No plans to ride on snow or sand

So is full-fat overkill?

3 inch tyres vs. 4 inch

(I’m already sold on half-fat)

Moi

This is my fourth winter of full fat (well, 4″). Very little beach riding, snow riding obviously restricted by season. However, it’s great fun on the right terrain and (as has been discussed) can be remarkably quick. As an overweight, aging, not-fit guy I found I could still catch and overtake folk on the likes of Glentress trails. It’s also very useful when the ground is soft. You can lack the traction of a skinnier tyres when the mud is the wrong consistency but it definitely floats over boggy ground better.

Half-fat is, I reckon, more useful for the majority of riders. It makes fewer compromises on chain design (and for those that suffer with a high Q factor) and strikes a middle-ground of float/traction while providing better grip on certain terrain.

I don’t think there’s one answer to everything. I think we all have to find the compromises that suit us and choose accordingly. If I only had fat or half-fat, I’d choose a fat frame and have different wheelsets (but then wide cranks don’t bother me – YMMV). If I wasn’t ever going to want/need that floatation then I reckon Plus wheels are good enough.

I have a Pugsley and a Rooster. Rooster is quicker but the Pug is a load of fun. That’s not to say that the Rooster isn’t fun of course but (unsurprisingly) it does sit right in the middle between 29er and fat bike imo. It’s not the best of both worlds.

Have you looked at fat bikes which can take plus sizes? The new Puffin for instance.

A Pug and a second set of (29+) wheels.
😉

I’ve full fat 4″ (well 5” front, 4” rear) 65mm rims

I’ve 29 plus 3” 50mm rims

I’ve 650b plus 3” 52mm rims

1st for general hooning & fun

2nd for covering a distance and speed whilst still being fun

3rd not complete yet but hoping it to be like 1 but lighter.

@Letmetalktomark let us in on what bikes you’ve got then! I’m really curious!

I’ve an ECR 3″, a Moonlander 4.7″ and a Salsa Mukluk 4″ and the Moonlander is easily my favourite. I honestly don’t find the ECR can even compare offroad, as much as I want it to!

Semi-fat FTW!

My Fat Boy (anyone want to buy it?) is 4.8 front and 4 rear. It doesn’t see any use now, fun in the right places, but just a bit too draggy

My semi-fat Stooge and Stache 5 sees all the action (3.25F, 3R)

had lots of full fat over the years, they’ve all been sold. I still have a fat front jones and a 29+ rooster.

For pretty much everything other than super soft sand or deep powder the jones is a better bike than any fat for handling and the rooster 29+ is far far quicker

Fat is fun, its just trundly fun with a big element of Look at MEEEEEEEEE

Fat should also only be ridden in the UK if you can cover it so many mud guards it looks like a medievil knight and more frame bags than an arrowhead racer for just bumbling around a trail centre (according to a lot of fat bike groups this is the LAW!!)

I’ve an OO Fatty, but not a plus.

I suspect a plus might be better, but the 4″ tyres aren’t bad. As Scotroutes said, a full-fat bike is quite capable of chasing down gnarpoon’s at the trail centers.

If/when the (oil based) economy picks up again I can see myself getting a Last FastForward.

I have both – a 29+ since 2013 and full-fat for the last year. A lot depends on the type of riding you’re looking to do – full-fat really comes into the own if you are genuinely looking to ride off-road (not prepared trails) or really soft – sand or snow. They are also really good on the sort of conditions where you’d be off an walking with anything else e.g. ridiculously steep, up or down as the extra grip gives you the confidence where the consequences on skinny tyres could be quite painful (slippy roots and rocks). My fatty weighs 26lbs (ti frame + carbon rims) unladen and it’s probably about 5-10% slower than regular MTBs, depending on conditions (top-10 in 6 hour races). As a big mile muncher it’s awesome – I’ve ridden it for 24 hours flat and handling is very stable which is good for when you simply want to bomb downhills in the dark after 20hrs! The 29+ is a great bike for bike packing/ mixed use – it rolls a lot faster on hardpack but you still get the benefit of a big footprint – but will struggle on soft sand/snow. Big 29+ wheels are a bomb on the downhills – very hard to upset it and I’m the thing that stops it from going faster – as a rigid bike I can easily outpace many full-sussers. Off to the arctic in 2 weeks – the fatbike gives me the capability to ride places you can’t go with a normal bike and for me that’s the big plus. A year of riding wheels with +1kg tyres means it’s good for leg strength too – passed a roadie the other day on a climb, big tyres @ 5psi make a bit of noise on tarmac so no sneaky passing!

