My Fat Bike experiment: can a bike be ridden through a sandy wildlife refuge said to be unsuitable for bike travel? The guy bought this for his wife at full retail in 2018 and she put a grand total of 10 miles on it :D I paid $300. This is one of the 'good' Mongoose bikes, not a Wallymart Mongoose. Very nicely done aluminum frame with plenty of gusset plates and other reinforcements. It's all Shimano including 180mm hydraulic discs, 2x10, through-axle wheels, 4.5" Kenda tires, etc. This monster is going to take some getting used to for sure. No real problem going through the sand.


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Jeez, the tires are worth 300 bucks. If I found a deal like that I'd be all over it, too!

(I think you meant to say 1x10...). :-)

NICE score, Curt! Have fun - some nice weather for riding this time of year!

Byron, you gonna to be doing this siht at 71:)?



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It's a 2X - 36/22T. I actually used the 22 yesterday :eek: on loose sand on a slight uphill. Knees are a bit sore today from the extremely wide spacing of the pedals (probably 3-4 inches wider than normal!!). I'm a bit concerned with that - very weird feeling when pedaling. These are big effort bikes with all that rotating mass. Definitely a strength training ride.

The big problem in the area I'm riding is thorns. Whatever these plants are, they do not like to be ridden on. The tires were covered with thorns embedded right into the rubber. Had to pull them out with tweezers. No flats since they are small and I'm running under 10psi. But a real PITA if I've got to do this after every ride.


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Those are called goat heads where I come from, and they're a cycling menace for sure.

A 22! That's tiny, and I apologize for doubting you.

I had no idea carbon bikes were being built in the USA. This vid is fascinating. Today's version of a custom framebuilder from the 70s/80s. I want one.

Allied Cycle Works Bentonville Arkansas

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In my experience, a Q-factor (width between outer crank arm edges and subsequently peddle centers) is a major contributor to knee pain and joint longevity. I know I have a definite upper limit for Q-factor and it keeps me off fat tire bikes.

I'll be lucky to still be breathing at 71, my father passed away at 68.

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Interesting design, I have a cargo mullet bike that I am trying to convert to add a motor to it this winter.
20" front hub motor and a silverfish battery should make easy work out of carrying the load.

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Kentucky has the Bourbon Trail. Italy has the Bicycle Trail :eek:

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This park is nearby. I'm going to go check it out soon. :eek:

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I picked up a couple of frames yesterday off FBM for winter builds.

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First is a Bianchi Randonneur. Made in Japan, double butted tubing. I have an old touring bike that I've had since college, and it has always been just a touch big for me, so I don't ride it that much. This frame is 1/2" smaller, should be perfect.

Question: It has some patina to it. Should I leave it, repaint the frame the original color, or just clear over the bare spots? I've had thoughts of painting it Celeste green.

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Second frame is a Trek 8.5 DS. I have a Trek 7500 with a 17.5" frame, the top tube has always felt short. This bike obviously has a long top tube, plus it is 19.5" I may end up getting a shorter stem.

Question: This Isozone suspension deal. I almost considered not buying the frame because of it. It looks like there's a guy on eBay who makes replacement rubber blocks, but he's sold out right now. I won't know if I need new ones until I build this and ride it. Thinking of just making a couple aluminum bushings and locking out all the movement. Maybe not aluminum, maybe delrin or something. Anyone want to 3d print a pair out of something really stiff?

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^^^ Nice finds. There's some real deals out there right now. The bike industry is in the toilet right now and that's trickled down to the used market. I think I'd paint the Bianchi celeste.


Love these new Alans and the old-school paint schemes.

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I took apart the rear suspension on the Trek. The bushings are gone, the pins are all chewed up. I'm going to have to find some solution to replace this. I don't think Trek sells replacement parts for this frame anymore, or at least they don't online. I wish I had a lathe.

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Trek is usually good about having spare parts. Go to their main page, click on Bike Archive down at the bottom under support, find your frame/bike, click on service, find the manual, find the part, type the part number into the search box at the top of main screen.

That doesn't work for me. It does work if you're signed in as a dealer. I stopped at the local Trek dealer on the way home this afternoon, and he was able to find the part number for the kit, and four dealers who may have it in stock. Trek corporate no longer stocks the part. I've got an email out to the first dealer, let's see if the repair kit costs more than a frame.

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