New Bike Day

That didn’t take long.

After selling my too-small Salsa Mukluk fat bike a few weeks ago, and discovering how little I liked riding my full suspension Yeti in the snow (https://mltshp.com/p/1RHUL), the search has been on for another fat bike. I didn't want this to be a big investment with our variable winters, so I set a budget of $1k.

The search started with a few frustrating weeks of marketplace. The few bikes on there in my size (when sellers bothered to list a size) were way overpriced, too far away, worn out, really old, or were of questionable quality to begin with. I also missed a lot of good new bike sale prices over the last few month. Some were selling under my budget, and many others at close to the prices people were asking used.

I decided to look for something new, and planned to wait for another sale - but also look around to see if any sale prices were still hanging around. I found the bike at the top of my wishlist - a Salsa Heyday - for not much more than I budgeted at a shop three hours away. They had my size, the shop was reputable, so I jumped on it. My friend owns a shop and will sell to me at cost, and this was somehow still cheaper.

The Heyday is just a renamed Mukluk, but a lot has changed in ten years. The old bike had a 2x drivetrain, with the front derailleur almost touching the tire in certain gears. The wheels were heavy, QR, couldn't really go tubeless, and had old axle space standards. Tire clearance was only 4", so replacement options were limited. The new bike fixes all of these shortcomings. The frame, tires, and wheelset are all quality with not much reason to ever upgrade. I was little weary of the 1x9 Microshift Advent drivetrain. Though cheap, it seems to have a reputation for being pretty tough. That actually feels like a feature on a bike that will get crashed often and see road salt.

I haven't ridden much yet, but the fit feels excellent so far. Just as important, with a fat bike back in the fleet, I'm out of excuses to not go riding more often.