If you are not planning to ride over an environment where the fat tyres have a benefit, they are overkill most of the time.

Is that a rabbit hole you’ve got on your Moonlander Motorman? I thought the offset was too much on the Moonlander to lace them properly?!! You’re giving me ideas hehe

Those are 44mm snowcat rims.
16 stone and 2 years later would suggest that they work 😉

dovebiker – man you need to learn about reading friendly paragraph breaks

I have both a 4.8″ full fat and a 29+

Both frames are custom steel and nearly identical geometry so easy to compare. I’m selling the 29+…

I just prefer the full fat which means the 29+ isn’t getting used. I found it just felt like a good 29er with big tyres really. Not surprising as a 2.4 Racing ralph is only 8mm narrower than a DW 3.0.
The full fat is much faster where it counts, in the lumpy fun stuff pointing down, and more fun to ride generally.

I also much prefer it for bikepacking in the wilds. It’s much more competent for slower speed loaded riding.

^ agreed with all that

I didn’t keep my 29+ for long, quickly going to B+

I had the CS adjusters too so could tuck the rear wheel in

hOW IS b+ DIFFERENT TO 29+?

iTs SmalLeR

B+ / 29+ combo here.
It’s about perfect.
29+ at the front for crashing through/over stuff, b+ at the back to make it accelerate a bit quicker.
Love it.

The laughter never stops

Got a full fat Charge and a 29+ Genesis Longitude (and a couple of skinny type bikes)
Since I got the Longitude I’ve barely touched the full fat, it’s heavier it doesn’t handle as well and it’s not much more comfortable. In really soft terrain (bog/powder snow) the full fat makes sense, but for general hooning or milage I find the 29+ is much more suitable and fun IMO.

@Bedmaker, finally someone agrees with me! I honestly find my full fat much better and more fun to ride overall. Custom steel frame soundsd awesome, have you got a picture? Would love to see! This thread really needs more pictures…

Well since you asked!

The 29+

And the Fat Boab immediately after recieving a new fork, front wheel and tyre.

Still very much in testing mode myself but am loving the fat (4.8) front and 29+ rear. New fat carbon rims arrive next week so I’ll be going full fat front and rear.

Like @bedmaker it’s a custom frame which is full fat compatible. My plan is to run it full fat through the winter and then 29+ in the summer dryer (!) months or when I’m going long distance. At this point however…I’m liking the fat so much the 29+ wheel set might never get dirty.

I ran a Stooge Mk2 and loved the way it handled. My custom frame is a good bit taller at the font, slacker on the head with a very short rear end (422mm-438mm).

In terms of speed…according to strava it’s not a super fast bike…with frame bags, guards and other bits and bobs it nearly 38lbs but it just goes up & over everything and the grip…oh the grip is just ridiculous!

I’m keen to try it on a longer stint…4+ hours. @bedmaker seems to think his is less tiring as the effort used to create forward momentum on rough ground is significantly less than with a ‘normal’ bike….yet to try that theory out…

You asked for a photo…OK if you insist!

[url=https://flic.kr/p/CSKx9d]IMG_4685[/url] by Rosscopeco, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/DMWyjG]IMG_4778[/url] by Rosscopeco, on Flickr

I have a Dune and a Stache. Bought the stache after loving the ride of the Dune. They are very different things to my mind. The Stache replaced a non chubby one of the same type. It feels different – better – in terms of comfort, grip and ability to roll over stuff without beating you up. It should be slower to climb but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

But you can still draw a line to a 29er hardtail. The experience is different but not so different like the Fat bike is to anything. Every time I ride it, I need to recalibrate my head a bit. It’s a whole load of fun but I’m not sure why. Probably as it makes me feel 11 years old.

