ive seen many people on here declare all fat bikes are shit because the one that they bought that was only availible in one size from halfords/go outdoors a.n.other shite brand that had chainstays 2 weeks long and heavier than dark matter – means all fat bikes are useless/pointless – but it was cheap.

Thats one step further than me – I’ve not even gone as far as buying a cheap one before declaring they’re shit 😉

It just means Surly are going to need to invent some new weird niche fad for bearded middle aged blokes to buy into.

I’ve only ever seen 1 fatbike whilst out and about. Riding along the canal last week with pink massive tyres. I had to resist the urge to push him in.

* obviously there is irony all over this post and its not meant to offend any of you touchy fat bike lurvers.

Depends on what you call the “bubble.”

If bike price, then yes, you no longer have to pay north of £1k for a fatbike worth buying. Between them, Halfords and Go Outdoors undercut PX with worthy starter steeds, which further undermined Surly’s price point of ~£1.5k+.

It’s quite telling that PX now only seem to stock the Bluto equipped Fatty Trail.

However, the price bubble has still not burst for decent quality fatbike tyres, I’ve seen nothing close to my Easter Ebay bargain of £80 for a pair of 4.0 Jumbo Jims. I’ve yet to buy a pair of Floaters for £42, because I think then will drag badly on my tarmac commutes (and I don’t really do enough off-road to justify off-road specific rubber at the mo), while I’ve been tempted to get a pair of Mammoths for £68 a pair I’m hesitant because they apparently don’t roll as well as JJs.

Tyre price was the main reason I bought one of the last pairs of FatNotFat wheels, it opened the door to a whole range of decent tyres at prices that would hurt my wallet far less.

Just another option, I have no idea why people envangelise, or froth at the mouth about them.

*I had a surly, it was awrite, sold it for what I paid for it, won’t try it again. Meh.

The Trough of Disillusionment? Isn’t that in the Howgills somewhere?

A bit like Nobeer, I had one and it was okay. Glad I gave it a go and I can see why some people are so enthusiastic about them but ultimately not for me.

OO also did a few deals – Pink Fatty with some of the 20% codes that
got a good bike out for a tad over £600.

Was proabably wat DBW saw.

But it had pink tyres. PINK tyres. Pink. Tyres. Pink tyres!

Pink edition with option to change it to black for no extra cost iirc

I’m an on one h8er but even I have to admit the coloured fatbike tyres are glorious.

“But it had pink tyres. PINK tyres. Pink. Tyres. Pink tyres!”

Could have been worse .

Could have been a dubber scrubber

No bubble bursting here. Happy to keep riding my purple Pugsley….I have lots of other bikes but often a Fat bike just hits the spot…

No bubble bursting up here. Good few guys in the local Moray Mountain Bike club ride them. Guys in local bike shop ride them & I joined the club with a £500 Wazoo from halfords, loving it. Spend £100 in the PX sale to get better tyres, shorter stem & carbon bars to improve my ride position (dodgy back) Thsts it, nothing else will change until it breaks.

Is cheap, its cheerful, great on the local trails & beach & it’ll save my full suss getting knackered over winter.

surly’s bubble might have burst, as the sticker says

I sold my oo then my carbon beargrease and have gone 29+. I am starting to miss them both though.

Despite buying it as a winter bike, I was out on my Surly yesterday.

Although if the bubble has burst, does it mean owners get to go back to being niche? 😆 😉

Some might want to grab a niche Cannondale Slate before they become common. 😉

People on here buy £300 bikes? Heard it all now.
Damn straight I do!
(Don’t know how to do the quote thing)
Me too
I picked up a halfords one that was shiny as new with carbon bars and seat post up graded saddle for £300 on eBay.
Had some deor shifters and slx rear mec partnered with a 9 speed cassette and chain in the shed.
For that price I’m no longer fat curious.

I think the bubble has become affordable!

Some of us have no choice but to ride one.

It snows where I live. A lot.

I purchased mine as an alternative to sitting on the trainer for an hour or two in the winter mornings.

It got me really fit.

It made me laugh every time I rode it in the dark and the snow.

Now I can’t wait to ride it on the summer trails too.

My advice is test a carbon one with carbon everything attached to it…and ride the hell out of it.

