Farley 8, Beargrease Carbon Fat Bikes Are In!

The Trek Farley 8 fat bike

With September closing out, we are starting to get more of our fat bike inventory into the shop. Here's one we've been pretty excited about- the Trek Farley 8.

The Farley 8 is using the same frame as the Farley 6's are, but it is outfitted with SRAM's X1 11 speed group that dismisses the front derailleur and still has the full range of gearing you will need to clean the terrain of your choosing. This also eliminates crap from getting collected in the critical bottom bracket/rear tire area, which is good when the going gets sloppy.

Furtermore, the new Rock Shox Bluto is on this rig. Again- you will not believe how much better a fat bike can be until you try this. Many died in the wool mtb'ers have left their full suspension rigs in the shed after getting a fat bike with a front suspension fork, and the Bluto is currently the only readily available suspension fork purposely designed for fat tires like the Bontrager Hodag 3.8 folding bead tires on this bike.

The color of the bike is arresting! It is a bright matt green finish, so you won't lose your rig in the mud or snow, that's for sure!

As you can see, the Alpha aluminum tubes are highly shaped and optimized for the fat bike design. Plenty of room for the frame bag of your choice, (I highly recommend Bike Bag Dude or Becker Gear Bike Bags), and there are triple bosses on the inside of the down tube which can accommodate Salsa Cycles Anything Cage, or simply a water bottle cage. There are rack and fender eyelets as well on the Farley 8.

The wheels are unique on this bike, and in the fat bike world. The new Bontrager Jackalope wheels use the time tested idea that Bontrager helped introduce in the 90's of using an offset spoke bed. Not to be confused with the offset Pugsley wheel idea, the Jackalope wheels are offset, (not the frame and wheels as with a Pugsley), to promote even spoke tensions which yield a stronger, longer lasting wheel. The central rib reinforces the rim structure where the spokes are pulling, and also lends more lateral stability. PLUS- these are tubeless ready rims! You get rim tape for both wheels to enable a tubeless set up with the Hodag tires. How cool is that?

The Farley 8 sports internally routed cables, which is nice from an aesthetic standpoint. It also is outfitted with a port for a dropper seat post. Obviously, dropper seat posts are only a down hill, mountain bike deal, right? Wrong! 

 Consider how difficult it is to remount any mtb if you lose traction on a climb, or lose momentum in very uneven terrain. Try a bike with a dropper seat post in these situations and you will be able to drop the saddle so low that remounting and getting going again will become like child's play. Plus, a dropper seat post can help you remount and start again in deep snow. Considering all the potential ride enhancing benefits of a dropper post for a fat bike, it is great to see that Trek included this port to accommodate using one.

Beargrease Carbon 1 (Catalog image)

Salsa Cycles Beargrease Carbon 1: We also have this rig on the showroom floor now. A gleaming white with black accents Carbon Beargrease 1. It also features SRAM's new X1 11 speed set up and has the new SRAM Guide brakes which we feel are a better design than past Avid Elixirs and what not. The Beargrease was a hot bike last year, and with good reason- it is light, (26lbs ready to ride), and has fantastic handling. This year this rig sports Surly Marge Lite rims and Dillinger 120TPI ties for the lighter weight, faster performance that the Beargrease line represents.

This bike is Bluto fork compatible as well, so it could be a year round mountain bike, or the fast paced snow/sand/mud bike, or just a great bike for any conditions you find yourself riding on/in off road. The handling is dialed too, and our past Beargrease customers would agree that you cannot go wrong with the combination of excellent handling and light weight the Beargrease has.

Stop in today to see these or any of the other fat bikes we have coming in soon or that are on the floor now for your riding pleasure!

Salsa Mukluks Arrive!

Possibly the best color on a fat bike I've ever seen.

The Salsa Mukluks are arriving and in this post I will detail what we have in so far. The Mukluk is Salsa Cycles mainstay fat bike. The fat bike with versatility and all-year-around use designed right in.

Common to all Mukluks is the aluminum, 170mm rear spaced frame with Alternator Drop Outs. This frame with these special, swinger type drop outs, allows for several drive train set ups. You could go single speed, use an IGH hub, (internally geared hub), or utilize the drop outs as a way to change your wheelbase for different handling characteristics.

These frames also feature continuous cable housings to seal out dirt and grime. All Mukluks have 31.6mm seat posts so you can easily swap in a dropper post for more versatility. Rack mounts are standard, as are the triple bosses on the down tube which support Salsa's Anything cages or a water bottle cage in two different positions. There are also water bottle bosses on the seat tube on Med-XL sizes, and one under the down tube.

Mukluk 3 in White w/Red & Blue anodized accents

Mukluk 3 in Ruby Red

The Mukluk 3 has been seriously upgraded this year and remains the same price as it was last year. Upgrades include the brakes, which are Avid hydraulics this year.  Wheels are upgraded to Holy Rolling Darryl rims. Ten speed SRAM drive trains are upgraded from last year's 9 speed set up.

The Mukluk 3's get the Salsa Bearpaw Aluminum fork with Triple Bosses for two Anything Cages or two water bottles. A rack could also be subbed in as an alternative set up.

NOTES: The Muk 3's are seriously good deals. Salsa Cycles is a leader in the fat biking market place and competition has refined the breed to give customers of the 2015 models the best value in a fat bike yet from Salsa. The look of the past Mukluks has been okay, but this years graphics and paint jobs are the best, in my opinion, that Salsa has yet put out. On any of their fat bike models. That Ruby Red may be the prettiest fat bike color ever.

The Mukluk 2 in this crazy sparkly Orange

 The Mukluk 2 is also upgraded for 2015, and- obviously- the fork is the new Rock Shox Bluto suspension fork. Salsa Cycles had a big hand in getting this fork produced and were able to plan geometry and the resulting handling ahead of time for their fat bike range. For instance, last year's Mukluks were all suspension fork ready. Not convinced a fat bike needs a suspension fork? Read this. My buddy MG tells it like it is and he's a really good mountain biker.

The Mukluk 2 also brings a refined drive train with Surly's OD crank set and SRAM components featuring the Type 2 derailleur which has a clutch mechanism to keep the cage from whipping the chain over rougher terrain onto the chain stay. The result is a much quieter ride, and less dropped chains.

NOTES: The Muk 2, second only to the Ruby Red Muk 2 for the best paint job ever, is a serious all terrain, all year around fat bike. You could enjoy maximum traction, crazy cornering grip, and all with more control than ever via the front suspension fork. Of course, you can easily swap to a rigid fork for a lighter weight set up.

Come on down and check out our growing fat bike corner in the shop and look for more posts coming soon on our new arrivals.