I pointed out the Bike's Direct fat bikes on the blog, a while back, and happened to mention them to my buddy Marty, from down the street. He ended up buying the top-end model, because he doesn't have boxes and boxes of bike parts lying about to use in upgrading, and he figured that was the way to go.
One of the selling points for the $950.00 model, over the $850.00 version, was that it was spec'd with the 120 tpi Vee Rubber Mission tires. But, after he had placed his order, Marty got an email informing him that htere had been a problem in the supply line, and those tires were not available. So, he opted to go with the next model down, for $100.00 less.
The bike arrived, Thursday, and it was the $950.00 model. Bikes Direct refunded Marty his $100.00, and he ended up with the nicer spec, other than the tires (which are still a respectable 78 tpi). On Friday, I assembled the bike for him.
The bike was packed in a pretty standard manner, as I expected it to be. The frame was well-protected with both foam and cardbord wrapping, and the paint came through without a scratch.
The front rim is 100mm in width, and has double-walled construction. That was something of a surprise. I really expected single-wall rims at this pricepoint.
I measured the rear rim at 88mm (I suspect the published width is 85...). The front rim is drilled with a double row of holes, while the narrower rear is drilled in single-file.
Here, you can see the frame protection, for shipping.
The rear of the frame is offset, similar to the Surly fatbikes, and the rim is drilled assymetrically to allow for the wheel offset. The full 9-speed cassette is usable, without having the chain contact the rear tire.
The only problem with the bike, out of the box, was a missing water bottle cage bolt on the downtube, with the rubber painting plug still in it. There were extra bolts with the bike, so I just pulled the rubber plug out and installed a bolt.
The cage fitting, missing a bolt.
The front derailleur is an e-type. That allowed the company to spec a less-expensive front derailleur than if using a direct-mount type (which only come in XT and up, to my knowledge).
Complete, with a pair of my platform pedals, the bike weighed in a t a respectable 36.30 pounds. My Beast, with rack, tool kit, etc, weighs 48.3 pounds, by the way...
I pulled Dan's Beast, and mine, out for a group shot.
Lots o' rubber in the driveway.
Beauty shot.
And, another.
Marty, with his bike and mine.
Here, I am filing down a seat shim to fit on Danny's bike. He got a custom-made layback seatpost, which needed two shims. The inner one was a bit too big, so I fixed it up.
Beauty shot of the completed BlackBeast.
It was a big day, here at World HQ. Or, at least, it was a big tire day.
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