Hello all,

First ride on a Fat Bike today – Singular Puffin – many years late to the party but wanted to give it a go. I like a niche, so I combined four into one bike – Steel, Single Speed, Fat and Rigid.

26 odd miles around Surrey – Walton Heath, some woods, Polesden, Ranmore, Denbies, up Box Hill bridleway (ouch), and back over Ranmore.

Imoressions:

– Loves flinty, rocky galleys – just point and ride really.
– Comfortable.
– Good grip on the climbs – seems to stick to anything.
– Surprisingly poor front grip from the Surly Nate on the front on slimy mud – just washes out. I’m probably not leaning it enough. Got used to it in the end but I thought it might have been better.
– More manoeuvrable than I thought – I put a short stem on and it didn’t really seem slow to turn.
– Could happily sit at 14/15mph on flat road – passed a couple of old roadie types, but they looked tired! Sounds like a car is behind you all the time.
– Feels indestructible.
– Saw a lot more of the scenery due to lower speed, and felt the need to explore more.

Good fun though, and felt like riding a space hopper at times, which is strangely satisfying. I wished I had gears going up Box, but it was okay as single speed. Perhaps as a bimbler it might be better with gears. Maybe a lower SS gear would do it as legs felt tired by the end of 4 hours.

Cheers.

Saw a lot more of the scenery due to lower speed, and felt the need to explore more

I’ve found this to be one of the best bits of fat biking, I’d say that the big tyres let you get away with a lot more and you don’t quite need to pay as much attention to the trail. Looks great with the orange rims btw.

IMO a fat bike is perfect for ‘bimbling’ around on.

And they climb brilliantly – if you have the legs it’ll get you to the top

Nates sliding out and feeling “like a spacehopper” suggests you might need a wee bit less tyre pressure.

Scotroutes: yes, I did think that might be a solution. Was running 10 at the back, which is a knard 120tpi. It did slip, but felt fine – I don’t mind the back sliding a bit.

The front, Nate 27tpi, was at 9psi, with a tube. Still felt quite hard. Should I come down a couple of psi front and back? I had heard that a yes should grip like spikes so it was a bit of a let down.

I go for 7 in the front and 8 in the back round the Surrey Hills on my puffin. That’s my 72kgs on 65mm(?) Marge Lites and 4″ Jumbo Jims. Went up to 8.5 and 9.5 for the Lakes (rocks, speed, tiredness, plus bivi kit on the bike).

About same weight as you at 72kg, but on 80mm robsson rims. 3.8 rear, 4.0 front. Will try those pressures, thanks. Bet it’s slower on the road!

I found the 27tpi Nate to be a horrid thing. Then again I like Larrys. Use a Floater up front though. I’ve also found that fat tyres are prone to an aquaplaning (mudplaning?) no matter what pressure if you are going fast enough and hit mud.

I run tubed Nates and went with the guide of 1psi for every 10kg of rider weight then fine tuned from there. That worked for me.

Also agree about a fat bike being a great way for chilled out bimbling.

Yep, seems good for taking it easy. Single speed not always chilled though, but 90% of the time it’s relaxing. I’d like to do longer distances, and lack of gearing does limit my range.

7psi F / 8psi R on my SS Puffin.
And I’m a fair bit heavier than yow.
Ditto the indistructable feel,
It’s a lot more useable than I was expecting.
My FS has come out for a bimble today, while my 11yr old rides the Puffin. I can’t get him off it. He loves it.
FS feels a bit…fragile in comparison. 🙂
Was expecting to sell the Puffin after a while but it’s a keeper.

11 year old on SS fat bike – excellent!

Mine wouldn’t fit on my xl. Strangely it felt a bit short at times, but I’m used to old school stretched xc bikes. Might raise the bars a bit – they are very flat and straight.

I put a 70mm x 25 deg on mine, I like a more upright position. Fit wise, it’s about perfect.
Here’s my two, eldest on the stolen Puffin.

[video]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1z9_gqscjuE[/video]

Seems to fit him well, but not sure highbrow my the best idea!

I think the xl fits me pretty good, but the top tube is quite high. I catch the important bits if I jump off. I think it could have been designed to be the same length but with a lower stand over. Still, it’s not any different to a cross bike so I’ll survive.

