I have seen quite a lot of these recently, they look awesome and a bit mental, I am tempted to buy one just because they look that good.
However I have no idea what there for, any specific trails or all trails?
Are they all fully rigid?
They must be better on sand and snow.

Please educate me on these mean looking machines!
Thanks

Absolutely nothing! Say it again.

they look awesome

😯

They ride over the same terrain as your normal bikes, it’s just a bit different.

I mainly use mine in the forest with the odd trip to the beach, rides really well in both environments.

Test ride one first though as they are not everyone’s cup of tea

Being a child again
🙂
Drawing attention to yourself
😀
Making things just little bit different.
8)
Baby head, slimy rocks everywhere you look on a rigid bike .. no sweat
😆

As far as I can tell from the videos I’ve seen of them, they’re designed for carrying overweight, middle aged men, across beaches slowly.

If you live in somewhere which regularly gets a lot of snow then yeah, they make total sense. Over here though… 😕

Don’t get me wrong, if I won the lottery, I’d probably have one (in addition to the dozens of other bikes I’d have.) However until that happens, I really couldn’t justify one myself.

they’re designed for carrying overweight, middle aged men, across beaches slowly.

that’s me for sure (tho I am only 32)

I couldn’t afford a motorbike .. bad enough getting the wife’s permission for the fatty anyway

pinetree – Member

As far as I can tell from the videos I’ve seen of them, they’re designed for carrying overweight, middle aged men, across beaches slowly.

If you live in somewhere which regularly gets a lot of snow then yeah, they make total sense. Over here though…

STWer makes up his mind about a bike without actually riding one shocker 🙄

STWer makes up his mind about a bike without actually riding one shocker

Fellow member in “deciding that said STWer hasn’t ridden one, without actually bothering to find out” shocker 😉

I have ridden one actually, if you’d like to know. However I feel that for the riding I do, and what most people do (typical mtb trail riding) there is no functional advantage to one over a conventional MTB. I certainly wouldn’t take the plunge and have a fatbike as my only bike, so there would really have to be some specific need to make me buy one (such as consistent heavy snow every winter)

I used to have a Pugsley and it was great for snow races, but a bit cack on most trails. And truly terrible in mud because the only tyres available at the time were Endomorphs (essentially, semi-slicks).

I’ve had a prototype Singular Puffin for a couple of weeks and the place it has made most sense is rocky trails in the Brecons. On rocky downhills, I absolutely shot away from my mates who are usually reasonably handy. One of them was on a Spesh full-suspension bike, the other on a Singular rigid 29er.

The tyre footprint is so big that you can attempt some lines that you would never try on a normal bike. It pretty much never gets bossed around by little pointy stuff, and you only seem to need about 1/3 of the tyre to be on something half-decent for it to grip.

I’ve also ridden it on beaches a bit, which is novel, but you can’t get away from the fact that a beach is a big wide flat area so not that much fun for its own sake.

Only you can decide if it’s worth owning one for you. If you can, test ride a few. Like all other bike arguments, there a lot more to how it rides than just tyre size – you might hate one fatty, but love another.

I don’t use mine for any type of riding in particular. I’ve lived on the coast all my life and mine will never go near the sand or sea. I don’t care what people say about prepping them for the saltwater and so on, it’s bad for bikes full stop.

I bought and ride mine for the fun factor and believe it or not they are pretty agile off road. You can push them pretty hard on the trails with next to no loss of grip. I’m quite happy to take mine anywhere I’d take the tallboy.

I’ve not ridden any other fatty’s than the On One so couldn’t comment on others but it’s a very forgiving and fun trail bike.

For fighting crime, obviously.

Now they have nates, bud and Lou tyres. Winter riding in the forest is excellent, I get through the crap easier than my mates on their weird 26inch bikes

I always think they look like they could float… That would be a point in favour!

Boggy trails in the woods up here = win

They dont dig big holes like the mud tire brigade so come spring your trails aint fecked.

