Pixie training!

If you don't know, pixies are basically 16in wheeled kids bikes being ridden by adults.  Most do not remain stock, most remain single speed coaster brake only bikes though.  Lots of laughs and can be surprisingly fast.

Troll-in in the snow

I put the semi fat Surly Troll to the test today and was very impreesed to see it hold its own with "real" fatbikes on everything from deep snowdrifts, sand, ice, and slush.

Deeep snow drifts

Just finished plowing through another drift

Al was determined to get through this one....

Semi Fat Troll next to a Pugsly

Mostly slushy ice

left to right: 9 zero 7, pugsly, mukluk, troll

Another shot next to a Pugsly

Surly Troll semi-fat bike

Could not be more accurate

Continental Slash 26x2.3 tire on the rear

Continental Diesel 2.5 (measures out to 2.7 with 65mm rims) on the front with plenty of room to spare.

Still a fair amount of clearance on the rear.

After a few rides on various flavors of fat bikes and really loving high volume low pressure tires more and more I decided to put "fatties fit fine" to the real test.  My Surly Troll is rated to handle 2.7in tires and very easily lives up to that and fits 65mm wide fat bike rims great.  Since money is tight I ordered a set of Weinmann DHL65 rims that I laced to some used XT hubs we had laying around the shop.  Despite being cheap rims they laced up pretty well and actually fit in the frame without any modifications being made, I even got to keep my V-brake studs.  You do have to put the wheel in at an angle to get it around the studs but it is more than doable, even trailside like I found out earlier today.