Salsa Cycles Mukluk: First Impressions

With my two part introduction to snow/fat bikes behind us, (Part I, and Part II), it is time to give you all some first impressions on what riding a fat bike is like and specifically, the Mukluk. First off, let’s take a quick closer look at what I have here….

The Mukluk frame is a double butted, 6061-T6 aluminum alloy construction with a Salsa Cycles “Enabler” “ChroMoly” steel fork which is painted to match. The Mukluk frame is one of the Symmetrical Type frames for fat biking, so it features a 170mm rear axle spacing. Salsa Cycles also sells a Salsa branded, Formula manufactured hub to fit the bike, which comes with the Mukluk complete. I opted to build a custom wheel set, which I will detail in a moment. The Enabler fork is spaced at 135mm, so it can accept any rear hub, and it has a rear brake standard for the disc brake caliper mount.

Another fat bike feature on the Mukluk is the 100mm bottom bracket width, which requires a special bottom bracket. (I used a TruVativ ISIS bottom bracket.) The frame features braze ons for three water bottles with an extra braze on at the down tube which works to allow the mounting of Salsa’s “Anything Cage” which requires three mounting points. This arrangement also allows you to choose to put a bottle cage on in one of two positions.

Added to this are the mounts on the Enabler fork for a front rack, or an Anything Cage on either fork leg, or a rider can opt for two fork mounted water bottles. If you are keeping track, that’s a possible five water bottles or three Anything Cages. There are also rack mounting bosses on the rear triangle. Finally, the Mukluk features full run cable housing that runs down along the downtube. This keeps the main triangle open for those choosing to use frame bags, or top tube mounted “bento-type” bags.

The Wheels : The dominate feature of the Mukluk is obviously the wheels and tires which draw attention to themselves due to their enormous size. On my Mukluk, I chose to have special wheels built. The hubs came from Phil Wood and were laced with Sapim spokes to Surly Bike’s “Rolling Darryl” rims. These were shod with tubed Larry 3.8″ tires which measure a whopping 92mm@10psi! Sharp-eyed readers will notice the wheels do not match. That was due to a flaw in the original rear wheel’s hub which was taken care of by Phil Wood and Co. Once I have the original wheel back on, my loaner wheel can go back to its owner! The wheel assemblies are heavy compared to anything a normal 29″er would use. Weight-weenies need not apply here. However, in comparison to some fat bike wheels, these are not too bad. It depends upon your point of reference.

The Rest Of The Build: I used a mix of SRAM twist grip shifters, X-9 rear derailleur, XT Direct Mount front derailleur, Avid BB-7 brakes and levers, and an older Bontrager Race Lite crankset to kit out the bike with. The chain is a SRAM PC-951 9 speed model. It also features a Bontrager carbon seat post and RXL Inform saddle with a Ragley Bikes Carnegie’s Bar in carbon, (pre-production sample with no graphics), and cut down Ergon GP-1 grips. The stem is a TruVativ Stylo at 100mm. Pedals are some old Wellgo flats I had in the parts bin. All pretty basic, reliable fare.

Geometry: Salsa Cycles tested a couple prototypes in Alaska and around Minnesota and Wisconsin with some folks that knew a thing or three about fat bike geometry. This is what was finally decided upon. Head angle- 70*, Seat Tube Angle- 73*, Effective Top Tube Length (Large/19″ size tested) 620mm/24.4″, Bottom Bracket Drop, 2.48″/ 63mm, Chain Stay Length- 455mm/17.91″, Head Tube Length (Size 19″)- 160mm/6.29″, and the Enabler fork has an Axle To Crown Length of 468mm with a 45mm offset.

Handling And Performance: First off, a fat bike is not a “magic carpet” that will float over deep snow. While there certainly is some amount of floatation on tap here, a fat bike still needs a “little help” in the form of compacted snow to some degree. If the surface is loose, fluffy, and deep, you won’t go anywhere. However; given some form of previous travel that compacts the snow, be that automobiles, snow machines, sledges, or people, you can ride reasonably well where a “normal mountain bike” would wallow, swerve, and get bounced off course.

The big Larry tires are meant to be ridden at low pressures, really low pressures! I started out at 10psi and went down from there. 5psi is pretty sweet for deeper snow, but experimentation is necessary for best results. Incremental pressure adjustments make big differences. Of course, those big tires have a lot of suspension built in too, so bumps, irregularities, and trail obstacles of smaller sizes become invisible or greatly reduced in effect. Conversely, that suspension is purely undamped, so bouncing around in small compressive hollows and bumps is something you will need to deal with as well. Riders with a lot of rigid riding experience will adapt to this quickly, but those used to relying on suspension to do the dirty work may be in for a bit of a learning curve.

Deeper, looser snow that is rideable is best dealt with by getting back on the rear wheel and letting the front float. Once the weight shifts to the front wheel, the front has a tendency to wash out and you lose momentum. Snowmobile trails were fun, but I have found that bounding around city streets and attacking snow piles and pedestrian-stomped snow lined out in skinny tracks is a great, challenging way to enjoy a snow bike. The Mukluk is easily tossed around, despite its 34-ish pound overall weight. (I have not weighed it on a scale that is reliable) The front pops up with ease, and the bike is stable in hard, frozen snow with lots of irregularities. Slow speed handling is a bit of a chore due to the big tires grip and the slack angled front end. But other than that, it has been a really fun bike to plunk around on in the city, or out in the wilds on the snowmobile trails and gravel roads.

Stay tuned for more updates as the weather changes and the trails open up.

Note: The Salsa Cycles Mukluk is my personal bike. This bike was not submitted to Twenty Nine Inches by Salsa Cycles for test/review. I will strive to give my honest opinions and thoughts throughout.