Nov 18, 2011

Mukluk In-Bound


Mukluk 2
Originally uploaded by 3-16
Some men buy sports cars to nurse them through mid-life crises; others take up with younger women. I apparently buy strange specialized bikes...

I'll be adding a Salsa Mukluk to the stable here shortly. The bike was more happenstance than a calculated search-and-acquire effort, and a small measure of luck helped to make this happen.

Thanks to my genetics and early propensity for coffee, I require no more than an extra small Mukluk frame. I suspect that Salsa only makes a few token XS frames per year to say that they offer them, because as the entire bike industry knows, everybody in the f'ing world rides a 56 cm frame, right? Right?*

There is an awful lot more that I have to say on this topic, but in the interest of brevity I will save it for a late-night rant at some future point.

With Mukluks being "hot" right now, finding a built bike in XS is a little like finding the needle in the haystack. The shops that have them tend to have small, medium and large frames (if anything). Building up a frame is an option, but even finding an XS frame is still a problem, and then there is the added expense of a build. Going with a build kit can keep the price more manageable. Nevertheless, I was reluctant to go this route.

Fortunately, an XS Mukluk 2 turned up kind of out of the blue and I got a phone call about it. After 24 hours of debate with myself, I committed to the bike. It was delivered on Thursday and is being assembled now; it should be ready for pick up in the near future - maybe as soon as tomorrow.

An added benefit to this bike is that the frame can be set up as a 29er with a simple wheel swap. Therefore I can mount my 29er wheels that are currently on the Rawland and use this as an (overbuilt) 29er mountain bike (or perhaps leave the big wheel in front and run a 29er in back).

On that note, I am half tempted to mount some 650b wheels and see how the Mukluk does with those, now that I think about it...

That's totally counting chickens before they are hatched, however. I still need to pick up this beast and get it dialed in for a maiden voyage.

The forecast tonight calls for 3 inches of slush, so this might be a just-in-time deliver.

4 comments:

  1. Mr. Snak Shak--I am eagerly awaiting the footnote that was promised with the asterik (*). Or to a late-night rant from you.

    Good job on the Mukluk!

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  2. Looks like you're liking my fat bike pics lately. :)

    Congrats on the new bike!! Once the creek freezes we'll have to go for a ride. I hoping to organize another MBL fat ride this winter too.

    The Mukluk is a better buy than the Pug in my opinion. You'll need to rebuild your 650b or 29er wheels around new hubs to run them in the Muk though... it has 135mm front and 170mm rear spacing.

    I'm jealous... I'd love to get a Mukluk to replace my plump 1x1.

    -Pete

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  3. Pete - your photos helped set the hook on this one. Riding the creek, etc. sounds good. I found riding solo on the Pug to be a little lonely, so I was hoping for a fat ride or two...

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