beermonst3r44 – Member
…I like the look of them but hate the ride and steering etc …
Ride and steering are not immutable. Tyres and rims make a huge difference in how a fatbike feels. Some brand of tyres make a good fatbike steer like a pig. Generally the Surly tyres are ok. And then there’s tyre pressures…
Excessively wide rims can also make a fatbike self steer, but are worth their weight in snow or bog.
If you are riding on hardened trails there’s not a lot of point in having a fatbike other than it is more comfortable, but if you like to venture off piste or ride through baby head rocks, they are pretty hard to beat.
Currently fashionable slack headangles aren’t doing the newer design fatbikes any favours IMO. My opinion is that the steeper head angles on the likes of the earlier fatbikes (eg Pugs) make for a bike better at picking its way over slow going. If you want a fast bike downhill you can do it on a fatbike with a fork, but I’ll bet you’d do it even better on more DH bike. 🙂
If you are considering a fatbike, don’t test it around the dealer’s car park, find some bog or lumpy stuff to pick your way over. Oh, and check the tyre pressures are low enough – around 7-8 psi as a guide for 4″, even less for fatter.