Chinertown

Chinese Carbon MTB => Fat Bikes => Topic started by: cmh on February 03, 2015, 12:25:38 PM

Title: Fat bike project underway
Post by: cmh on February 03, 2015, 12:25:38 PM
So I'm jumping in on this fat bike bandwagon to see if it's all that. My point of entry was a Motobecane Boris the Evil Brute Sprung - and yes, that's actually the name. I considered going with a Chiner, but since a fat bike has many parts that I don't already have on hand, (frame/fork/wheels/tires/etc) I decided to go with a complete bike, especially since the purchase price of a Bluto fork is half of the total purchase price of the Boris. A Bluto plus a set of Chiner fat bike wheels would almost equal the purchase price of the Boris! Plus, I've always been curious about bikesdirect bikes, so this was an opportunity to get some info, get a bike, and try out the fat bike thing all at once.

In the pursuit of information, first thing I did was not assemble it - but tear it down completely and weigh everything:

Fatty McBlorp's weight loss program (https://picasaweb.google.com/118048517346415993560/FattyMcBlorp?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCOax2a77jNSAnQE&feat=directlink)

Got it all built up and gonna ride it stock for a little while - about as long as it takes the shipment from XMIPlay of rims, handlebar, and seatpost to arrive. :D
Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: Carbon_Dude on February 03, 2015, 08:58:51 PM
I like the fork.  Not crazy about the frame though.  Maybe get a Chiner Fatbike frame and move all the parts over :).
Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: Sitar_Ned on February 03, 2015, 10:01:50 PM
I've bought Motobecane bikes before.. Nothing but good things to say, really. Seems like the Boris is a great entry point into a fat bike to see if it's something you'll want to ride and invest in long term. If so, you can always upgrade the frame later on down the road. Seems more important that you went ahead and got the carbon fat bike rims. I've no experience with fat bikes, but it seems that it'd be pretty important to have a mid to high range set of wheels and rubber on there. I mean.. holy cow.. 15.5 pounds in wheels and tires alone? That sounds like it'd be sluggish to me BUT I've never ridden one. 

How much do you expect to lose by upgrading to the Iplay carbon rims, bar, and post? You have your next upgrade in mind yet?

Looking forward to hear how you like it, and how much you ride it compared to your other bikes. See if it becomes your "go to" bike, or just a cool addition you have fun on occasionally.
Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: cmh on February 04, 2015, 03:06:59 PM
I like the fork.  Not crazy about the frame though.  Maybe get a Chiner Fatbike frame and move all the parts over :).

That's my exact thought process! :D

1) Get the Boris, cheap entry level - get the Bluto and the nice XT parts.
2) Hit the important upgrades (rims for weight loss and easy tubeless, post and bars because cheap)
3) Ride it, see what I think
4) If I like it... well, the IP-N019 sure looks nice.
Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: jwilds1 on February 05, 2015, 08:03:21 AM
Good luck!  I've got a Fantom FB4 Comp from bikesdirect and I can't complain - the price of entry is half that of other bikes.  I made a half-hearted attempt to sell it to fund my Chiner, but I've had so much fun on it this winter that I'm keeping it and putting it on a diet on a budget.
Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: cmh on February 05, 2015, 02:10:01 PM
Quote from: Sitar_Ned
I've no experience with fat bikes, but it seems that it'd be pretty important to have a mid to high range set of wheels and rubber on there. I mean.. holy cow.. 15.5 pounds in wheels and tires alone?

Exactly - I haven't really checked my math, but if I did it right, I could lose 1kg from the wheel rebuild alone (3170g for my bare wheelset, IPlay lists theirs at 2250, same hubs and I'm building with lighter Laser spokes) and then tubeless drops a pair of 500g tubes - and I won't need those huge plastic 140g rim strips, just something to seal the spoke holes? There's another kg. Like I said, I'm not 100% sure about the math but it should be pretty damn good and be able to give the bike a proper test with lighter wheels and tubeless.

Quote from: jwilds1
...the price of entry is half that of other bikes.

