So a lot has happened...

The build up to the 2010 event event is now well under way. I’m envious of those who will be there, but best of luck to you all. Especially good luck to Roger Leavesley who will be riding my Pug. He’s got some cool new ideas about kit which I’ll certainly be interested to see.

My mate Paul it off to the Arrowhead 135. He’s rolling on a set of good ol’ Snowcats that I had sitting about waiting to be built up as a “Mini-Fatty” for my wife. You can see more about his bike here. Good luck Paul!

As you’d expect, now I've lent out these bits it’s been snowing solidly here. Typical. I've made do with my winterised Trek Soho. OK, it’s just got Poggies on so not quite the same...

Also there seems to be somewhat of an arms-race going on in snowbike design. New Ali frames are available from Speedway and 9Zero7 and both have tweaked their Titanium frames. Speedway also have new lighter rims and some 100mm versions of the 15G cranks. I’ve been using the standard single speed versions of these cranks for a few months now, and they are going strong despite being around half a pound lighter than the Mr Whirlys. Tyres were historically one of the hardest part of a Fat bike to track down. Now the trusty Endomorph has been upped to 120tpi and the sidewalls have been toughened up. However there is also now competition in the form of its brother, the Larry (don’t you love Surly?!), and the, bargain priced Innova Spyder. All good stuff for progressing the fringes of the sport.

Eric, from the one-man, one dog sweatshop, Epic Designs is being forced to change his company name. As, apparently, his handmade bags may somehow be confused with a range of full-suspension bikes from a big company. He’s running a competition to rename the company on his website at the moment. I hope it all works out as Eric’s kit is top notch and he’s a great guy to boot.