna come with the Laus, or we'll even do it with a, uh, Bluto on it.
• 12:40
  Um, the low end's gonna be starting at $2,999 for this exclusive deal, so- Wow... low volume. For something brand new, that's, uh, that's a steal.
• 12:49
  We're also gonna offer it probably on the Marquette Carbon while supplies last.
• 12:54
  Um, so those are probably gonna be the two in the lineup that we really chose, kind of our high-end builds that we've spent a lot of time kind of dialing in. Yeah.
• 13:02
  Well, our buddy, uh, Dustin out in Utah has been rocking a Marquette, uh, 27+ bike- Yeah... for, I don't know, eight, six or eight weeks now. We just put a- Yeah...
• 13:12
  just put that review up on plusbikes.com, and, uh, and he seemed to like it a lot. He said it was the fastest bike on his local trail and he wanted to keep it for another [laughs] couple weeks.
• 13:23
  Yeah, and we're gonna let him, too. That was, uh [laughs] we were just like, "Hey, why don't you keep it until, uh, somebody asks where it is?" [laughs] But yeah, we're really, really happy with the review.
• 13:33
  And, you know, the biggest thing is, like, we don't see a lot of people sending out review bikes right now for the plus stuff. Seems like we're kind of the only ones out there.
• 13:41
  Um, doing it, and, you know, the other half about it is getting positive feedback and then also hearing stuff that we can build on.
• 13:47
  So our Gen 2 frames that are coming in right now, fully internal cable routed for stealth droppers. Uh, they're gonna have body armor on them.
• 13:55
  And, you know, because we're a smaller brand with a lot of liquidity to us- Mm-hmm... um, we can make things happen instantaneously, overnight.
• 14:03
  Um, so it's just one of the huge advantages of, uh, working at this company and being able to produce product so quickly.
• 14:10
  Yeah, I think that's, you know, why you guys were kind out, out ahead of the other test bikes because you don't have that 18-month or two-year development cycle that some of the big guys have just to kind of ramp stuff up, so.
• 14:24
  So George, your- Yeah, absolutely... is your carbon frame, is, are those open molds or are those proprietary to Framed? Uh, the Carbon Alaskan- Mm-hmm... uh, that frame was an open mold.
• 14:37
  Um, and we've changed it, and now basically that we have the open mold proprietary unidirectional carbon layup on it. So we have the mold open, but our EFBE certification layup that we passed- Mm-hmm...
• 14:53
  is proprietary to us. Um, and then also with the, uh, plus bikes, it began as an open mold, which then we modified in order to have exclusivity, um, in the US. Very good. Well, that answers- Yeah... my question.
• 15:09
  I'm, I'm not against open mold. I mean, and I understand that your layup is proprietary. I understand what that means, that, you know, and, and your layup went through the extensive testing.
• 15:20
  I've, I've been on your website and I've, I've read some of the stuff. Uh, you wanna share with our listeners what the testing is on that, on that, uh, carbon frame and fork? Yeah.
• 15:30
  Um, so the EFBE testing is, uh, the most stringent third-party testing that you can have done on a carbon fiber bicycle. Uh, it's done in Germany.
• 15:41
  Uh, and the fail/pass rate, it's, I think it's 6 out of 10 bikes if not more. It might even be 7 out of 10 bikes fail, uh, immediately.
• 15:53
  Some of the bikes that we've sent out there, uh, we send through the EN testing- Mm-hmm... and then we'll even send it to EFBE testing after we've done the stress test on that, and it'll still pass.
• 16:03
  It'll, so we're not the lightest carbon fiber in the market, but we are one of the strongest, definitely. But that being said, our Eagle build on that brand-new Alaskan- Mm-hmm...
• 16:14
  uh, we weighed it just before we called you guys and we came in at 25.05 pounds. Damn. Wow. That's great. And that's even including, we just threw in, um,
• 16:26
  a couple of, uh, bar stem and seat posts from our friends over at Funn- Mm-hmm... uh, to try and get them kick in a little bit, and those are all made of alloy.
• 16:35
  So we figured the touch points are the things that are, somebody's gonna buy that high-end bike, they're gonna remove those immediately.
• 16:41
  So we just decided to put those on there so you can drop this thing probably another pound and a half. Wow. Cool.
• 16:46
  Well, I think it's, it's cool, you know, that you guys, y- y- a guy that's gonna buy a bike that expensive, you know, having an extra whatever, several ounces on the carbon frame to make it more durable, uh, not just from a, you know, "I'm gonna bash it when I'm riding it," but, you know, simply from having it lean against a, a, a post or something, you know?
• 17:06
  You don't wanna smash- Yep... your bike up and, you know, have to send it to the carbon doctor [laughs] every week. Right. Well, that was- Yeah, exactly... that was my real, I was, I was hesitant about carbon.
• 17:17
  And now that I've ridden carbon rims for two years and had a lot of test bikes come through that I haven't crushed, you know? I can tell you why I was originally against carbon- [laughs]...
• 17:29
  'cause back in, like, '95 or whatever- Mm-hmm... I had a carbon seat post break and cut my, the, the whole front of my body from my navel to my throat almost. Aie. Just barely scratched it- Whoa...
• 17:41
  but if it had been a little bit different angle, it would have, I would have been skewered [laughs] by the thing.
• 17:47
  So I kinda gave up on it for a while, but I mean, they made leaps and bounds, and obviously things are much different now, but that was kind of at the beginning of, you know, small guys trying to figure out how to make it work, and you're like, "Uh-huh, it didn't quite work."
• 17:58
  [laughs] Yep. Well, well said. Yeah. So I'm, I'm back to riding carbon again now. Not on a seat post, though. [laughs] Handlebars- No seat post... some frames, um- I still- Yep...
• 18:09
  um, I ride a carbon seatpost and on the, one of the test bikes that I'm riding right now I'm sure they're fine. Yeah. I just have this kind of thing- [laughs]... where I'm like, "Ah." Uh, well, George?
• 18:21
  Well, just wear some body armor, a little bit of a tough, you know, maybe you can, uh, get some of that Fox just downhill armor. [laughs] Just go full carbon, man.
• 18:30
  Yeah, I could g- maybe get some Kevlar from the local constabulary for their, uh- Yeah, the-... flak jackets... the riot police at the, one of the- Yeah, from, uh, Cleveland or whatever.
• 18:39
  [laughs] They're done with that stuff now. They're- You can go over there, get it on the cheap, dude. [laughs] They bought it for, they bought all that stuff OEM anyways. That's right. We'll just go to that auction.
