salsa mukluk 3 and a different kind of bicycles.

[smilingcat]

I was at a pedal nation's Portland bike expo (http://pedalnationevents.com/). local bike suppliers of cloth, paniers, hand crafted bikes and name brand bicycles. As I was walking around, checking on interesting local bikes, I spotted a very interesting bike. It had these giganenormous tires!! Looked like it had swelled up after a bad bee sting! It was like a balloon big!! Thought some one got carried away with fat tires. Well it was Salsa Mukluk 3. Very pretty. Too bad I don't ride mountain bike.

The bike looks like lot of fun. The guy at the booth said, ride through mud, snow and anything you can think of. I'm sure you could ride it on snow covered lake. He said they have small size for me. Thanks but I can't afford a crash.

I would love to cruise around in Mukluk 3 after a snow storm. Crisp cold air, snow blowing from those fat tires!! or ride downhill a mountain side after fresh snowfall. How cool would that be?

Then there was this bike on the internet. http://inhabitat.com/yojiro-oshimas-bike-prototype-is-made-entirely-from-wood/#more-494483 The link was provided by a person on a recumbent bike site.

Something of an oddity but I found very interesting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=0zZ2d0Xdnjg I thought the music was well matched with the visual.

[Bethany1]

LOVE my Mukluk. Took her out today for a 13 mile ride around town. Yup. She goes through snow, mud, gravel, crushed gravel, single track and the road. It's not a bike for everyone as mine weighs in around 37 pounds. The newer ones weigh less due to better lightweight rims. She's not exactly fast and hills can be a challenge but she's tons of fun. Most I've done with her is about 20 miles both single track and road. Don't take her for a test ride or you might come home with her..LOL.

[zoom-zoom]

It always surprises me a little how many people are still shocked by the appearance of fat bikes. They no longer look crazy to me. We have 2 in our garage. Around here they are hugely popular. We have a Winter fat bike racing season that is growing into some non-winter beach races. A lot of mtn. bike races around here have a fat bike division, too. We live in a perfect area for them -- long, snowy winters and endless sandy beaches. They are freakishly stable and handle far better at slow speeds than anything else.

[goldfinch]

I've thought about getting a Mukluk and spending a winter up north next year. I haven't been in the north for about 5 years now and want to do some boreal birding. My question is whether you can put smaller rims on the Mukluk to use the bike also as a mountain bike. Anyone know?

[zoom-zoom]

I've thought about getting a Mukluk and spending a winter up north next year. I haven't been in the north for about 5 years now and want to do some boreal birding. My question is whether you can put smaller rims on the Mukluk to use the bike also as a mountain bike. Anyone know?

You can, but I think it requires a separate fork. We have a friend who uses her Ti Mukluk as a 29er in the warm months, but she has to swap the fork out, so it's not a quick switch, by any means.