Anyone here a cyclist?

In the spirit of N+1.... Decided to give fatbiking a try this coming winter but I did not want to spend mid four figures to try it and the used market is still crazy. I put away the bike snobbery and went big box. Northrock XCF from Costco (they recently came back into inventory online). The XCF has a 1X10 speed drivetrain with Deore shifter and clutch rear derailleur. Tektro mechanical disc brakes (160mm). Jagwire cables, KMC chain, Kenda Gigas. Flat black with mostly toned down gloss back decals. $699 online with delivery (plus tax)! Caution, the XCF is the better bike, the XC00 is much more typical BB store spec and really not much cheaper.

Quick review.... It came well packed and all bearings were properly set (preload) out of the box (very unusual for BB IME). Minimal assembly required and it came with two decent allen keys and a 15 mm open end wrench, didn't need the tools but more tools is never a bad thing. Brakes needed adjustment and so did the derailleur (including minor min and max screws). Some of the cable housings are on the long side but I left them as is for now.

They claim 35.2 lbs. It weighed 34 lbs 12 ounces without pedals with the original saddle. 35 lbs 4 ounces (35.25 lbs) as pictured (with different saddle--SI Sport--and MEC SPD pedals, no kickstand of course). So the claimed weight is pretty close. For a fat bike at this price point I can live with the weight.

No front suspension, which I consider a positive at the price point as a rigid fork is better than crappy and uber heavy suspension IMO. The Tektro disc brakes as-is are a little short on stopping power IMO, better pads and maybe a 180mm front disc and caliper adapter may be in the future.

The weird, the cranks are 155mm (as measured) "prowheel", 34T N-W chainrng with an odd bolt pattern. Square taper BB (sealed). Must have been a injury lawyer involved at some point on the length???? I thought they would be weird but it was OK on the first test ride. I will leave them for now and may be advantages when my knees are cranky. I have some crappy SR Suntour riveted together triples in the junk bin I may drill apart and use as a single 32T, 170mm... may even NW them with a grinder...

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Dork disk will be coming off....

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backmarkerducati said:
In the spirit of N+1.... Decided to give fatbiking a try this coming winter but I did not want to spend mid four figures to try it and the used market is still crazy. I put away the bike snobbery and went big box. Northrock XCF from Costco (they recently came back into inventory online). The XCF has a 1X10 speed drivetrain with Deore shifter and clutch rear derailleur. Tektro mechanical disc brakes (160mm). Jagwire cables, KMC chain, Kenda Gigas. Flat black with mostly toned down gloss back decals. $699 online with delivery (plus tax)! Caution, the XCF is the better bike, the XC00 is much more typical BB store spec and really not much cheaper.

Quick review.... It came well packed and all bearings were properly set (preload) out of the box (very unusual for BB IME). Minimal assembly required and it came with two decent allen keys and a 15 mm open end wrench, didn't need the tools but more tools is never a bad thing. Brakes needed adjustment and so did the derailleur (including minor min and max screws). Some of the cable housings are on the long side but I left them as is for now.

They claim 35.2 lbs. It weighed 34 lbs 12 ounces without pedals with the original saddle. 35 lbs 4 ounces (35.25 lbs) as pictured (with different saddle--SI Sport--and MEC SPD pedals, no kickstand of course). So the claimed weight is pretty close. For a fat bike at this price point I can live with the weight.

No front suspension, which I consider a positive at the price point as a rigid fork is better than crappy and uber heavy suspension IMO. The Tektro disc brakes as-is are a little short on stopping power IMO, better pads and maybe a 180mm front disc and caliper adapter may be in the future.

The weird, the cranks are 155mm (as measured) "prowheel", 34T N-W chainrng with an odd bolt pattern. Square taper BB (sealed). Must have been a injury lawyer involved at some point on the length???? I thought they would be weird but it was OK on the first test ride. I will leave them for now and may be advantages when my knees are cranky. I have some crappy SR Suntour riveted together triples in the junk bin I may drill apart and use as a single 32T, 170mm... may even NW them with a grinder...