• 18:47
  Yeah. The RNC auction when they go out. [laughs] When they sell off all that stuff.
• 18:52
  Hey, you know when they had the, uh, uh, they had, you know, the election when, when, uh, Obama was last elected, and when the people close up shop, they sure leave a lot of stuff around, you know? Like- Yeah...
• 19:04
  I get this awesome Rubbermaid huge 55-gallon garbage can, and there was, like, 20 of them sitting outside the, the office from where they, they had their, you know, uh, election, whatever office.
• 19:16
  And, like, when they're done, they just don't, you know, they, all that, they don't use that stuff anymore. Well- So you stole Obama's garbage cans? But I'm thinking about it. That's right. That's what you're saying.
• 19:26
  [laughs] That's what I'm saying. Sorry. [laughs] Well, when, when I see you guys out at Outer Bike or Inner Bike- Uh-huh...
• 19:30
  I'll tell you guys a story about the, uh, the RNC when, uh, Rage Against the Machine came to Minneapolis. I, I, this is an off-air story, but- [laughs]... it is a terrific one. All right. All right, sounds good.
• 19:41
  Love the Rage. Yeah. Yeah, and actually, what's the, what's the- Love them... what's the new band? Prophets of Rage. Yeah. I'm kind of looking forward to seeing them. I know they're playing out at Red Rocks.
• 19:47
  I'm trying to figure out how to get out to Denver for that right before, uh, Inner Bike. But there's planes, trains, automobiles. Fairy dust. [laughs] Planes, trains, automobiles. Well, I'll arrange for there.
• 19:59
  It's more of a cash dollar situation. Oh. Oh. So I'm gonna start a- All right... I'm gonna start a Fund Me site [laughs] so I can go to the concert. Please send Sven- Send Sven... to Red Rocks. Yeah, send him there.
• 20:11
  Well, George, we appreciate the call and all the information. Sounds like, uh- Awesome... sounds like, uh, you know, every dentist needs fricking Eagle. So let's, uh- That's right...
• 20:22
  let's get some of our dentist friends to get it and see how it is after a year. And then- That's right. Well, hey, man, we, we price it right so you don't have to be a dentist to get it. I know, dude. I saw that.
• 20:33
  It's a full carbon fat bike with carbon wheels and SRAM Eagle for 39.99. That's- 29 29.99. 29.99. That's the right price. Just took $1,000 off just now. Yep.
• 20:52
  Tell them Uncle Gomez sent you. [laughs] They'll send you the, they'll give you a free steak knife. I'm gonna send you guys full specs for all the listeners.
• 20:59
  Everybody'll get the full specs when you guys do the writeup and on the show. I'll get you guys all the information you need. And for everybody out there riding fat, keep it easy, keep fat bikes fun. Cool.
• 21:08
  All right, George. Thanks, George. Thank you. We'll see you later. Bye. Awesome. Thanks, guys. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. Hey, Mr. George Miller from Framed Bikes, that was great. I know. He, he was a font of knowledge.
• 21:22
  I know. Lots of, lots of good inside info. George is the man. If he can't do it, no one can. So why, [laughs] why don't we- Talk show...
• 21:32
  take a quick break here, and, uh, when we come back, we'll stumble through the Fatty Farm Field Report. And beyond. Hi, this is Eric from Surly. Beanbag chairs, lava lamps, pintos.
• 21:48
  Those things and more on Fat Bike Radio with Gomez and Sten. [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.
• 22:07
  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.
• 22:19
  Visit 1upusa.com for more information on the fastest loading, highest quality rack solutions. You're tuned to Fat Bike Radio.
• 22:36
  Hey, welcome back to the radio program. Let's slip and slide into that Fatty Farm Field Report. The Fatty Farm Field Report is brought to you by Quiring Cycles.
• 22:46
  The Quiring Triple B is the fattest ride on two wheels, featuring the new generation of 5.05 inch tires. Visit quiringcycles.net to see the next level of bicycle exploration. Exploration. Exploration.
• 23:00
  With the extra.05 inches..05. Did you feel, did you feel that, baby? [laughs] That was the extra.05 inches. [laughs] Ha ha. Ha ha.
• 23:14
  [laughs] Hey, how about, how about, uh, Chris Daisy on, on last show we did, show number 105, was that not great having him here in the studio? It was great, but we missed JK- Yeah... more than- At all...
• 23:26
  and that's why I had to tell him he looked really nice today. [laughs] Plus, he does. He, he Lemmy'd. I, I d- I never knew that you could Lemmy before today. Oh. But I highly recommend it.
• 23:37
  Well, wait till he has the whiskey and Coke in front of him. Then he really can- [laughs] Right?... he can do the Lemmy thing real well. [laughs] And what, isn't that what you call it, a Lemmy? Yeah. Yeah.
• 23:45
  Well, it's Jack and Coke, but I don't like Jack, so it's whiskey Coke, so it's like a generic Lemmy. Generic Lemmy. Yeah, so. Right on. [laughs] Just give me the real whiskey and Coke. I need the caffeine.
• 23:56
  Gotta keep moving. Gotta keep moving. [laughs] Hey, speaking of moving, guess who's moving on up to the east side? Mr. Greg Herbal.
• 24:03
  [laughs] He's, uh, that's not really fat bike news, but, you know, we just talked about a SRAM drivetrain, so- I know I know He's retiring after 25 years for SRAM 25 years of service over there at the old SRAM RockShox, uh, grand poobah captain area.
• 24:17
  I met Greg at the old, uh, Chicago Bicycle Dealers CABDA show. Mm-hmm. Yep, yep. I used to be at those. Those were- And, uh-... a long time ago in a land Rosemonty away.
• 24:28
  [laughs] Just a couple years ago, he, uh, bought me a beer at the, [laughs] at, oh, Chili's or whatever adjacent to the, uh, uh, yeah, Frost Bike place. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, there you go. Chi-Chi's.
• 24:42
  Well, hey, Greg, thanks for all you did for, uh, cycling. I don't-- I would imagine you're still gonna stay in it, but- 'Cause-... at some, to some extent Yeah, 'cause we know he listens. [laughs] Yeah, absolutely.
• 24:52
  Hey, we should have him on the show. We should, now that he's retired. Right? He's got nothing better to do but talk to us schmucks on the- [laughs]... on the radio program. He did, he did, uh, fat bike testing.
• 25:02
  Well, there you go, so he's an expert as well, unlike us. He talked to me off the record about it, so we can't really talk about it. Oh, well, maybe you can now that he's not there anymore. Exactly. There you go.
