Whoever decides to go on an adventure trip to the Snow Bike Festival in Gstaad will quickly end up asking themselves which bike set-up is best equipped for this event? I took a somewhat unconventional approach to answering this question. While most of the participants rely on fat bikes to get the greatest possible lift in the snow, I decided that less is more. I was looking for a solution that would make my cross-country hardtail suitable for the snow. A solution that can be implemented by anyone without having to buy a new "sled".

Bike and Nathi

With two simple changes, I turned a cross-country hardtail into a snow monster. First, I removed the suspension fork. Who needs suspension in the snow? That's right - nobody! The low sub-zero temperatures make the suspension elements work much more slowly anyway, so get rid of them. The big advantage of a rigid fork is its low weight and unbeatably aggressive look. A total eye-catcher! And then I put on the fattest tire that would just fit in the frame. I wanted to find a tire that had a lot of volume, was puncture-proof even at very low air pressure and offered good traction in the snow. In this case, low air pressure means around 0.8 bar for a medium-weight rider like me. And the tire I chose is the one I trust on my enduro bike: The "Baron Projekt 2.4" from Continental.

In theory, this setup convinced me 100 percent, but whether it is really suitable for snow and racing still had to be proven. The Snow Bike Festival places pretty high demands on both riders and equipment. Today's stage over 29.9 kilometers and 786 vertical meters was a real endurance test. The perfect opportunity to form an informed opinion and there were a few surprises in store.

And action!

First of all, I was really left standing for the first 15 kilometers, which were mainly on flat, snow-covered roads. At times, I felt as if fat bikers were overtaking me left and right at twice the speed. Trying to stick to the rear wheel was pure utopia. The fatbikes flew over the hard ground, while my much narrower studded tires dug deep into the snow with every centimetre I covered. But as soon as there were tight bends, deeper snow, ascents of any kind or descents, I was really happy with the chosen material.

So the conclusion of the day is that I may not have the perfect bike to win the Snow Bike Festival, but I certainly have the one that guarantees maximum riding fun. My bike is light, agile and reliable. It climbs and pedals like a dream and I can also really let it rip on the descents. Pleasure riders won't care much whether they are riding at two kilometers per hour more or less on the flat. But of course the racer in me does care. That's why I'm going for a different rear tire tomorrow, the "X King 2.4", also from Continental. I'll keep the same volume, but the lugs will be slightly smaller, which should help me to roll better. But tomorrow will show whether the theory also works in practice.

Enjoyment at the end

With all the racing, which really makes your legs and lungs burn, you sometimes forget that you can also enjoy the view and shout for joy or cheer loudly on the descents. At the finish line, you can shift down a gear and relax with friends over a coffee. The coffee culture is highly valued by the cyclists, so I can easily while away half an afternoon.

About our guest blogger

Nathalie Schneitter started her international mountain bike career in 2004 by winning the junior cross-country world title. Since then, she has been racing full throttle on the world's circuits. In 2008, she qualified for the Olympic Games in Beijing and in 2010 she won the Cross-Country World Cup at home in Champéry. Since autumn 2016, she has been a new member of the organizing team for the Bike Days in Solothurn and the Urban Bike Festival in Zurich. Nathalie also goes full throttle off the race track: she laughs a lot, is a bit crazy (Nathalie's own words) and dances in every possible situation. She has been riding for the "Rose Vaujany fueled by UltraSports" team since 2015.