Surly Big Fat Dummy

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It looks almost normal from this angle, until you see the huge tyres…
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If fat bikes aren’t for the shy, then the Surly Big Fat Dummy isn’t for the shy extrovert. There are few bikes we’ve seen with this much ‘Look at me!’ going on with them. But under the ridiculous looking initial impression, is a bike that Surly reckons will make for a fun but practical bike.

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How about now? Long enough? There are about three chains’ worth of chain in there!

Fat tyres and a super long wheelbase and lots of room for cargo (or a surfboard or even a passenger). Stockist Charlie the Bikemonger has already ordered ‘a few’ of the £2800 complete bikes, due late March.

They say “Big Fat Dummy accepts either 10mm or 12mm axles in the rear with a spacing of 190/197mm. That big ‘ol spacing equates to one thing: tire clearance for days. Big Fat Dummy maxes out at a massive 26 x 5.25” tyre.* While that large of a tyre provides the most traction and stability a bike can possibly offer, it’s also a lot of rubber to push and might not be for everybody. Luckily, Big Fat Dummy is also a blast to ride with 3in tyres too. It uses the same 100mm suspension-corrected fork as the Wednesday, meaning if you want to add a little squishy squishy to your ride, you can throw a Bluto on and let ‘er rip.”

So if you fancy a machine that’s equally at home getting the shopping from town as it is carrying your surfboard or guitar case or camera gear over the sand dunes by the coast, or snow fields of Sweden, then give it a look. You’ll probably be the only kid on your street with one…

More info over on the Surly website. 

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That’s a lot of shopping potential
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This angle gives you just a bit of an idea of the scale. And is that a wheelie bar?
Chipps Chippendale

Singletrackworld's Editor At Large

With 22 years as Editor of Singletrack World Magazine, Chipps is the longest-running mountain bike magazine editor in the world. He started in the bike trade in 1990 and became a full time mountain bike journalist at the start of 1994. Over the last 30 years as a bike writer and photographer, he has seen mountain bike culture flourish, strengthen and diversify and bike technology go from rigid steel frames to fully suspended carbon fibre (and sometimes back to rigid steel as well.)

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Comments (7)

    Ace!
    Fit a stokemonky for even more win!

    I have zero need for one, but 100% want for one..

    Was eyeing up the Surly Ice Cream Truck, need this for the wife to haul all the camping kit….(yeah, I’d be the one pedaling this)

    What Teetosugars said x10!

    mmm somewhere for the urn to sit as I cycle, maybe a dynamo powered heater, no must stop …. 😉 I don’t need one but ….

    I often joked with the surly boys about this bike. Not many people need one… but if you have one you will find things to do. It will be the golden ticket for crossover adventures:

    There is amazing ultra remote fishing to be had in Iceland.
    West cost of France is full of surf spots with no one out, backed by empty forests full of free camping.
    Want to haul your climbing gear out to the middle of nowhere?

    I’ve ordered two of these. One for me, and one for the first idiot to agree to my next excellent adventure.

    I think it’s totally cool . . . however; having owned a long wheelbase cargo bike they are almost impossible to wheelie or bunnyhop. Curbs are challenging, let alone trail obstacles.

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