Saturday 22 February 2014

Moonlander Update; ,The upgrades are finaly finished!, & Surlys new "Ice Cream Truck" fatbike...




No cycling last week and this weekend for myself. Dad has been ill and i have had a stinky cold so letting the cold clear up which is nearly gone and visiting dad at the Nursing home.
Been an upsetting week for all the family, just gotta keep busy and try not to worry too much.
And been busy with the wrenches this week, well not just myself but friend Colin popped round one evening and swapped the front hub on the big Moonlander to the bling gold Hope Fatsno 135mm hub i bought about a year ago. My Moonlander is the first model with the inline fork so the Fatsno front hub went straight on having the same measurements as the Surly hub the spokes were perfect lenght.


Every time Colin pops round and builds a wheel i learn something new about wheel building as i look on, make the coffee, eat the cake and observe...

As Colin says there is no black magic art to wheel building that some people like to make you think there is-but there are a lot of things someone with experience (over 30 years) will show you about wheels.
I have not had to touch a spoke yet on a wheel he has laced. his wheels don`t fall to bits.

And neither do Surly`s wheels wherever they are laced, prob out in Taiwan.
Perfect spoke lenght...

 Truing them up...



30+ year old Raleigh factory spoke key Colin was given at the Nottingham factory when he attended a wheel building course, wonder how many wheels he has built since with this key?...

Tension and then final fine tune...


And job done. After building wheels for racing bikes, touring, cyclocross, mountain bike, BMX, wheel chair racing wheels and offset Pugsley and 29+ wheels, Colin enjoyed another style of wheel to lace with the dual drilled inline Moonlander wheel...
Job done...


Out in the Man-Cave i have been sorting out stuff to put the Karate Monkey to a new use as my future winter commuter and Roughstuff bike. It will be a geared drop bar 29er ala the Salsa Fargo i had, but a bit more springy and comfortable for unladen cycling on and off road. More on that in the next blog...

Surly have just released details of a new steel 5" tyre/4" rim bike called the Ice Cream Truck (ICT)...






A big beastie of a bike!, with Surly Krampus style geometry with massive 5" Bud & Lou tyre clearance;

New bling from Surly

I just need a pay rise, then will be ordering one- looks like being ideal for bombing across the rocks here on the coast-something the much hyped plastic carbon fibre fatbikes i would never entertain for ...






3 comments:

  1. A drop bar 29er makes perfect sense to me. Mtb gearing, raised bb, wheels that can roll off road, Surly frame...sounds a good plan!
    It's a tough time with your dad, if there's anything at all that I can do, just phone.

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  2. Oh my, that Ice Cream Truck is tasty. Might have to rustle-up a pay-rise myself! And what a fun bike with a second 29+ wheelset, more Krampus-like than the Krampug with the sportier geometry.

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