FrozenK

If you are riding trails I think a suspension fork makes sense. I forgot to mention that if you plan to ride in cold (sub-zero F) you should get the winter seal kit for the Bluto from Borealis.

NYMXer

Yes, I plan to ride my normal single track trails in the winter months. I am told that the even groom them and a 4" tire easily handles floating over the snow. I also imagine that the snow will cover most of the roots, rocks and other bumps on the trail so I am not too worried about lack of any rear suspension.
I also have rail trails 1/2 mile from my house and want to try and ride them too, maybe all year round on the fat tire bike. I went to the LBS today, but they were too busy and it was close to closing time by the time I got there. I do prefer the Fat Boy Trail Pro but saving about $1,000 buying from Bikes Direct has me pretty excited too.
What does a winter seal kit do FrozenK?
Thanks to everyone for their suggestions, I appreciate the advice.

FrozenK

It prevents the fork from leaking air due to seals shrinking in cold weather. It is an issue if you do 2 or more hour rides in cold (10 degree or less) weather. From what I've been told the fork will be ok if you are out for about an hour, but eventually it can fail and go flat.

Turnagain Cures Cold Weather Blues with new ETR Seal Kit for RockShox Bluto Fat Bike Forks

NYMXer

Thanks for the lesson, I never would have known

osco53

Yeah and I should add that one fat rider said that the tire we were playing with was known to be heavy and had too much side wall flex. On His advice we moved the psi Into the low teens.

I cant remember the maker.

"""But I ride pretty fast going down,, and we played with psi's till we found a sweet spot."""
"""And that "it may work for you but I ride faster than you" jab, sorry but no. That doesn't work either."""

Forgive me, All that was not meant to be a jab, but I admit It sounded like one...
We were simply new to fats and out with a rented Fat hard tail and found it to handle poorly going down drops as fast as we could because we needed to carry all possible speeds to the bottom to make it up the next hill....

I hope the OP took something from my post on how a first timers first ride on a hard tail fat bike turned out and how different,,
and far better the full suspension fat bike handled with us not knowing what to expect and no skill with those big tires.

And with our limited time on the bike we found that any psi below 10 or 11 made the bike very hard to turn in flat fast sweepers.
As the psi came up we could steer because we had less traction, less side wall squirm, I think...

NYMXer

Decision has been made and after trying to deal with my LBS, I bought online. The LBS was just too busy to help me and answer a few technical questions so I gave up and order the Framed 3.0 in white w/ blue trim. Thanks to all for your help and advice, I learned a lot.
Special thanks to fietsbob for offering a bike that just made too much sense (as in dollars and cents, lol)
The bikes direct almost got my vote but then "inhouse" had a $100 off special and a free backpack, so that was enough to sway me. Truth is, they are all good bikes but I couldn't refuse the value for the dollar of the Framed by Minnesota.
Thanks again

osco53

Now go ride the tires off that thing

NYMXer

Thanks, that is the plan. Happy holidays and trails, lol

FrozenK

Have fun!

mumbles

I have found that the guage on my floor pump reads about 4 lbs higher than my low pressure digital guage. If you don't know how people are measuring pressure, the numbers don't really mean much.

NYMXer

It should be here by Monday. I'll be sure to post a report and pics. Thanks again for the great advice, it was appreciated.

NYMXer

UPS site says the fat bike by Framed is out for delivery. I should be posting pictures tonight, hopefully before I ride it on the new snow, lol

FrozenK

Sweet. Nice to hear you can baptize it in the snow.
All the snow melted here and my fat bike decided to crack (after 8 years of abuse, I really can't complain) so now I'm looking at a replacement. I had just built a wheelset with DT Swiss BR710s for it, damn it! And of course my now defunct frame used 170mm rear and 135 front, while most new bikes are 190 rear 150 front.

It is down to the Fatback Rhino complete or a Ritchey Commando frameset for a replacement. The Ritchey would allow me to transfer my parts and is only about a thousand bucks. The Fatback, well it is new and comes with 1x11 but I wouldn't be able to use my BR710s and is more money. I'd love to get a Corvus, but I can't afford it right now.

