Haff

With winter coming soon and my mountain bike being in need of update I'm considering a fat tire bike. Anyone have one? Do you like it? Could it completely replace a traditional mtn bike? Do you have full suspension and if so, is it worth it? I have 500 other questions, but I'll stop for now.

Thanks in advance!

bassjones

They're fun as a specialty bike. I don't know that I'd want one full time though. They're a blast in the snow! Note: I don't own one, but I've used a friend's for a couple of rides.

scrming

After a long absence I decided to return to cycling last Fall with the idea I would ride through the winter, so I bought a Farley 6, which has no suspension. The bike is an absolute BLAST! I was never a MTB fan... but for the first ride on the Farley I took it to a local MTB trail... OMG! I was giggling like a little school girl blasting through the trails! I was hooked! I did ride it in the winter as well. It has been a great bike! And actually because I found MTB'ing so enjoyable I actually ended up buy a traditional MTB as well...

indyfabz

Heh. The first one I ever saw was a Surly Moonlander. A LBS I frequent had one. I pretty much have zero use for one but I wanted it anyway. Fortunately, I was able to just say "No."

Haff

now that you have the traditional mtn bike, do you ride the fat tire bike in the summer at all?

chasm54

That's an interesting question. I've discussed this with owner of a Pugsley who said he'd pretty much given up riding his mtb. The Pugsley, he felt was more versatile (sand and snow), the fat tyres at about 10 psi negated the need for suspension, and he just thought it was much more fun. I'm a confirmed roadie, don't even own a mtb, but I confess to having a serious lust for a fat tyre bike.

fietsbob

NH winter they will be useful in the Snow.. LBS just mailed up a pair of studded fat bike tires

to a Friend the USCG transferred to Kodiak AK.

Black wallnut 

Last spring I tested one right after testing a full suspension mtb. Between the two I'd pick the fat bike. I'm a roadie that pretends to race CX in the fall. The fat tire was just plain fun!

PhotoJoe 

I'm in this camp. I won't spend the money, but I'd love to have one.

Haff

I was looking at the suspension models... but maybe with those tires the suspension isnt needed?

Hypno Toad

I have a Surly Pugsley (26x3.8) and a Marin Nail Trail (26x1.9), my Marin has been in the basement for the last month, but the Pugsley is getting out for single track riding and some trail riding. In Minneapolis (home of the mass produced fatbike), you will see a fatbike every day, year round. I totally get it, they are just silly fun to ride! For summer riding, the fatbike is more work and slower than a standard MTTB, but not as bad as you'd think.

For winter riding, the fatbike is great on snow; however, on ice, you still need studded tires (or just front). 45NRTH (same parent company as Surly - QBP) sells Dillinger studded tires in a number of options: 4" for most fatbikes and 5" for the Moonlander; plus you can get 120tpi studded, 27tpi studded, and 120tpi stud-less. With the stud-less, you can buy studs and mount a custom stud pattern.

My beast in it's natural environment:



If I had to get rid of a bike it would be the Marin since the Surly does everything the Marin can do, plus more.

Hypno Toad

IMO suspension is totally marketing hype for fatbikes. At 10 psi, these tires will suck up so much terrain - my wife has NO experience mountain biking, and with 4 inch tires, she points her Pugsley at crazy terrain without concern. I hit rock gardens without worrying about the line, the tires will take care of it. Also, I love to share the story about hitting a section of 100-year old cobbles with my Pugsley, destroyed the Strava segment that is mostly ridden by roadies. You would have to ride some extreme conditions to need the suspension.

footnote: I have never ridden the suspended fatbikes. And I removed the suspended fork from my standard MTB (converting it to a 69er).

scrming

Well, turns out I've been mostly riding the roads this summer and not doing much off road riding... that being said, I have taken the Farley out a couple of times... and on vacation I wished i had taken the Farley instead of my MTB bike due to the very lose sand in the area we were vacationing! Oh well, live and learn! That being said, if i had to give one up... i would give up the MTB and keep the Farley..

jsigone

If I lived in snow, I'd get one of these
Fat CAAD 1 - FAT CAAD - FAT BIKE - MOUNTAIN - BIKES - 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S00fa8p5HSQ

Yendor72

[MENTION=381190]Hypno Toad[/MENTION] those Dillinger studded tires are $240!!!!! I may have to stick to my stationary bike this winter. Although we may rent a pair to get out on the lake a bit, just to try it out.

