What made you pull the trigger on a Fatbike?
 

Well? :)

Found an old Pugsley frame and fork on such ridiculous clearance I couldn't NOT buy it. A year later, some rims at 60% off. Another year after that, a discontinued crank on sale.

Couple of Deore rear hubs in my parts bin, Performance bucks for some BB7s, build it up single speed and...PRESTO! Three years later, one fatbike that I'm still not sure I even need.

Honestly. I only lug it out for the snowy days.

I’ve always wanted one but was too caught up in letting my head rule my heart and sticking to conventional bike types.

I had an opportunity earlier this year to buy one so gave in to my heart!

I live in Anchorage. Hard not to own one here.

I decided that some friends were having just too much fun on their fat bikes! That coupled with Canadian winters made it seem like a great idea. Bought it in the spring after a trip south and had it out in snow for the first time today.

I re-started riding this year and bought a hybrid. then i took it on the loac MTB trails and thought i break it. I then dug out an old cheap MTB for the trails, but it wasn't great.
In addition I searched for a winter sport and read a lot about people losing their strength over winter. We have too little snow here to make skiing worthwhile.

The solution to all my problems? A fatbike: replacement for ski in winter, replacement for my MTB

Took a job that involved living in the UP of Michigan for three months in the winter, and the vacation cash out from the previous job was right around the sticker price of the bikes sitting on the shop floor. Easy choice :thumb:

I enjoy being the centre of attention - ENTER FATBIKE.

Seriously, I love the looks you get with it. Love it even better when you offer it to people to have a go on.

Living at the epicenter for production fatbikes, I've seen them around for years and turned my nose up at them...

Comically, we were in Hawaii on vacation when we first rode a fatbike. The resort we stayed at had fatbikes to rent for beach riding. Lisa and I took them out for spin.... and we were hooked. Got home and bought his and hers Pugsleys!

Lisa's first spin on a fatbike:
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It was winter cycle commuting that got me to think about fatbikes. At first, I had decided to let it pass because I didn't want to spend all that money for something I'm going to use for only a few months and in the harshest conditions. I already have a stable of beater bikes.

Then, during the late summer, along with my wife, we ran across some fatbike sales. We test rode some and ended up buying one.

I went with a friend on some gnarley mountain trails. I realized that extreme mountain biking is no longer the rush like it used to be (lost my nerve). Fat bike is a whole different world. I can get out to some places I never considered on a MTB. In conclusion, I still get out and do some exciting riding

My son wanted one so I bought two fat bikes to have options for a joint trip :-)

I've been a committed cyclist for nearly 40 years. As a Minnesotan, I had seen them around for years, but I always thought they were just a silly niche bike. Four years ago, in late September, my sister-in-law, who works in the bike industry, got me on a fat bike. Within the first few minutes of that first ride I was hooked. It felt like I was seven years old again, riding dirt paths in the neighborhood. I picked up a demo Framed Minnesota 2.0 the following week. One of the first things I did was sell my indoor trainer. I also signed up for the Arrowhead Ultra (I was accepted, but couldn't ride that first year because of a family emergency, but I've ridden it the two years since). I spend a lot of time just knocking around in the woods on my fatty. I also commute with it in the winter. I'm on my second upgrade now, a 2015 Borealis Yampa. The used market, and what you can get for your money, is astounding, almost as good as 26er MTBs.

I needed something to keep me moving during the winter and a couple of friends bought fat bikes last year. I looked at the prices on Minnesota's and thought it was worth a try. Bought a 3.0 a couple of weeks ago.

My neighbor and bike mentor bought a fattie in 2013 and seemed to be having a blast. I bought the Gravity bullseye in 2015 and haven't looked back! Replaced stock tires with Van Helgas and the snow traction is fantastic.

Lots of beach

I'm 66 and my doctor wanted me to exercise, up till a year ago I was a couch potato. Saw a fat bike while visiting family in upstate NY, got home and purchased a Dolomite. I ride at least 5 miles a day sometimes more, working on 2,900 miles.

What are your thoughts on those drop bars? The flat bars on my fat bike leave my wrists in agony.

I used a short (60mm? I think) Ritchey adjustable stem and that brought the bars up and back slightly. I also had a triple wrap on the flats and double on the drops for hand comfort. Upshot is I really like them. I get low to bore into the wind. You’ll have less leverage if you ride on the hoods or up but I quickly got used to that. One downside, real tight technical turns are difficult but for me, pretty rare on the beach. Switching back and forth between my road bike and the Fat is less of a transition.

I second everything @Jseis said.

If you want to stay with the flat-bars, have you tried Ergon grips?

I had a FS 27.5 bike that was my main bike, and a 29er hardtail that wasn't seeing much trail time. I had been intrigued by fat bikes for a couple of years, so I decided to sell the hard tail and buy a Framed Minnesota 2.0.

After riding on it for a year; mostly flow trails and some winter biking, I took the full plunge by selling my 27.5 FS, sold the Framed, and bought a Salsa Bucksaw. Best bike I've ever had - so much fun, and I love hearing some of my riding buddies express shock on how I'm either keeping up or outright passing them on climbs (I'm a solid 10 years older than most of my crew).

Ride in winter, but not die on the ice.

I bought my fat bike because it was something different and it was a heart over head spur of the moment decision. There's no snow or sand here so it's ridden on normal roads and tarmac cycle paths. The worst conditions I'm ever going to encounter are some rain and some leaves and a bit of mud on the cycle paths.

Yesterday I had my first proper ride of my fat bike. It was a relatively short distance of 25 Km (15.5 miles) and I managed to drag it out to a time of 1.5 hours as I wanted to get to know the bike. Riding slowly and seeing the world go by, I kept my heart rate down (monitored via HR chest strap / Garmin Edge 1000). by slowing down as required.

Despite the dull, overcast and drizzly weather, it was by far the most enjoyable bike ride I've ever had. I wanted to just keep riding and riding but had lots of pre-Christmas chores to tend to so the ride had to come to an end. I arrived back home with a massive grin on my face that set me up very nicely for the day. I wasn't tired and my body didn't ache at all.

In amongst all of this, I managed to burn over 1,000 calories. This sure beats going to the gym as I got fresh air and the endorphins rush was breathtaking. I did something that kept me happy for the rest of the day and provided me with a great workout.

Something I noticed was that drivers on the roads were very courteous to me, with several giving a thumbs up, and a couple even winding their windows down to shout, "Nice bike!". Here in the UK there's a constant battle between cyclists and drivers, yet my fatbike seemed to go down well with most of the drivers that I encountered.

Hence, my heart over head decision has been fully vindicated. My fatbike is good for my heart and my head! The pulled trigger was a fantastic decision for me.

I rented a conventional 27.5 mountain bike and a fat bike. My gf wanted to ride the conventional mountain bike and I wanted to ride the fat bike. She ended up switching bikes with me about 5 minutes in and wouldn't give me the fat bike back. As a result, we should be picking up our two new fat bikes very soon.

I haven't pulled the pin yet but am weakening.��
They are such rugged yet pretty looking rides.
If I can make one into a bike that can handle bare roads well besides snow and
trail I will pull the pin in a hurry. ��