View attachment 57304

View attachment 57305
Dork disk will be coming off....

View attachment 57306
Click to expand...
Just in case anyone is looking....this is a screaming deal for this level of bike.
 
backmarkerducati said:
In the spirit of N+1.... Decided to give fatbiking a try this coming winter but I did not want to spend mid four figures to try it and the used market is still crazy. I put away the bike snobbery and went big box. Northrock XCF from Costco (they recently came back into inventory online). The XCF has a 1X10 speed drivetrain with Deore shifter and clutch rear derailleur. Tektro mechanical disc brakes (160mm). Jagwire cables, KMC chain, Kenda Gigas. Flat black with mostly toned down gloss back decals. $699 online with delivery (plus tax)! Caution, the XCF is the better bike, the XC00 is much more typical BB store spec and really not much cheaper.

Quick review.... It came well packed and all bearings were properly set (preload) out of the box (very unusual for BB IME). Minimal assembly required and it came with two decent allen keys and a 15 mm open end wrench, didn't need the tools but more tools is never a bad thing. Brakes needed adjustment and so did the derailleur (including minor min and max screws). Some of the cable housings are on the long side but I left them as is for now.

They claim 35.2 lbs. It weighed 34 lbs 12 ounces without pedals with the original saddle. 35 lbs 4 ounces (35.25 lbs) as pictured (with different saddle--SI Sport--and MEC SPD pedals, no kickstand of course). So the claimed weight is pretty close. For a fat bike at this price point I can live with the weight.

No front suspension, which I consider a positive at the price point as a rigid fork is better than crappy and uber heavy suspension IMO. The Tektro disc brakes as-is are a little short on stopping power IMO, better pads and maybe a 180mm front disc and caliper adapter may be in the future.

The weird, the cranks are 155mm (as measured) "prowheel", 34T N-W chainrng with an odd bolt pattern. Square taper BB (sealed). Must have been a injury lawyer involved at some point on the length???? I thought they would be weird but it was OK on the first test ride. I will leave them for now and may be advantages when my knees are cranky. I have some crappy SR Suntour riveted together triples in the junk bin I may drill apart and use as a single 32T, 170mm... may even NW them with a grinder...

View attachment 57304

View attachment 57305
Dork disk will be coming off....

View attachment 57306
Click to expand...

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I have the previous model Northrock with only a 7 spd freewheel.

I quickly swapped out the crank arms for 175mm, upgraded the tires (JJs) but, haven’t gone tubeless yet, and did go with a lower tooth chain ring.

It’s a beast in the winter powder snow and beach sand. Did grab some cheapo CST studded tires for ice but, they don’t handle low tire pressures as well as the Jumbo Jim’s.

Oh, I swapped out the stem and bars to move a bit forward and narrower.

Don’t go fast enough to upgrade the brakes yet.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Turbo training season is upon us. My daughter wanted to try it this fall/winter, gave me an excuse to buy and build yet another bike (a small so she fits) instead of using my TCR... I found a 20 year old Oryx 2100 Racing on FBMP, Canadian made (good old Procycle), 3X9 Tiagra Groupset.

A full tear-down rebuild was needed...

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Combo flat-spd pedals from Decathlon. My dedicated to the trainer Open Pro/Ultegra wheelset, the rest of the components came with the bike.

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Stupid long seat post so I can use it. Obviously handling doesn't matter....

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I just need to set up a better spot in the house. Time to clean up the basement a bit.
 
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It is now off season for most but a PSA on pricing and availability as of late...

I have noticed in general stock appearing in B&M stores these days and pricing returning to "normal" now it is off season so they may not be getting huge numbers of bikes in but they have inventory.

On the used market, still people asking pandemic prices but they are not selling. Mid range used bikes can be had these days with a little patience for prepandemic prices (just have to pick through the high priced ads). High end stuff is still mostly ridiculous, but at the same time the ads are up for months so it is also not selling. Used parts have mostly returned to normal.

Last, on the Northrock fatbike above, I notice Costco has the XCF (the one you want these days) for $569 online until Sunday (Nov 6th), again 1X10 Deore DT with clutch derailleur, this is a bargain price IMO.


