Bicycle boondocking

[SledTL]

nice picks - is a skating ski the same as a Xcountry ski or a little different?

Xc skiing is more of shuffling with following the path that everyone travels to stay in the grooves. That's where you see the two parallel tracks in the snow. Skate is more like down hill because you sort of skate and push off side to side, this is the kind that is used in the racing and Olympics.

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Prices are creeping down a little as these bikes become more popular. I paid $900 for a slightly used one. You could spend $5K if you needed the lightest bike with carbon fiber frame, carbon fiber wheels, and top end components.

That is true but all the ones that I have seen are all top of the line stuff. Not really any middle of the road type bikes. Have to get a brand like trek to get in there and make a common bike that would make it more affordable and popular. I'm waiting until the end of college to go out and buy a super nice hard tail or full suspension.

 

[kwikgren]

Yeah, the skating gear is a little beefier setup that can handle gnarly descents and parallel turning techniques yet still be light enough to allow you go fast up hills and across flats. The key, as in snow biking, is to have a nice firm surface so you don't sink too far and lose momentum.

To be honest, I was a little skeptical about the snowbikes when they first came out. But now that I have seen them in action and looked at some of the race results, I am impressed. Funny thing is that some of the traditional xc skiers were against the skating techniques when we first started using them back in the 80's. Ditto with the snowboarding, ATV'ing, and off trail snowmachining. I guess we need a good reason to be against something rather than just not wanting anyone else to have fun! I now classic ski, skate ski, and downhill ski and those activities along with snow shoveling keep me busy enough in winter so I don't really have time or money for biking or snowmobiling.

 

[blizzardmk]

Nice pics, kwikgren!

A bike with 4" or 5" wide tires will have a little more snow pressure than cross country skis, so the bikes require a firmer surface and are less forgiving when it starts to soften up. Biking on crust is really fun, but conditions have only been good for it a few days this spring.

 

[harvest1121]

If anyone is interested in a Trek or Surly send me a message I sell them have a Trek Farley 21 inch frame will sell for $1600 I rode it a few times.

<a href="http://s772.photobucket.com/user/harvest1121/media/Trek%20Farley/IMG_20140223_125610022_HDR_zpsa5f23fd9.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/yy3/harvest1121/Trek%20Farley/IMG_20140223_125610022_HDR_zpsa5f23fd9.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_20140223_125610022_HDR_zpsa5f23fd9.jpg"/></a>

 

[rp7x]

to much salt , I like mine with a little more pepper , lol

 

[SledTL]

If anyone is interested in a Trek or Surly send me a message I sell them have a Trek Farley 21 inch frame will sell for $1600 I rode it a few times.

<a href="http://s772.photobucket.com/user/harvest1121/media/Trek%20Farley/IMG_20140223_125610022_HDR_zpsa5f23fd9.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/yy3/harvest1121/Trek%20Farley/IMG_20140223_125610022_HDR_zpsa5f23fd9.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_20140223_125610022_HDR_zpsa5f23fd9.jpg"/></a>

How do you keep these bikes from rusting the components. I rode my hard tail around for a winter and tried to clean off as much snow after each ride and my chain and brake rotors still got little bits of rust on them.

 

[harvest1121]

Actually it was not salt it was limestone from the canal riding the I and M canal. Just wipe them down and spray wax works good just cover the rotors.

 

[ext580]

I did a lot of fat biking in the Chicagoland area this winter.
Like people say you have to have good conditions either crust to ride on or packed snow. We were actually going out snow shoeing to pack the trails down to ride because the snow was getting to deep to just ride. They are alot of fun. The prices are coming down you can get them new for about 800-900, but they are going to be heavy and low end components. There are places actually grooming for them on mountain biking trails in certain areas. The trails at Levis mound in WI actually groom trails for fat biking.