Dino_Sore

About 80% of my riding is on my two gravel bikes, and about 10% each on my road and mountain bikes. Old age and arthritis have caused me to cut back a bit on the mountain biking.

I would like to get a fat bike for my winter riding, but I don't have the space to store it. I would have to get rid of one of my other bikes. The likely candidate would be my mountain bike (a steel 29-er hard tail on which I usually run 2.25" tires).

However, I'm not sure if I want to ride a fat bike outside of the winter. Do any of you swap wheels and tires to a plus-size (say 2.6 inch width) for trail riding? How does the fat bike handle with narrower wheels and tires?

I'm in Connecticut, so the local trails are rooty and rocky with steep climbs. I ride mostly old-school cross country trails; so no hucking, jumping or other stuff that is inappropriate for old farts like me.

schnee

I've been doing that on a Mukluk forever. 26" wheelset in the winter, 29+ in the summer.
It handles just fine as a 29+. It's just got huge clearance around the tires. I use it for bikepacking and an alternative to my full suspension.

The major issue is fatbikes tend to have a much wider bottom bracket, which some people don't get along with.
But, if you aim for a fatbike that's built around 4" tires, those can have something much closer to a normal mountain bike.
I recommend doing a test ride.

Steve B.

I m aware of a lot of riders here on Long Island use fat bikes all season as their primary off road bike. We have soft soil and sometimes sandy conditions, so that kind of bike seems to work well here.

CrimsonEclipse

90-95% of my off road miles are on a 4.8" fatty, all seasons.
I know of more than a few folks that ride 29er's on the fat bikes and they ride just fine. Damn near the same diameter.
Some sell 29er with fatty hubs 150/198 for a quick swap.

I have a really nimble MTB hard tail with 26x2" that is just murder on the root filled trails and has been relegated to gravel and MUP's with non-dirt friends.

Big fatties are harder to ride the same distance, there's no getting around it.
But I get a better workout and hurt less at the end of the day.

MarcusT

Riding a fat bike on trails and non-trails is quite fun. Yes, they can be slower, but the comfort and sure footedness make up for it

Viich

My Fattie is my only MTB. I ride trails year-round on it, though I don't ride trails as much in the summer as in the winter, I spend more time at the BMX race track and just don't have time for it.

tilsover

Year round.

Daniel4

I ride my fat bike strictly in the winter when the snow is thick. My studded tires are on there permanently. I also have a beater mtn bike with studded tires for light snow but the ride on frozen footprints is terribly uncomfortable.

Spring, summer and fall before the frost, I ride my summer road bike.

My garage is full of other bikes for my wife and my two sons.

revcp 

My Beargrease with 27.5"x3.8" is very nimble on trail year round. I'm old enough that I don't ride aggressively on trail--64--but the Beargrease could certainly do that, as could many other fatties. The thing is, a fattie can do anything an MTB can do, but not the other way around. I have my fat bike and two gravel bikes, one of them is at work for when I get a chance to get out, and I'm quite pleased with that small stable.

Hypno Toad

I love using my drop-bar Pugsley year round. My main change for summer-winter is tires. I run 45NRTH Dillinger 4s in the winter and Panaracer Fat B Nimble in the summer. Also run higher tire pressure for summer conditions. I've used this bike to do some very fast (2017 Filthy 50 in under 3 hours or 17.6 mph) as well as long gravel (https://www.bikeforums.net/22195497-post28.html) events

maaakaaa

Last year I replace my 190 hub fatbike and my older Trance mountain bike with a used Surly Wednesday that included a Bluto and a 27.5x3.0 wheelset. I don’t have the time now to do tons of trail riding and this let me focus on one bike. I liked the fat bike I had but the Q-factor was pretty wide on it. Fine for snow riding but too wide to be my only mountain bike. Not sure how that compares to newer 1x bikes since it was a 2x and not a particularly fancy bike. Anyway, I’m really happy with it for both. I’ll have to try some more trails this year with the full fat tires also. I do enjoy those for tooling around while camping and following game trails.

Maxey

Here's my Salsa Bucksaw in winter and summer mode. This bike handles extremely well with the 27.5 mid-fat wheelset (3.0 tires) and is as fun as any mountain bike I've ever owned. The only real limitation with only 100mm travel front and rear being the really rough, rocky stuff you'd find in, say, Colorado.

Viich

I'm not familiar with the Bucksaw's specs, are you limited to 3.8"? Some trail systems require 4+ in the winter here. I'm anti-suspension anyway. (I'm actually building a DJ with a pogo stick on the front right now, so maybe more suspension-curious?)

RB1-luvr

I'll second, third or fourth the possiblility of riding a fatty as a sole mtb. I'm in central CT and do it. Ya it's a little slower, but there's almost nowhere one can't go with it. Once up to speed, it tends to stay there, and as a result, I don't hesitate to ride it up to 20 miles on pavement to get to the trails.

Maxey

Yes, Bucksaw is limited to 3.8 tires. I rarely ride it in the winter anymore as I have a Trek Farley with 4.5 tires that gets around a bit better in the white stuff. The Bucksaw is my warm weather trail bike these days, so long as the trail isn't too gnarly. I have another, long-travel rig for that stuff in any case.

The short-travel suspension on the BS has a really fun, firm and responsive feel to it, and is a blast on smoother, flowy trails. At my age (60) I don't need, but like, some cushioning underneath me.

Maxey

Whoa, that's a long way on a Fatty -- would be masochism to me, but good on ya for slogging it out like that.

MarcusT

You should check out the videos from Foresty Forest. He solo tours quite a bit on a fatty
Videos from 4 or more years ago. Lately, he's been doing local stuff

prj71

Try 95 miles on a fatty. I've done it.

Hypno Toad

How about 242 miles on a fatbike? https://www.bikeforums.net/22195497-post28.html

... plus another 8 century or longer

prj71

This is not something I would want to do with a Rigid Fat Bike. Full Suspension is much better.

sknhgy 

Isn't it always winter up thar?

milesofsmiles

I just bought my fat bike so I could get rid of my 27.5 hard tail and maybe 29er full suspension because they are heavy. The new/used 2019 Specialized Fatboy is much lighter. I plan on riding it everywhere on all surfaces, hard pack, gravel, sand, mud, water, whatever is in front of me. The first ride was in mud, one of the reasons I got it because the trails are muddy and standing water in the spring. I tried a few times to ride my 29er through it and made by sheer determination. This new bike handles it way better.
I would and plan on taking it on long rides. It rolls really well on gravel roads.
There are quite a few videos on YouTube of people bike packing on fat bikes, going really long distances some of them.

CrimsonEclipse

The original fat bike, Pugsley was made famous for long distances solo from somewhere in the middle to Perth (I think) over a period of 30 days unsupported.

Can't find the video... Neat trip tho