I have about 300+ kms on mime (fatbike so not doing centuries...). I like it much more than I anticipated (fatbiking), specially as it gets colder. The downsides on the specific bike so far...

The cranks set is an odd choice at 155mm and 34 tooth sprocket, square taper. It was not a priority to change but....I drilled and cut the low and high sprockets off of a junk bin 3X(8) square tapper SR Suntour crankset (from a scrapped CT Schwinn) to make a 32 tooth, 170mm, 1X; works near perfect and free! One dropped chain so far but to be fair I was doing north of 40 km/h and hammered it over a large speed bump, that is the only time so far, plenty of problem free off-road riding. The DIY 1X is not narrow-wide but the clutch helps keep the chain on, teeth work fine on a 10 speed chain.

Rear wheel is slightly out of true now, disc brakes and fat tire so it is not noticeable riding and an easy adjustment. Not an unusual problems for big box store bikes with machine made wheels. I have also been riding it hard and I am a fatass....
 
backmarkerducati said:
It is now off season for most but a PSA on pricing and availability as of late...

I have noticed in general stock appearing in B&M stores these days and pricing returning to "normal" now it is off season so they may not be getting huge numbers of bikes in but they have inventory.

On the used market, still people asking pandemic prices but they are not selling. Mid range used bikes can be had these days with a little patience for prepandemic prices (just have to pick through the high priced ads). High end stuff is still mostly ridiculous, but at the same time the ads are up for months so it is also not selling. Used parts have mostly returned to normal.

Last, on the Northrock fatbike above, I notice Costco has the XCF (the one you want these days) for $569 online until Sunday (Nov 6th), again 1X10 Deore DT with clutch derailleur, this is a bargain price IMO.


I have about 300+ kms on mime (fatbike so not doing centuries...). I like it much more than I anticipated (fatbiking), specially as it gets colder. The downsides on the specific bike so far...

The cranks set is an odd choice at 155mm and 34 tooth sprocket, square taper. It was not a priority to change but....I drilled and cut the low and high sprockets off of a junk bin 3X(8) square tapper SR Suntour crankset (from a scrapped CT Schwinn) to make a 32 tooth, 170mm, 1X; works near perfect and free! One dropped chain so far but to be fair I was doing north of 40 km/h and hammered it over a large speed bump, that is the only time so far, plenty of problem free off-road riding. The DIY 1X is not narrow-wide but the clutch helps keep the chain on, teeth work fine on a 10 speed chain.

Rear wheel is slightly out of true now, disc brakes and fat tire so it is not noticeable riding and an easy adjustment. Not an unusual problems for big box store bikes with machine made wheels. I have also been riding it hard and I am a fatass....
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What's the rolling diameter of a fatbike tire? I assume something similar to a 29" mtb with less wheel and more tire? Pretty much any way I come home will be a long ~10% grind. 34-42 on a 35 lb bike I don't think I have the cardio to get home (unless the rolling diameter is a lot smaller which shortens the effective gear ratio).
 
GreyGhost said:
What's the rolling diameter of a fatbike tire? I assume something similar to a 29" mtb with less wheel and more tire? Pretty much any way I come home will be a long ~10% grind. 34-42 on a 35 lb bike I don't think I have the cardio to get home (unless the rolling diameter is a lot smaller which shortens the effective gear ratio).
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Mine runs right about 29" overall diameter. The original 34 tooth front ring (with 42 rear) felt a little tall on steeper hill climbs, the 32 tooth feels much better and a 30 would likely be marginally better yet. At the same time at 32-11 top I can almost spin out on the fatbike on long "gradual" declines on pavement (say 1 to 3%), worse on steep ones. Which is one of my beefs with many 1X DTs in general (not all).