• 25:12
  Hey, Greg, give us, give us a call. We're [laughs]-- the lines are open, 818-918-2453. That's 818-918-BIKE. [laughs] Hey, Quality Bicycle Products has the, uh, their new Station Wagon EXP line, the Anything Cradle.
• 25:26
  Yeah, they've got a bunch of different stuff, bike packing gear, basically. Uh, the Anything Cradle's part of it that does your seat pack area, which seems to have some kinda slidey in and outy thing.
• 25:37
  It's all very, very, very secretive. We'll probably see more of that at, uh, Interbike. And, uh, it's injection, injection molded type of cage. Yep, truck tough tested. Uh, so yeah, that's, that's what we [laughs] you...
• 25:50
  Yeah, I wanna run it over- [laughs]... with my truck. See if it breaks. There you go. Bet you it does. You can see more about that in the show notes, maybe. Maybe. Maybe.
• 26:00
  So let's just call this golf course that is holding [laughs] USA Cycling Fat Bike National Championships. This is a friend of ours, Nate Phelps.
• 26:10
  He's th- this is kinda like a stab in the [laughs] back a little, but come on, dude, you're holding the USA Cycling Fat Bike National Championships at Indian Trails Golf Course there in, uh, Grand Rapids.
• 26:24
  And- Uh, hopefully a snow-covered Indian Trails Golf Course... I had this really [laughs] good thought of getting together with, like, Gary Fisher, getting a foursome together.
• 26:34
  Gary Fisher, um, Sven, of course, me, maybe Greg Mattis, and we'll all go golfing on that course using fat bikes. So- But with five-inch tires. With five-inch tires.
• 26:52
  See, there you go. [laughs] So f- fat golfing, fat bike golfing, golfing using fat bikes as golf carts. Can we do it polo style, where we just ride up to the ball and swing the club? Yeah, you could just, like...
• 27:05
  Well, no. We just play best ball. Oh, there you go. You know? I like best ball 'cause- Best ball... that way I don't have to be the best. Exactly. [laughs] I just get to hit the ball.
• 27:12
  That way I don't have to hit from the ladies' tees with my- [laughs]... wiener hanging out of my pants. [laughs] I, I haven't, I have not played stick golf in a very long time. I would have- Yeah...
• 27:21
  to borrow clubs, or we could just borrow one set of clubs and use them, 'cause we're [laughs] gonna stink up the course, but- Oh, I, I've got one in my, I've got a set in my garage. I just haven't used them.
• 27:30
  But that's what pioneering a new sport is all about. So- Drinking beverages- I w-... playing games... people would make fun of me for my 25-year-old set of clubs. They'd be like, "What, you can't upgrade?"
• 27:40
  It's like, "Yeah, no." [laughs] We don't make fun of people with- I buy new-... 25-year-old bikes... I, [laughs] I'm having a ride on, on Labor Day that's all about riding a 25-year-old fat- or, uh, mountain bike.
• 27:51
  Thank you. Oh, well, there you go. I got one in the other room- I know... hanging from the ceiling. I know. You're a prime candidate for this ride. Yeah. Labor Day, though, so you probably are in the parade or something.
• 28:00
  Maybe. So, uh, yeah. So let's call those guys. Yeah, okay. Beep, boop, boop, beep, boop, boop. Brring.
• 28:17
  [phone ringing] Indian Trails. May I help you? Yes. I, I have a, a, a question about, you guys are, uh, you, you do [static] fat bike rides on, on your golf course? We do what now?
• 28:33
  Do you allow fat bikes on the golf course to play- Oh, not-... as a- We do in the winter. Oh, you do in the winter, 'cause you're hosting, uh- Yeah, we have... We, uh, we actually host, uh, fat tire races
• 28:46
  here, and this coming February, we're hosting the national fat tire race. Right, the national championships. That's what brought your course to my attention.
• 28:57
  See, I, I have clubs, and I have friends with clubs that all ride fat bikes. We could, we could put the clubs on our backs and ride- Okay... the bikes. That's not- [laughs] Yeah, I don't think we'd allow that.
• 29:09
  Um, I could run that by my general manager, but with the course being under construction, um, I think that they would rather people walk or stick to carts. Gotcha. All right.
• 29:22
  I know, I, I, I see where the fascination comes from, and, uh, that would probably be fine, but, um, I'm not sure that they'd be excited about doing that right now. I can talk to him and take your name if you'd like.
• 29:36
  Okay. My name is Gomez. Let me, uh... What's that again? It's Gomez. I, I'm sorry. It, it's kind of like there's a scratching in the background. Did you say Bill? Phil. And my number is...
• 29:59
  And your name is Bill, B-I-L-L? Right. Correct. There's some really weird scratching going on, like you're in an odd spot. So you would like to come out with friends and ride-
• 30:19
  All right. I will let our, uh, director know, and he can give you a call and he'll probably say no, I'll just tell you that up front with everything going on, but I'll let him know that that's your interest. All right.
• 30:29
  Thanks so much. Thank you. Bye bye. Boy, you sure know how [laughs] to talk to a guy about his event, don't you? Dude, I Jedi mind trick-ed that dude. [laughs] Nate's gonna be like, "Oh, man, you're such a..."
• 30:43
  [laughs] "... such a freaking, fracking micker fracker schicker." Dude. No, I, I... Well, maybe Nate should be in our foursome because- Well, maybe... then he could,
• 30:52
  he could share in the glory of creating this new bike niche, 'cause I mean, it'll be fat bikes, but then you need fat bikes like those fucking Cogburn things that have like golf bags on them and shit.
• 31:04
  Maybe it should be a fat trike. Maybe. With, uh, you gotta have cooler. You gotta have some place for your beer. Side by side tandem fat bike. Ooh, a four-wheeler. Hmm. Oh, yeah. With a beer cooler in the middle.
• 31:17
  Oh, yeah. Yeah, I think more, uh, more- And the side... more golfers would be in better shape if they pedaled their cart around anyway, so. Yeah. That's- And we would save- It's doable... thousands of gnomes lives,
• 31:31
  'cause the batteries and stuff, or maybe Canadian Geese. I don't know. Suck on the gas pipe of those. [laughs] So, uh, JK, you wanna say a few, uh, few words- Oh, we're-... about, uh, about the RW24? River West 24 coming
• 31:48
  starting tonight, and there's a motley crew with Spinner, Chewy- Kenny... Kenny. Nielsen. Uh. Jackass Dave. [laughs] Dave. Or Whiskey Dave probably by the end of the race.
