This project became as dear to me as building G’s bike. Though it did not start out that way.
I’ve had the PhattyCatty for 3 years. Got it used after 1 season as a rental, at 50% off list when NOBODY had fatbikes, especially smalls. I’ve ridden it over 100 hours, and hated it a lot. Its heavy and sluggish, the cranks drag every turn, the wheels have never been true and the brakes are sloshy. While all around me the fatbike craze was going off! Byron nabbing a sub-30lb carbon, XO hardtail for $1800 shined the bright light of neglect and self-loathing on me.
It took a few weeks of solid research into the runaway evolution of fatbikes on mtbr.com and the FB group Fat Bike Trades til i concluded the 2012 Mukluk 3 is a piece of shit, 38lbs with pedals, worth ~$800. I should have flipped it 1.5 yrs ago. But what to do? Today’s $800 bikes are equally shitty but with cutout wheels that amount to all of 2 lbs less. The price shoots up with better components and suspension. Fatbikes now range from steel rigid to carbon full suspension, 65 to 100mm rims, $700 to $5000. What did I want, what did I want to do with it, how much did I want to pay, what chance did i have of finding a small, and would it still cost $200-500 more to get it just right.
I liked the simplicity of the PhatCat, i liked it rigid and efficient, 4 inches of float and resistance on sand that was plenty enough to blow out my quads every workout. I finally decided I wanted exactly what I had – just lighter, nicer to touch, and less a piece-of-shit. I would lurve carbon, but didn’t have $2k falling from the money tree for a frame. For $500 I could drop 5lbs, go 1x, reduce maintenance, and turn its tactility back into something pleasurable, a bike I wanted to hold. In 1 month guaranteed, vs. waiting for sales and hopefuls and rebuilds in my size. That was a hard plan to turn down
PhatCat lost 12oz per tire, and 8 oz per tube, for $140. For $25 I put on a chinese overstock carbon handlebar and gel grips, and dropped another half pound. 2 more lbs lost in the drivetrain for another $325.
4 years ago the only affordable cranks for fatbikes were heavy-ass DH cranks
no longer; so many variants from RaceFace, i got the Turbines
New crank’s corrected the Catty’s issues with chainline. 1×9 became a real option, cheap and simple, and the charts told me just about good enough with a 26T NW Wolftooth ring to give me the same gearteeth for less weight and more simplicity.
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A lot of studying and guesswork til I finally got a ratchet on it and puked up all that 2x nonsense.
A ghetto bashguard from an old ring i had hanging from the front door (really!).
totally nuts
I have one more possible change that makes sense before flipping it all for $1300 – for $50 in tools and a day of effort, I could drop another 5oz per wheel. TBD.