10.2 Mile Ride on the Albany County Rail Trail
Tuesday, December 13, 2016
Specifically, a Mongoose Malus. I picked it up about 18 months ago when I got a hefty discount coupon for Kmart. Why did I add a 4th bike to my "stable"? Winter riding. I don't like riding on roads, and most of the bike paths aren't plowed in the winter. Riding my mountain bike in the snow is a pain if there are more than a few inches. Everything I read indicated that a fat bike is the way to go for snow... but I wasn't willing to spend mucho $$$ for a bike that I might ride a dozen or so times a year. The Malus is solidly built and one of the few dept store fat bikes with a rear derailleur... I replaced the seat and pedals after buying it, and may make a few other minor upgrades, but overall it seemed like a great buy. Except, of course, for the almost complete lack of snow last winter. At the end of the season I moved it down to the basement, figuring I'd bring it back up if winter this year was more cooperative. While we only got 2-3 inches yesterday, temperatures today were moderate and it seemed like a good opportunity to test the bike.
One thing that became evident immediately is this sucker is HEAVY. The rail trail from Slingerlands to Voorheesville is mostly uphill, albeit at a very gentle grade, but I needed to shift to the lowest gear and still was working my tail off just to keep moving forward at a whopping 6 miles an hour, Riding this bike is a definite workout.
On the plus side, it handled the snow and ice with no problems - MUCH better than my mountain bike. The 4" tires sailed over everything and felt secure even when I rode on some ice, and after I got used to working hard to go slow (sounds like snowshoeing!) it was actually fun. Though I'm seriously thinking of swapping out the freewheel for one with some larger gears and maybe have more gears I can actually use for riding.
JMH
