Snow By Bike: The Ktrak Contraption

Is it a bike? Is it a ski? NO, it’s Ktrak! Is it any good? Well, it’s looks pretty fun…

Ktrak is a special kit that converts almost any cycle into a snow bound bike.

At $399 (about £200) for the conversion kit consisting of the rear wheel track and the front ski, it’s not too pricey, but the question is, though the Ktrak may be great fun to ride, is there room in the already saturated ski market for yet another snow bound contraption?

Snowboarding succeeded because it was sufficiently different from skiing to attract an entirely different market; namely, skate and surf punks who reveled in snowboarding’s rebellious nature and were attracted by the obvious similarities of snowboarding to their mother sports.

However, other relics of the winter sports world were not so lucky. The Monoski, Snowblades (officially called Skiboards) and the Ski Scooter were never much of a commercial success, (though they still have a hardcore following) and are rarely seen on the slopes nowadays.

But the Ktrak may have practical applications that its gravity bound predecessors lacked. As it is powered by pedal, the Ktrak could be used as a form of transport in snowy conditions in addition to a recreational piece of kit.

Having read a few reviews of the Ktrak - it seems that one of the potential problems that faces Ktrakers is the rear wheel sinking in deep or soft snow and the exertion of pedaling the thing along flat or uphill sections.

However, I like the look of the design and the footage of people riding them looks fun and if I ever come across one, I’d definitely give Ktraking a try.

Tags: ktrak, snowbike

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 28th, 2008 at 9:26 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.