• 32:05
  And, uh, the host of the, uh, base camp would be Tony Briger. Yeah, it's like, uh, you know, we've talked about this every year since we've been doing this.
• 32:14
  It's a 24-hour race through the streets of our own River West, where our studio's located, and actually [laughs] last year we had a stop at, I think, 3:00 AM in this very building. Oh, that was- 'Cause they-...
• 32:26
  actually when I had slept. Oh. When I actually fell asleep, I was like, "Oh, well, whoops."
• 32:30
  [laughs] Yeah, they, they do it every, every, basically every hour there's a bonus checkpoint where you get to do something community-based and then gain extra points for your, uh, inevitable victory.
• 32:43
  Against yourself, yes. Right. Yeah. [laughs] And the name of the team- But the-... this year is Drunk in the Trunk. Drunk in the Trunk. I guess, uh, it's- Nice... it's, uh, all, all cargo bikes.
• 32:54
  It's, it's cargo, cargo, exercycle. Yeah, speaking of drunk in the trunk, we got one of the team members on the phone right now. Uh-oh. Oh, here we go. Drunk in the Trunk, what do you think of the name, Chewy?
• 33:06
  Um, I'm not sure. I was having a different conversation. [laughs] I really wasn't listening to you guys.
• 33:11
  [laughs] Hey, we were just talking about the River West 24 team that you are, uh, uh, jetting your way in- Oh, is that the name of my team?... your private aircraft. Yeah, Drunk in the Trunk.
• 33:22
  Oh, yeah, that's what it is, isn't it? Mm-hmm. I, uh, I'm pretty impressed with it, considering what we're all riding, considering what
• 33:28
  we're supposedly doing, I think it's gonna be pretty good time, and I think it's fitting.
• 33:33
  I was busy having a conversation with, uh, Kelsey about the, uh, correct position to be drinking beer in, so going from that to talking to you clowns is kinda, you know. [laughs] Kelsey, Kelsey Walsh?
• 33:45
  Can you segue that real nice for us? Or, or different Kelsey? [laughs] What was that? Is that Kelsey Walsh or, or Kelsey somebody else? Yes. No, Kelsey Walsh. Oh, crepes. Put her on the line for just a second.
• 34:04
  I don't, I don't have her on the line. It's been text. She's, uh- Oh, you're texting... I'm not, I don't know what- Oh, forget- Yeah... about it, darling. I'm in the, I'm into the new, I'm into the new age, you know. Oh.
• 34:14
  Well, in some ways because from what I understand...
• 34:19
  Well, actually, I, I taunted you with [laughs] last week's show, said, "Hey, Chewy, we had a guy on that said carbon fiber bikes are every bit as repairable, if not more repairable, than your darling cherub steel bikes."
• 34:33
  What say you on the subject? So do you want me just to fucking go off right now, or do you wanna actually have a conversation? [laughs] Do you wanna take it apart a little or what?
• 34:43
  [laughs] Oh, uh, I, I think that, I think, uh- It's, it's your show, Chewy. Yeah, yeah. We're just, we're just the moderators. Exactly. Well, to start off with, here's my, here's my take on carbon fiber repair
• 34:59
  companies, because it's four people. Right. So it's a small group of guys that do it. They didn't actually come out of the bike industry from all I can tell. None of them have. I mean, some of them race bikes.
• 35:13
  Some of them think they can race bikes. Some of them, I don't even know if they ride bikes. But the thing I found out talking to, listening to your guy,
• 35:22
  knowing one of the other guys, and just in general guys that have played with it, two things: none of them came out of the bike industry, and secondly, I don't think any of them can keep a fucking job.
• 35:36
  [laughs] Because by the time they've gotten to fixing carbon fiber frames, it's like their 18th job. [laughs] But one of the jobs that this guy had was building racing yachts for the Canadian Olympic team.
• 35:55
  Yeah, so- [laughs]... Canadian Olympic team. I mean, you don't have to go any farther with that, for God's sake. [laughs] You know? At least they're not banned yet from the Olympics this year.
• 36:06
  It's, it's on, it's on, it's on Lake of the Woods, and they're trolling for walleyes and that thing. Don't, it, it doesn't matter. As long as it floats, it doesn't matter. Well, how about Sean Small? You know that dude?
• 36:19
  You know, I don't know Sean, so I can't really pick on him much. Do I know him? Maybe I've met him. I don't know. I don't think so. I don't know. He's out of the- All I know is I know that-
• 36:27
  He's out of Milwaukee originally. That tribe of, uh, fixed-gear kids that came out of, uh, out of Milwaukee in the, in the 2000s Well, how do you do a fixed, how do you do a fixed-gear carbon bike? You can't.
• 36:40
  They all, they all evolved- Well, I mean, think about... Well-... further into the- But think about it this way... into the cycling culture. Well, most of it Think about it this way.
• 36:48
  Any important part on your bicycle- Yeah... carbon or otherwise, what's it made out of? Your bottom bracket, your headset, parts that hold your wheels on, what are they made out of? Uh- I don't know.
• 37:00
  I, I always say magic [laughs] 'Cause, uh, I'm just amazed that bikes- And don't get me wrong, we can still wreck that stuff. [laughs] I mean, it happens all the time, but- It's true...
• 37:14
  you can, you can melt it down and make a brand new one. You don't have to throw a piece of patch on it. All right, you got them there. You know, and, and I think- As far as, like, melting shit down- And then-...
• 37:23
  and making swords out of, out of shit, steel, better than carbon fiber, I think. Sure. Yeah, the, the carbon fiber never goes away, either. It'll be here when the, you know- Really?... the next humans come. Really?
• 37:35
  Oh, yeah. But it won't be in the sh- it won't be in the form of a bicycle. Well, it doesn't, you know, it doesn't decompose, so- A steel bicycle will always be in the shape of a steel bicycle, unless it becomes a sword.
• 37:44
  Well, there's some, there's some guy or a group of people that have put together some company that's gonna shred carbon bikes so that they're not the landfill problem that they could be if they just throw them in the ground.
• 37:56
  [laughs] Well, a picture just, just flashed in my head of, "I've seen things, man." [laughs] I'm just, I'm just, I'm just picturing- Things...
• 38:06
  I'm just picturing the guy with one eye and the other one's hanging out and half of him's hair missing from all the carbon fiber dust that he's been, that he's been whiffing while he's been cutting that shit for two years.
• 38:17
  Oh, yeah. [laughs] And he's just turning into a- That's on the I- You know, he's turning into a- I think it's on the Ivory Coast over there where they started with the boats- Oh, well. Here you go...
