palu

I am contemplating building up a off-road touring bike and have come up with a list of a few:

- Camargue
- Ogre
- Krampus/ECR
- Pugsley/Mukluk

The fat tires intrigue me, as they would offer much needed comfort on dirt. But the thoughts of lethargic progress on paved sections give me pause.

For those of you that have toured on fat bikes, how was your experience? I've read some of the more famous blogs of people in exotic places on their fat bikes, but they are some hardcore tourists. For regular Joe's like me, I don't know if their experiences would translate directly over. Who knows. Thanks for any input.

rjl33

I have a Salsa Fargo which I use for touring, mostly gravel and off road, with some pavement as well. For all day riding I love the comfort of the Fargo and the Woodchipper bars. If you are going to ride more technical trails MTB bars would probably be better. I recently bought a Mukluk 3 and have ridden it a couple hundred miles, including gravel and pavement, and could definitely see touring with it. In August I am going to ride across the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, trying to ride all forest roads and trails, and am giving thought to riding the Mukluk because of the sand in this area. The other choices you have listed all seem like good possibilities as well.

gpsblake

99 percent of touring is about two things.... Comfort and psychological.....
I've come across people touring on a single speed bike, recumbent, high tech bikes, etc....

If the fat tire bike is comfortable to ride day in and day out 6-8 hours a day.... Why not**********

The best way to try it is to go for a weekend with a fat tire bike and see if it works for you... And go out and ride the bike fully loaded on a lousy cold wet day, all day.... Those two things right there will tell you everything.

fietsbob

Just bringing a few spare Pugsley/Mukluk Inner Tubes will be bulkier than for a not 4" wide tire.
enjoy the scenery as You Pass By.

staehpj1

I am usually biased toward skinnier tires than most folks run on tour, but...

I did a mixed dirt/pavement tour on fat XC racing tires and was surprised how acceptable I found the ride. I didn't find they slowed my progress nearly as much as I would have expected. The fact that they had nice supple sidewalls, reasonably light weight (for their size), and lots of low knobs made the ride better than some of the skinny "flatproof" road tires (like maybe a 28 or 32 mm Marathon Plus) that I have ridden on.

I will still choose fairly skinny tires for road touring, especially with my minimalist packing style, but if there is enough dirt in the mix to justify them I don't mind the MTB XC racing tires.

Note that I am not talking really fat but something like a 2" +/- a bit. If you are thinking of 4" tires they are outside my realm of experience.

irwin7638

I tour on a Rivendell Hunqapillar using 50mm Schwalbe Big Ben tires.

I have used 38mm Conti Contacts and Schwalbe Marathon Duremes on this bike before. I like the 50mm Big Ben's better for speed, comfort and versatility. I have, in the past, toured on 25-32mm tires and would never go that skinny again for unsupported touring on a fully loaded bike. Last year I had the opportunity to test ride all the Surly fat bikes at a rally in Minnesota. I like them, they are fun, but personally can't find a use for them. I doubt that I would tour on tires larger than 52mm unless there were simply no paths at all.

Marc

Tourist in MSN

I do not think there is a definition of fat tire riding, but in my mind it is a tire width of 3 inches or more. You listed the Carmargue, but if I recall correctly that has a capacity of no more than 2.25 inch width. That suggests to me that you are including a wide mountain bike tire within your definition of fat tires.

I do not see any problem with what you propose. Lots of bikepackers have used the fat tire bikes for back country riding. I think it becomes more of a question on how much gear you would want to carry and how you would carry it? Would you go with a bikepacking setup without panniers, or rear panniers and frame bag or some other combination of conventional touring luggage mixed with bikepacking luggage?

I have no difficulty with 2.25 width tires on pavement, but ones with a supple sidewall roll much faster. I was surprised how well 2.25 inch (57X559) Schwalbe Extremes (discontinued model) roll on pavement, but they were very noisy. I have never ridden a bike with a tire of 3 inches or more width, I can't comment on how it rolls on pavement.

I have had to push a bike with 2.25 inch tires thru loose alluvial sand. Thus I think the question becomes - do you need to go wider than 2.25 inches because you anticipate poor soil conditions where the 3 inch (or wider) tires would continue to roll where a 2.25 in tire would bog down?

I am contemplating two different trips where I would use 2.25 wide tires, one trip is single track and I would fit a suspension fork to the bike, the other trip is far back country but doable with a 4X4 - I plan to use a solid front fork on that trip as I would have front panniers.

The other question that you did not ask yet is if you had a bike with a 3 inch or wider tire, would you use it very much once your trip is over? I virtually never see such bikes being ridden around where I live but a bike that uses mountain bike tires is certainly a good bike for around town use. Thus the Carmargue might be a more practical bike from that standpoint. Last year I did a 890 mile tour on 700c tires, but I think I put more total miles on 26 inch tires with 2.0 or 2.25 inch width than I put on 700c tires. But if I had a bike that took 3 inch or wider tires, that would have gotten very little use.

bruised

I'm thinking of 'fat tires' as 3.8" or greater. All of the mainstream Fat Bikes I've seen, from brands such as Surly, Salsa, Trek etc, seem to have at least a 3.8 tire. The Krampus with its narrower 3" tire is not regarded as a Fat Bike. Surly even state "Krampus is the evolution of the 29er. It’s not a fat bike."

I bike-packed and covered a lot of road miles on a 29er Hardtail last year. I've been riding my new Fattie mostly on the trails, but when I have ridden it on road and gravel, my average pace is not that far off the 29er. I log everything on MapMyRide so I've been watching pace/distance closely, with a view to touring on the Fattie in the spring.