I'll talk with the shop tomorrow to see what they can do for me with the Rhino, but most likely I'll get the Ritchey.

NYMXer

Aw man FrozenK, sorry for your woes with the bike. I guess after 8 years, it was time and it owes you nothing.
Here is my bike, less pedals. I'm going to cut the new fork in the morning before work and install after I get home.
A quick look over, and she is a nice bike. Lighter than I thought, but far from light.
If anyone wants any Framed bike, use this code for free shipping "FAT7619" and I'll get store credit.

FrozenK

Nice looking bike. Will look even better with the Bluto on it.

NYMXer

Pic and ride report, after initial ride and some adjustments. BTW, I called out sick today due to a fever (bike fever, lol)

Rode about 8 miles of rail trails in the snow. We have about 1" of wet crap on the ground and it makes the going much harder. The bike rides nice (I still haven't cut the Bluto fork and installed it) but steering is noticeably slow and you feel the weight of the fat tires as you turn the bars. You don't feel them as you lean into a fast turn, but I doubt you'll see many of those type of turns on a fat bike.

Brakes are as expected, marginal and the shifting is slow. It did get better as I put some miles on and made slight cable only adjustments (barrel turner). The controls feel good but I adjusted their position and oddly, the shifters and brakes require different sized allen wrenches. Somewhere in production/planning, the left and right hands did not communicate. All of that is minor stuff except the wheels, all the spokes were so loose that when you turned, the brakes engaged with the rotors, not good. A few turns of a spoke wrench on truing the wheel and I was set.

Other odds and ends, I did not like the stock seat but love the bars and grips. No quick release on the wheels or seat. The frame has two taped and bolted mounts for a water bottle holder, but I wear a camelback, at least in the summer time. The stock tires grip exceptionally well and I climbed up some wet snow hills. Even starting out on the snow was not a problem, lots of traction from the 4" tires. I am considering a seat post spring, due to the hard tail. The soft tires help but my butt is spoiled from riding full suspension bikes, haha.

Overall, on a quick 8 mile rail trail ride, I'm happy and can't wait to put the Bluto forks on and hit the single track trails. This bike would never keep up with fast mtn bikers, but then again, that is not why I got it. I want to ride over the winter months and maintain or better my conditioning so that when spring comes, I'm ready! I think this bike can help me do just that.

More after the weekend....

NYMXer

I forgot about this thread and figured I can now give a better report, or at least add to what I've said so far. I have not installed the Bluto fork and truthfully, I haven;t noticed it missing. The fat tires do an incredible job of soaking up irregularities on the trails. It's amazing that a rigid bike can take small hits better than the suspension on my full suspension mtn bike. I have no intention of trying jumps or high speed downhills with this bike.

I did add two water bottle holders, under the seat bag and a seat post spring type suspension and that helped the ride a lot and saves my butt. The bikes quality is very good and other than the initial spoke issue, noting has come loose, out of adjustment or broke.

Fat tire bike effort is noticeably more than a regular mtb but I am okay with that. What is amazing is that with these tires, riding on a few inches of snow is outstanding fun and superior traction. I can ride up pretty steep hills even with snow cover. Another great benefit of fat tires is their stability when riding over loose stones and rocks. We have a rock bridge crossing a stream about 40 feet wide and a foot deep. On my regular mtb, I walk on the rocks and carry the bike. I don't know why, but one day I just rode the fat bike over the rocks and across the stream. The loose rocks didn't make the bike wander and I didn;t get wet as I easily made it across. I still don't know if I want to try it on my regular bike.

Segment times are about 15% more across the board and that is to be expected with the increased rolling resistance. I can feel my legs burning when riding this thing so hopefully, my conditioning will only get better. We haven't had enough snow here to ride any groomed trails but I am looking forward to trying it. Even 2" of snow makes the trails much smoother with the fat tires. For comparison, I rode my regular bike right after the fat tire bike and even riding in the compacted snow, it was not fun. Lesson learned, no regular mtb in the snow, steering and overall handling is twitchy and unstable. It is hard to track the groove set by the fat bike.