• 38:24
  but they're out of boats now, so... [laughs] So you're gonna come to Milwaukee this weekend- Well, I'm in-... aren't ya? I w- and you won't, and you won't be there, will you?
• 38:35
  Well, you know, there's a, there's a rumor that I might be. There's a chance. Uh-oh. There's a, you know. There's a chance? Oh, yeah. Like, like I always say, two out of three ain't bad. [laughs] JJ and I will be here.
• 38:46
  [laughs] Oh, yeah. What do you need me for when you got these two d- Support crew... darling, these two darlings. Yeah. [laughs] The support staff always- Y'all gonna have to-... needs another hand- Oh...
• 38:58
  to entertain and hydrate. Yeah. Enter- So Sven's gonna be taking pictures, so make sure to bring your leather chaps, and, uh- Ooh... JK's on your team, so- Oh, JK- No, no, no... JK's rolling solo. I'm solo. What? Yeah.
• 39:13
  No way. I'm just... You're solo, right. Yep. So you're staying with us, right? Yeah. Or- And I heard rumor- Uh-oh...
• 39:20
  um, through our Facebook page of the team that if there's a new bar that opens up, that the race is canceled and we're all going to the bar instead. What, The Black Husky? [laughs] Yeah. That's it.
• 39:33
  'Cause that's al- that's already open. [laughs] Well, there goes that. Never mind. We were... Well. That was one of my faster races, then. [laughs] S- so when are you gonna be- I mean, I made it to the riders meeting.
• 39:48
  [laughs] When are you gonna arrive in, in our fair city? I'm bringing my dummy, 'cause I think we're all racing cargo bikes, aren't we? Right, right. Yep. And when are you showing up with- Yeah... said dummy?
• 39:59
  Uh, uh, we'll be there Friday noon. I'm, I guess, pick, uh, spin her up around noon. So I suppose, what? 1:30-ish. Yeah. 2:00. Somewhere in there. Time enough to get in some, uh- She'll be there...
• 40:11
  some recon laps and stuff like that there. Well, Tony says we have to do a training. We have to do a, a, a pre-lap ride.
• 40:21
  Yeah, it's a good idea to know where you're going, 'cause there's many different ways to get to where we're going, so... I just need to know the shortest. [laughs] There's the team physical.
• 40:32
  There's the team prayer session. [laughs] There's the team choir practice. Where's the Google Maps path of least resistance?
• 40:39
  [laughs] There's the- I'm gonna bring a carbon frame down there and just throw it on the street and let people stomp on it. [laughs] There's team yoga at 8:00 PM. There's God knows what else. Cheering.
• 40:51
  So yeah- How, how long is a lap? I don't know. Four and a half-ish miles per lap. Grueling. Really? Sort of depends on how you do it, but- I was gonna-... there's, there's, there could be stairs or no stairs.
• 41:03
  There could be cutting off lawns and grass- Really?... and, like, you know. There's a bunch of different ways to roll. There's, there's talk of,
• 41:10
  there's talk of, uh, having to do a sidecar with Kelsey playing her banjo and singing at least for one lap. Sounds good. Very good. Very good. Well, that... Yeah, so that should be interesting.
• 41:23
  We'll need to- Other than that, this is the first time I've done it... take video of that I feel like you guys have had a blast at it. Oh, it's, it's one of the best ideas- Yeah... somebody's ever come up with.
• 41:31
  I mean, the original event was designed to, um, gather the community together around an event, and it basically, uh, circles the River West community. It's, it's not a real big area of town. It's in Milwaukee.
• 41:46
  It's, like, one of the neighborhoods. And the idea was to get everybody coalescing around an event, and this one was what they came up with, and it's really gotten...
• 41:56
  Just, like, you'll see when you get here, everybody's out on their porches watching and partying and making a very good day for- Oh, it sounds- It's awesome A good 24 hours.
• 42:06
  Well, but it sounds like a blast and, and it sounds like the weather's gonna be good, and, um, but sadly, they're gonna do one more after. This year's their 10th, and then they're done.
• 42:13
  I, I, I, it's- Are you gonna take it over then? It's a good question. Um, you know, it's grown from a couple hundred people in the original events to a, they cap it at 1,000 now. It's a lot of people.
• 42:25
  Not every bike rider is the most safe person when they're riding on a city street. You know? Yeah. They're just- Well, the game doesn't race the whole time. No, no. [laughs] Um, there has never been a serious injury.
• 42:40
  I mean, people have gotten hit by cars and stuff, and legs are broken and this and that, but there's never been anything life-threatening. Um, but, you know, the way people carry on, the streets are open.
• 42:51
  This is not a closed-course thing. You know, you just have to hit- Oh, really? Okay. I didn't know that. No. No, no. You hit- Okay...
• 42:56
  four, you hit four different checkpoints with a manifest like a messenger might get that gets punched at each one of those checkpoints every lap. But how you get to those checkpoints is entirely up to you.
• 43:05
  You can use alleys. You can use the streets. You can, you know, you can use bike paths. However you wanna get there is up to you. Oh, sweet. Yeah, so. Oh, okay, cool. Um, and- There's stoplights.
• 43:15
  Sometimes they're green-... speaking of injuries-... sometimes they're not. [laughs] Not to change the subject, but speaking of injuries, did, did you hear that a guy died on RAGBRAI in the second mile of the first day?
• 43:25
  Oh, yeah. Well, I heard that he died, but, uh- I didn't, I didn't... Kim, uh, Kim West, uh, I- That's who it was... is a buddy of mine, and he, um, had said that he went by there at 6:30 or something.
• 43:34
  It was very early in the day. And, uh- Yeah, but you know, that's, that's not unusual for us. I mean, there's a large group of people that leave that early in the morning.
• 43:42
  Uh, he, he's not, he's not even the first one out at 6:30. There's people that leave. There's people that are leaving when we're getting in usually. Yeah. [laughs] True that.
• 43:50
  When, when was the last time you did the RAGBRAI? Um, we did, I did, oh, probably three, four years ago. Um, Sav and I and Captain took Bear. I don't know if you remember Bear or not.
• 44:05
  Um, he was one of the original Team Evil guys from Chicago. Mm-hmm. And- Oh... I don't know if it's true or not, but I think he got RAGBRAI-ed into divorce.
• 44:14
  And so we took him on a three-day part of RAGBRAI when it w- was in Charles City area to Waterloo, and we literally did... Well, we got to, we was ending in Charles City, and we met him there. We started there.
• 44:27
  We rode backwards seven miles on the course, went off the course, went to a town, never left the town, woke up in some guy's yard the next morning.