The issues I see with my Fattie are gearing and tire choice (for touring). I honestly don't think having a 4" tire for touring is such a bad thing, but the gearing on my Charge Maxi2 is a little slow for road riding.
On the tires, you need to find a tire with a more arched profile for road riding. For example, the stock Vee Rubber tires that came with my Fattie are 26x4" and have a dead flat profile, so the entire 4" face sits firmly in contact with the ground, regardless of pressure. On my new On-One 4" tire, the profile is far more 'arched', so when I inflate up to road pressures, there's less rubber in contact with the road and I can feel the lower rolling resistance. And, I still have the benefit of a wide tire when I get in the mud, sand or snow.

So yes, I think touring on a Fattie is very feasible. And there's only around 7lbs weight difference between my Fat Bike and something like a Fargo....so weight really isn't that much of an issue. And I could shave off a couple pounds at least by going tubeless.

If you're serious about touring on a Fat Bike I'd look at something like the Mukluk or Blackborow. The Blackborow is well equipped with braze-ons and you can even throw on a 29er wheel if you get tired of the wider tires.

intransit1217

I think fatbikes are a completely different animal. Find a place that rents fatbikes and ride one for a day, go from there.

Lou Skannon

Fat bikes are slow and hard work if you ride with soft tires; which you need to if it is icy. I ride a Norco Bigfoot which is very comfortable and sure footed but I wouldn't want to do a cross country tour even on dirt roads. I am tempted to use it on the Kettle Valley Rail Trail this Summer where I will be riding with a couple of touring newbies who are already thinking I will be too fast for them. I like the idea of frame bags, seat bags, handlebar bags and gas tanks but will probably stick with just a rear rack and the big Ortliebs with a dry sack across the top. The Surface 604 looks like a good fatbike for touring; long wheel base and a strong purpose built rack.

Maybe because it is still new; but bobbing along on the bigfoot makes me smile.

indyfabz

Percentage of dirt vs. percentage of pavement? If the dirt percentage will be low, I wouldn't go fat tire. Also, what do you mean by "dirt?" This was dirt:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/davez2...57645062932708

No special equipment required for comfort. LHT with 37c Conti Top Touring II tires.

Same trip, but much rougher (the washboards are hard to make out):

https://www.flickr.com/photos/davez2...57645062932708

This was also rough in a lot of places:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/davez2...57645062932708

https://www.flickr.com/photos/davez2...57645062932708

But of the 500 miles, maybe 90 were unpaved. Glad I wasn't running fat tires for the remainder.

BobG

+1
Here's my extreme for a rough road ridden on 700x35s. Schofield Pass CO. Yes, a little more width would have been handy but I'm sure glad I wasn't using 3.8" tires all the way to that point on a primarily paved road tour down from Canada!

Jseis 

If the touring country was miles of shoreside sandy beaches with occasional rocky outcrops/roads, then a FB makes sense. Otherwise, spinning 4+ inches of un-needed tire makes no sense. Snow touring would be interesting.

palu

Thanks for the inputs, everyone. I've been riding a 650bx42 tires, which has opened my eyes to bigger tires. The Cam or Ogre seem to be a great middle ground, but proper Fat tires also intrigued me.

I actually ended up buying a Pugsley and will try out some dirt tours on that. The Nate tires they came with are way too aggressive, so I'll have to save them for snow rides. Probably will end up with something like Larry or similar. Started buying soft packs, so I'll be ready to ship off on some short outings soon.

Mr Pink57

Fat touring is one of the reason I think Surly should bring back the Endomorph. I use this on the front of a fat front tourer and I think it's the best mixed condition tire. It rolls fairly easy, not as easy as a black floyd but easy. The side knobs are prevalent enough for dirt/gravel/mud and I think the squared off profile of the tire gives a nice ride.

Also when you purchase a bike like a Pugsley/Mukluk/Blackborrow/ICT/Moonlander it comes with more mounts than you can shake a stick at.

qclabrat

going far from home or bike shops concerns me for bikes with less than common parts

a critically damaged fat tire will be hard to replace on the road unless you are packing extras

bmike

Krampus
Krampus in its Element by mbeganyi, on Flickr

IMG_4176 by mbeganyi, on Flickr

Pugsley

IMG_2147 by mbeganyi, on Flickr

QBP glamour shot by mbeganyi, on Flickr

Fargo (sold to move on to the Krampus)

fargo at GMNF gate by mbeganyi, on Flickr


Some misconceptions in this thread:

You don't need to carry around the Surly Tubes... those things are heavy. A downhill 2.5" tube works in the Pugsley or Krampus (I have my Krampus setup tubeless with the Knards).
Speed? My Krampus and Fargo can eat up the paved and dirt / gravel sections just fine. Adjust pressure, enjoy the ride. Maybe change out tires - I ran Conti Race Kings on the Fargo, and then WTB Vulpines. I really liked the Vulpines for gravel / mixed terrain. Even completed a brevet on that setup. Knards roll well with some pressure in them. Nates (on my Pugsley) are a drag, even with 'high' pressure in them - I'd look at some of the other tire offerings for 'fat' mixed terrain.

Mukluk / Pugsley gives you the option of 2 wheelsets - 29+ or 29r (with lower BB) and FAT. I'd consider that option. I have the Krampus as I wanted Rohloff rear and Dyno front.

Ice? You need studs. Snow? Depending on how deep the fat tires (5" now on the newer bikes) will really help. We've had a crap winter here this year - lots of ice / freeze thaw. The Pugsley has been out once - the Krampus, running 45NRTH Nicotine tires studded on the Rabbit Hole rims has been out nearly every other day.