• 30th December 2007 - By adventuresofgreg

    One of our presents to each other this year was a couple of new cameras. I started doing photography when I purchased my first SRL camera when I was 13 and had a full color darkroom in my bedroom shortly thereafter. I got into doing some model photography during my first career as a freelance graphic designer (yes, when I was young and single), but dropped it all when we made the move into software development.

    So, I am looking forward to getting re-acquainted with my old hobby, and I’ll try to start including better images in the blog for you. Here are some of my first shots with the new Olympus SP-560 from Whitefish, Montana during our Christmas vacation.

    ———————————


    I’m writing from our ski cabin in Whitefish, Montana. We’re getting
    dumped on with snow, so I thought I would take the opportunity to
    thoroughly test out my new Ktrac tracted drive and front ski fitted to
    my Cannondale mountain bike.


    The reason I was originally interested in Ktrac was as a way to keep my bike training up over the winter. The Atlantic ocean crossing is less than a year away, and I would like to have developed a HUGE base before I start really getting into some serious distance training this Summer. The plan is to get WiTHiN out to the Pacific often throughout the winter, spring and summer for some extended trips. I need to start developing a good base now, and mixing in some outdoor cycling this winter is a great way to add miles to my training week and break it up a bit.

    Also, I am still trying to arrange another attempt at the 24 hour
    human powered boat distance record for possibly June this spring. I’ve
    been talking to the current 24 hour distance record holder Carter
    Johnson (240 km in 24 hours on a surfski) about racing me in June and
    he’s into it, so we’ll see. It will be quite a challenge. We’ve also
    discussed the possibility of inviting some other forms of human
    powered water travel such as a rowing skull, and an outrigger canoe.

    Back to the Ktrac – first of all, here is/was my expectations/hopes.
    At a very minimum, I wanted to be able to bike over machine grooved
    ski and cross country ski trails up decent grades. Next, I thought it
    would be great to have enough traction and floatation to make way
    through some fresh powder – not too deep – maybe a few inches on a
    packed base.

    The Ktrac rear tracted wheel replaces my current standard knobby
    mountain bike tire and the installation is very simple – no more
    complicated that replacing a wheel. It comes with it’s own 8 speed
    cassette and my rear caliper break fits onto the Ktrac rim. I also
    installed the Ktrac front ski and used it exclusively for this test
    because I had forgotten my front wheel at home. The Ktrac rear wheel
    is VERY heavy. I don’t have a scale with me, but it’s got to be 15 to
    20 pounds.

    I started out sliding down my steep driveway on a layer of hard packed
    snow/ice. The front ski was surprisingly like a front wheel! It is a
    short ski with some curves cut into the sides like popular down hill
    skis. Those parabolic curves bite into the snow and carve nice, tight
    turns. It took a few seconds to get used to a bit of a delay in the
    input/output compared to a front wheel, but overall it was fairly easy
    to adjust to.

    The Ktrac rear tracted wheel provided enough traction to climb back up
    my driveway without any noticeable slipping. I’m not sure any knobby
    wheel would have enough traction for this driveway – possibly a
    studded tire tough. The street out front climbs a very steep hill to
    the top of the hill our house is built on. Cycling on the road was
    fairly easy except when small rocks got caught under the front ski.
    When I reached the top of the hill, I took the bike off-road onto a
    groomed ski trail. The small trail from the road to the ski trail was
    foot-packed, but very deep snow. I had to push the bike through this.

    When I reached the flat section of the ski trail, I was surprised that
    I could not pedal the Ktrac through this at all! Both the front ski
    and the rear track sunk way deep into the snow – even through the
    snowplow packed top layer. I was able to ride down the hills though,
    as some speed really helped me get enough floatation to stay on top of
    the snow. Once I had some speed up, I was able to move across
    flattened sections better, but once the inevitable slow-down came, the
    Ktrac would get sink into the snow and get stuck.

    The downhill runs were fun, and I can see now why Ktrac seems to be
    marketing their drive as a way to ride your mountain bike down ski
    hills. If you are looking for another way to ski down mountains, then
    I think the Ktrac could provide you with loads of exhilarating fun and
    challenge. This is not what I wanted to use the Ktrac for though – I
    have a ski closet packed full of downhill skis, cross country skis and
    mountain boards for that.


    Overall, making way over the ski trail was a pain – I was constantly
    having to get off and push over the flats and uphills while enjoying
    short downhill runs at full speed. I’m not sure if a knobby tire would
    have fared any better, but I am certain a good winter knobby tire
    would have been better on the road which was the only place the Ktrac
    sort of worked.

    I do think that I could get the Ktrac to work for me though… I think
    what it needs is more flotation. I was talking to the inventor of the
    all terrain vehicle who was exhibiting beside us at Wired Magazine’s NextFest this
    summer in LA. He told me that they designed the skis to distribute 1
    pound per square inch of ski area to provide enough flotation to keep
    their mahine on top of the snow. If you look at
    snowboards, or downhill power skies, they all use something close to
    this formula.

    I think the Ktrac could be built into the rear wheel of a recumbent
    bike, with two skis mounted on each side of the rear Ktrac drive. The
    front wheel could be replaced with ski as well, but longer and wider
    than the standard Ktrac front ski. If the two rear skis were depth
    adjustable, you could set them such that the Ktrac sunk deep enough
    into the snow for good traction. The other benefit of the trike
    approach would be stability the triangulation provides.

    I would be fun to experiment with this and I think that maybe the M5
    low racer just might be a good platform for the experiment. It already
    has 700 cc rear wheel, so the Ktrac would fit. I could fabricate two
    arms which clamp to the M5 frame to hold the outrigger skis.

    ——————————————-
    Be part of a WORLD RECORD.
    Support Greg’s quest to become the
    fastest human to cross the Atlantic ocean
    under his own power with a $30 “Across With Greg”
    sponsorship that includes YOUR NAME on his boat “WiTHiN“.
    http://www.pedaltheocean.com/sponsorship


  • 4 Comments to “Ktrac review and photography”

    • Don G on January 3, 2008

      Nice winter nature photos.

    • Anonymous on January 3, 2008

      I have mount a ktrak kit on a Catrike Expedition trike… It has some more floatation simply because of the 2 ski in front instead of one… And you can climb without any problem on the nordic ski path here in Switzerland… Uphill is hard but works… You can see a picture of the trike here : http://www.biketothefuture.ch

    • "the Dude" on January 4, 2008

      Great photos!

      Suggest not to attempt adding any rear skis or mods unless you've got clear evidence it will work. The more ski surface = the more flotation but also = the more friction. Snow travel is different than both water and road. You can't just have a wider track and ski?

    • Anonymous on January 4, 2008

      Hello !

      I did not notice that at first sight, but your rear kit instalation is not so good (from the picture that you took)… When you ride the bike, for maximum floatation + traction, you need to have the rear bigger wheel firmly on the ground… Actually when you are not on the bike, the wheel should be lifted one or 2 inch from the floor… You can adjust that whit the telescopic bar that is fixed on the seat post…

      Happy trail !

      Marc Tauss fro Switzerland

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