• 44:33
  Jumped back on our bikes, went back to Charles City, took our bikes apart, found an easier way to get to Waterloo, but only made it as far as Cedar Falls, and then went back to Charles City the next day.
• 44:44
  So we rode roughly seven miles of the course in three days. [laughs] [laughs] Well, that's kind of the way you do RAGBRAI, though, these days, right? But, oh yeah.
• 44:53
  Um, we had two buses leave Rochester for it, and they, because of how strict they are with the buses now, the buses have their own,
• 45:03
  like each night or each day off course, the buses are in, are in charge of finding a bar to park at that's not on course.
• 45:12
  And then the buses all meet there, and then the riders meet the buses there, and it, uh, it, uh, sounds like they have a good... It sounds like an old RAGBRAI rather than what's going on now in RAGBRAI. Huh, interesting.
• 45:22
  Yeah, well, I mean, we've done some, uh, anti-RAGBRAI RAGBRAIs too during the same time, just on different roads, that have been great out there in Iowa. There was the group out of Dubuque.
• 45:32
  I don't remember if you remember that. They had the greatest T-shirt ever. It was a picture of a dead fish, and they said, "Only dead fish follow the stream." [laughs] And they never, they never did RAGBRAI on the route.
• 45:42
  They were always off route, and then they would just pull into the party towns and then go back off route. And they did, all the years I was out there with them, they never did RAGBRAI on the route.
• 45:51
  I saw a picture of, um, Scott Dixon lying, taking a little bit of a breather. It looks like he's, uh, actually riding sort of with the group now instead of, as he's done in the past, done the whole course in one day.
• 46:03
  [laughs] Oh, yeah, that's right. He used to start at Bu- he'd start on the last day and then catch up with everybody at the finish. Yeah, that's crazy. 500 miles in a 24-hour period or whatever it is.
• 46:14
  [laughs] Oh, beer hugger. Yeah, that happened to me too with mine. What's the deal with that? [laughs] Shake his damn beers. It's good. Is he shaking them up as he gives them to us? No. Dude, [laughs]
• 46:23
  it's 'cause it's on- Same guy. Oh. He, he better get in more practice than that before this weekend, I can tell you that. Oh, yeah.
• 46:29
  [laughs] Oh, we could, we could run out of, uh, we could run out of Oskar Blues beer over there at the old- Oh... River West 24. Oh, so maybe 106 will be the lucky winner. I don't know. So Chewy, Chewy.
• 46:41
  [laughs] Here's, d- Yeah... have you seen the new, uh, Salsa fat bike lineup? Um, the only one I saw, and I just said, "That's it. I'm never fucking looking at their stuff again," was the- The hideous-... wood-...
• 46:54
  raised chainstay thing... wood stuck thing some kind or other. Yeah. Bl- yeah. Well, have you seen this? Which again is- Man... an elevated chainstay on one side, which Mshiki did 20 fucking years ago on a steel bike.
• 47:05
  Yeah. So once again, carbon sucks, and it's not even, you know, all it's copied, all it's copying a 1982 design that was spooky enough to ride.
• 47:14
  And then they weren't sure about it, so they only put an elevated chainstay on one side. [laughs] Did you notice that? [laughs] Yeah. Yeah. And I was trying to figure out what- I saw that...
• 47:22
  that little stubby part going in front of the bottom bracket is. It's like, why does that just... It looks like a, a foot forward design or something.
• 47:29
  Because guys, the guy probably built carbon fi- He was probably a hockey stick repair guy to start with. [laughs] Well, they, uh- I mean, and that- You know that there's a, there's a carbon Mukluk now, dude...
• 47:41
  next thing, next thing you... [laughs] So they- Well, it's, it's still a Mukluk. I know. I know. It's, you know, it's, um, I, and I'll be honest with you, I've only rode that one- It's really like a Blackbourn.
• 47:52
  They got rid of the Blackbourn. Yeah, that was my favorite bike of- But, but they made all of their-... a couple years ago... all of their Mukluks like the Blackbourn but in aluminum or your favorite carbon.
• 48:03
  At some pretty attractive pricing, dude. I'm telling you, that's one thing- Well, I did notice that... is you're gonna see these prices coming down. I, I did, I was pretty, I was impressed with their pricing.
• 48:12
  There's no doubt about that. But- And a red, white, and blue-... that goes to show-... Captain America bear grease... well- I mean, come on U-G-L- Okay. Y, that thing is ugly. It's the picture I sent you.
• 48:25
  [laughs] It's the picture I sent you. That's how they make carbon. You saw that, that picture I sent you? All that red poop you sent me? Yeah. That's how they make carbon. You call that stuff poop?
• 48:34
  That's how they make carbon I was gonna say, dude, if you- They give it to DJ's dog, Judah, Judah eats it,
• 48:40
  and then she poops it out, and then when he's done pooping it out, you can take a stick and make it into anything you want, and that's how they make a carbon fiber bike.
• 48:47
  [laughs] That's, that's like the cheapest 3D printer on the market. [laughs] That was, that was- You spay or neuter any dog, and you too can make a carbon whatever.
• 48:59
  That was from Arizona Single Speed, and DJ's dog Judah ate a whole big, those big tubs of Red Vines- Yeah... and then threw it up.
• 49:07
  And then, and then you have 10 of us standing around in a circle staring at it, and Sammy decides that, "I wonder what happens if you poke it with a stick?" And then we discover that you could make it into form.
• 49:20
  [laughs] So we're in the park playing in this pile of dog puke, Red Vines. [laughs] Oh, my God. Welcome- Yeah. Welcome, Milwaukee. Mr. Chewy is gonna be here.
• 49:31
  [laughs] Making- And then Chewy, and Chewy nearly ate a carbon fiber bicycle... making crucifixes out of dog puke. Yeah. That's, that's what I would do.
• 49:41
  So, uh, yeah, so we, we actually- So we- We s- we, we danced into the fat bike links with you there. Did you feel that? Mm-hmm. 'Cause our, our salsa- I feel it. I felt it... our salsa lineup.
• 49:53
  Did, did you guys look at that salsa lineup at all? Oh, yeah. So am I- You know what? Here's what I was seeing. There's a couple guys we know, uh, that have, are looking at that, what is that thing called?
• 50:03
  The Woodhouse or something. Yeah. That are like- Yeah... "Oh, this looks like my new race bike for 2017." Oh, yeah, and I would think that the- They're salsa suck-ups...
• 50:12
  I would think that those guys- I, I wonder if they-... over at Trek are looking at it and saying, "Oh, they stole our idea." Well, are they gonna be able to buy these things- I know... at REI?
