I have had the bike out a few times at Theodore Wirth and Elm Creek. It is tons o' fun. I highly recommend a snow bike for anyone who lives in MN and considers themselves a mtn biker. The bike handles very predictably, is comfy, yet is stiff enough that my 2-3mm of clearance between the chain and the tire are not an issue.
I definitely have to put the bike underneath me when cornering otherwise the Endomorph's tend to slide. This is only an issue when I am too tired to ride properly. Perhaps I will get some knobbier tires for next year. The Hammerschmidt is awesome. I am not man enough to rock a single speed snow bike, but the two speeds of the Hammerschmidt is perfect for the local trails. My current trail riding ratio is 35.2:23 (1.53) normally and 22:23 (.96) when I can't hack it in the "big ring" anymore. The front and rear wheels are interchangeable, and I currently have a 20 tooth cog on the front in case I wanted to ride some bike path. We'll see if I have to change these ratios up with different snow conditions as opportunity presents itself. As for now all of our precip. has been replaced by rain :(
Next up for this frame is a rack or two for adventure camping trips and the occasional snow day commute.
That thing is absolutely awesome!
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing that's a symmetrical rear wheel, right? I'd love to see more details of the frame; particularly the chainstay/BB area and the fork crown.
Yep, both wheels are symmetrical and identical (other than the tooth count of the cogs on them). I didn't want to have to figure out building an offset frame for my first frame project :) The rims/tires/bb/crank all just barely fit, so I could get away with keeping it symmetrical and having a perfect chainline. I'll try and post some more photos after I am back from the family holiday craziness.
ReplyDeletethat is sweet! git it done, nice work crash
ReplyDeleteFTMN: Better late than never; to see better views of cs/bb and fork crown, check out my flickr.
ReplyDelete