hi all,
I’m looking for a second bike i am currently riding a cotic soul, Was thinking about somthing like a yt capra but im now thinking about going for a fatbike after riding 50km in the lakes on a surlt ice cream truck. What would you buy?, i can afford to spend about £2300

I recently rode a fat bike. Do not understand the hype, might make sense if you rode on snow or sand but otherwise they are crap. Slow, heavy novelty items that will end up sitting in your shed not getting used. All I kept thinking was that the trails would have been much more fun on a normal bike.

Novelty garbage in my opinion!

fat bike it you want to be an attention whore and bore the sh1t out of people about riding a fat bike. full sus if you actually enjoy riding a bike.

fat bikers are the cross fit of the cycling world

If you already have a HT, it’s not massively more capable than that. Different, fun, but still a HT or even fully rigid.

I would go for a full sus.

And a fat bike! 🙂

what bsn said – it’s a rigid hardtail, it rides a bit different and the grip is incredible in all weathers but it’s not *that* different. They are fun though 🙂

thanks for the replies, the icecream truck in the lakes was very nice to ride, and made me do things i wouldnt do on my normal bike, however i have never ridden a full susser properly so i can really compare the two. somthing like the capra might be interesting as i could use it for more downhill type stuff as well.

I rode a Specialized fattie recently – they’re HUGE fun – light and not that painful to pedal (the lowest spec Fattie – Alu frame, carbon forks, decent tyres and wheels, low spec everywhere else – which is where you want the money spent, really) – rode it on steep wet rooty trails, grip up and down was ridiculous, and did everything you want, drops and gaps included, albeit in a slightly insane and bouncy fashion.

Yes, they’re a novelty, but they’re far more usable than you might think.

fat bikers are the cross fit of the cycling world

Harsh on crossfitters…

fat bike it you want to be an attention whore and bore the sh1t out of people about riding a fat bike. full sus if you actually enjoy riding a bike.

I’d stop talking about the thing* if people stopped asking the same dumb questions and making the same jokes. Seriously, I can’t make it round Swinely without at least one person on each section passing judgement on it (including a minority unsolicited criticism).

Last night I had “rather you than me on that, they’re horrible and draggy aren’t they” as I overtook him.

fat bikers are the cross fit of the cycling world

More fun, get’s you fitter and less boring than the convention of doing squats three times a week and 20 min on a treadmill?

*that’s a lie, I’m sociable and happy to chat to people on the trails or lend them it for a demo, even if that does mean I seem to end up doing more climbs than descents on it!

I sold my FS and bought a Fatty, since buying it I’ve ridden nothing else, commuting or for fun. My main criticism though is it’s still rigid, and the grip is insane. This means you will end up hitting braking bumps at warp speed (then braking afterwards if necessary). I’ve ridden rigid bikes for the last 5 years and the Fatty has actually injured my thumbs such is the force through the bars when you hit braking bumps!). Bluto’s are on the shopping list after the house move is done.

I’d get one with a Bluto. Canyon do a carbon one for £1900/£2300 depending on spec (SLX and alloy bits or XT and carbon bits).

It won’t be as fast as a FS bike, there will be sections of trail on which you hate it (particularly that horrible sandy aggregate they make Cannock and Swinley trails from that breaks up to make a pretty lumpy surface), but equally they’re ace/bonkers in others, and you just sit up and enjoy the view when the going’s slow (and get fit quickly in order to keep up!). Just like an FS bike really, plenty of undulating trails and climbs where a 150mm bike just makes things dull/slow.

Having a FS, Fat Bike and a hard tail amongst other bikes I will always go for the fat bike over the others, on saying that it’ll depend on where you live/ride. I take my FS out on DH type days or the Alps but general riding it has to be the fat bike every time. The worst bit about the fat bike is all the stupid questions and people seem to think you only ride it for attention. Load of crap, they’re just so much fun to ride if you’re fit enough to ride it properly.

I guess you got to ask yourself what type of riding do you want to do and go test ride different FS to make a comparison.

Get a fat bike when you are bored of the full suss

Where do you see your next couple of years biking taking you? Riding some enduros, a bit of strava bashing, an uplift day, heading for some big hills/abroad? Get the Capra. Or a bit of bikepacking, heading up the hills for adventure, more of a pootling nature, get the ICT. I have both and get different things from each, the fat bike lets me take in the countryside and have a bit of fun too, the susser lets me charge down hills with abandon and is fairly grim inducing.

Of course the other answer is too buy both and sell the HT.

(the lowest spec Fattie – Alu frame, carbon forks, decent tyres and wheels, low spec everywhere else – which is where you want the money spent, really)

+0.9 (points deducted for the rigid forks), whilst I don’t doubt that lighter and better kit is faster, I think if you go into fatbikes with that mindset you’ll only end up dissapointed. My fatty is (I think, subject to the usual accusations of owning magic scales) a smidgen under 30lb with carbon forks and bars, foam grips, 1×10, tubeless, it’d probably be <29lb if I drilled the rims too.

