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Fat Bike--How Much Slower?

I need a new bike like I need a hole in my head BUT I was in a bike store today and saw a fat bike that really got my attention. And while I could conceivably ride the bike on a dirt or gravel (snow too?) trail, I'm fairly sure 99+ percent of the time will be spent riding on the hilly roads that I always ride. How much slower would you anticipate the heavier fat bike with larger tires be over my regular hybrid style bikes.

I don't own one, but based on some friends' videos, it's a whole new magnitude of slow. So I'm curious too.

Most of them have cranks with around 30 teeth, so that tells you something right there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Payton1221 (Post 21000875)

Unfortunately it looks like they just don't make fat bike tyres with a low rolling resistance for pavement/road.

All the tyres are geared to offroading riding, so your fat bike will be a slug on the road with such tyres.

If Schwalbe offered something like their Marathon Almotions in a 4" tyre, a fat bike would appeal a lot more to me, as the ride quality would be tremendous.

Sadly Schwalbe does not have such a 4" tyre. :(

I can get going pretty good on mine.

I noticed that the tire noise is very high on pavement/asphalt. Not sure I could get used to that.

Tire pressure changes a lot on Fat bikes. Where off trail might use 6 psi, road could be up to 22 psi.
Physics will make it slower, but not much more so than a plus tire.
The tire itself can also make it faster. (less rolling resistance)
My patented adage:
an MTB is for single track, a Fat Bike is for no track

Quote:

Originally Posted by ColonelSanders (Post 21000939)

Unfortunately it looks like they just don't make fat bike tyres with a low rolling resistance for pavement/road.

The Vee Apache Fattyslick. Probably not entirely practical, but really cool. According to the rolling resistance site, the Schwalbe Jumbo Jim (a 26 x 4.0) has nearly the same rolling resistance as a 700x25 Schwalbe Lugano or Michelin Power All Season. Which is crazy.

If you're riding a fat bike and you're worrying about speed, you're doing it wrong.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Payton1221 (Post 21000875)

I need a new bike like I need a hole in my head............I'm fairly sure 99+ percent of the time will be spent riding on the hilly roads that I always ride..

I fully understand the difference in "need" and "want", but still, these two statements here should settle the issue, on whether you should get one. You already have much better bikes for the riding you say you'll do with it, so after the honeymoon quickly wears off, it won't be one of your go-to bikes, and will start gathering dust.
Fat bikes are (IMO) largely a fad, with fairly limited and specific uses. Plus, if you're anything like me, you're looking at stocking up on some reserve tubes and tires, which is more cost, and stuff to store somewhere, and that you generally won't get your money back out of if you try to sell/trade it.
This is all JMHO, but as experience has shown, I'll probably get hammered for it. :innocent:

I've only ridden a fat-bike (Scott Big-Jon) a couple times, they have a fleet of 'em at a local Lodge/SPA we go to in the winter.

It was amazing fun riding them on trails and especially very rocky trails. Rolling resistance or not on pavement, I'd avoid pavement unless I was crossing a road to continue the trail.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrIsotope (Post 21001003)

Cool tire.
Does their marketing dept use Google Translate for their English content? From their webpage:

Quote:

A Bugatti with 1000 hp, beer in 2.5 liter bottles, a heavy metal band with 3 drummers – there are simply things that the world does not need … Or? Well, one thing these things have in common: unfortunately horny! And this illustrious circle has just grown: the Vee Tire Apache Fattyslick 4.5!
Down with the scalp!

Be the first.
Everyone who has played “Cowboy and Indians” as children knows: who is annoying, gets the scalp. No idea what the Fattyslick hired, but his hairstyle convinces: not the smallest elevation disturbs the regular appearance. Smooth as a Babypopo, it stretches over the rim and is thus an Exot among the Exotics: a washable Slick in a full 4.5 inches width.
Good for Dragster. Or FATBikes!

The Apache Fattyslick looks as if you had crossed a race bike with a sperm whale: he looks fast but looks incredibly FAT! The crisp look reminds us almost a bit of good old dragster. Let the good times roll! Without a doubt: he’s the style check!
Outside, hui, inside!

Also a little dragster look: the huge lettering.
The Apache Fattyslick is, contrary to our expectation, no real lightness. Grandma’s kitchen scales remain only at 1,230 grams, so he is significantly heavier than he looks.
The reason: unlike in the case of tunnel tires, the tread does not have pimples, which rise like a protective shield above the carcass. This is where every small piece of stone is pressed directly into the tread. Therefore, it had to be designed thicker than usual – in favor of safety. The studs were therefore not cut off but smoothly ironed.

Everything in it…
The further structure is based on Vee Tire’s well-known pattern: a lightweight 120 TPI carcass is held in shape by foldable kevlar rings. The rubber features the well-known high-quality silica blend and all the necessary features for a tubeless mounting. Its dimensions are in the standard standard: at 0.5 bar, it builds smoothly 8cm high (from the top edge of the rim flange) and 10.9cm wide
So also a “Thumbs Up!” From technical side!
Arrowhead: the Apache Fattyslick!

View from the cockpit: nice round, the thing.
But how the hell is a racing bike in the format of a grown crawl? To find out, we have strapped the Apache Fattyslick tubeless onto the 80mm wide DT Swiss rims of our Mondraker Panzer RR and inflated with 1 bar of pressure. Yes, the Apache works best under high pressure. It may also be 1.5 bar or more. But be careful: in particular, carbon rims often only have limited tire pressure. So before you get out with the air pump, check out what the rim can withstand!

