If you'd like a better picture of the bike



The bike is made by Amp Research, is a full suspension bike, weighing about 25 pounds, although equipped as shown it is probably closer to 30 pounds.

The equipment includes the locally made handlebar covers (called "Pogies" for no reason that anybody can remember now), the tool bag with spare inner tube, tools, chain lube, etc., and the special winter wheels with 44mm wide rims to give flotation on soft trails. These rims are available only from All Weather Sports here in Fairbanks, and are frequently the difference between riding the bike and pushing it when trail conditions are soft. With these rims, and the "give" of the trail surface, we can run tire pressures as low as five to eight psi pressure to maximize the size of the tire footprint.

Other winter preparation involves repacking all the bearings (headset, wheels, bottom bracket) with very lightweight winter grease, and removing all lubricant from the freewheel mechanism (even the lightest oil will keep the ratchet pawls from engaging at 20 degrees below zero or colder).

These rims are much wider, stiffer, and stronger than conventional rims, and because of that require fewer spokes, particularly in the front wheel where there is no stress from being driven by the pedals.

The bike is equipped with hydraulic disk brakes front and rear. These work much better than conventional rim brakes in the snow, particularly with temperatures in the 20s, where rim brakes will warm the rims up above the freezing point, melting snow on the rims which then re-freezes. The coefficient of friction of ice-coated brake pads on ice-coated rims is not particularly conducive to rapid deceleration. The disk brakes also ice up, but because the tolerances between the pads and the disk are so small, the amount of ice is literally only a few molecules thick and dissipates the instant the brakes are applied. Plus, being so far away from the trail surface, they are less likely to be hit by snow.

There are some electronics on the bike -- a bike computer that shows current speed, average speed, maximum speed, total distance traveled, trip distance traveled, current altitude, total altitude gain, trip altitude gain, elapsed time, time of day, and a few other functions I don't remember because I never look at them. Also, a wireless heart rate monitor that in addition to displaying current heart rate also records heart rate as a function of time and replays it at the end of the ride, or downloads it into a PC for detailed analysis. The tail light is a nice little LED unit that requires new batteries about every two or three years, and is visible on a clear night from more than half a mile away. I only put the headlight on when I know I will be riding in the dark -- the motorcycle battery that powers it is heavy enough that I don't carry it around unless I have to.

The chain stays, seat stays, and fork blades are carbon fiber. The frame is aluminum. There probably is not three pounds of metal on the bike that you could pick up with a magnet. (Freewheel cogs, brake disks, ball bearings, pedal spindles... most other things are light metals like aluminum, titanium, etc.)

For winter riding I prefer pedals with toe clips and straps to the more secure clipless variety. The mechanism and cleats of clipless pedals tends to get packed with snow, and if the temperature is right the pressure of foot on pedal compresses the snow turning it into ice, making it impossible to clip in. (Some clipless pedal designs are less prone to this than others.)

It is a pretty high-end bike (when I bought it four years ago it was the high end mountain bike) and I paid more for it than I have paid for any car I have purchased in the last 25 years. More than any TWO cars, in fact...

tanstaafl.