I absolutely love mine from a little Canadian company called Kermode Carbon Fatbikes.

http://www.kermodebikes.com/

I ride my Wednesday most days and it is fun. Not fast, but really chuffing fun. Dusty summer bridle ways mean drifting and clouds of dust and never get bored of reactions of dog apple farmers.

I bought mine about 2 months back and haven’t ridden anything else since.

So not for me, no.

Surely Ebikes will rule I am amazed how many I have seen.

Good spec on the commode website..

I absolutely love mine from a little Canadian company called Kermode Carbon Fatbikes

Very nice. If they start making them in colour that could be very tempting 🙂

Whats not to love?? I <3 mine and can see me getting shot of it anytime soon! 😀

[url=https://flic.kr/p/LrXbTn]image1[/url] by Paul Tarrant, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/AcorYe]Who are you calling fat?[/url] by Alex Leigh, on Flickr

If anyone does want to try a cheap one, I’ve got a Calibre Dune which can go back to stock for not much cash. Or a bit more if you want the very nice build I have on it!

I bought mine on a whim. Really enjoyed riding it last winter and the start of spring. Yeah all my mates were faster on their FS but they were faster before 😉 I morphed into the chubby thing and bought a 2nd hand Trek Stache (from Denis99 back on this thread) and for the riding I do preferred it meaning the Fatty doesn’t get ridden,

Obviously because I’m such a niche chaser, I’ve bought a FS chubby now!

So as a ‘gateway drug’ to chubby tyres, it was brilliant. And for not much cash it was fab. And it made loads of people – including me – laugh. What’s not to like?

@Alex if I had the cash I would 🙁 I really want a go on a fat bike.

Thinking the exact same thing

What size & how much Alex?

Core – YHM. Sorry to derail the thread!

Also emailed you earlier Alex

Surely Ebikes will rule I am amazed how many I have seen

If you’re limited to 15mph you’d be mad not to get a fat ebike. People will realise that soon enough…

I’d love an e-fatbike tbh. If nothing else, it’d drive some people completely apoplectic.

If you’re limited to 15mph you’d be mad not to get a fat ebike. People will realise that soon enough…

Whys that then ? Minimising weight and drag means battery lasts longer

I’d love an e-fatbike tbh. If nothing else, it’d drive some people completely apoplectic.

Saw one on the train a few months ago, didn’t realise it was e-doped until I saw the lad ride off. Next time I saw him on the train, the conductor and I were taking the mick out of him 😆

http://wing-ebikes.co.uk/?page_id=5160

Wazoo e-bike, I would be tempted if I had that sort of cash, but just 12 months g’tee on that 1700W system would worry me (think you can limit it to 15mph if you want to comply with road, but otherwise 30+ mph is possible)

Never been a bubble to start with In my eyes ! I started a thread on this very subject and still makes me angry that so many people were conned …

The bike industry must still be laughing/rubbing hands in glee 🙁

Yes I’ve tried them.. Yes I know folks that had them(quickly realised) they were had and sold/gave away 😳

Saw one on the train a few months ago, didn’t realise it was e-doped until I saw the lad ride off. Next time I saw him on the train, the conductor and I were taking the mick out of him

Well done you.

*slow claps*

@tomhoward – it was very good natured and to his face, we aren’t southerners.

I don’t really agree that fat bikes were/are a fad although if you define bubbles in terms on unprecedented sales and all of your competition jumping to sell similar product, then yes there probably was a bubble.

It’s really more that fat bikes have had an evolutionary experience and tentatively gone mainstream. Many people may have been persuaded they need one when it was inappropriate, but that’s what happens if you depend on sales staff, magazines and social media for your decisions. 🙂

Fat bikes really aren’t limited to transportation/ packing and the old sand and snow tropes any more. This makes many people within the fat sphere angry for some reason. Long and slack with dropper posts and suspension is absolute lunacy on a fatbike if you look at where they came from, but it makes a lot of sense if you plan to hammer one as an AM bike, and correctly chosen and specified, they can be excellent for such use.

If anything, the market is stalling because the only fork options are the Lauf which has its devotees and the Bluto which is a bit unrefined by modern standards and isn’t really a big mountain fork. The ‘ plus’ trend won’t help either, but genuinely there are a lot of people who will find a well specified 29erer with 275plus wheels and tyres a better and easier to get bike for their use – this might be different if more suspension options were available…