Fat and happy.

Now, ya' gotta love this.

Yeah, THAT is a fat tired bike.  The new Salsa Cycles Mukluk

I rode a fat bike at Demo Days for abut 100' and thought, "oh, this is fun!"  That was a custom version of this type of bike, but the concept caught my imagination.  Do I need a snow bike?  No.  Would I like to be able to ride up some sand wash that would be a push-fest on a normal MTB?  Oh yeah.  How about a bikepacking tour of Death Valley?  Or the Mojave Road?  This thing would make desert hardpan and washes a hoot.

Salsa has a bunch of bike nuts running that place and they are really good at bringing niche bikes like the Fargo and Vaya to market.  Now, you have the Mukluk.  Cool name, too.

But it has been interesting watching the response of some of the cycling world who are pursing e-lips together and making cyber-raspberries about the seeming lack of what exactly....originality?  Like much of anything is really new in bikes anyway.

What does a small builder expect?  That just because they make a unique product, that no one should ever go mass-market with the idea?  Sour grapes.  Think about the reactions that Mike Sinyard (Specialized) had to taking MTBs into the big time, something that until then was the realm of the little-guy builder.  Some folks have never forgiven that trespass.

There is room for both.  The small builder/seller has to differentiate themselves by reputation, features, service, etc. to compete.  There are more little builders now then ever as far as I can see.

In any case, I would sure like to have one of these Fat Bikes someday.  No matter who makes it.