Seriously. I looked at doing a Chiner from the ground up, but considering the Bluto is $700 and a set of Chiner wheels (with the same hubs) is $750 ish ... and I paid $1500 for the complete bike? Hard to beat it. Plus, I saw someone sell a pair of the very same gold Weinmann rims that came with the bike for $130 on the FB fat bikes group, so the purchase of my 80mm rims from Peter is (slightly) offset.
Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: cmh on February 09, 2015, 09:44:44 PM
First ride done, and it's interesting. Different, for sure, but that's not shocking. When the bike's up at speed it feels like any light hardtail, but if you lose even a little bit of that speed? hah, good luck, cuz it's gone and it's not coming back without a whole bunch of work. I need to learn to trust the traction more and keep that speed up. In the meantime, the slower you go, the slower it feels, and that can be pretty damn slow. Still, set four PR's on the ride, so it can't be all that bad.

With the first ride on the bone stock bike done, it's time to get things started. Going with what I have on hand, I swapped out the saddle, grips, and cassette, and the weight has dropped down to just under 36lbs from the original 36.5. Nice start. Could have dropped even more but I find the SLR saddle to be no good for MTB use because of the pointy nose. Still might slap it on for "scale queen" weigh-ins. :D

Kicking around the idea of going 1x10 with a Wolf Tooth 32 I've got on hand, but lately the 22 has been a very nice thing to have available.  ;D

The big gains will be from the wheels, though - IPlay lists their wheelset at 2350g, and my wheelset is 3110g. IPlay also uses 2.0/1.8 spokes, and I'll be going with 2.0/1.5 Lasers to save a little bit more weight. Plus, being able to ditch the tubes at 500 and 550g... that's gonna be pretty huge. (although the gallons of sealant I'll need will even that out JUST a smidge) Hoping the wheelset weight reduction helps make this thing a little less of a juggernaut. The IPlay bars and seatpost will just be the icing on that fancy cake.

Hoping the Snow Shoes work out okay with that usage, but have heard mixed things on them. For one thing, they're rated 4.5" and measure in at just under 4.125". :P Even fat bike tires lie in their size, not even a 100mm rim would get these things near that rated size. Sounds like the Bud/Lou combo is a very popular one, and interested to see what comes of Kenda's new ridiculously light tire.
Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: Carbon_Dude on February 10, 2015, 06:29:54 AM
It's funny, I just read an old article on MTBR by the Angry Singlespeeder that basically said the same thing about his Fatbike experience.  He liked the way it rode in some terrain but overall felt the bike very slow to ride.

Here is the story, since you have a fatbike, maybe you can read the story and see if you agree.
http://reviews.mtbr.com/the-angry-singlespeeder-fat-bikes-meh (http://reviews.mtbr.com/the-angry-singlespeeder-fat-bikes-meh)
Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: cmh on February 11, 2015, 08:18:54 AM
It's funny, I just read an old article on MTBR by the Angry Singlespeeder that basically said the same thing about his Fatbike experience.  He liked the way it rode in some terrain but overall felt the bike very slow to ride.

Here is the story, since you have a fatbike, maybe you can read the story and see if you agree.
http://reviews.mtbr.com/the-angry-singlespeeder-fat-bikes-meh (http://reviews.mtbr.com/the-angry-singlespeeder-fat-bikes-meh)

Yeah, I've seen that article. What was funniest to me was the reaction of the fat bike devotees that bordered on religious. Always funny to me how dismissive folks can be about other people's opinions.

So far, I don't disagree with him, but I'm not going to let one ride determine it for me. Saw that my IPlay rims cleared customs and my order of spokes shipped yesterday, so it's about to get a whole bunch more interesting. Even if I don't wind up loving it, I'll have gained knowledge and experience and that's never a bad thing.

One thing I definitely agree with him on - and have been wondering - I've been riding "skinny" MTBs in snow for many years now, and having a blast doing it. I did a snow ride with some fat bikes recently where I was working FAR harder than them but I was still having an absolute blast. Learning to ride in low traction conditions does wonders for your ability to ride well. One of our local pros/coaches has been recommending folks get out and ride in the snow (since mud riding isn't cool anymore) specifically to build bike handling ability. After my ride with the fat bikes, I found myself wondering if a fat bike doesn't take that away from you at least to a small degree.
Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: cmh on February 12, 2015, 09:33:06 PM
My parts arrived from XMIPlay. Unfortunately I didn't realize that the 350mm seatpost won't be long enough, so I'll be looking to sell that locally. Oops. The 700mm bars work, and are half the  weight of the original bars. Plus, the 80mm carbon rims, which look pretty good - listed at 650 +/-50g, and not too surprisingly both of them were at the very top of that range, but still - 690g vs. 980 for the original rims? that's real savings.