What are they designed for? Fun – something that makes you smile that doesn’t need to be justified. Of course, not everybodys’ idea of fun is the same…
8)

However I have no idea what there for, any specific trails or all trails?

do you know what bicycles in general are designed for? the fatty is basically the same, or is that beyond you too?

I’m in the “they look a bit stupid” camp.

Personally, all these videos people post of their womantic wides on the beach just make me wonder if the riders do in fact wish they were 8 years old, called Alice, and the fatty was a chubby Shetland pony called Wupert.

I don’t mind the occasional niche, but these seem to be filling a niche that’s just a bit odd…..

Each to their own though.

Thank goodness we’re not all riding them only on beaches then eh?

I’ve not ridden one yet but they look like fun. I don’t think they’re really for anything in particular (tho obviously they came from snow racing) other than that really. Seems like reason enough of they are indeed fun.

Yorlin they do tried it out, no need for a packraft 😀

As Mantastic says Nates make em go anywhere,
let the haterz be haterz i say, who would wanna go aride with folk like that anyway?

I don`t fit the ideal owner then as im 42 and ride daily to work/shops/pub and ride easily over 100 miles offroad on fatbikes weekly. usually catching and waiting on MTBs on group rides and often pass road bikes on my Pugsley with its 29+ wheelset 😆

Pinewood sums up the typical STW cynical type on here who has not ridden one properly away from where a regular MTB size tyre would struggle. If you dont like tham then piss off onto another thread and troll on there and dont piss on the OTs post 😉

lee170 get in touch with someone local who has one and go for a ride on one 🙂 you will find an owner local to you on the UK Fatbike Forum

Adian,

I’ve also ridden it on beaches a bit, which is novel,
but you can’t get away from the fact that a beach is a big wide flat area so not that much fun for its own sake.

Come up to East Lothians coast if you think it is all flat and boring, How hard a work out would you like 😀

Hopefully the mainstream MTB manufacturers who are jumping on something different to cash in on along with the press will move on and leave us who enjoy them to keep on rolling.

Each to their own, but STW is classic for small minded comments when they have not really tried out something.
Put you mouth where your riding skills are, i have two spare Pugsleys, come up and try them, i live 25 minutes by train from Edinburgh to North Berwick, you will have your eyes opened by what and where these bikes can be ridden, it is not a MTB and not a replacement for an MTB, but opens a new riding area and real fun. Oh you will need to buy the ice cream after though… 🙂

for on the moon…?

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbnZNJptWEQ[/video]

Hopefully the mainstream MTB manufacturers
who are jumping on something different to cash
in on along with the press will move on and leave
us who enjoy them to keep on rolling.

Each to their own, but STW is classic for small
minded comments

That first paragraph seems rather small minded to me …. Why on earth does it matter to you if something becomes popular even if temporarily?

They seem to be designed for overly defensive people… 😉

Not sure why you ‘have’ to have ridden one to think they’re stupid or pointless or whatever. I think ballroom dancing looks rubbish, but I haven’t tried it.

Not a fatty hater btw. Sure they’re fun etc. 🙂

imagine they’re fun on snow?

which would be more of a reason to have one here. It’s at least 6 hours drive to the nearest seaside.

As someone else pointed out on a thread yonks ago, they look like Mint Sauce’s bike and that appeals to me. 😆

coastkid – Member
Adian,

I’ve also ridden it on beaches a bit, which is novel,
but you can’t get away from the fact that a beach is a big wide flat area so not that much fun for its own sake.
Come up to East Lothians coast if you think it is all flat and boring, How hard a work out would you like

Ha… I used to live in Linlithgow and got my BMX stuck in the sand at Bo’ness when I was a kid.

