cycling ⁽³⁷⁾

Patrick October 15, 2020

FortyFour Snakedriver

My first fat bike, the Big Boy, was designed at a time when fat bikes ran 135/170 hubs and 3.8-4.0 inch tires. It was also designed with a year-round use in mind. Good for snow but fun on dirt trails, too. I kept updating it over the years and after several winters it became clear that fat-biking totally is my thing. So, five years later I pulled the trigger on a snow-specific FortyFour, a Snakedriver with 27.5” wheels with room for 4.5” tires. The geometry was optimized for snow riding. A slightly lower BB to bring the center of gravity down, a longer wheelbase, and a slacker head tube for more directional stability. Hub spacing grew to 150/197 and the frame received a T47 BB shell. Kris also convinced me to use a dropper, for which I did see a number of benefits for snow rides. After time with a dropper, I would now also equip any dirt MTB with one. I can ride without one, but it’s truly nice to make use of one. As with all my other bikes, the Snakedriver was equipped with a Jones bar. In this case an H-Bar Loop Carbon 710. Winter rides often happen at night in the dark, and the Loop was the perfect bar for a custom front light mount. In February 2019 I studded the Bontrager Gnarwhal tires. How did I fat-bike without them for 5 years?

Patrick June 12, 2020

Flink And The Magic Of Google Sheets

I've been using the flink.run app to add my Strava data to a Google sheet with a bunch of additional tables that crunch the numbers. Each time I add an activity to Strava, flink.run adds a new row to the data table in my Google sheet. The stats in all the other calculated tables are therefore always up to date.

I sent my FortyFour Big Boy fat bike into retirement and wanted to look up my first ride on it. On Strava there's no easy way to find the first activity with a specific gear. In my Google sheet, it's a simple formula to look for the first occurrence of a specific gear within the activity table. Since I was at it, I added a first ride and last ride column to my gear table.

Patrick May 5, 2020

A Bike Jacket For Next Winter

A broken down car right ahead of Christmas and New Year, meant driving a loaner until we purchased a new car. No roomy vehicle meant no fat biking. That was followed by one of the poorest winters in years for snow cover. No snow, oh well, no fat-biking. A new vehicle in our parking spot created another necessity - to safely transport my studded fatty inside the new car without damaging the interior. Tire studs are short, but they're awfully sharp and will scratch interior plastic panels and tear fabrics or leather. In our old car, I did my best to be careful. But a scratch now and then wasn't a big deal. With a brand-new car, however, being careful isn't quite enough. I wanted something that would protect our car from those sharp metal studs. Thanks to Google I came across a post in the fat-bike forum on MTBR which pointed me to Amy Middleton's Bike Jackets. I ordered one and then waited ages because it got hung up at Swiss customs. It didn't get much use during the no-show winter of 19/20, but will hopefully come in handy for winter 20/21.

Patrick July 1, 2019

Portable Camera Equipment

When I started bringing a camera along, it used to be a Canon PowerShot digital camera. I had three different ones over the years. I used to set them up along the trail and have them snap a series of 10 photos, usually a second apart. A minute timer would give me just enough time to hop on the bike and ride into the picture. The cameras were small enough to fit into a jersey pocket.

My first action camera was a Replay XD 1080. The image quality wasn't all that great, but its cylindrical shape is still what I consider one of the best form factors. It was easy to attach it to basically anything. Later, I owned a GoPro Hero 3+, which I replaced with a Hero 5 Session. I picked the Session for its small cubic form, an ideal shape for POV chest mount shots. I have a Feiyu WGS 3-axis gimbal for stabilization and a self-made mounting plate that fits between the straps of my backpack.

Patrick December 19, 2018

Custom Carbon Front Light Mount

Designed on Sunday, November 11th, 2018, ordered the same Sunday, paid and made the following Monday, mailed on Tuesday, and arrived on Wednesday. If you ever need something done out of carbon plate, contact Rolf Meichtry at CNC-Modell.ch. He's not just quick; he does some…