Overall the riding is different as my average speed is lower (the most important point), on pavement same distance/route (apples to apples) for comparison, road bike to gravel bike (42 mm dry tires) I am down about 8%, road bike to MTB I am down about 15%, road bike to fatbike I am down 20%. The slower the bike, also the less coasting I do. But at the same time, I notice the speed differences for all but I am also not deterred or bothered by it and this is apples to apples (road riding) and generally I am riding different terrain in reality. Also not riding purely to get somewhere, speed would be an issues here. None of the bikes feel laboured you just are not going as fast (or therefore as far) for the same power/time. I honestly thought (feared) the fatbike would feel laboured and would suck, it is just slower for the same "power" (no actual power meter here, just feel). It is also a mellow ride if that makes sense. It works out great (and was my hope not fear) for fall/winter riding as I do not need to go as far for a similar workout as I am going slower, plus less wind chill! Sweet spot for me so far is a 15 km to 20 km distance for an hour or so ride hilly mixed terrain on the fatbike, instead of 40km or 50km min on the road bike in the cold for a good two hours +/-.

Of course I also have the indoor trainer (now with that Oryx).... but getting outside for a ride always feels much better to me.
 
backmarkerducati said:
Mine runs right about 29" overall diameter. The original 34 tooth front ring (with 42 rear) felt a little tall on steeper hill climbs, the 32 tooth feels much better and a 30 would likely be marginally better yet. At the same time at 32-11 top I can almost spin out on the fatbike on long "gradual" declines on pavement (say 1 to 3%), worse on steep ones. Which is one of my beefs with many 1X DTs in general (not all).

Overall the riding is different as my average speed is lower (the most important point), on pavement same distance/route (apples to apples) for comparison, road bike to gravel bike (42 mm dry tires) I am down about 8%, road bike to MTB I am down about 15%, road bike to fatbike I am down 20%. The slower the bike, also the less coasting I do. But at the same time, I notice the speed differences for all but I am also not deterred or bothered by it and this is apples to apples (road riding) and generally I am riding different terrain in reality. Also not riding purely to get somewhere, speed would be an issues here. None of the bikes feel laboured you just are not going as fast (or therefore as far) for the same power/time. I honestly thought (feared) the fatbike would feel laboured and would suck, it is just slower for the same "power" (no actual power meter here, just feel). It is also a mellow ride if that makes sense. It works out great (and was my hope not fear) for fall/winter riding as I do not need to go as far for a similar workout as I am going slower, plus less wind chill! Sweet spot for me so far is a 15 km to 20 km distance for an hour or so ride hilly mixed terrain on the fatbike, instead of 40km or 50km min on the road bike in the cold for a good two hours +/-.

Of course I also have the indoor trainer (now with that Oryx).... but getting outside for a ride always feels much better to me.
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Thanks. As expected diameter is really close to my bike. It looks like a good deal on a decent bike but I'll pass for now. Spending money to get a bike almost double the weight with a substantial overlap in utility doesn't make sense for me right now. As an around town/shopping bike, the fatbike would be awesome as it isn't scary expensive if it gets stolen. I won't leave the current bike anywhere.
 
GreyGhost said:
Thanks. As expected diameter is really close to my bike. It looks like a good deal on a decent bike but I'll pass for now. Spending money to get a bike almost double the weight with a substantial overlap in utility doesn't make sense for me right now. As an around town/shopping bike, the fatbike would be awesome as it isn't scary expensive if it gets stolen. I won't leave the current bike anywhere.
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To my wife's annoyance I live in the N+1 world and to be fair with lots of overlap in bicycles...

In reality if I had to pick just one the gravel bike gets the most use/kms per year and covers the widest range (or can be considered the jack of all trades, the master of none, or just like eating at Kelsey's). Not as fast on road, not as capable off-road... but can do most of it.

I still have a CCM Targa build on the back burner that will be so ugly they will cut the frame to steal the lock. None of what I am ridding now (even the fatty) I will leave anywhere locked out of my sight for much time these days.
 
Went out for a fall trail ride. Not that many miles on bikes this summer with the bum leg but weather was too nice. Made a tactical error and went up the down side of a loop trail the neighbour made. Almost barfed.