Latest photos in the build start here (https://plus.google.com/photos/+ChrisHeerschap/albums/6111420860738593665/6115136781654495666?authkey=COax2a77jNSAnQE&pid=6115136781654495666&oid=118048517346415993560).

I also took spoke tension measurements on the original wheel before I disassembled it, and not shockingly, although the average tension was surprisingly good (around 115kgf) the balance was horrific, with spokes varying up to 26% off the average. Not shocking considering the suuuuuper budget build of the Motobecane bikes. Were it otherwise, I'd be very surprised. Considering the beefiness of the wheels, I'd think that that tension imbalance might be less of an issue for the fatty wheels.
Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: cmh on February 19, 2015, 08:47:09 AM
Dunno the level of interest in this project so I'll keep the update short. Wheels are rebuilt with the IPlay rims, big weight savings, and they look pretty awesome as well. Still have a couple of parts that I need to swap out, and the weight is down to 31.3lbs, a nice drop from the original 36.5. Have ridden it in the snow several times now, but really not seeing the huge benefit that everyone seems to think fat bikes have. What I could ride with the fatty - I'm pretty sure I could have ridden with my 29er FS. Riding 8" of soft powder into 18" of soft powder, the fatty might get me a little further before it slides out, but it's not performing miracles. I've run tire pressures from 12psi down to zero (thanks to the tubeless not being fully sealed yet) and the essentially flat did seem to give a little bit more traction but still not the promised miraculous effortless cruising on top of the snow. Maybe I need bigger tires for my weight. (220lb)

Still, it's a fun project, and I'm leaning heavily on all the weight weenie parts I have on hand from several projects on my wife's bikes.

(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_3yxkNsKay4/VOUvTGrbZxI/AAAAAAAAfio/O0IyElmP4BQ/w1210-h681-no/IMG_20150217_084726444.jpg) (https://plus.google.com/photos/118048517346415993560/albums/6111420860738593665?banner=pwa&authkey=COax2a77jNSAnQE)
Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: Carbon_Dude on February 19, 2015, 09:04:13 AM
Still looks like a fun bike to ride and this winter has been perfect for those that live up North and want to ride in the snow.
Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: MTNRCKT on February 19, 2015, 02:15:28 PM
Dunno the level of interest in this project so I'll keep the update short.

I'm interested!

Could you tell a significant difference in the way it rode before and after upgrading the wheels?
Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: MTB2223 on February 19, 2015, 02:52:06 PM
I'm interested!
+1  ;D
Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: cmh on February 20, 2015, 08:03:08 PM
I'm interested!

Cool, this forum isn't quite as busy as the 29er one so just wasn't sure and didn't wanna be talking to myself. (any more than I already do) :D

Quote
Could you tell a significant difference in the way it rode before and after upgrading the wheels?

First ride was in the sandy pine forest of Wharton State Forest in southern New Jersey. No snow, lots of twisty turny stuff, and that's where I really felt the weight and inertia of the completely stock 36.5lb bike.

The next ride was closer to our house at Lake Nockamixon. Nox has twisty turny trails with very little elevation change, much like Wharton - but it was covered in at least 4" of snow, with wind-blown drifts obliterating the trails and going up to (and probably over) 18" deep. So - as you can imagine - it was REALLY hard to make any type of comparison as the Wharton loop was 18 miles of dry twisty turny - and the Nox loop wasn't even a loop because we wound up quitting and heading back out. Oh, and the tubeless hadn't fully sealed so the rear tire kept going completely flat. :P

Since then we did one more ride, but that was on a frozen lake by us. Turning was best done in long, slow arcs as there was snow on top of the lake ice, and any sudden movements meant the bike was no longer underneath you. Still, it was pretty freaking awesome:

Riding on a frozen lake (https://instagram.com/p/zNyyvegyvn/).

Obviously not a fat bike in that video. :)

So, until I get back down to Wharton, I really won't be able to say apples to apples, but I think the bike does feel quite a bit more nimble, and when I move it around before/after rides, it definitely feels lighter. Picking up the front wheel is always surprising, maybe because it's so visually stout, but it feels surprisingly light - even if it isn't particularly.

