Saturday 7 September 2013

On-One Fatty


This post is the fault of CoastKid. Five years ago he bought and built a bike I had never seen the like of. I have coveted the Surly Pugsley from that day but could never justify the expense. But life is for living and if you have patience and a keen eye on e-bay the exclusive can become affordable. Over the last year I have collected parts and placed them in boxes labelled 'useful'. Last month I pressed the left mouse button and bought an On-One Fatty frame set. This morning the patience paid off and the 'useful' became 'practical'; Oh, and it was a joy.



Early morning emptiness and the sun was just starting to warm the air as I was out on the beach at Belhaven/John Muir Country Park. There were a couple of hardy souls swimming, but no surfers yet.


Last night's storm had swollen the Beil Burn to salmon swimming levels, but it's a bit late in the year for that.




I can't really think of words for the last two photos. If you have ever had an early morning pedal along a deserted couple of miles of sun kissed beach, then I guess you can insert your own caption.




Again, you have to get up early and pedal along empty beaches to know what I was feeling. Fly was happy too.



Hoody on as I stopped on Spikey Island for breakfast. Hot coffee ('Asda After Dinner' (4)-very good.) and helmet hair. Is it just me or does a flask of freshly brewed coffee always taste better outdoors?


Quick pic of one of the ubiquitous 'Glider poles' placed in the sand 74 years ago to foil a Nazi invasion. Now a quick opinion to upset the locals!! I agree the rare concrete pillars were 'Glider' traps. But, I think these wooden posts were stobs for the coils of barbed wire that stretched across the bay to do the realistic job of slowing an enemy advance whilst in the killing grounds of  pill box machine gun posts. In the event of an invasion, there simply would not have been enough battle hardened troops to resist. It had to be about about a nasty process of slowing and sacrificing. Anyway, enough of that sort of talk, the sun was still shining.


After the beach and off into the sunlit glimpses through woodland single track.



The Fatty wheels are 26" but the huge tyres make the overall diameter far closer to 29"ers and I could really notice this in the woods. Slow techy bits with off-camber roots were a breeze, steps and drops were easy bunny-hops with loads of forgiving 'suspension' from the floater tyres. The grip through corners has to be experienced to be believed.
The chain stays are the same length as a Surly Pugsley, but I think I'm correct in saying that the head set/fork angle is slacker. I was really reminded of a Montessa Cota trials bike I owned 25 years! ago. You don't ride it fast, you ride smart and you might not get there quite so quickly, but you do get there with a huge grin.




Don't know who lives in here. The smell suggests it could be a Troll and the hot summer seems to have driven them down from the hills. It's been an awful year for their pesky ways but I suppose they have to live somewhere.

The Fatty is so very different from any other bike I've ridden. It excels at cycling in places where I never thought I could take a bike and that is what I wanted. It also just makes you smile. Can't be a bad thing.

10 comments:

  1. Interesting to hear your thoughts on the glider poles, looks like the same one i photographed last weekend while out on the pugsley, your on one looks very nice indeed, now all you need is somewhere safe to store all your other bikes, because i've a feeling they won't see the light of day for quite some time, enjoy.

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    1. Yeah, you can only store so many bikes on the stair!

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    2. As Davie says, cobwebs will take over all other bikes for a while as you enjoy your Fatty, welcome to the `Fatside` Ped -:)

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    3. The LHT still gets a special place, besides I think Thursday is 'bike to work day' and there is no way I'm cycling to Haddington on the Fatty!

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  2. Braw looking bike Peter complimented by some cracking photos.

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  3. Wow...you guys are tempting me. That looks like a great time. Every time someone else acquires fat tires, I wonder if I can resist. Not enough sand or snow probably. Congrats, Peter!

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    1. Just to tempt you further, the next post doesn't feature sand or snow but does have a couple of fat bikes rolling over rocks.

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  4. Brill. Can't beat the early morning beach ride.

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  5. Cheers Del, a beach ride and then an Umberto breakfast would probably be ideal!

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