Originally Posted by
jefnvk
Hey all,
I am curious where the divide between junk fat bikes ends and basic, decent, serviceable ones begins.
I don't mountain bike, most of what I'd do is relatively flat rail/park trails. I'm not really concerned that fat bikes are slower or heavier than a traditional MTB, it won't be used as a MTB (and my favorite road bike comes in near 35# anyhow). What I am looking to do is winter snow and springtime muck, extending my riding season in Michigan. It may someday open some summertime MTB trail riding, but that is purely a secondary benefit.
I don't really have a budget, so I don't want to toss out any numbers and ask for what to buy at that limit. Just curious to see what sort of level of bike people recommend not going below for such riding. Wouldn't mind finding out where the cutoff is for bikes that have decent tires in the snow is at too, as my initial research indicates lower end bikes come with tires less suited for snow.
I've been really happy with my Bikesdirect Motobecane Boris X7 and X9 for $700 and $800. I swapped the saddles (for preference), seatposts (for more length and better fit), and tubes (shaved a full pound) on both bikes.
Framed Minnesota were totally in the running, but frame sizing made the choice easier for us. After one test ride in the snow, I wanted bikes with really low top tubes. If you put a foot down, it's going to compress a lot of snow before it stops.