30×17 gearing. Might try 30×19.

Tried tyres at 7 and 8 psi. The board certainly does seem to deflect more.- more supple I guess.

I enjoy a good bimble on my fat bike, but I’m not convinced that they are always slow. In fact, it is the speed, up and down, that I find most surprising.

Going up the extra traction, low rolling resistance (on Jumbo Jims) and the stiffness of the hardtail frame all seems to add up to something that can rocket up the right sort of climb. Also if, like me, your downhill speed is more limited by your (lack of) nerve than anything else the stability and bombproof tank feel can result in you carrying a lot more speed. Sections where, in the past, I’ve minced down (and not really enjoyed) I can find myself attacking on the fatbike and of course, with a bit more speed some sections actually get easier.

There are limits of course. Mine is certainly slow on tarmac (but I tend to avoid that anyway) and when things get beyond a certain level keeping my feet on the pedals can become the limiting factor. But a fatbike with a suspension fork can make for a surprisingly capable trail bike.

Well, roverpig, funny you should say that. I think the perception I had was it felt quite slow, and apart from the tired roadies, I cheekily rode up to and passed a couple of mtbers. Seemed odd.

I’m not a huge strava bunny, but I like to see where I’ve been and how I compare to previous rides. Got 10 personal bests today – mainly the downhill, rocky bits that scare me. One bit, I laid off the brakes completley, which is a first for me down there. I think it’s “slippery serpent rolling downhill”. So, I agree, not that slow really, but obviously I’m not that fast!

Like you I was late to the party but not so hardcore so went with 10 gears and still grinning like a lunatic every ride.

Yep the scenery you get to see and the more I ride the faster it goes passed when I want to – other times a bimble to a coffee – heaven.

Enjoy the niche.

James

So, I agree, not that slow really, but obviously I’m not that fast!

That last bit strikes a (power) chord with me too (see what I did there 🙂 ). Fat bikes suit me, but I need to be careful not to fall into the trap of assuming that means they’ll suit everyone. I’m also not that fast and I think that may be the key. If you’re a rad dude (or dudette) who charges fearlessly into everything at warp speed you’re probably not going to fancy squishy tyres or a bit of undamped suspension. But if you are used to timidly mincing your way down anything technical a big ole truck can be a real eye opener.

@ RP you managed to name both your fat bikes in that reply 😆 😉

That’s bang on roverpig. Exactly how I feel about my fat bike

@ RP you managed to name both your fat bikes in that reply

Roverpig: The first person ever to acknowledge my username inspiration! Guitars have been my other interest since about when I got into mountain bikes, when I was 15 years old. 1987 seems a long time ago!

And, yeah, if I had the skills to be into full sus, hooligan antics (which I secretly want to be, but feel a bit old) then the fat might not appeal. Still, I was quite enjoying bouncing into the air off roots and rocks at every opportunity.

RoverPig: The first person ever to acknowledge my username inspiration.

To be honest, I’ve been looking for an excuse to work that in for longer than I care to admit 😳 More of an acoustic man myself, but I’m a few years older than you. Well that’s my excuse anyway !

Recently bought a smaller acoustic for convenience in the house with kids running about. Like it a lot, but harder on the fingers than an we electric.

Just thinking about climbing – there were lots of short sharp climbs I thought I wouldn’t make today, but just blasted up and made them with relative ease. Didn’t seem to be affected by the bumps.

I’m sitting here, watching a James Bond, thinking I quite liked this fast bike thing. Totally unrelated of course.

A bit if an update on the fat bike. I did a second ride today and took it to Swinley. First time I’d been there so didn’t know what to expect, and it has some really good bits, and some not so good, but overall I really enjoyed it.

I ran 7psi front and 8psi rear, and it definitely felt less bouncy, and more absorbent. In fact, it was quite amazing just how accomplished the thing was on some of the faster, flow sections. I’m not that good at berms and things, but after doing about 100 of them, I was letting it roll, weight back and it just pinged round them. I was even popping of some of the jumps and not crashing, which is the bike looking after my incompetence and being forgiving. It was a bit of a handful on the really tight stuff, but the new Stooge bars and the 50mm stem made it easy enough to manhandle into direction changes with lots of body English.