The tread runs widely into the flanks.
Already when starting off the first Aha effect: although he does not feel quite as light-footed in the acceleration as many lighter tires. But Apache Fattyslick does not bend at the start. The propulsion is so incomprehensible directly as otherwise only with the road bike. One is fast very fast and keeps the speed effortless. As expected, the rolling resistance is also extremely low.

The Indian from Taiwan is by no means as quiet as one might think. The Fattyslick replaces the usual loud growling of FATBike tires with a stench, sipping sound, depending on the background. This is much quieter than before – but does not sound less threatening!
Thanks to the above-mentioned thick tread, the Apache Fattyslick also easily runs on forest and dirt roads.

I own a fat bike and love it for its intended purpose, but if you are riding it on the road - even dirt road or bike path / rail-to-trail - it is really a poor choice. You basically get all the drawbacks of a fat bike without being able to make use of the benefits.

The main drawback is that a 4-5” wide tire and a 80-100mm rim is freaking HEAVY. Your talking 2-3 lbs extra per wheel compared to a gravel bike running 32-38mm tires. And this is in the one place that weight hurts the most.

And for all that weight you get a bunch of floatation and the ability to run insanely low pressures. Niether of which do you any good on the road.

Thanks guys. Great replies all around, and for the riding that I do, it doesn't make sense.

My fat bike (with Vee Mission Command 4.0" tires) is 20% slower on pavement than my cyclocross bike with touring tires.

If you want to own a fat bike and ride it on pavement, you should get a second wheelset with 29 x 1.5-2.3" tires that'd be much faster.

Get a gravel bike. My Giant Revolt Advanced with the stock 40mm tubeless tires is great on the roads, can still hold good speed, but it's comfortable and I don't have to worry about rough pavement, cracks, holes, etc. I also have a second set of wheels with road tires, but last night I did a group ride on the gravel tires and it was great. There's a section of road that is really, really bad on the right side of the lane, so everyone always squeezes over to the left to avoid it, I cruised over it at 20+mph with no issues. Makes me want to just ride gravel tires all the time. They def hurt my speed some, but I'd say for most purposes, the gravel tires will work just fine.

Unless you are riding on dry, Loose sand, There are WAY to many compromises with a FAT bike for my taste.

Rides4Beer's experience with his Giant Revolt Advanced is a perfect example of balancing tire width to optimise comfort and speed on a Varity of surfaces. It doesn't hurt that the Revolt is a very good bike. But these bikes aren't cheap.

For those of use with a smaller budget, Giant makes the Roam and Sedona. While not in the league as the Revolt Advanced, These bikes work well under the conditions most of us will likely encounter as recreational riders and are still capable of surprising speed for what they are. My Sedona with its 50 mm tires has no problem climbing steep hills with loose stones and Soft gravel. Even the 38mm tires on the Roam be fine for many trails.

To answer Payton's question about how slow these Fat bikes are vs a Hybrid, I would expect a Road bike that's going 25 - 27 kph might require the same power as a Hybrid for 23 - 25 kph (Some are quite fast), 20 - 22 kph for a Comfort bike with its upright seating and wide tires, 18 - 20 kph for a Mountain bike, and 16 - 18 for a fat bike.

Probably not much worse then a low end Mountain bike. But any advantages IMO aren't worth the effort.

I recently bought one and really enjoy it but if you are only doing paved roads it would be a waste. You lose out to low gearing, rolling resistance and pointless wear on tires. However, my specialized fatboy, with tires pumped up, rolls almost as well downhill as my roadbike before aerodynamics take over.

Its a fun bike, not a fast bike. I like riding it on trails and such because just doing so puts a smile on my face. Instead of avoiding obstacles I now go looking for them.

One advantage of a Fat Bike is you can take stairs and curbs head on.

A gp5000 is down to 10w a tire. So 20w total. The fastest fat bike tire on BRR is 25w each at a pretty high PSI. So 50w total.

So, 30w alone on CRR.

30w is a LOT at tempo or slower as a %. I'd assume most people cruise from 120 to 200w. So you'd be down 15 to 25% on power to the ground just on tires.

Assuming a more average fatbike tire of 35w per tire per BRR.........you're down 50w versus a road bike on gp5000's. Whoa.

So, forget fast. It's fun. You can traverse the world. Snowstorm? Go ride. Mudslide? Go ride. Tree across the trail? Bomb on.

Explore cut throughs or something to mix up your road distance on your rides. Cut over curbs/stairs or something on the way. Cross some crazy berm.

Quote:

Originally Posted by burnthesheep (Post 21001799)

There are tonnes of touring, and mtb tires with rolling resistance even higher than the fat bike one you listed.

A friend of mine does time trials on a fat bike that has been optimized with aerobars and slick tires. It's an option when you want something a little more challenging. :thumb:

a skinny tire bike on beach sand will be much slower than a fat tire bike on the same, soft, surface..

But, to test ... is to know..

...

I just don't get those things. Seems to be just a hipster fad.

Unless you plan on riding really rough terrain, in snow or sand, seems a waste to me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by spinnaker (Post 21002281)

Unless you plan on riding really rough terrain, in snow or sand, seems a waste to me.

Well that is exactly what they are made for.... challenging terrain. They excel not only in sand and snow, but also when trails are in less than stellar conditions (leaves, some mud) or when there simply it little or no trail at all.

For the above reasons, they make very good winter season mountain bikes in many areas.