The chubby is definitely more practical. I’ve ridden it on 60km days in the slop and come back no more knackered than on other bikes. The fat bike outings are more carefully selected. Both make me want to ride in the winter and I really don’t mind having the Aeris sat in the shed not getting ruined by the mud.

I wanted a 27.5+ chubby but the 29+ came up at a great price. I can’t see me swapping the wheels and forks now tho.

There’s a bit of nonsense here that tries to explain the differences: http://pickled-hedgehog.com/?p=3630

Chubby
[url=https://flic.kr/p/Cd7HsG]First ride of the Chubby![/url] by Alex Leigh, on Flickr

Full Fat
[url=https://flic.kr/p/C4AoUr]FoDing Muddy[/url] by Alex Leigh, on Flickr

I’ve just gone back to fat 4″ after a year loving 29+. Really feel the 4″ tyre is spot on as an all round format but getting here has been a long and expensive story.

Had been riding the biggest 29er rims and tyres for a few years and decided to try a cheap 4″ fat bike for fun. Little did I know that getting back on the 29er the tyres now felt like a road bike. I wasn’t ready to let the rollover feel of the big hoops go though so 29+ was looked into and I bloody loved it. Three bikes in 2015, two hardtails and a full suss with dirt wizards on 50mm rims crammed in, all 29+.

Then this Christmas the same thing happened again, thought I’d try a 5″ tyre for a crack and was blown away. Getting back on the 29+ it just felt too skinny. So after attempting to use a 5″ tyre fatbike as my day to day bike, swapping and changing all types of tyres I soon realised that 4″ was actually bang on for me.

So I’ve ended up with a Bucksaw and I don’t really even think of it as a fat bike any more. Looking down at those 3.8 nates on 65mm rims it just feels like a bike should feel and not at all strange. If the whim takes me I could chuck some B+ on there to see, but the width and the fairly poor height puts me right off.

Maybe Bfat x 4 would be worth a look in the future. There is a new 4.5 one just coming out, it never ends!

9:zero:7
About 4yrs old now..

Love it.

Surly Krampus.
Bought last year.
Love this one too…

Nothing like the pictures of the real fatties but I built a Bronson with Roval 30mm internal width carbon rims, very pleased how the tyre spreads out and the added grip.
I’ve been told the rims will take fat tyres should I build a frame that will take them so that’s on the cards.

Own a couple of Pugsleys (one new one real old) which both can take a pair of 29+ offset KramPug wheels,
Also own a Krampus and ECR (29+ on 73mm BB and 135mm rear 100mm front hubs, and recently sold a 5″ tyre Surly Moonlander, done alot of riding on all three wheel sizes.

5″ is a bit of a mission specific set up-be that bog hopping the Cheviots type going, or loose rock climbs of the Lakes, or real soft sand along the coast…

The 4″ Fatbike tyre size can do everything, a bit of a a drag on firm terrain, but good grip and the tyre size that you can leave at one pressure all day long (8 psi for myself) whatever the conditions…

3″ 29+ can with a bit of lowering cover some soft conditions that a regular 2.25-2.5″ 29er bike would dig in and give your legs a workout. But fly`s on regular trails and your legs are less drained at the end of the day…..

With a coming Redundancy in the next week or so i am selling up some of the fleet, and will be only keeping the Pugsleys along with the offset 29+ wheels as it gives me the option of a Fatbike that also takes 29+ wheels which are more fun on easy regular trails, while fat wheels for offbeat trails like the Peat soft Cheviots and beach, it gives two bikes in one 🙂

🙁 Bad news about the job CK

Good news will be 18 years Redundancy Motorman- that i will probably have to get through the Goverment now… 👿

motorman…. as in offshore drilling?

Were just finishing some work overs & then cold stacked.
Job’s knackered so early retirement in the pipeline for me.

I have both on my long term Ice Cream Truck test bike and most of the time, I ride it full fat. It is slower and heavier but the traction more than makes up for it. When you get used to the heft and accept it, you can really begin to exploit what it can offer.

29+ is ace for bikepacking and long days out in the saddle if you want to cover bigger distances. However, if you embrace full fat, you become very used to the benefits! 😀

A bike that takes both makes sense to me as the perfect compromise.