it's all gone fat

Dan’s forward thinking has paid off, He ordered forks for his new frame that look massively the wrong size width wise and need a 135mm hub, which usually means a rear wheel. He’s been running a skinny mud tyre in it too which just heightens the oddness of it. It’s like the antithesis of attention seeking as no one mentions it at all. Today though was the first ride on his newly built fat front wheel and quite frankly it’s enormous! So big it makes the fork look perfectly normal, hmmm, well no it doesn’t, it’s just that anyone looking can’t see past the tractor size tyre that gives the impression it could crush everything in it’s path with ease. We only did a short ride around the usual routes and I think more non bikers spoke to us in that one ride than the total number since we started riding together. We stopped for a mid ride pint, as you do on a sunny summer evening and the beer garden drinkers did a double take, checked the contents of their glass and then exclaimed, “look at the size of that!!”, Lorry drivers and tractors gave way to us in a way they have never done before,super market trolley jockeys giggled and we heard “fat wheel!” as we rolled past. More about that actually, that massive tyre has some interesting characteristics as speed gets up. I had a ride and over 10mph you get the feeling it’s pulsing and dragging, not back but forward, a very weird feeling. In a straight line it’s fine but turn and it wants to do a full 360  even at speed and needs wrestling back into line. It’s an “endomorph” tyre and is designed for snow and sand, not tarmac and mud and I think these traits would be perfect for it’s intended terrain. Having said that though it’s a heck of a lot of fun. I’m tempted!

 Ride 86
23 miles
Total 1615
commute 394