Another incredible year of racing for the Fatback brand! We continued the last few year’s dominance with Jeff Oatley winning the Sheep Mountain 150 back in early December. Next came the Arrowhead 135 where Jeff struck gold again along with his super tough wife, Heather Best, who set a new record.
Then came the Susitna 100, with Fatback riders going 1-2-3 in the men’s race (Tim Berntson, Jeff Oatley and John Lackey finishing well ahead of fourth place. In the women’s race, Julie Berberich won, with Kristin Wolf 2nd.
A week later came the Grand Daddy of them all, the Iditarod Trail Invitational, where Fatback riders Pete Basinger, Jeff Oatley and I went 1-2-3 in the men’s race, and “La Ruta” Lou Kobin blew away the old course record in the women’s race. Congratulations to Pete and Jeff for another painfully close 1-2 finish.

Finally, the newest race, and in my opinion, the best of the 100mi races, the White Mountains 100 in Fairbanks, where we went 1st and 3rd in the men’s race (me and Jeff), and 1-2-3 in the women’s (Heather Best, Janice Tower, and Jill Homer).

A special congratulations goes out to Jeff Oatley for being the first racer to do all the races in one season. That is a terrible amount of suffering. Hat’s off to you brother!

Thanks to all the great riders and racers for their continued support. We’re looking forward to the coming season.

Fatbiking the Upper Buskin River from Philip Tschersich on Vimeo.

I just got in my frame for the ITI (350 race from Knik Lake to McGrath following the Iditarod Trail) last Friday and got it built in time to go up and watch the Susitna 100 last Saturday. I figured I have titanium and aluminum bikes in the race, so why not get a steel one in there too? By the way, with awesome riders like Tim Berntson, Jeff Oatley and John Lackey, Fatbacks went one-two-three in the mens, with Julie Berberich, Kristin Wolf and Kim Riggs going one-two-four in the womens. Way to go all of you, not to mention many great rides by other competitors.
I’m still getting the gear dialed in on how it will carry on the bike, so cutting it close, but it’s about there. Trail conditions are really good right now, but the weather folks are calling for snow toward the weekend. Rainy Pass is also really windblown and drifted in, so that will probably be a big slog. Looking forward to getting started.

We are just about done with the latest steel frame which is different than the previous design for a couple reasons. First, it is sized for someone who has a very long inseam, so the bent top tube is not needed. Second, at this point the bent top tubes cost considerably more, as it takes special equipment (that the builder doesn’t own) to bend these tubes because of their diameter and strength. There is a matching steel fork to go with it and they both should be out of the paint booth next week. I’ve got something special in mind.

Last spring the well dried up on our favorite pedals, so I started a search for a better replacement. It took some time, but they are finally here. There are three types available with the magnesium/ti in very short supply, but damn, at 230g pr, they are pretty amazing. We have not had a chance to test them yet, as they just came through the door, but will put them through the paces this week. We have an aluminum/chromoly pr that is 320g, and then the standard pedal which is still only 380g. The bearings feel great. Silver or black.

It’s been on the cold side here lately, but the riding has been perfect. Last night’s shop ride featured about 1 1/2 hours of climbing, then bombing back down what rides like a luge run. Just about as good as it gets.

As for the next round of Fatback goods, most everything shipped this week, so more frames, carbon forks, the new imported hub with QR’s, and even a batch of branded pedals. Here is a shot of available colors in our US made hubs.

We finally received the carbon forks and not a moment too soon. They look great and came in at 810g uncut with a 300mm steer tube (about 12″), so they should break 800g cut for those of you who bother counting grams. They are only available in 135mm spacing and are 460mm axle to crown. I would describe the ride quality as responsive, but comfortable, which is about as close as I’m going to get without saying laterally stiff but vertically compliant. They soak up chatter and the steering is really positive. If you have ridden a soft fork, such as a the ti fork, you will notice a huge improvement. We used to do ti forks here, but decided ti is not the best fork material. By the time we made it stiff enough (barely) it was the weight of the steel forks, but much more expensive.

For most folks, it should drop about a pound off of your bike. Cost is $400.

Last Saturday, we had another great edition of the Frigid Bits, but for the first time in recent memory our bits weren’t all that frigid. Saw some new faces out-always great to see, and of course, always good to see the charter members. The burn barrel was in full glory.  If you look close, you can see the elusive Pete B, with a beer in his hand no less!

A few of us headed up to Glenn Alps to check things out. Here’s a shot from photographer Dan Bailey.

Just a couple of updates on parts availability. Imported hubs are at US Customs-just waiting for clearance. Carbon forks are overdue, so hoping to have news for you SOON. I’ll post it as soon as I hear.

Well we finally got the new site up, and not a moment too soon. I just haven’t had time to put it together, so even though not complete, I’m thrilled to get it rolling.
There’s lots of news-we introduced a steel version of our frame that is fantastic. US made and a reasonably quick turnaround. Same great Fatback ride quality. Our carbon forks will ship on the 30th. They shave over a pound off the steel fork that comes with the aluminum frames. We are also introducing a lighter version of our imported hubs that will be QR and have an alloy freehub body with steel inserts to keep the cassette from digging in. These will be available around the 1st of December. We also have a wider version of our 70mm rims coming out, but those are a little ways away. All in all we’ve got some cool products ready (or almost ready) to go. Looking forward to the season!

The Fatback has become to big to handle and now has its own website! We will be updating this site regularly.