I thought I might look a bit silly with all the guys and gals on proper bikes flying past me, and the thing did get some odd looks and it does look daft really, but I’d say I could hold my own on most of the sections and keep up with the flow.

Did I wish I had suspension at any point? There were a couple of dips where I wasn’t back far enough that got the heart pumping, but I used to get that with front sus too. That’s more crap technique than anything. I do find it was most stable riding it hanging off the rear, which unweights the front tyre a bit, losing grip, but at least it is easy to handle and prevents the moments.

I also swapped the 17T rear for an 18T which made a huge difference – far less of a slog and could get up all the hills.

Not a bimble today, but bloody good fun in a completely different sort of way. Becoming more impressed every ride with this thing.

Fatbikes make great bimbling bikes…i find it so easy to ride.
Easier than my anthem or 5..bit strange over the anthem.
Maybe the geo just suits my body better.
I’ll always chose the fatty if I’m taking my 5 year old on his bike.
Did about 10 mile on local trails/bridle ways today with him..

Jumped on my Charge Cooker Max today for the first time in months, as I’ve been training on the road bike for a charity ride. Now I’m only ticking two of the niches (fat and steel) but I love this bike.

Jumped on today and the first 5 minutes were horrible; self steer, like pedalling through treacle and that extra q-factor feels like I’m straddling a horse. After that first bit though it all made sense again, tons of grip even on a sandy loose climb, turning heads and kids making comments. So, so good.

Fatties aren’t bimbly or slow if they are set up properly. I have a light XC racer, a full sus, and a fattie and yesterday on the fattie I smashed a bunch of PBs and overtook people on all sorts of bikes. If I was going for a bimble I probably would take the fattie but they are certainly capable and fast machines if you want them to be. Get the innertubes out and get your pressures right and they really fly. Be careful not to go too low on the pressures or you’ll lose confidence in corners at speed (I know it’s trendy to go low and slow…). I can’t comment on what’s right for you as you’re a fair bit lighter than I am, but you’ll feel the squirm in fast corners if you go too low and that’s a sign to increase pressure. Bounce is usually caused by poor technique rather than poor tyre setup 🙂

They do seem to cover a lot of bases – I’ve read Sanny’s tongue-in-cheek piece on a fat bike being the only bike you’ll need, and I can see it now that I’ve experiences it. Only off-road bike maybe, if you cover the middle ground.

As for bounciness, I get what you are saying @Lustyd about technique. I’ve ridden SS and, back in the day, fixed, for long periods, and I can spin pretty smoothly, but I do find the fattie more prone to it than other bikes I’ve ridden. It just takes a bit of adjustment and it’s fine.

Didn’t notice the tyres folding so 7PSI on front might be good. It wasn’t muddy so still need to see if the front washes out in the slop.

Jumped on the Brompton this morning (from one clown bike to another), and, whoah, it felt weird, spindly, unstable and the brakes were scary. Well, for about half a mile, until I got used to it again. It’s amazing how the human bean can adapt to something so different really quickly. Sort of wished I was on the fat bike though…

My fatbike’d be the only bike I need if I stopped riding half the stuff I ride 😆 But it’s still great.

The thing with rolling resistance is more complicated than people think, riding a fatbike at moderate speed isn’t that hard but the faster you go the faster the rolling resistance piles up. I think because of hysteresis- lag in the deformation of the tyre, once you start going faster than the tyre deforms you’re basically having to push it out of the way, all the time and the faster you go the harder that is. I did a race on mine that had a pretty flat, long trailcentre bit and it was just orrible keeping it up to speed.

Bounciness can definitely be a thing though, there’s some sections that really upset mine and it sometimes really catches me out because it’s usually in bits you don’t even notice on a normal bike- long compressions or lumps, washboard surfaces and that.

Didn’t notice i not rolling well. I seemed to be freewheeling quite a lot when others were pedalling. Also, I didn’t notice any washboard, cobbles or roots – they just seem to disappear. It’s just when the front wheel disappears down a hole with a step the other side it can get a bit bouncy. Still, it handled it ok and it’s usually tiredness and not concentrating and lifting the front over obstacles that catches me out.

