Black Sheep Fatbike

[amasendeinja]

My road to ovine happiness....

 

ovine

ˈəʊvʌɪn/

adjective: relating to or resembling sheep.

 

In this case a Black Sheep specifically.

 

Started my journey when I met Paul and Todd from Black Sheep bikes at SSWC 2012 in Winterton, saw their bikes in the metal and knew I had to have one. I had lusted over them on the web for some time before, but in the metal was just a whole new level.

 

Subsequently bumped into Paul at OR Tambo ariport when they were flying back from their holiday after SSWC and I was heading out on a business trip, and my fate was sealed.

 

Many emails and 1x $1k deposit later I managed to add a bit of an extra loop into a business trip to the US in November last year, and headed off to Fort Collins; world headquarters of HP computers, Niner bikes and of course Black Sheep Bikes. It probably also has one of the highest breweries per capita of any town in the US, with 11 breweries in and around the 100k population town.

 

One thing about custom bike builders I learnt, understatement. Below pics of Black Sheep HQ

[amasendeinja]

Fatties in house.... with Watson the shop dog (owned by Paul)

[amasendeinja]

36er, strange looking, kinda strange to ride at first, but when that thing gets going, man it moves. Can't say I would ever aspire to own one, but it was a lotta fun to ride

[amasendeinja]

Little bit of welding porn. Unfortunately James (the owner) was away when I was there so never got to meet him, but the man can weld.

 

For my bike I ordered the HACS (Horizontally Adjustable Chainstays) chain tensioning option as well as the breakaway option. The breakaway option adds $250 to the price of the frame, but considering that a 1-way domestic flight in the US charges $250 for oversize baggage, and this allows me to put take apart the frame and put it in my normal hardshell suitcase, it's worth every cent.

[amasendeinja]

So much of sexy!

 

Black Sheep are known for their truss forks, but to be honest this fork on Todd's bike is pure understated beauty in my eyes. Despite being a fat fork, it has normal 100mm front hub spacing instead of the usual 135mm required on fat forks. This mainly because the wheelset is built using the new Velocity 45mm wide Dually rims. This makes for a "thinner" fat tyre profile and requires a bit of wiggling to get the wheel off around the disc brake mount, but really nothing major. Also built to use a 15mm thru-axle.

[amasendeinja]

Fatties (there would appear to be 3 in this photo) on the Blue Sky Trail just outside Fort Collins in the foothills of the Rockies. It was frikken cold (around 3 degrees) when we rode in the late afternoon so I was more than happy to ride hipster style in jeans, like Paul does.

 

I really thought I'd suffer having never ridden rigid before, but Paul could not ride away from me (maybe he was just being polite) and those fat tyres stick like **** to blanket, so you can really rail corners. It was an awesome experience, and that on a proper trail that had some good technical challenges to it.

[amasendeinja]

This is why I really went Fort Collins...if you're a craft beer aficionado (and happen to like bikes too) then this is great place to visit. 1 hour's drive from Denver it's pretty easy to get to too. This particular pub only sold beer and soft drinks. It has a wall with 99 beer taps on it, of which only 3 beers are foreign (from Belgium) and the rest are all US craft beers. Awesome!!

[BSG]

Those fat tyres looks weird, I always waited for a report on their handling and now you've given it to us.

[amasendeinja]

So this entire process is taking a bit longer than I anticipated. I managed to miss my slot for delivery due to my own fault. Also Paul and Todd have moved on from Black Sheep (sadly) to start their own venture called Moonmen Bikes (find them on Facebook).

 

Right now I'm targeting get my frame complete around May. So much excitement for me as it now begins to get real with James having sent me the first draft drawing of my frame this week.

 

I have gone full circle from wanting a fat bike, to canning that idea and just wanting a 29" frame, and now I'm back there again. So this bike will be able to run 29" wheels, but will be built with a 100mm wide BB and 170mm rear hub spacing so I can run fat wheels as an option as well and still be able to have tyre clearance for 1x10 or 11 geared. The plan is to run SS, but the geared option is there for when I want it. Fat wheels will be built using Velocity 26" Duallys and 45NRTH Husker Du tyres which gives about a 4" tyre profile. With these I get around 16.7" long chainstays (pretty short) and with 29" wheels maybe even slightly shorter.

 

Effectively I will end up with 4 options on this bike: rigid fat SS or geared, suspended 29er SS or geared. When fat suspension forks become more mainstream - very few options available now - then maybe even fat suspended.

 

Drawing attached, and I'd be interested in any views/advice on the frame geo numbers. I pretty much know what I want, but interested non-the-less. Thanks for looking.

 

More posts to follow as things progress....

Barry Elliott phat luna vista Model (1).pdf

[the nerd]

This is awesome. and also the worst story ever. i want one.

[deanbean]

Really nice B.

[DJR]

Great thread, keep it alive as it happens please.

[Skylark]

Fat bike! Fat bike! Get a fat bike, really is the only thing in the bike industry that has really peeked my interest in recent years, they really are something useful and different. Man tires must be expensive considering a decent 29er tyre is R650..

[Ryanpmb]

Awesome! Looking forward to further chapters in this story.

 

BUT - I don't care how cool Black Sheep bikes are - jeans and MTBs... No man!

[Thug]

Awesome!!

 

Have lusted after a Black Sheep for years.

[cape]

Dude