Still waiting on a couple parts, and should be able to get closer to my 30lb target. Will probably 1x it at some point, and that should get me the rest of the way there, but considering how much use I have made of the 22 in the snowy weather, I doubt it'll be soon. Unless I do the 1x with the 22 granny ring, I won't be going 1x until the snow is gone.
Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: cmh on February 20, 2015, 08:13:53 PM
Just saw something that made me laugh, and reinforced why I wondered about the level of interest:

(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-ewTmorr1hHs/VOfpWjRdewI/AAAAAAAAfl4/XVqXME52ZBg/w941-h556-no/Screen%2BShot%2B2015-02-20%2Bat%2B9.08.14%2BPM.png)

Seems I've kinda been dominating the discussions here.  ;D
Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: Sitar_Ned on March 25, 2015, 08:39:27 PM
Lol. Yeah, sorry about that cmh.. The Fat bike section can get pretty lonely, I'm sure.
Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: cmh on March 27, 2015, 05:47:32 AM
Lol. Yeah, sorry about that cmh.. The Fat bike section can get pretty lonely, I'm sure.

No worries, hopefully someone finds something good in there!
Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: cmh on April 12, 2015, 05:51:52 PM
Update on the project - I've ridden it in the snow, and didn't think it was miraculous. Anything I was able to ride, I would have been able to ride with the "slim" FS 29er. Deep snow still stopped it, just a little bit later than the slim bike would have been able to do. Rode it on sand, sure, it works, but again, didn't think it was doing anything I couldn't have done on a normal bike, and it felt quite a bit slower even though it's within a quarter pound of the FS 29er.

Today, however, I took it on dry, hard packed singletrack, and had a blast. Might still need to adjust the tire pressures a little bit, it would bounce over roots if I was out of the saddle and didn't account for the root, but it was REALLY fun in the twisty bits, especially when I was fresh and able to really direct it. Seems it responds to a whole bunch of input at the bars, and I easily rolled through sections where I'd normally be considering a quick brake drag to keep my speed under control.

The agressive, out-of-the-saddle approach that really worked for it today has left me thoroughly tired and sore, but it now looks like I won't just put it in the back of the garage for the rest of the year, and that's got me happy.

Of course Tuesday I'm demoing a couple Giant FS bikes, so things might change anyway. :D
Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: Carbon_Dude on April 12, 2015, 07:53:40 PM
Good to hear CMH, I still want to ride one on my local trails so I can get a feel for what it's like to have those big mushy tires rolling over things, bombing down hill, and sweating up the climbs.
Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: 7 on April 13, 2015, 06:11:07 AM
cmh I really appreciate the effort you put into this thread. Great job!
Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: cmh on April 16, 2015, 06:04:12 PM
Thanks, all! I think now that spring is here I'm gonna drop the 2x and convert it to a 1x10 with a spare wolf tooth chainring. Pulling the front shifter and derailleur may  just dip it under 30lbs. :D
Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: cmh on April 16, 2015, 10:12:40 PM
So tonight I worked on the fatty. Got it converted over to a 1x drivetrain. That little 32t chainring looks so lonely with the wide BB and nothing around it. :D

Also got the brakes upgraded, "hand me down" Formula R1s from her bike - while lighter, she likes the Shimano brakes better, so I got the absurdly light Formulas. Not too bad. Also a hand-me-down is the XTR 10 speed cassette which is now unused as she's going to XTR 11 speed.

A couple other minor things and threw it up on the scale - 29.20lbs, now officially lighter than my full sus 29er.  8)

Looking forward to when I can get out and give it another ride! If I keep enjoying the bike, I might have to get in touch with Peter and start looking at options for a carbon Chiner fatty.
Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: cmh on April 20, 2015, 07:15:12 AM
Had a blast riding the fatty on dry hardpack again, so I'm considering making the jump to the carbon Chiner frame. I'm in touch with Peter, looks like he already has the fat bike offerings listed on his new site. I may be building a Chiner soon!
Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: Carbon_Dude on April 20, 2015, 09:02:21 AM
Fat Chiner!  Go for it man!
Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: cmh on April 20, 2015, 12:24:29 PM
Fat Chiner!  Go for it man!

