Chumba Ursa / The Fatbike Sandy

I'm proud to share that I've recently partnered with Chumba Cycles to do some rides on their bikes, starting with Texas' first fatbike race The Fatbike Sandy. I have been interested in the new 29+ or "mid-fat" tire size for a while, and I saw my first one in the flesh last year at Mellow Johnny's. I saw the same bike and rider again this February after the Double Lake Marathon, where I struck up a conversation. It turned out I was talking to Chumba's Operations Manager, and one thing led to another. Chumba has a storied history in the mountain biking world, previously known as a downhill brand and has recently been revamped. I would best describe their bikes as adventure capable trail bikes. They offer a 29er hardtail the Stella, a 29+ the Ursa, their fatbike is the Ursa Major, and they have a 27.5" aggressive hardtail the Rastro. All these bikes are steel and built right here in Texas.

I took delivery of the Ursa the week before the Fatbike Sandy race and got it all set up with my preference of grips and pedals. The demo I was riding had been on loan to a Tour Divide rider with a hand defect which meant he runs his brakes backwards  with the rear lever on the left. (Sponsoring challenged athletes is another area that Chumba is big on, which is really cool in my book.) The XT brakes tolerated swapping the lines back to normal very well with no bleed required and the Ursa was ready to ride.

I managed to get one good trail ride on the bike before race day with a fast group out at the Cypress Creek trails. It took a few turns to get a feel for cornering the beast, but soon it was coming naturally. The wide tires have a tendency to "self-steer" so you have to overcome that a bit, and then getting the bigger bike to turn-in is a bit heavier than my normal 29er. I wouldn't say it is harder, but it takes a bit more input to get it to lay in. Once you get this down however, turning is a pleasure. Traction is never the issue, the only limiter is how willing you are to throw the bike through the corner. It holds a line well and carries good momentum while coasting through the turn; I was repeatedly rolling up on the back wheel of the rider in front of me on a 29er who is a very good bike handler. This first ride was a ton of fun and I was looking forward to the race.

Leading up to the race there had been a TON of rainfall in the trail area, so it was slated to be a mudder. The original premise of the race was the sandy trails and the advantage the fat/mid-fat bikes would have on the soft surface, but it turned out to be a tractor pull through the mud. This didn't turn out to be a good opportunity to test fast trail riding on the Ursa (typical TX riding), but it was a good indicator of the bike in adverse conditions. Traction was absolutely minimal at times, but on most occasions I was able to keep the bike rolling and upright due to the volume and contact patch the tires offered and the stable geometry. To get a real idea of the conditions here's a video I made from my GoPro mounted on the bars.

I got a terrible start, I didn't realize we were immediately turning left and then I completely missed my pedals so I was at the back of the group right away. I charged hard at the end of the road before we entered the woods to take a few spots, then I was able to make a few more passes early on into 2nd place. The leader was also riding an Ursa and he pulled away, riding stronger through the heavy conditions. I rode solo for about half the race, until 3rd place came up behind me riding a fatbike. We battled for a while, it was obvious he was stronger as he was pulling away anytime it got hard going uphill, then I would reel him back in on the flowy and downhill sections. Eventually he got a small gap that I couldn't take back and I made it to the finish in 3rd overall and 2nd mid-fat. We finished completely soaked and covered in mud, but it was a fun day on the bike in a crazy way! I was glad to have the opportunity to race the Fatbike Sandy and represent Chumba on the Ursa, and hopeful to get to do it again at future events.

Making passes at the start of the trail.

There were about a thousand of these on the 17 mile loop.

Mud.