The Short and Long of my new Fatbike
That first night and first ride of the new fatbike.
Recently, I posted a few pictures on the socials of my new to me Fatbike. I’ve also gotten quite a few questions. I’ll do my best to share the details of this rig. Depending on your point of view, this may be too short a story or too long. You decided.
This story actually started years ago because of the following bicycle. Let me explain a bit.
Custom Meriwether Fat Touring Bike
I have been obsessed with this bike since the day I first saw it. I mean completely obsessed. I rode a prototype Salsa production version of a similar bike. Loved that, but deep down, I knew I always wanted something custom and bit more specific for what I wanted to use it for. A while back, I asked Whit at Meriwether if he’d make me one someday and he said yes. Scheming began. My version of this bike is almost identical for the main frame, but I have, or had, a simpler, smaller and lighter rack version than what is shown above.
Late last fall, I started picking up parts in late 2024 and planning purchases in 2025 for this rig. I had planned to send Meriwether the fork, the wheels and the crank/BB so we could get it perfectly dialed. All was going to plan and I also had a current fatbike so I didn’t really care when this new rig was built. There was no trip or deadline. I simply wanted my dream bike and wanted to give whatever time Whit needed to make this bike to his standard level of perfection.
Then two things happened. First, Ben Witt called me and asked me if I wanted to sell my Wednesday fatbike to a customer of his. I said yes. Then Whit called messaged me and said that he had made the difficult decision to stop frame building. I wasn’t upset at all. I understand the challenges. I will always support Whit as a person. But….I also was now down to zero fat bikes. What was I to do?
My first inclination was to have Black Sheep build me a frame to go with the Black Sheep front fork and mini rack I picked up off of Facebook Marketplace the prior year. Then on a whim, I contacted my friend Tim Krueger of Esker Cycles. My message was short.
“Hey there. Question, I sold my Surly Wednesday fatbike. Before I do something stupid to replace it, any chance you’ll be doing another fatbike frame? Or have an old one or prototype? ”
Well, somehow within a few days I left their MN offices & facility with the above prototype. All I knew is that the prototypes had been made and they had one extra. I was told a handful had been made and the project wasn’t going forward. Beyond that, I know nothing. Recently, someone not from the brand told me that 5-7 had been made. I have also seen that Jay P has set up one for winter expedition and it’s a stunner. That’s all I know.
So with that out of the way, I set this up with the 1st priority being my only fatbike. I brushed off the cobwebs and sewed myself a new frame bag, my first in over a year. Eventually I will set it up with racks and will design & sew som mini panniers for it too. I will also cut and make a custom rear fender to cover the rearward facing space that I currently have my hot tea/coffee thermos mounted behind the seat tube. I also intend to put a dropper post in it, but I need a shorter one as the one I have is about 1cm too long and the bottom of the post bottoms out on the water bottle attachement and bolt on the short seat tube.
So here are a few pics. Click on any image to go to slideshow mode.
What’s my review thus far? Hot damn, this thing is nice and fun. It’s an absolute keeper and I feel lucky that somehow, this ended up in my possession. Yep, fun. Remember that feeling? I feel like a kid riding this bike. I can’t get enough of it. I want to ride it everyday. Seriously.
That’s the short and long of it. Shoot me a comment if you have a question.