That just sounds... soooo wrong. :D
Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: trekcarbonboy on April 20, 2015, 04:20:05 PM
Can't wait to see it. At NOX while you're all waiting for me to catch up.  ;)

Craig
Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: cmh on April 20, 2015, 07:18:36 PM
Can't wait to see it. At NOX while you're all waiting for me to catch up.  ;)

Oshit, another local! I know Scott and... crap I forget the other guy with the 057 that we rode with at Batsto that one time ... I know they're on here, didn't realize you were as well. :)  Sup, buddy! :D
Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: trekcarbonboy on April 20, 2015, 07:44:39 PM
Yeah just got on. Ordered a .057 and should have it early June. That's Marty with the Single Speed .057. Funny thing is I mentioned building a Chiner to him first but he pulled the trigger first. (Must be the no kids thing)
This forum was a HUGE help in figuring out what I wanted to order.
Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: cmh on April 20, 2015, 08:29:30 PM
This forum was a HUGE help in figuring out what I wanted to order.

SO much so - I spent a little time at MTBR today and it reminded me just how much I love this site. Thanks to everyone involved in making this place so awesome, seriously.
Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: rvc on September 30, 2015, 10:23:47 AM
CMH: any update on the fatbike experience? I'm tempted to pull the trigger as well on a Lurch Bluto and do the chiner frame/wheel upgrade.

BTW, really loved the photo gallery with the individual weights-- it has be super helpful for me.

-R
Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: cmh on October 11, 2015, 08:52:11 AM
CMH: any update on the fatbike experience? I'm tempted to pull the trigger as well on a Lurch Bluto and do the chiner frame/wheel upgrade.

Nothing much to report. Fat bike sits in the shop, almost completely unused. I got a Specialized Epic a couple weeks ago, and have been spending all my riding time on that, but even before that, it was the Rumblefish that was getting all the attention. I have nothing against the fat bike, but comparing it to the 29er FS bikes, it's quite a bit slower. I think for this winter I'm going to go with 5" tires and see if that's any better in the snow, but as it stands right now, the fat bike is a "meh" on my part.

I've even been eyeballing the better weight weenie parts on it that will transfer to the Epic, too. Those Formula brakes would have been swapped over except for the internal frame routing on the Specialized which makes it a little less trivial for the swap.

BTW, really loved the photo gallery with the individual weights-- it has be super helpful for me.

Glad it helped!
Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: rvc on October 12, 2015, 05:05:59 PM
Thanks for the post update.
I hear what you're saying about the Epic and Rumblefish--they're just plain fast rigs. I was very tempted to instead upgrade the frame on my Salsa Mamasita 29er build with a Chiner 29'er FS, especially after watching my racer friends rip up the trail on Epics in front of me, leaving me hopelessly in the dust. However, I ended up going for an all new bike, an IP-N019 fatty with carbon rims and an XT/RaceFace build (will start a build thread shortly). Since my first FS mtb in 2004, I never thought I'd be back on nothing but hardtails, but the trails I like here in New England have never really seemed to work well with my FS rig. Granted it was a older, heavier bike with 6" travel in front&rear...

Question for you on the rim replacement: You built the wheels up with the new carbon rims yourself, correct? Any issues I should be aware about when lacing and truing chinese carbon wheels? I suppose it depends on the rim model and hardware you have... but I just want to quell worry that I'll screw something up and crack a nipple seat. I'm a novice wheel builder, and plan on building the front wheel as slowly and as carefully as I can. The rear wheel will come built already from Peter, so minimal worries there.

Cheers.
Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: cmh on October 12, 2015, 05:22:06 PM
Thanks for the post update.
I hear what you're saying about the Epic and Rumblefish--they're just plain fast rigs. I was very tempted to instead upgrade the frame on my Salsa Mamasita 29er build with a Chiner 29'er FS, especially after watching my racer friends rip up the trail on Epics in front of me, leaving me hopelessly in the dust. However, I ended up going for an all new bike, an IP-N019 fatty with carbon rims and an XT/RaceFace build (will start a build thread shortly). Since my first FS mtb in 2004, I never thought I'd be back on nothing but hardtails, but the trails I like here in New England have never really seemed to work well with my FS rig. Granted it was a older, heavier bike with 6" travel in front&rear...