Can’t see how you can make beach riding into actual fun, but maybe one day…

Aidan – think of how a typical coastline has expanses of beach interspersed with rocks and boulders and you’ll see that the “challenge” isn’t on the flat bits 🙂

Because some people love being “niche” and “different”. This isn’t restricted to biking. Think of any music thread on here and you’ll see folk bang on about some distinctly average, but unknown band. Roll forward a year when said band has actually managed to make some money out of their chosen career and the same folk will be bemoaning the fact that the “sold out”. I’ve seen it in many other hobbies too (climbing is a good example).

FWIW, I can’t wait to see the hills, streets and beaches full of fat bikes. Parts will be cheaper and a LOT easier to come by 🙂

Current fatbikes are just so behind the times – I’m not getting one until they make one in 650b

3″ of undamped suspension at each end ! Sounds like fun, although I suspect the novelty might wear off after a while (for me).

lee170 – Member
…However I have no idea what there for, any specific trails or all trails?..

So you can ride the places the fashionistas can’t reach on their high tech full sus megabuck toys. 😆

Edit:
I’m not sure how useful they are in England. Going by today’s news you’re going to get more rights of way removed. However in Scotland you can ride anywhere, and a fatbike gets you to more anywhere than conventional bikes.

In reply to OP’s question..

However I have no idea what there for,

…in a word, Riding.

If you want one, you’ll buy one.

If you don’t want one, you won’t buy one.

Louis Armstrong’s answer to “what is Jazz?” is a good analogy.

I’m already realising mine is handy for nice scenic rides ALONG the coast, where otherwise it ain’t technically legal due to only being FOOTpaths and/or private gated (and sometimes guarded) estates.

Though there were lots of tempting access points I’ve never been able to connect them before

I’m not sure of the legality on riding all the foreshore .. but I guess I’ll get less people questioning me – well glaring at me in a grumpy manner at least – about that then private paved roads, and footpaths.

It might be flat, but the head wind, shingle, larger rocks and groyne hopping will still give a work out.

Not taken mine inland yet as I have 2 fractures that need to heal properly before another big knock

Apparently there is such a thing as a “Fat Bike Gathering”. I’m guessing all fat bike owners congregate to ask each other the same question…”what is my bike for?”

My theory….
Woman have fat friends to make them look more attractive
Perhaps this is the male equivalent?

IIRC, anything below the Mean High Water mark belongs to the Crown Estate. They’re pretty encouraging of cycling up here in Scotland (e.g. Glenlivet) 😆

^ that
I got a fat bike to make me look less so 😛

EDIT
scotroutesI’m sussex coast 8) I did a bit of googling esp. round me with the private estates immediately off the beach. I’ve heard rumours that some of the beaches are technically private also, though not fenced or anything. only by way of anecdotal from my mate who had a big all night bonfire and BBQ once and some security guy came down and asked them to move on .. but got ignored and nothing happened.
What I’ve read suggested you’re probably ‘free’ to move between low and high marks but there’s not a formal right of access as such unless its covered with water and you’re in a boat.
Ther reasoning behind lack of formal right of way when there isn’t water is because it’s near impossible to mark a fixed route or track because it’s changeable sand/mud/shingle

I did a bit of googling esp. round me with the private estates immediately off the beach. I’ve heard rumours that some of the beaches are technically private also, though not fenced or anything.

See http://www.naturenet.net/law/rivers.html for the law on access to the foreshore (though ignore the bit about navigation on inland waters, it’s accepted by everybody other than anglers that that’s wrong). See http://www.thecrownestate.co.uk/coastal/metal-detecting/maps/ for what the Crown owns – it’s surprising how much they don’t.

They are great for exploring, opening up new technical challenges + getting places you’d struggle on a normal MTB. Also make riding with your kids a hoot. Great for winter training, riding crazy off camber rocky techy as well as the sandy snowy stuff. I don’t really like the attention, but you learn to cope with it + if you’re riding cheek the reaction is generally amusement rather than hostility. Lots of fun, different, nowt to get too upset about.

I’m sure a bunch of people from North Berwick or Salsa will be along in a bit to remind you.