With a Bluto, or a dropper post, keeping the weight comparable to most ‘trail’ bikes is going to get expensive very quickly.

Fun for about 15 mins, then it became what it is, a slow, pedally, heavy, rigid HT. grip was about the same as my tubeless set up on normal tyres. was stupidly slow on gravel and loose surfaces. undamped bounce on tyres was amusing for a bit then became a bit annoying.

I’m glad I tried one, I wouldn’t ride one again.

You are welcome to purchase my full sus from me, it’s sat in my garage unused as my go to bike is either my singlespeed or my fatbike. Rode it at the peak district last weekend, it’s great fun, more than capable of riding anything on. In fact I ride more technical sections on the fat than i would have tried on the bouncer. Get the tyre pressures right for where you are riding and they are no where near as horrific as people say. Tyre choice also makes a difference, the ground controls my fatboy came with are spot on.

My views http://a-pic-a-ride.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/fat-bike-v-full-suspension.html?m=1

Buy a FS fatbike?.

thisisnotaspoon – Member

+0.9 (points deducted for the rigid forks), whilst I don’t doubt that lighter and better kit is faster, I think if you go into fatbikes with that mindset you’ll only end up dissapointed.

Meant it less from a weight point of view, and more from a “spend it on the important bits instead of hanging an XT dérailleur off it” one. The decent wheels meant that that you could still accelerate and ride, wasn’t sluggish at all. Obviously a Bluto would be great, but for an entry level bike, it was done well.

Nobeerinthefridge speaks the truth. I briefly tried a Salsa Bucksaw a few days ago……very nice indeed.

Try a selection of bikes, think what kind of riding you do or would like to do the most then choose on that basis. My fat bike is pretty light (lighter than my full Susser) and is my go to bike and has been for a long time. Sure it’s not the fastest bike I own but for me, it’s the journey and the fun that matter. I have to say that the attention whore comment baffles me. They’re just bikes! This peculiar need to pigeonhole other riders into categories and make sweeping generalisations about them is a curious one. I guess the Internet is perfect for that! 😀

Don’t worry about what others think. Just but the bike that makes you smile whether it be full sus or fat.

@sanny

But the pigeon-holing is true of other sports as well. Climbing: trad; sport; bouldering. Running: road; cross-country; fell; trail.

You’ll find just as many “Oh I’d never do X, it’s horrible” types in those sports as on here.

Alternatively you can just go climbing, running or riding and not worry about what people think.

Alternatively you can just go climbing, running or riding and not worry about what people think.

Not on a fatbike you can’t.

Same as riding a rigid 29er SS a few years ago before the world and it’s dog went 29er. It just seems to invite comments from people about how slow/unsuitable it is, as you overtake them.

Depends where you are going to be riding really. I would have thought if you are going to be spending more time in the Lakes you’d buy a FS. As you already have a Soul it would seem a FS would offer you more than a Fatbike.

If the OP had a Solaris then I’d have said get a FS and at some point get some 650b+ wheels for the HT but I’m not sure that the Soul can take a + tyre.

On another thread recently there was a link to a Venn diagram of riding types and bikes. It looks like the HT & fat bike are too similar in usage to get the best out of both.

Fat bikes are shit you get twice as muddy!
[url=https://flic.kr/p/smcmQY]_DSC1498_1700x1130[/url] by Richard Munro, on Flickr
And forget taking them anywhere hilly!
[url=https://flic.kr/p/sr6yYv]Untitled[/url] by Richard Munro, on Flickr

Oh and I live in the Lakes 🙂

^^^^It also took you 3 days to finish the Dyfi on one

Fat bike – check
beard – check
shirt – not check 🙁

postierich – Member
Fat bikes are shit you get twice as muddy!

Did you fall in a river?

Mid range full sus trail bike = BMW 530d: Very very capable, enjoyable, brilliantly engineered, fast, fun to drive, practical and just about ideal.

Fatbike = Unimog: different, novelty, look at me, great in certain situations, not so great in others

Personally I’d get one as my 7th or 8th bike, but not as my second. Around here it’s sandstone so there are loads of steep rocky trails that consist of loose broken fist-sized rocks and no dirt. This makes them tricky to ride on a normal bike but I bet a fattie would cruise up them. I think I’d like a FS fattie though.

was stupidly slow on gravel and loose surfaces.

You were doing something wrong then. There’s honestly no bike faster and less draggy on loose gravelly surfaces than a fatbike with tyres at low pressure.

Found one! I want this one!

Salsa Bucksaw. I bet it’s unstoppable on descents! And not in the bad way.

Ok in blue also 🙂
Haterz of anything are missing out on fun 😉

[video]
https://vimeo.com/124709303%5B/video%5D