• 50:21
  Can our buddies that- Uh-... that have their local bike shop- Oh, my God, yeah, there's the- Can they go to REI and get these bikes? Because- There's that, too...
• 50:27
  you know, the bike, the bike shops- Uh, yes, you know what?... couldn't get salsa last year. You couldn't even get them when you wanted to sell them.
• 50:32
  Now, now you have to sign an agreement to, you know, to, to sell at their pricing, uh, and that they're the internet cheapskate shit, but you, they don't have an exclusive in a town.
• 50:43
  So for example, the, there's one shop in Rochester that's now a salsa dealer, but everybody else can be a salsa dealer also if they want to. Oh.
• 50:50
  That sounded like what Surly used to do until they decided they wouldn't sell to everybody or something weird. No, they're b- they sell to everybody. Except for us. They just- [laughs]
• 51:00
  No, they actually explain the whole thing in that, in that, in another link here in this bicycle retailer deal. They explain the whole ex- Oh, the s- the, y- yeah, Surly's trimming down their fat bike line. Right, right.
• 51:13
  To temporarily- Well, I mean, what-... maybe... I mean, what they're doing is, and I, and don't you think that's what salsa's doing as well? Or modernizing. I mean, it's, it's the natural progression of fat bikes.
• 51:23
  Now you've got wider hubs, so you don't need...
• 51:26
  I mean, I'm, right, right now what I'm doing is I'm taking my Pugsley apart to drop it off to Spinners, and that's what I'll be racing in, um, Single Speed USA in Pittsburgh- Mm-hmm, mm-hmm... um, in August.
• 51:36
  And, and I, I, that's still one of my favorite bikes to ride, yeah.
• 51:39
  It's a little bit, I don't want to say it's squirrely because two minutes on it, it feels like it's always felt, and it doesn't really feel squirrely with the, you know, with the offset front and rear bonnet.
• 51:50
  But it's, I mean, back when they made those, that was how you had to do it because there was a 135 hub and that was it, and you had to get around the tire, and you had to get the chain line right. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
• 51:59
  So there's new hubs, there's new all that stuff.
• 52:01
  So the Pugsley, for the most part, and along with the Moonlander and probably, I know there's a ton of other bikes out there that kind of fall in that same category, where you can do a symmetrical frame design now because you don't need to fit it to a hub.
• 52:16
  The hub is actually fitting to the bike, and everything's lining up better. That doesn't mean it's a good riding bike. It just doesn't look so weird. Right, right.
• 52:22
  There's still a, a lot of fat bikes out there that ride like shit because they, they, you know, it's- Well, they- It's a huffy idea, you know?
• 52:30
  Draw a picture of it, and that looks like what they're selling, so we'll just draw that picture and have somebody make it for us, and that's our mountain bike- [laughs]... and it's just as good as theirs. Right.
• 52:38
  It's not.
• 52:38
  Yeah, Surly did, they, they, they did talk some about, uh, you know, the market's maturing obviously, and everybody came out with one, but there's a lot of people kind of jumping back out because it's not really their thing, and I, I, I think that's a great idea.
• 52:50
  I think that people that are in this to sell fat bikes should, it should be their thing, you know? Right. They should at least, you know, you gotta walk the walk.
• 52:58
  Here's, here's- Well, right, and you know- Here's a perfect example is Richie came, they, they made a frame. They, they put it out there.
• 53:05
  They really didn't sell that many, and now that Richie frame and fork, half price, dude. 500 bucks you can get a Japanese steel Richie Logic
• 53:19
  fat bike that won't take a suspension fork, that's a 170, and you know, the, th- th- those are drawbacks for some people for, but not a lot of other people. Or get one of these for 500 bucks.
• 53:31
  [laughs] That is a sweet ass bike. That is a really nice bike for 500 bucks. Um, and you know, uh, the, the, as the price is coming down, in Rochester anyway, I mean, honest, they're becoming a commuter bike, you know?
• 53:44
  It's, uh, for the average person in Rochester to get to Mother Mayo or some place, or their, or where their main job is, you know, it's not, it's less than a 10-mile ride for everybody. Right.
• 53:55
  And you can ride all year round, and there's decent parking, and you can, there's, you know, we've got, um, the bike boxes in park, in parking ramps and stuff, so, um, and I see these guys, um, riding year-round now.
• 54:06
  I mean, that's, that is their only mode of transportation is the fat bike. Well, I see a lot of- Which I don't think anybody ever intended it to be...
• 54:13
  a lot of hand-wringing and a lot of, "Oh, fat bikes are, they're past their prime and the, the bubble burst," and you know, that's, that's a shame for people that sell bikes and want you to buy a new bike all the time.
• 54:28
  But the doing of the thing, the fat biking, is still kickass, and we just have to stop- Well, and, and it's never-... thinking about, well, what's the newest- It's never gonna go away. I don't care...
• 54:38
  what's the newest freaking thing? Let's talk about the newest cool way to ride or the newest cool place to ride or the new-... event that's gonna kick ass. Or beer. Or beer.
• 54:48
  And I, and I can hardly wait to shove it up Rich Gosen's butt that the fact that fat biking is never gonna go away. Oh, no, it's not. I don't care what anybody says, it's not gonna go away. It's not. It's not.
• 54:57
  It's, and, and, and around here, it has got more people out riding bikes on our trails than the most expensive mountain bike has ever done. Yeah.
• 55:07
  They buy a used, uh, you know, even a framed, but they've been buying, you know, um, as people have progressed and bought nicer mo- fat bikes, they've been buying those bikes, and the fatter tire, they're comfortable on the trail.
• 55:19
  They're, they're getting into riding off-road. It's bringing a whole different group of people into off-road riding in the summer. How many of them ride in the winter? I don't know.
• 55:26
  It's their, it's their, it's their cruising mountain bike ti- whe- bike right now, and they're enjoying the shit out of it. Yeah. And they hate carbon, by the way. [laughs] Hallelujah. Preaching to the choir, brother.
• 55:39
  [laughs] All right. Well, that's our friend Chewy from up there in the land of Paul Bunyan and Blue the Blue Ox. Babe. Babe the Blue Ox. I was gonna say, that's a really dumb name for a- [laughs] For a blue ox, Blue?
• 55:54
  Blue. Blue the Babe Ox. Blue the Babe Ox. Well, Blue, they were looking at, they were just looking at his nuts, by the way. [laughs] Da-dum-dum. So we'll see you, uh, we'll, we've already seen you.
