OK, summer season’s technically over, and each cyclocross and winter are coming, so I’m reminded of the titanium Chiru quick bike that we previewed earlier within the 12 months. Fats bikes aren’t actually just for deep winter using, however it is a pretty distinctive adventure-ready bike that actually excels when the snow begins to pile up. It’s nonetheless heat out for essentially the most half, even the place I dwell within the Czech mountains, so I’m going to maintain this transient as I nonetheless am hitting the roads & trails on a lot skinnier tires.
However if you happen to dream of creating winter plans heading additional off the overwhelmed monitor, take into account this a teaser of snow biking to come back…
Chiru Nanulak longtail titanium journey fats bike
Attentive readers might need observed the Chiru Nanulak again in February with the discharge of Outdated Man Mountain’s FLiP Cage system. We didn’t get any actual advance discover of when this bike would launch (despite the fact that we had one in all only a couple in existence to check out) when there nonetheless was snow on the bottom for that story, aside from that the Nanulak can be prepared for subsequent winter. However Chiru founder Pierre Arnaud Le Magnan additionally didn’t say we couldn’t tease it within the wild a bit early, so I did get some correct snow using in late final winter.
Now that the bike is formally on the market, and is that can be purchased, I figured it was time to consider the winter to come back.
So what’s the Nanulak?
Chiru describes their new Nanulak as a fats bike “for essentially the most excessive journey”. That’s not a giant shock, as all of their titanium bikes have a definite journey leaning, and this one was particularly developed for Willy Mulonia of PA Biking to tackle the Iditarod Path Invitational in Alaska – aka Iditabike. Mulonia went on to win the ITI race on this bike in March, in a 7-way-tie present of camaraderie, as all of them rolled in after using the ultimate 4 days of the brutal 17-day race in intense winds collectively.
However whereas this one was constructed to thrive in snow & ice, it’s equally succesful in tender sand, free rock, or swampy mud. And it’s undoubtedly the fattest tires Chiru has ever placed on a motorbike.
The overall idea may very well be damaged down into a number of core concepts:
- large tire clearance, irrespective of if you happen to select 26″, 27.5″, and even 29″ wheels
- prolonged geometry for unmatched traction within the loosest terrain and secure dealing with whereas totally loaded
- expedition-ready titanium sturdiness and most carrying capability
The bike takes its identify from the native Alaskan Inuktitut language, the place Nanulak is the “hybrid breed” between polar and grizzly bears, an emblem of ‘ecosystem conflict’ because the planet warms and the arctic bears’ habitat disappears. However that hybrid identify is becoming, as a result of Chiru’s Nanulak is a totally succesful fats bike – with traditional fats axle spacing – nevertheless it encompasses a a lot narrower MTB backside bracket spacing that lets customers run a a lot narrower and extra snug low-Q-factor crankset if you happen to aren’t totally maxing out rear tire width.
“Titanium continues to be the very best materials to realize the optimum steadiness between consolation, lightness, and energy switch. That makes it the last word materials for a dependable bike that may face up to the hardship of bikepacking or ultra-distance challenges, and to high it off, it’s a low-impact environmental materials.”
– Pierre Arnaud Le Magnan, Chiru Founder & CEO
Key Tech Particulars
- customized 3Al/2.5V grade 9 butted titanium tubeset
- max 26 x 5″, 27.5 x 4.5″ or 29 x 3.0″ tires (min 4″, 4″, or 2.6″, respectively)
- sh!t tons of bikepacking mounts: 1x customary seattube bottle cage, 4x 3-pack mounts, a high tube bag, fender & rear rack mounts, plus bolt-on entrance triangle & longtail body bag mounts
- tapered headtube for 1.5″ tapered steerers, suspension corrected for a 100mm fork
- 1x particular mechanical or digital with ultra-long chainstays (2 chains required)
- 83mm BSA threaded backside bracket for slim MTB or vast fatbike cranks
- guided inner cable routing, together with for a 31.6mm dropper put up and rear dynamo gentle
- sliding 20mm adjustable rear dropouts with UDH for 12x197mm thru-axle and 180mm put up mount brake
- ultra-long, slackish geometry with 600+mm chainstays & 68.5° head angle
- 3 body sizes obtainable (S, M, L)
Notice: My construct with 100mm fork journey (~525mm a-c) slackened the pinnacle angle out to 67° & seat angle to 72.4° for a really lengthy really feel on the bike, even because it shortened Attain by 5mm.
First Look & First Impressions
We obtained an early have a look at the brand new Chiru Nanulak, simply on the tail finish of final winter’s snow.
I used to be frankly a bit afraid of the ultra-long rear finish, as our house snow biking tends to incorporate extra steep terrain and tight singletrack than the vast open landscapes of Iditabike. My worries of sluggish dealing with by no means actually materialized – snow biking is mostly slower anyway to start out with, in comparison with common mountain bike path using.
And the lengthy rear finish turned out to be fairly magic feeling – each on the steep climbs and in tender snow. For the reason that rear wheel was to date behind the saddle, there was a way that all your weight was all the time being put down into the rear wheel. By no means might the entrance wheel carry, and infrequently would the rear wheel spin. However when the rear wheel did slip in free snow (then slush, and later mud), it didn’t actually matter. The lengthy wheelbase remained secure, you can maintain spinning the cranks, and the rear wheel ultimately discovered grip once more.
Look, this factor isn’t actually magic. It feels extra like driving a monster truck crossed with a tractor-trailer. This bike doesn’t change course shortly. It doesn’t do something all that shortly. But it surely finds traction and stability in tender terrain that’s often unrideable. Sure, it feels fairly sluggish. But it surely additionally feels enjoyable – whether or not you might be slowly climbing a free, slushy mountain on the fringe of winter or rolling over limitless roots and tender pine forest trails in the summertime.
In case you aren’t in a large hurry, it’s a extremely enjoyable bike to journey.
Chiru Nanulak – Pricing, choices & availability
They promote the brand new titanium Nanulak fats bike as a frame-only from 2890€, with no full bikes on supply. However it’s also possible to go for a Chiru Nanulak frameset, selecting both an Enve carbon fork for correct fats tire widths at 3470€, or a glossy welded titanium Chiru fork supposed for as much as 29×3″ tires for 3755€. Chiru can even promote you a ti stem, to or carbon seatpost, ti or carbon handlebar, or titanium bottle cages to start out out your bike construct. They can even set you up with an Outdated Man Mountain Divide Fats rack pre-mounted if in case you have expeditions in thoughts.
Body lead-time is about two weeks from the time you order, after which it’s as much as you to determine the way you wish to full your new Nanulak customized construct. We constructed up a 2349g measurement Giant body, arrange with a 100-120mm Manitou Mastodon fork, 27.5 wheels with both 3.8″ or 4.5″ tires (relying on situations), adjustable spindle width Race Face cranks, a BikeYoke Revive dropper, a slim handlebar setup, and a Wheeltop EDS OX wi-fi shifting setup. Full bike weight was usually round 16.1kg, relying on some variables, with a number of cages & a Tailfin toptube bag mounted, plus old fashioned Crankbrothers Mallet pedals.
Are you prepared for winter adventures?