I freely admit I'm REALLY curious about your N019 build, and hope you post frequent updates because I will be following them carefully. One of my initial possibilities was that I would get the Motobecane and then ultimately swap out the frame with the N019. I'd still like to do it, but bike funds were diverted elsewhere. ^_^

I've heard not much good about the Vee Snowshoes, either, and a bad set of tires can pretty much destroy a bike. But, since new fat bike tires are pretty pricey, I haven't invested in anything new yet, either, and I might be one set of tires away from fat-bike nirvana. I don't rule that out either!

I should say that I rode with some guys on fat bikes in an early winter snowstorm last year and there was zero doubt they had an advantage there. My snow rides with the fat bike were in conditions that I don't think anyone could have ridden.

So, basically, my experiment hasn't been a resounding success - but by the same token, it hasn't been a failure and I haven't given up yet. :D

Question for you on the rim replacement: You built the wheels up with the new carbon rims yourself, correct? Any issues I should be aware about when lacing and truing chinese carbon wheels? I suppose it depends on the rim model and hardware you have... but I just want to quell worry that I'll screw something up and crack a nipple seat. I'm a novice wheel builder, and plan on building the front wheel as slowly and as carefully as I can. The rear wheel will come built already from Peter, so minimal worries there.

Yes, I built the wheels with carbon rims from Peter, and used the Novatec hubs from the wheelset that came with the Motobecane. Since the rims were so substantial, paired with such large tires, I guessed that I would not need heavy spokes, so went with Sapim Lasers (2.0/1.5mm, equivalent to the DT Revolution) and so far don't think that was a bad move. The rim has a whole bunch of inherent stiffness that puts less load on the spokes.

I had no issues building the wheels, it was really quite easy, if you've built any other wheels, this won't be much different, it'll just look like you're working on a motorcycle wheel. I do admit that I wasn't able to fit the rear wheel into the truing stand I have, so although I got the rim straight (on the frame) I didn't check to make sure it was perfectly centered. In retrospect, I'm wondering why I didn't just use the wheel alignment gauge to check it... and I don't know.

Anyhow, the wheel build was pretty easy, and if you're building with a tension meter (always a good idea) just aim for the target 100kgf tension and you'll be golden.

Oh, I may have mentioned it elsewhere, but Gorilla clear packing tape makes excellent rim tape, just one 2" wide strip down the center of the rim is the right combination of stretchy and strong to provide a great seal for running tubeless.

lemme know if you've got any other questions or maybe I missed something.
Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: cmh on November 05, 2015, 05:41:56 PM
Latest update. Winter is approaching, so I'll probably play with the fat bike again. The purchase of the Epic killed any chance this bike had of getting ridden this summer, but maybe crappy weather will improve that. First things first, though - I've decided to finally make good on my threat to plasti-dip the bike for hunting season.

I started with several coats of a base white in order to cover the frame's black paint and give a brighter base for the hunter's orange:

(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-kbCtFeggMYc/VjvmS4BGNFI/AAAAAAAAiFE/s9LhHu1dI5E/s1024-Ic42/IMG_20151104_193244678.jpg) (https://picasaweb.google.com/118048517346415993560/FattyMcBlorp?authkey=Gv1sRgCOax2a77jNSAnQE#6213813322836751442)

Shot the first coat of hunter's orange, and it's much brighter in person than it appears here:

(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-fgjWceRAOP0/VjvmS52x-hI/AAAAAAAAiFE/gCsldr7byhE/s1024-Ic42/IMG_20151104_203916021.jpg) (https://picasaweb.google.com/118048517346415993560/FattyMcBlorp?authkey=Gv1sRgCOax2a77jNSAnQE#6213813323330353682)

On a more functional note, the Vee SnowShoes did not impress me, so I'm going big and am going to try the Bud/Lou combo for this winter. I'm a big guy so I'm gonna go with big tires. I consistently hear that they're the kings of traction, although they seem to roll about as quickly as a steamroller. Since I've got a bike that already rolls quickly, I'll see how these go for the winter riding.
Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: trekcarbonboy on November 07, 2015, 07:21:53 AM
WOW! Nice!
Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: cmh on November 07, 2015, 08:50:24 AM
WOW! Nice!