I’m not racing though so I suspect if you’re up against XC whippets it’s a whole different thing and might become a bit of a slog. I’m happy with slower speeds, but it does drop like a stone and pick up speed very quickly when a force of 9.81m/s2 helps it on its way.

Good tyres and good setup will leave it rolling well, and probably better than a skinny bike. The trouble is most people don’t try different tyres on a fattie because they are crazy money. Having tried Kendas before my JJs I can tell you it makes a huge difference and I’m sure leads to comments like Northwind made above. The Juggernauts were like boat anchors and I couldn’t get speed up easily. Jumbo Jim is like riding a race bike and I can accelerate and keep speed easily. I can average 22mph on the flat on mine with ease which is almost as good as my road bike (but with more grins!). I won’t get rid of the road bike, it’s way better for long rides on roads.

Definitely a ‘terminal velocity’ with fatbikes as Northwind identifies, but once you get the pressure and feel dialled-in they’re only marginally slower than an MTB IME – my example is my SDW double attempt, where I co-incidentally set-out from Winchester with another rider on his carbon-everything, full-sus 29er. Each riding our own pace / routes overnight we next met at Eastbourne after 11 hours and I was only about 30 minutes behind, or 4% slower

@dovebiker, still anecdotal evidence based on YOUR bike setup. The fact that you and Northwind suffer the same issue is irrelevant, many other people don’t suffer that issue. Mine doesn’t suffer from that and I have some of the fattest tyres on the market. My times on Strava are close to the top, and many of my PBs are on the fattie (some on XC hardtail and some on full sus).

It’s not the fattie at fault, it’s either the rider or the bike/setup.

How on earth can it be a rider, bike or setup thing? 😆 How does a rider increase rolling resistance exactly?

I have JJs on it right now, it’s still obvious when you want to make it go faster than it wants to. In some ways, more obvious with the JJs than my Minions or my old Surlys, since they’re faster in the first place.

It’s not an “issue”, it’s not something that anything’s at fault for, and it’s not even a fatbike thing- it’s the sme thing that makes 120tpi tyres faster than 60tpi tyres, and tubeless faster than tubes. It’s just more apparent on fatbikes because the tyres deform so much more.

I can outroll race whippets on race whippety bikes on fast gravel descents using 4.8 or 4.0 JJs.

I’m [at least] 50lb heavier than a race whippet which might have something to do with it but my PBs show I’m faster than when I’m on a race whippety bike, so it’s not just that.

How on earth can it be a rider, bike or setup thing? How does a rider increase rolling resistance exactly?

There you go again assuming it’s rolling resistance inherent in fat bikes. I’ve said several times that on my fleet there isn’t more resistance on the fattie. I have oodles of data supporting this.
You, on the other hand, have data saying that YOUR fat bike is slower. That says bike, setup, or rider to me loud and clear. You talk about deformation – my tyres don’t deform because I have them correctly inflated to be fast and controllable on corners. You clearly have yours set up differently as you say they deform (squirm) and that they feel slower.
I’d be quite happy to help set your bike up for you if you’re near Swinley so we can get you up to speed?

what pressures do you run, lustyd? and how heavy are you?

I’m 92KG (bike is just under 14KG, plus nearly 1KG of water) and run 13psi at the moment in 4.8″ JJs. Not sure whether that’ll help you though as there are loads of other factors. I don’t tend to carry much in the way of tools etc. so those weights are pretty much the total (maybe 0.5KG clothes etc).
Run tubeless and ride mainly XC on it.

I can’t say I’ve noticed this “hysteresis effect” but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen, just that it doesn’t seem to affect how and where I ride. To be fair, I’m usually grinding uphill too slowly for that effect to matter or dragging my brakes down the other side. I have noticed that I brake less on the fatty, so maybe the tyres are providing some sort of brake at high speeds. If so, I like it and so do my brake pads 🙂

It’s a bit like the heavier wheels being slower to accelerate. It’s true, but I’m not sure I don’t prefer it. My skinny bikes can go from too slow to “oh crap, brake” in no time, whereas the fatty builds speed more slowly, which gives me time to get used to it.

As I’ve said before, I think it depends on where you are as a rider. If you are pushing the limits you might find some negatives but those features might be part of the appeal for somebody else.