So, until I have more to post, I like this bike and am glad that I got it. I might like it even more if I ever put the Bluto fork on it, lol

Chandne

After a million hours of research, I picked up a Fatboy leftover on clearance pricing. Specialized has done a stellar job with their fat bike. At first I thought I wanted a slacker head angle but I'm glad I didn't go down that route. I have seen a couple of Framed bikes here now. They look nice. I think Specialized and Salsa are most common here. This is my first and we have enough snowed-in trails to where I don't need a Bluto yet but will pick one up when they go on sale and put on that cold-weather seal kit. I converted to tubeless and run around 4-5 psi but thesis a dedicated snow bike. I will not be riding dirt (prefer a light full suspension MTB for that) so can afford to wait on a Bluto.

NYMXer

Sweet bike, and I agree on the Bluto because I have not rushed to get mine cut and installed. Mostly because the fat bike does not feel like a rigid on snow.
Ride on and cool pics too.

FrozenK

I ended getting a Fatback Corvus after all. Really happy with it so far. We (finally!) got some snow this week and setting first tracks it was impressive. My old one wasn't bad, but this one is better. It is hard to explain but I think it is the combination of stiffer frame and geometry, it just tracks better.

Having problems posting a picture, but here is a link to one:

https://flic.kr/p/D1pzAC

NYMXer

FrozenK, that's a nice bike and I'm glad that you got it and can ride again. It's the little things in life!

I took the Framed today on real singletrack trails with the rigid fork and now, I am sorry that I bought the Bluto fork option because the front end tracked well and I did not feel I was at a disadvantage riding with my buddy with front suspension on his 29+ bike with 3.0 tires.

We rode for over 17 miles at right around 8 mph average, so we weren't poking along. Funny thing is that on my Giant Anthem X, I am only about 1.5 mph faster and I thought the difference would be greater than that.

Once again, this bike has impressed me and brought many smiles to my face. Even fully rigid, it handled the roots and rocks better than my full suspension skinny tire bike and I think that was where I made up a lot of my time.

Quality wise, this bike has taken some good punishment today and nothing broke or went out of adjustment and the ride was incredibly stable and confident inspiring. Brakes worked surprisingly well but shifting needs a full stab at the levers, not a half assed effort like my Giant. I continue to love the stock bars and grips and the seat post suspension works quite well.

Surprising today, I hit a jump (about 2 feet of air for 15 feet) and thought the landing might sting a little but nothing odd happened and thankfully, no flat either.
I am very impressed with the bike and glad that I got it.

FrozenK

The traction you get on a fatbike can make up for a lot, and on roots they are quite impressive. They also let you monster-truck through things more than a regular mtb would as you already noticed. Have you set up yours tubeless? If you haven't you should. It makes a huge difference.

I have put about 120 miles on the Corvus so far (including a 42 mile race Saturday) and the bike is great. I'm out of shape, though

NYMXer

A true athlete knows they can always improve their conditioning. I love the saying, "it never get's easier, you just go faster"

FrozenK

True.

Hiro11

1. The Bluto is very useful on crusty snow and very useful if you decide to use the bike year round. If you doubt, go test ride a bike with a Bluto, it makes a huge difference. I personally don't buy the "fat tires = suspension" argument.

2. I also recommend setting your tires up tubeless, if possible. Fat bikes in particular benefit from tubeless. Completing a tubeless conversion cut two pounds off the weight of my bike (two pounds of rotating weight at that). You also get noticeably lower rolling resistance, better traction, better float and the ability to run really low PSI. Lastly, dealing with tight-fitting fat tires and the need for huge air volumes of rapidly expanding air mean that a garden variety flat can be a ride-ending disaster on a fat bikes. Tubeless with sealant helps in that regard. One caveat: it can be a bit of a pain in the ass to do a tubeless conversion, especially if you're trying to bash something together. My bike came with tubeless-specific rims and tires, I bought a (hideously overpriced) OEM conversion kit designed specifically for this purpose on these rims, I have a powerful compressor and the whole process still took over an hour. The conversion was worth it in the end but not it was not exactly easy.