How do they compare, specifically 650b+ (which should fit in a fat bike and some 29ers)?

My guess is 650B+ might just not work on sand/snow unless with a wide rim allowing 10psi etc, but would feel a bit lighter (300gm easily lost per tyre and tube) and thus might make more sense on trails?

This is the dilemma I’m facing – go 650B+ with Stans Hugo’s or stick with proper fat.

I’m pretty much set to go with 26″65mm light bicycle rims (lighter than the 650b Hugos) and ‘full fat’ mainly because I have other bikes with narrower tyres and I’ll just end up with 3 rigid hardtails with similar sized wheels/tyres and feel obliged to sell at least one of them which would never do.

I think if I had no other hardtails I’d go down the 650B+ route – there’s likely to be a far wider choice of ‘trail’ tyres in years to come and I don’t ride sand/snow.

I’ve got a charge cooker maxi and a genesis longitude (26 full fat and 29+ respectively) The longitude is a much more useable bike day to day. Handles like a trail bike, but glides much more like a fat bike with the low pressures

I’ve just plunged probably a bit too much cash into a 26+ front. Hugo, Hope and Revs. I might need to plunge a bit more into a stock of 2.75 and 3″ tyres too!

Not that clear cut… WTB & Vee tyres weighing in at 900ish grams?

Kenda Juggernaut 26×4 120tpi only 770gms, how light can you get a 26″ rim be for the £100 a scraper costs?

…and thus might make more sense on trails…

In any debate where “fat” might be the answer, what makes sense has nothing to do with anything. The question is less “what would make sense” and more “what will be more fun”…

Just started riding my B+ hardtail…..tbh I can’t see me riding my fatty much now its got all the pros of a fatty but none of the cons (for me anyway)

I’m fortunate enough to have both 29+ and full fat 4.8″ Shands. Almost identical geo so a good comparison.

To me, there is a world of difference between the two. The 29+ is much closer in feel to a normal 29er than a fatbike. The full fat is totally different. It has much more float, more grip, faster on proper terrain and more fun (for me).
It’s annoying, after ploughing a load of cash into the 29+ it doesn’t get used much. The full fat just seems to make more sense more often.
Yes it’s heavier, but my opinion is that heavier wheels are better in many ways. Yes, they spin up slower, but that flywheel effect carries you through a lot of stuff a lesser wheel will be hung up on.

This isn’t really a sand /snow thing. My last two rides have been Torridon rockiness, being able to ride across stupidly boggy ground and sand is an added bonus.

Welcome to have a go if you’re North at all.

cheers bedmaker, that does make sense – my (heavy, incomplete) fat bike project is motivated by the ability to ride on softer and rockier trails. But 650B+ would fit in my 29er, meaning one less bike in my battleship fLOLtilla.

When 29+ came out I remember folk saying they weren’t up to sand and snow also, which concerns me.

I’m in Edinburgh, a test spin might be nice!

625g, 47mm internal 26″ trials rim

Al, as I posted on ‘tother thread Cy at Cotic sent an email round yesterday saying the Solaris would be offered with a 275+ option. Most of our bike choices are compromises so perhaps this 29 frame 275+ combination is a good one

I’ve got both, a Rocky Mountain fat bike and a Stooge running 29+ up front. The Stooge definitely rolls and flows better but the fatty floats well and is best on mud, tussocks and snow. You’re welcome to come out for a spin on both – Pentlands?

I might be trying 650b+ on the Stooge at some point, at the moment it’s a 2.2″ Saguaro but I’ll probably swap it for a Nic when it wears out.

Cheers, I might take you up on that. Thing is I own everything I need for the fat project and would have to buy rims and tyres to go 650B+, and with 70mm or so of clearance(unsure what radius to measure at) it might not even work.

Anyone else ridden both?

Have had an 4″ Fatty but now settled on my Krampus. The difference between the two is huge,and really it is a bit missleading to compare the two in terms of fattness. 3″ tyres at 12 psi feel great for traction and comfort but the bike as a whole feels just like a normal trail bike. Fatbikes 4″ and above are a totally different game.