I just got a 2014 Pugsley (and loving it so far!) with two sets of tires: the stock 27tpi Nates and 120tpi Vee Speedsters (two tires on the opposite ends of the spectrum!). So this thread interests me to see the various tires. Hypno Toad it looks like you've put quite a few miles on the Panaracer tires (Fat B Nimble, I presume). They appear to be about as "XC" as fat tires go, and possibly a good "all round" tire. Your newer post references the 45NRTH Dillingers, but did you like the Panaracers as far as "XC" type tires go?

I have the Nates on the bike right now and they feel absolutely glued to the dirt and leaves...and I don't want to give that grip up. But man, they sure are tiresome to pedal to the trails... :lol:

I've got my stock Nates, but having used them for a long time. They have amazing traction, OTOH they are heavy and slow rolling on firm conditions.

Fat B Nimbles are GREAT for summer on firm-to-soft conditions; but they can't handle snow or deep mud or running very low pressures. I like these for the gravel endurance rides, yesterday I did 100 miles of mix conditions, including pavement, limestone trails, gravel road, MMR, and some grassy CX - averaged 14.2 mph mostly solo riding with 10-15 mph winds and temps never over freezing. My only limitations were not enough gears to hold with the group on descents over 30 mph and slower rolling on the paved segments.

Dillingers are my tire of choice for snow and ice, roll great on almost any conditions and pressure, great grip. For reference, here's a race I did a couple years ago on Lake Minnetonka ice, my only fall was in a deep drift:

Thanks for your notes about the tires you've ran. Your frozen lake riding definitely screams for studded tires!

Wow road bike handles on fatbike. That is something new and never seen before.

I make this fat tire look skinny..

DD Fat tire race last weekend, Dubuque Iowa. I was the biggest/heaviest rider and came in last place ;). I’m happy to have finished, a few riders didn’t.


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Claiming it! ... "it" being solidly middle of the pack. :D

The 2021 Fat Bike Loppet was run like an ITT. Riders where spaced out with seeded starting times, and released at 10 second intervals. It was a very well run event!

The course was mostly groomed ski trails, and made the drop-bar Pusgley an advantage, but we had two laps of single-track trails that left me swearing. The course was close to 2,000 ft of climbing (correction: nearly 1,500 ft climbing that felt like over 2,000 ft) ... oof! Also some fast descents, getting up to 30 mph on snow is nerve-wrecking! I ended up finishing the 29k course in 1:29:44 for 47th of 95 riders.

BTW - this Toad rode to/from the race for a total of 30 miles :thumb:

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Yesterday was a good day - I raced the Freedhem 76 and was the fastest fatbike!

Freedhem is a tiny town in central Minnesota, named by the Swedish settlers, Freedhem translates to "peaceful home"

The race is an 80-mile course that's mostly gravel with a couple ATV trails, the first one is 4.5 miles of rock gardens (sent one rider to the hospital with likely broken collar bone); second ATV trail was only a mile but it was basically a 1-mile sandtrap. The Pugsley ate up both ATV sections up without any stress ... I had somebody call me a cheater in the sandtrap as I barely slowed while they walked, but they admitted I did have to mash those massive tires for 80 miles to be able to ride 1 mile of sand :lol:

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Photo credit: https://markmanoutdoorphotography.com/

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Do you think I can get these tires to fit my Pugsley? :roflmao2:

Looks kewl. Congrats!!!

congratulations! you're a beast!

Wow, that looks like some messy fun.

It's pretty funny that the fatbike guy wins rubber band tires! Congratulations on first in class. Those are great pictures, too.

The Final DAMn ... after all it's only a day across Minnesota.

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Look for more details, a poorly written blog post, and a half-@$$ GoPro edit in the coming days - I'll post that in the DAMn thread: https://www.bikeforums.net/cyclocros...minnesota.html.

That looks like fun

Alone at the half way point of the Beaver Dam Gravel Grinder. Crossing through the town of Barclay NV.
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A little local mountain bike course cruising:)
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I finally did it, rode the Arrowhead 135! 2024 was the year without winter in Northern Minnesota, with very limited snow and temps around freezing for the race (this is a race infamous for air temps hitting -40F/C). The lack of snow meant the trails were not groomed, lightly used, and in some places, the racers were break trail for the first time this winter. It was slow slogging with lots of hike-a-bike (my data shows give or take 40 miles of walking)

Here's one of my countless snow angels on Monday during the early miles (photo credit to Amanda). BTW lifting roughly 80 lbs of bike and gear got to be exhausting as the miles slowly crawled by, by the second day, I was much more cautious to keep the bike upright and avoid that extra pain of lifting it back up.

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The expression on my face says a lot about my state at the finish line, I was crushed. (photo credit Elizabeth)

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That was nearly 35 hours from start to finish with a 6 hour overnight break at Melgeorge's (CP2), and that lean you see, that's not me leaning into the banner ... I couldn't stand up straight! (photo credit to Lisa, the best partner any racer could ask for)

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Well done. Congratulations! You're washout photo looks like crazy deep unconsolidated "mash potatoes" snow...no fun at all in that stuff. What tires did you end up running for the event? I follow the race fb page....always thought a warmer year would be a good thing, until I saw this year, lol. I've heard even being above 10 degrees in a typical year can be much harder going, which does seem pretty weird.

I was just talking with Frau Toad about how much overthinking I'd done about tires for the AH135. I ended up simply riding the winter tires I've had on the Pugsley for year-and-years: 45NRTH Dillinger 4 (studded). I started with 6 psi, and expected to dump some air after the start (and everyone did the same thing). I checked my pressure after the race, I was riding 3 psi. There are very few roads to cross, but on those limited road crossings, I could feel that I was near the low end of ridable pressure.

local weeknight short track series. It's only a five-mile race, but I ride there and back which adds 40 miles.

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My first and only snow race in the Berkshires. I'm really suffering here. It got icier as the race progressed. I did not have studs.
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For those that enjoy a long and poorly written blog/ride report :p here's my Arrowhead 135 post:

https://bikesbeersstuff.blogspot.com...ltra-year.html

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Photo crdiet https://www.scottrokis.com/

Sunday, muddy Sunday!

yesterday at Fatty Cross in the Haddam Neck Fairgrounds in East Hampton, CT. Good time.
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