:) Thanks! Walked in the shop last night and the color really is pretty shocking. Definitely doesn't look like a deer or turkey. ^_^

Thinking of getting some vinyl labels made for it. Was thinking "NOTTADEER" or "PADO" - which fans of the "Despicable Me" movies may know is the Hindi word for "fart" :)

Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: Molothi on November 09, 2015, 03:07:20 PM
Quote
Definitely doesn't look like a deer or turkey. ^_^
;D ;D ;D
that's for sure  ;)
Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: rvc on November 10, 2015, 11:20:30 AM
Looks awesome! Love the punchy color!

I imagine that with the Bud+Lou, the orange paint, and general fatness... that you will be turning heads of more than just hunters and deer!

Cant wait to see her built back up.
Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: cmh on November 10, 2015, 02:21:08 PM
Looks awesome! Love the punchy color!

I imagine that with the Bud+Lou, the orange paint, and general fatness... that you will be turning heads of more than just hunters and deer!

Cant wait to see her built back up.

One thing I've considered and haven't done yet - but haven't decided against - is shooting the rims (80mm from Peter) hunter's orange as well. I think I'll just start with the frame, wheels can always come off and get shot at some point in the future. :D
Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: cmh on November 10, 2015, 07:11:29 PM
Got enough coats of the orange on there... it's not the fanciest job you'll see but hopefully it looks good enough as I ride by. Researching plasti-dip I saw someone suggesting to shoot a gold metal flake over the hunter's orange, and I've tried it, and it looks good. Also gives the otherwise matte finish plasti-dip a gloss, which is cool:

(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ipsQIKiLllU/VkKVG4tmhOI/AAAAAAAAiJ0/KIPZbb44TOw/s1024-Ic42/IMG_20151110_192521877.jpg) (https://picasaweb.google.com/118048517346415993560/FattyMcBlorp?authkey=Gv1sRgCOax2a77jNSAnQE#6215694381260113122)

Reassembly comes soon.
Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: cmh on November 12, 2015, 08:27:13 AM
rvc's build really has me interested in the fat bike again, having some fun with it and the plasti-dip.

Nice thing about plasti-dip, you don't need to mask that carefully:

(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3fjEyLJgXN8/VkSeMoRnAkI/AAAAAAAAiLg/hFs4Zb-9HXw/s1024-Ic42/IMG_20151111_203041515.jpg) (https://picasaweb.google.com/118048517346415993560/FattyMcBlorp?authkey=Gv1sRgCOax2a77jNSAnQE#6216267325485023810)

Over the orange coat I shot a coat of clear with a gold metal flake. Looks _awesome_ in direct light, but it's really grippy. Perfect for plasti-dip's original purpose - tool handles - but not great for a bike frame, so I shot a coat of clear enamel over that. Then I realized I have a reflective clear coat paint, so shot that on top. It's not hugely reflective but it's still kinda cool:

(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-YMJyHVwcjII/VkSeMs_NxxI/AAAAAAAAiLg/xmS_ToExc_Y/s800-Ic42/IMG_20151111_203746848.jpg) (https://picasaweb.google.com/118048517346415993560/FattyMcBlorp?authkey=Gv1sRgCOax2a77jNSAnQE#6216267326750050066)

Should be pretty cool on a night ride - and should make this frame about as visible as it can get without adding LEDs or EL wire or something. (which makes me think...  ;D)

Started reassembly last night, think it's gonna look great!
Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: Vipassana on November 25, 2015, 03:40:03 PM
Looks great!  This makes me want to paint my road bike with glow-in-the-dark paint or something since I ride at night with it. 

I never would have guessed gold over orange would look that cool.
Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: cmh on November 26, 2015, 01:09:50 AM
Looks great!  This makes me want to paint my road bike with glow-in-the-dark paint or something since I ride at night with it. 

That'd be cool - looks like plasti dip is available in glow in the dark as well. The nice part of that is if I get tired of the orange, I can peel it off. In theory, at least, don't know how well it's going to come off of the hose guides and stuff like that.

Quote
I never would have guessed gold over orange would look that cool.

Yeah, I'm very pleasantly surprised with the results. we'll see how it stands up to actual use.
Title: Re: Fat bike project underway
Post by: rvc on November 27, 2015, 09:07:14 AM
Looks great! Let's see some daylight pics!