• 56:05
  [laughs] No, we'll see you in, like, two hours. Yeah, that's it. [laughs] Yeah. 'Cause it, it's Friday already. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I'll see you guys this afternoon. All right. Yeah. Right on. [laughs] Thanks, Chewy.
• 56:15
  All right, Chewy. See you guys later. See you later. All right, bye. Hey, you know who, uh, called in and gave us a, "When are you guys going to do another show?" Um- Calling from-... I'm gonna take a wild guess...
• 56:29
  Rolla, Missouri. I'm gonna say George W. Bush, not- [laughs]... George H.W. Bush. No, that's our old friend Old Bear. Oh. He left us a little, uh- Oh. That was my Old Bear. I don't, I don't know what to do with that.
• 56:42
  [laughs] Um, he, he left us a little, uh, voicemail. I was being, I was being obtuse. Right.
• 56:47
  Well, he left us a little voicemail real quick, but I'm gonna, I'm gonna plug her in right here and you can hear what Old Bear had to say. Gomez, Spin, and JK, this is Old Bear, calling you from beautiful downtown Rolla.
• 57:01
  I just wanted to let you know I'm still alive. I just had to get a new phone, and if you look at your, the number on here, this is my new number. Maybe I'll call in next week and see what's going on.
• 57:16
  Until then, have a great one and keep on getting fat. Bye-bye. Don't worry, Old Bear, we're gonna, we're gonna ramp up the frequency of the shows once again, once we get towards that, uh, official fat bike season. Yeah.
• 57:31
  It, you know, it's the dog days of summer. Yep. We're tired. We're tired. Not really. We're fricking- No, we're not tired... having a ball. [laughs] We're tired of talking to you fine people. [laughs] Well, hey.
• 57:44
  Wait a second, that didn't sound right either. Anyway. Take two. Take two. Action. We're so appreciative. [laughs] Energy. Energy. Yeah.
• 57:55
  Uh, there are people, though, emailing fairly regularly saying, "Oh, we really miss you guys." Really? I mean, my wife doesn't even say that. [laughs] We love you folks. Thanks for being so supportive.
• 58:09
  Yeah, thanks for listening. Oh. This, it is- Fat Bike Radio. Well, I'm trying to be like that, but it's summertime so, you know, as the editor of the site, I always, come July and August, we're like, "We need content."
• 58:22
  [laughs] I talk to all, I talk to any, anyone I talk to, "Hey, you got a story for me? [laughs] Hey, hey, let me take a picture of your bike. Oh, let me take a picture of, of... Oh, those are nice shoes.
• 58:32
  Let's take a picture of that. There, there's an article." Yeah, I think I kinda [laughs] blew my load, like, last week. I'm like, "Oh." Dude, you've been, you've been kicking butt. Oh. Where'd all that stuff come from?
• 58:41
  Three. You're kicking butt. So, yeah. We got more stuff coming up. You know, one thing, here's an interesting thing.
• 58:47
  You know, obviously we test bikes and bike related parts and stuff, but the people that contact us to have stuff on the site now are not just bicycle companies.
• 58:57
  You know, we've had the Boombotix, we've had some other products that are not cycling specific. We got a lens from the guys at Lensbaby to check out, 'cause they know we take a lot of pictures. Oh, cool. Right?
• 59:09
  It's like, it's this, it's this interesting lens that makes an, an interesting effect.
• 59:14
  You will see something about it within the next week or two, but, uh, I thought that because, uh, Gomez and I both shoot a lot of shots, we've both got quite a bit invested in our gear, that we should tell people what we use.
• 59:26
  Oh, yeah. Or our stuff, you know? And why we use what we use, because I've been a photographer since I was a kid, and I pick the gear that I use every day because it, it, it fits riding bikes and doing things on bikes.
• 59:40
  And you can make a lot of mistakes by not knowing [laughs] what I know now, so we're gonna impart some knowledge upon you. Yeah. About camera stuff. Sounds like content for the site for- Exactly. [laughs] Yeah.
• 59:53
  I, I've been, uh, I've, I've been testing out quite a bit of camping stuff. Yeah, yeah. So. So there'll be m- more things on there that may or may not be cycling.
• 1:00:02
  But those- And I'm testing a pretty sweet carbon fat bike right now with carbon wheels and carbon handlebars and carbon stem and carbon seat post and- Chewy's rolling over in his- [laughs]... hammock right now.
• 1:00:13
  I've been f- I've been flailing around for many years in the speaker lands of- Oh, yeah, but you always buy, you always buy the little cheap ones. No. Well, not anymore.
• 1:00:22
  But now, now you've got- It's more, it was, it was-... actually, you got a Boombotix for real... it's more losing the expensive ones that's the problem. [laughs] Exactly, yeah. Once, once that happens, it's like, "What?
• 1:00:31
  Da, da, da." But up, and over the, uh, the holiday, took advantage of the, uh, the Boombotix, uh- Oh... super Grateful Dead deal. Oh yeah, that's like good crave, two for one Grateful Dead deal or something like that.
• 1:00:43
  Uh, somebody, I think, uh, Amber might've got one, too. Yeah. I mean, it was like two, a Pro and a Rex for 50 bucks. Oh. 10 bucks shipping. There you go.
• 1:00:52
  You two could have a talk show I think it's time for, uh- It's the best thing ever... time for Gomez to tell us what our show this evening's been brought to you by Oh, let me put on my gnome-hunting fispectacles.
• 1:01:02
  [laughs] Our show this evening has been brought to you by the bikes, parts, and chaos of Surly Bikes. Learn more about everything at surlybikes.com.
• 1:01:17
  You can call 818-918-2453 anytime day or night and leave us a massage. I think I'm gonna change that to you should call, so you know, not just you can, but you really should call. You should call. And leave a message.
• 1:01:34
  This is a Jedi mind- You will call... shit thing I'm doing. You will call. Don't make us call you, man. Hey. You right, man?
• 1:01:39
  Hey, we have T-shirts and other stuff like hats and whatnot available in our store that would be a sterling choice as an Arbor Day gift for someone you love. Arbor Day. Check out the shop at shop.fat-bike.com. Suckers!
• 1:01:57
  There'll be a link in the show notes just in case you can't remember all that. Join us next time for more limericks and vogan poetry from the fuzzy underbelly of what we like to refer to as the weekly dose of fat.
• 1:02:11
  Occasionally. Till when? Then. Guten tag, mein fraulein. You've been listening to Fat Bike Radio's weekly dose of fat.
• 1:02:26
  Find us on the web at fat-bike.com/radio. We'll see you next time.
• 1:02:35
  [outtro music]