Building a Fatty...

My Fat Bike Build.

With the popularity of fat biking over the last couple of years the thought of getting on has been on my mind.  Then in December I borrowed Troy’s Surly pugsley for a couple of days, that was a mistake!  I took his bike on a couple of trail rides down our local snowmobile trails and it was a blast.  I was amazed on how well the bike floated over the snow packed trail.  I enjoyed the bike and thought that I would like to get one at some point, but I had just got a full suspension 29er last September and another new bike was not in the cards. 

One night Kyleen mentioned to me that she was surprised that I did not want a fat bike right away.  Well, that started my planning on how I could get one sooner than later.  Before I bought my 29er I was planning on building one, so I had a bunch of parts that I had gathered, most of which I could use on a fat bike.  So I made a list of components and I got an idea of what the cost would be.  I thought that I could build one up for a reasonable amount using eBay and some used parts.  So I started selling some stuff to fund my bike build.  I sold some archery stuff that I have not used in years along with some bike parts.  I sold my old Rockhopper to a co-worker and some other stuff just in time for the Twin Cities bike swap.  At the swap I picked up a Salsa enabler fat fork and some Avid BB7 brakes for my build.  The rest of the parts I found on eBay or from Fatbikes.com.  Kyleen even chipped in and funded the remainder of my frame as my birthday gift, Thank You!!

I ended up going with a 2012 9zero7, Fatbikes.com had a great price on the frame so that was the deciding factor on my selection.  After a few months of buying and selling I had everything I need to start the build.  With the busy spring that I had planned I did not think that I would get the build completed until the late summer, but with all the snow and cold weather I had some spare time and I completed the build in early May.





This showed up at the door one day!





 I pressed in the headset, this is my first complete bike build so I was unsure of how the headset was going to go.  I installed the Salsa fork that I got at the bike swap along with a Raceface stem that I had.





Raceface DH bottom bracket and SLX derailleur installed. 



Installed the handlebars, brakes, brake levers, shifters, cables and housing.  It just needs some wheels and tires now.



I looked around for a good deal on wheels for a long time, in the end I decided to order a wheelset from Fatbikes.com.  Surly Rolling Darryl's with 9zero7 hubs.  I am planning on drilling out the rims at some point this summer.

I looked at my different tire options.  I was unsure of what would be a good all around tire for the riding that I had planned.  I ended up getting a set of On-One Floaters, they are from the UK.  I'm looking forward to getting some miles on these.  The price of the tires shipped was about $128, which for a pair of 120 tpi tires is a great deal.

Everything mounted and ready to go on the bike.

Once the wheels were ready I installed the chain and I was ready to ride.  I think that overall the build went as planned and I would do it again.  The bike ended up weighing about 32lbs, I hope to get it down to about 30lbs after drilling the rims and maybe a few lighter components, until then I'm just going to ride it.

Sunset test ride!

Build Specs.

Frame - 2012 9zero7 170mm medium

Fork - Salsa Enabler

Bottom Bracket - Raceface DH 100mm

Crankset - Raceface Ride Fatbike

Front Derailleur - Shimano SLX e-type

Rear Derailleur - Shimano XT M772

Cassette - Shimano Deore 11-36 10 speed

Chain - Shimano 10 speed

Shifters - Shimano SLX 10 speed

Brakes - Avid BB7 w/160mm rotors

Brake Levers - Avid FR-5

Seatpost - Easton EA30 30.9 X 350mm

Seat - WTB Volt

Handle Bars - Stylo T20 Riser Bar

Stem - Raceface Evolve XC 90mm

Grips - Lizzardskin

Cables - Jagwire Teflon coated

Wheelset - Suryl Rolling Darryls w/ 9zero7 hubs

Tires - On-One Floaters

No Almanzo 100 for me.

So last year I completed my first Almanzo 100, it was a very hot and windy ride.  My time was not what I had hoped for but I did finish so that was a huge for me.  A few days after that race I knew that I wanted to ride in the 2013 race.  I had been training as much as I could this spring and I was feeling OK, with all the rain it was hard to get out and ride.  The week before Almanzo I was on a MTB ride and crashed hard.  I ended up with a separated shoulder.  No Almanzo for me!

Since Troy, Brett and Jose were riding and I already paid for a camp site Kyleen and I headed down to do some cheering and provide some support if needed.  It was a great day to be on the bike, I'll be back next year!

This was the largest starting field for an Almanzo, it is a great race and Chris and the Almanzo crew do an awesome job with getting everything in order.

Troy and Brett getting ready to roll out.

Due to some road work the riders had to do a couple of water crossings.  This was the one outside of Preston.  The second water crossing was too dangerous so the course was rerouted.

The last climb of the race, Kyleen and I stood at the top and cheered the riders on.  Troy, Brett and Jose all finished and it was a great day for riding!