Note: If you’re thinking “Who needs a fat bike in the UK? blah, blah, blah!” My response is this:

1) They’re fun
2) About half way down this list: http://www.alaskaultrasport.com/race_roster.html

I picked up my Singular Puffin fat bike yesterday, and went straight into two test rides with a nominal amount of work in-between.

First impressions are that it has a very lively ride: easy to manual and throw about. Geometry also works well for climbing, but it’s not exactly a rocket up the hills. That said, the dusty loose bits of Swinley can now be approached with a “Straight up the middle” rather than a “Desperately seeking grip” approach. I’ve currently got On One tubes weighing in at 700g each, so it’ll probably climb better without 2kg of rubber around each wheel(!).

The top tube is pretty dropped which is great for the aforementioned throwing about and also for snow. A common Iditarod scenario is failing to float on some mushy snow; having to put a foot down; said foot going straight through the snow; and balls getting whacked on the top tube. The Puffin allows a bit more space before you get whacked.

The cornering performance is great, encouraging you to get over the front and aggressive in the turns. As with any fat bike, there is some initial resistance as the tyres push against the turn, but you have frame geometry in your favour. Pretty soon the Puffin has you cornering hard and wondering if there is any limit to the grip offered by those massive tyres.

I still need to mess around with tyre pressures a bit more as tiny changes make a big difference when the tyres are so big. Can’t wait to go bash it into some rocks in Wales next week!

The build is:

[list]
[*]Singular Puffin prototype frame[/*]
[*]Surly Clown Shoe 100mm rims with Hope Fatsno hubs (built by Just Riding Along)[/*]
[*]Surly Larry front / 45 North Husker Du rear tyres[/*]
[*]On One fat tubes[/*]
[*]Surly Mr Whirly cranks[/*]
[*]USE Atom carbon bars[/*]
[*]USE Race stem[/*]
[*]USE Sumo Carbon seatpost[/*]
[*]Avid BB7 brakes[/*]
[/list]

More pictures on Facebook: https://t.co/NoBp5J1cNp

Sam’s going to be doing pre-orders for the production version, so contact Singular if you want in on the action!

That is a very neat clean looking fatty you got there Sir.

Thanks Aidan. What’s the rough weight and build cost from scratch?

I suspect the classic beaches and blizzards marketing fat bikerists do doesn’t really help their cause. If I bought a fattie it would be as a trail bike.

Update when you have more miles in please.

I agree with BB re looks, that’s a big plus.

That’s really pretty. We need to meet up so I can have a go on it.

GB

Where have you been for the past couple of years?

Did you have to take a hammer to it to tweak the clearance in the rear like the pre-production versions or is this the final finished ready for market all sorted version. Looks lovely be interesting to see what happens with fatties this year with genesis caribou, on-ones at silly prices etc…. should see rise in fat on the trails.

Weight is fairly hefty at the moment. The revisions for the production version will mostly be about reducing weight.

Unfortunately, I don’t really know about costs either. This is a fairly high-end build since the parts are what I will race in Alaska. Sam was talking about sourcing some far-east hubs to be able to offer a cheaper package than using Hope. That’s not confirmed by any means, though.

gee – certainly! Maybe sometime in September?

taz – this is one of the first batch of protos, so it has had some treatments to get the crank clearance. It turns out that Tessa the beagle is not scared of angle grinders. That’s clearly another change for the production version 😀

September 14th – Surrey Hills 100 mile Mtb ride.

Dare you to do it on that.

GB

gee – Member
September 14th – Surrey Hills 100 mile Mtb ride.

Dare you to do it on that.

GB

Conveniently for me, I’m supporting Emily at a 10k river swim that weekend. So sorry 🙂

Will figure something out off STW, though

I think that fat bikes reignite that feeling I had when I saw my first ever mtb, they just scream: F U N ! Hopefully I’ll blag a ride on one at BBB this weekend.

Yikes! 😯

Nice report and good looking Fatty you’ve got there. I had a ride around the Gorrick course at Minley last night on my 9zero7 and it was great fun on the Fatty.

