CanadianBiker32

Is it possible to turn a regular Mt bike into a Fat bike
or at least change front to FAT BIKE style

Bigger fork etc?

But i imagine then bike be riding in an angle

thoughts on how to make this possible?

cyccommute 

Considering the fork only, it probably wouldn't make much difference to the geometry if the mountain bike were designed for a 100mm fork or greater. A tire with a 4" cross section is about equal to the 100mm travel of the fork. You'd still have the rear tire to contend with, however. The rear isn't going to get the float benefit of the wider tire.

Myosmith

IMHO, not worth it. There are some serious geometry and chainline issues to contend with even if you went as far as to modify the rear triangle. If you just swap forks, without fat tires front and back you'll just end up with an odd-ball frankenbike with no real benefit. I'd just squeeze on the fattest tires your frame will accommodate and ride it that way until you can get a real fat bike. As their popularity grows,there are going to be more used fatbikes and framesets available as well as an increase in the number of manufacturers and variety of price points on new fat bikes.

modernjess

+1 this is the proper advice.

scoatw

I went the poor man's route and bought a used Surly 1x1 and put 2.5 inch tires on it. I could put 3 inch tires on it but they come to close to the stays. But 2.5's do a good enough job in the deep stuff. From what I hear 4 inch tires won't get you thru much deeper.

rebel1916

Not even a little bit

pyze-guy

You could try a snowcat rim, or similar stlye fat rim, you could go upto about a 3.5 mtb tire at a super low psi. Fatbike website has some info. Would be pricey though.

rebel1916

And where is that gonna fit on a "regular" mt bike?

ThermionicScott 

What's that doohickey under your chainstay? Some kind of chain tensioner?

Leebo

I fit 3" tires on my 1x1 with the rigid fork and 35 mm rims. The rear wheel is about 1/2 way back in the dropouts.

pyze-guy

Snowcats rims were build to take standard mtb tires on a "regular" bike and run as low as 5 psi. Super wide profile and grip. So a 2.0-2.5 tire would easily fit. Some bikes might accomadate a larger tire, hence upto.

rebel1916

Not too many "regular" MTBs gonna fit a 3.5. But OK.

linus

Try 29er mtb with a fatbike fork. It will work nicely.

scoatw

you are correct sir!

It's a MRP chain guide and tensioner that cost way too much than its worth. But it does the job.

TuckamoreDew

You can see a picture of the fat front conversion in this picture of Gecho's in the winter bike pics thread.

I was reading an article on the history of fatbikes over at Adventure Cycling and was toying with the idea of trying making a set the old DIY fatbike double rims shown, just for fun, and because it'd be cheap. Not sure what frame I could make them work with, though.

TuckamoreDew

This is what I'm waiting for.

cyccommute 

You might get enough width for a 3" tire if you used a 26" wheel on the rear. Otherwise, the 29er has the same issue as a 26" wheel bike would have with a 3" tire.

linus

I'm talking about 29er mtb rear and fatbike tire front.

cyccommute 

I know that. And you'd still have the same issue of fitting a 3" tire into the frame...if you could find a fat bike tire in a 622mm size. You wouldn't gain anything by goint to a 29er but you might if you fitted it with a 26" tire into the 29er frame.

linus

Epic fail.

I'm talking about regular mtb 29er rear(2.0 or 2.4), the second option by OP. OMG.

cyccommute 

Your fail is far more epic. I know exactly what you are talking about. The point of a fat bike is to have wide tires that float over the snow. How does a 2.0" or 2.5" 29er tire differ from any other mountain bike tire? Does it have special powers because it's, like, bigger?

Speaking of epic failures, where is this "second option" by CanadianBiker? His one (and only) post in this thread doesn't mention "29er". You are the only person to suggest that a 29er will magically make a mountain bike into a fat bike.

gecho

29er in the rear and a fat tire up front should work quite well. Depending on rim / tire both wheels would end up being fairly close in size. My 4.8" tire on a 100mm rim is maybe an inch taller than my 700x35 Marathon winter. A fat front tire adds a lot of stability for winter riding. In soft conditions the back tire will sink and slide around. It probably wouldn't be much more capable than a regular mtb, but if your goal is to feel more comfortable riding in conditions you can already ride on a mtb it should work well.

It wouldn't be cheap though unless you could find some used parts. New prices are 116-130 for a Salsa / Surly fork, 250-400 for a wheel, and 90-150 for a tire. There are some non-Surly fat components that are cheaper, but I'm not familiar with them. There seems to be a lot of upgrade-itis among fat bike owners, if you check a few bike shops they might be able to connect you with something used.

Also your bike should probably have a threadless headset, I'm not sure you could find a fork that works with an old quill stem. You'll also have to get a crown race for the fork that is compatible with your current headset.

linus

uh.....No you don't.

Uh.....fatter, not bigger.




If you use 29er MTB and fit a fatbike fork, 26 x 4" front tire will be roughly the size of 29er MTB rear wheel. Magic?

linus

Thank you. I don't think cyccommute gets it tho.

linus

To OP.
This is a great example. I think it looks great as a monstercross bike.