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I am not loving the time atacs. Really easy to get into when clean but a bit of a struggle when packed with dirt. So hard to release and they are set about as loose as they can. Almost every trail ride I end up tipping over when a dab would save me. They almost always release when I hit the ground. 25 years of spd and few similar experiences, release is so much easier. Maybe for a bumpy fast stretch, atac is better as it holds on so well but I may relegate them to the spares bin if we dont get along better next year.

I think a fat tired ebike is in my future. Not suron fast, but something with a few hundred watts and ~50km range. It would be amazing for exploring trails/hydro cuts etc. Just cruise around and enjoy nature. Less likely to draw attention and ire than a dirt bike. Some float to get through goo as it wont be able to use speed or power get through.
 
Interesting bike @backmarkerducati, I've seen a whole lot more fat bikes in the last few weeks and maybe it's the Costco ones. I don't ride enough to justify it yet, but maybe soon I'll get on a bike more. Currently work/kids balance takes away any free time...does it ever get better?

What kind of range do those things get? 50km or so? That would suit me well enough. And they look much better than those bikes with the wider tires, but almost look like 'utility' bikes or something?
 
mimico_polak said:
Interesting bike @backmarkerducati, I've seen a whole lot more fat bikes in the last few weeks and maybe it's the Costco ones. I don't ride enough to justify it yet, but maybe soon I'll get on a bike more. Currently work/kids balance takes away any free time...does it ever get better?

What kind of range do those things get? 50km or so? That would suit me well enough. And they look much better than those bikes with the wider tires, but almost look like 'utility' bikes or something?
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Bmd's has infinite range. It is not electric. Just a decent entry level fat bike without much of the suck of most cheap bikes.
 
GreyGhost said:
Went out for a fall trail ride. Not that many miles on bikes this summer with the bum leg but weather was too nice. Made a tactical error and went up the down side of a loop trail the neighbour made. Almost barfed.

20221104-172211.jpg


I am not loving the time atacs. Really easy to get into when clean but a bit of a struggle when packed with dirt. So hard to release and they are set about as loose as they can. Almost every trail ride I end up tipping over when a dab would save me. They almost always release when I hit the ground. 25 years of spd and few similar experiences, release is so much easier. Maybe for a bumpy fast stretch, atac is better as it holds on so well but I may relegate them to the spares bin if we dont get along better next year.

I think a fat tired ebike is in my future. Not suron fast, but something with a few hundred watts and ~50km range. It would be amazing for exploring trails/hydro cuts etc. Just cruise around and enjoy nature. Less likely to draw attention and ire than a dirt bike. Some float to get through goo as it wont be able to use speed or power get through.
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Hear you on the pedals. I went from spd's back to flats on my mtn bike and i cant be happier swear that being clipped in made me lazier i would just grind away without paying any attention to foot placement as long as i was clipped. Migrated over to some cromag contact pedals with five ten impact shoes and i swear that it has helped my bike handling skills. The only downside that i have encountered is that in some rare instances when in slippery stuff and the bike is low siding clipped in you can sometimes pull yourself up that isn't happening with flats.
 
Dirty Frank said:
Hear you on the pedals. I went from spd's back to flats on my mtn bike and i cant be happier swear that being clipped in made me lazier i would just grind away without paying any attention to foot placement as long as i was clipped. Migrated over to some cromag contact pedals with five ten impact shoes and i swear that it has helped my bike handling skills. The only downside that i have encountered is that in some rare instances when in slippery stuff and the bike is low siding clipped in you can sometimes pull yourself up that isn't happening with flats.
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The Times I am currently using are flat/clip hybrid. I tried using the flats in normal shoes but hated the squish. I guess I should try bike shoes without the cleats but I suspect that wont go well. Worth a shot though. Thanks for the insight.

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GreyGhost said:
The Times I am currently using are flat/clip hybrid. I tried using the flats in normal shoes but hated the squish. I guess I should try bike shoes without the cleats but I suspect that wont go well. Worth a shot though. Thanks for the insight.

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Why did you switch from spd pedals?

I have been using the MTB spd (or spd compatible) for a good 25 years, not much to complain about on my side. To me the sound of the click in is a sound of summer...
 
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