I’m not sure 100 miles on a Fatty though!

My record is 80.

scotroutes – Member
piha » Nice report and good looking Fatty you’ve got there. I had a ride around the Gorrick course at Minley last night on my 9zero7 and it was great fun on the Fatty.
I’m not sure 100 miles on a Fatty though!
My record is 80.

My record is 1000 🙂

http://www.alaskaultrasport.com/race_stats.html

(Search for singlespeed record)

Hi.
Could You give Your opinion on how the Husker Du tyre performs on 100mm Clown Shoe rim. Mostly what I´m able to find on the internet suggests that it might be at it´s best on a narrower rim.
And, yes I did order the Puffin, so that´s why I´m qurious.

It’s a bit hard to say. In the past I’ve only ever used Endomorphs and Larrys on 65mm rims.

The Husker Du looks comfortable enough on the 100mm rim i.e. not overly stretched to fill the width. It’s been awesome in the dry, and I’d say an improvement on the Surly tyres I’ve had in the past.

Pretty sketchy in very wet/muddy conditions as it doesn’t dig in enough to find grip. But that’s been true of every fat tyres I’ve used.

Why are you going for 100s? I picked them for snow use. For normal trails, you might be better off with 80s. Less weight, but still pretty wide.

Huskers on 80’s work very well in all conditions,not bad in mud,but not as grippy as a Nate.
Tried Nates,HD’s and larrys,larrys best and fastest on sand,or hard pack,Nates on mud,snow and very loose loamy/wet roots.
HD’s do all of the above,but not tried them in snow as yet…..

What about a husker du on a marge lite?

Hüsker Dü’s run fine on a Marge (haven’t got the light version but that shouldn’t make much difference to how the tyre performs). Tenacious and grippy, not as confidence inspiring as a Nate but that’s relative 🙂 and still a great tyre.

HuDus over Nates unless it is very, very soft.

Not tried the Floaters or Knards yet though so it would be nice to get a comparison of those too.

Aidan – Member
…Why are you going for 100s? I picked them for snow use. For normal trails, you might be better off with 80s. Less weight, but still pretty wide

Thanks for Your answer.
I’m mot sure which width I’ll go for. I live in northern Finland, 7-8 snowy months per year. And I weight 95kg. I guess a 100mm rim might give me some advantages on winter, but only with a good tyre choose.
Puffin’s frame doesn’t accept the widest rim/tyre combinations, I’ve understood. So propably I should play it safe and go for 80mm rims.

Thought the frame would take a Lou on a 100mm rim?

On the kickstarter info site it says:

“Frame clearance for 26×4.7? tyres (Surly Big Fat Larry on 80mm rim) Fork clearance for 26×4.8? tyre (Surly Lou on 100mm rim)”

I must admit that I’m only still reading/learning these fat rubber issues, and being mostly confused. I’ve read the rim+rubber=width chart given by Surly, and also what Salsa says on it’s site about different crank options… Glad I still got time before the frame arrives.

Received this from Middleburn

At the moment we do our X-TYPE cranks with the option of a 100mm axle.
We also do a 108mm axle which requires a 4mm spacer either side of the
bracket. This moves the crank arms out 4mm per side.
We are working on another version which has more offset in the forging
and is 10mm per side further out over the current version.
These should be available very soon

Could be an option

Sorry to hijack the thread slightly but I’m still dithering on frame size for a Puffin.

I’m a large on Sams ‘suggested sizing’ @ 185cm but most of my bikes would meet his medium dimensions for reach etc.

So, large or small Puffin?

My plan is to go with a Middleburn HT2 offering.

I spoke with Matt last week. He was hugely helpful and advised that coupled with the multiple crank options the choice of spiders and rings should result in a pretty spot on chainline in most applications.

Middleburn for the win.

wwaswas I found a medium swift a bit short in TT, that’s why I would go large (183cms here)

I’m 6′ 3”ish so 190cmish and have gone with the XL.

The TT is nice and long but the ST isn’t gate like.

My thinking is that if these are going to be more “trail ready” than a STD fat bike then I may want to run a short stem so need the TT length.