Quick look: Salsa Mukluk fatbike

Many Canadians are looking at a fair sized snowbank as the first hurdle to getting off the couch and outdoors to burn off those Christmas cookies this year. For much of the country, this holiday season arrived with a cold snap and blizzards in tow, making that first step back into the world a little more daunting. Or a little more exciting, if you’re the type of rider that celebrates the arrival of proper winter conditions more than you count calories. With even the warm wet coast capital city of Canada’s westernmost province, Victoria, B.C. facing flurries this year, it seems like an appropriate time to take a look at one bike capable of handling a solid accumulation of the white stuff.

Whether you’re fueled by the remembrance of Christmas cookies past or the excitement of fresh tracks on your local trails, this Salsa Mukluk at Redbike in Edmonton will carry you on any trail of your choosing this winter. The Mukluk is Salsa’s all around offering but, for those interested in fatbike racing, the Mukluk is light as a feather. A really fat feather, but a feather, still. If your holiday’s involve more maps and miles, the Mukluk also has fittings for all the frame bags you can find. Get outside, then stay there for as long as you can feel your toes. Then keep going for a bit longer, the Mukluk has cargo capacity to keep you going.

With winter in full swing, the fine humans at Redbike have outfitted this Mukluk with a set of studded 26 x 4.8” Snow Avalanche tires from Vee Tire Co. With Vee’s white Silca compound rubber option, the Snow Avalanche’s nicely complement Salsa’s colourway on the Mukluk. The Snow Avalanche’s also match winter, more generally, but there’s a more traditional black, Pure Silca compound if you’re not into the white tread’s aesthetic flair. Mounted on girthy 26” rims from Hed, Vee’s studded rubber will ensure you and the Mukluk stay upright when fresh tracks unexpectedly give way to icy corners. Add in a wide range SRAM Eagle cassette and you’ll be able to keep crawling up any hill even when you feel more like the turkey you at for Christmas dinner than a majestic bird of prey.

Salsa design the Mukluk with interchangeable dropouts, allowing you to run gears or singlespeed, and have left clearance for 26 x 5.0” tires, or 27.5” and 29” tires with narrower rubber. If you’re interested in a bike from the Bloomington, MN company, stop by your local bike shop to go over all your options. Then get out there and make winter fun for 2018.