Hypno Toad

I haven't gone there yet, however, I won't go with the $240 version - that's the 120 tpi (folding) version. If you go with the 27 tpi version the price drops to $175 not cheap, but much better than the 120 tpi. And for most riding, the studs on the front wheel only gets you what you need (braking and steering).

Careful renting a fatbike, that's how we got started, rented a pair of Origin8 Crawlers in Hawaii. After 4 hours of beach riding, my wife wanted a fatbike, we got home and 6 weeks later we had a pair of Pugs.

since197three

This is basically the same story I was going to post! I have a Farley 6 and LOVE it. Had it out yesterday on the trails for the first time in a while and forgot how much I enjoyed riding it! I also ride it along the surf as I'm only a mile from the beach. A fatty on a fatty is always a good time!!

RubeRad

Whoa! What is up with those twisted tubes?

Fatbikes do look like a lot of fun, if I were to buy one I'd get something in the middle of BD's 'rigid' selection.

I am actually preparing to replace my hardtail right now, I would seriously consider a fatbike, except I wouldn't be able to park it in my rack! I guess I could remove one rail to make a double-wide slot...

sstorkel

I can lift my road bike with one finger.

I can lift my full-suspension mountain bike with one hand.

I can lift a Surly Ice Cream Truck with two hands... and a spotter While these bikes look like fun, you have to keep in mind that they can also be very heavy. The Surly Ice Cream Truck weighs around 35lbs. That's 18lbs heavier than my road bike and 9-10lbs heavier than my mountain bike. Unless I was riding regularly on sand or snow, I'm not sure I'd want to be pushing that much extra weight around.

RubeRad

And yet I read tons of people saying that they climb so well. Is that maybe because they're used to losing their upwards momentum on every rock, and now they just roll right over?

sstorkel

I only know a couple of people with fat bikes and I don't think that any of them would suggest they climb well. On non-technical terrain, climbing is doable if not necessarily enjoyable given the added weight of the bike. On technical MTB trails... I just never see fat bikes. Even my friends who own fat bikes revert to their standard full-suspension mountain bikes if they know the climbing is going to be long or gnarly.

RubeRad

Any thoughts on 29er vs 26" fatbikes? I was perusing BD and was surprised to see a 29er "fat"bike -- although only coming stock with 3" tires, which doesn't seem to qualify as truly "fat". It says the frame will allow 4", but it doesn't look like the rims could handle that; does "HJC DA38" mean it's only a 38mm rim (compared to a (same price) real fatbike with 4" tires and 80mm rims?)

It seems to me that with the extra height from the fat tire volume, going 29 is perhaps irrelevant (although maybe not for some of the extra tall clydes around here -- I'm only 6')

StephenH

Lynnsky makes some road bikes with twisted titanium tubing. Supposedly, it's stiffer, stronger, yada yada, but I'm of the opinion that it's basically marketing hype.
You might gain some strength from cold-working, but that doesn't generally affect stiffness.
You might gain some stability against buckling in a tube by making it polygonal, but that wouldn't require it to be twisted.
In either case, it would let you make the tube thinner for equal strength, which would reduce stiffness.

Tubernator

I think the 29er with 3 inch tires is what they are now calling a "29+" a hybrid of 29er and fat(ter) tires. Trek has the Stache model now in 29+. I am giving these a serious look, early reports are that they are most of the fun of a fat bike, but really capable on single track, etc. We don't get enough snow in TN to really justify the fat bike, but I am very much looking at this type of model.

RubeRad

Oh yeah, that page does say 29+ (and so do the tires). Also I just noticed that it says it will fit 26x4"... which I guess is the beauty of disc brakes, wheel diameter doesn't matter.