Custom Bike Build: Mike's Ti Mukluk.

Concept

We began talking to Mike about a Titanium Mukluk earlier this winter.  Like many other people, Mike bought a Salsa Mukluk from us last year.  After riding that bike all year in conditions ranging from actual snowy winter, to gravel spring, to mtb trails in the summer, Mike was looking to take his fat bike experience up a notch.  This bike certainly does that!

Build

This build starts with Salsa's phenomenal titanium Mukluk frame.  This frame is lighter, and rides smoother than it's alloy counterparts.  It comes stock with Salsa Alternator dropouts.  This lets the user change chainstay length to match their riding style, and allows the bike to be run as a single speed if desired.  This frame is paired with a White Brothers Snowpack carbon fork which further refines the ride and cuts weight.

The drivetrain on this bike is a 2x10, Sram X9 set up.  Mike wanted trigger shifters which are paired with Sram's X9 rear derailleur and Shimano XT 10 spd double front derailleur.  These are quality components at reasonable prices.  They offer a lot of performance for the money, and they look great to boot.

White was chosen as the color for this build.  The theme is based on the limited edition Surly powder coated Rolling Darryl rims with white rimstrips.  The theme is carried through with white cable housing and a white X9 rear derailleur.

E13's excellent fat bike cranks combined with a Salsa Ring Dinger make for a great looking focal point for the drivetrain.  Big and black with sharp lines, these cranks look great against the Ti frame and white accessories. The black XT double front derailleur works great with 2x10 or 2x9 set ups on these bikes.

Overall I consider this bike a complete success.  It represents some of the highest potential performance a fat bike can get, while being visually very appealing.  As pictured here it weighs in at 32lbs even.  Not bad all  considering the standard weight Surly tubes that are in there.  With light tubes, (that are coming, currently out of stock,) this bike will easily be in the low 31 lbs range.

This bike is simply gorgeous, and will serve Mike very well for years to come.