Are they any good in general? Are the tyres more craggy than the equivalent 29’er ones?
Are they as much fun and capable as they look?

Is it madness to think of getting one and using normal 29’er wheels for certain things like proper mud?

In most cases a 29er wheel will raise the BB. Whether you’d like it like that is personal to you. However, many new designs are coming with some sort of adjustment for that so you can run either wheel size.

I’m sure i’ve seen a very recent article in a certain magazine about full suss semi-fatties…;-)

Here is an idea, try one or a few…
In all honesty forget the numbers and sizes and the rest and just decide if you like the bike.

I thought the mag review was great. It’s rare these days to read a magazine article on the “next big thing” that ends with a lot of head scratching and and admission that they can’t see the point*. Well done to them for telling it as they saw it.

*with various qualifiers of course, but that’s fair enough.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/6fattie-comp-carbon-a-mini-review

I had a go on one. I liked it. Rather a lot! Huge fun.

Don’t know which review you read Roverpig but the one I read , I think it was in MBR tested 2 Stumpjumpers , 1 with 650b wheels and one with 650+ and they preferred the 650+ . I don’t usually take much notice of bike magazine reviews but as they had Sam from Bike Village testing then I would sit up and take notice as he is one man who certainly knows how to ride a bike .

I think RP was talking about a test from a mag closer to home 😉

faustus – Member

I’m sure i’ve seen a very recent article in a certain magazine about full suss semi-fatties…;-)

I liked the bit where they (finally) pointed out that fat tyres are actually shit in mud

I thought the mag review was great. It’s rare these days to read a magazine article on the “next big thing” that ends with a lot of head scratching and and admission that they can’t see the point*. Well done to them for telling it as they saw it.

*with various qualifiers of course, but that’s fair enough.

I dunno, MBR stuck their head in the sand over 29er’s pretty much until a lot of brands were dropping 26″ bikes altogether.

I liked the bit where they (finally) pointed out that fat tyres are actually shit in mud

Depends on the tyre, Knards Vs Trailrakers? Not a chance. Bud & Lou Vs Nobby Nicks, the fat bike wins any (muddy) day.

Fat bike’s are’t special, you still need the right tires for the conditions.

Fat bike’s are’t special, you still need the right tires for the conditions.

Skinny ones that can cut through and find harder ground underneath? Scott pitching 29er wheels for the + bike in winter makes it sound that way

Depends on the mud and once it passes a certain depth floatation becomes a benefit 🙂

And in lots of places by the time you find ‘harder ground’ you’d need a hell of a high BB!

Ok, so we are still saying that they’ve got naff-all grip at pace in mud then? Which is what the article in question mentioned. Kinda like a yacht versus a hovercraft

Just to clarify, I was indeed talking about the STW review. The main difference between this and other reviews (apart from the reviewers of course) was that they tested the bikes in the sort of crappy wet conditions that are typical of a British winter (and a fair few summers).

For those that haven’t read it, the head-scratching wasn’t about B+ in general. They seemed happy that there was a place for plus sized tyres on hardtails. It was more on full-suss that it didn’t seem to make sense. Mind you, the criticisms were indeed of the performance of the tyres in the mud.

I’ve been playing with B+ tyres on my Solaris since September and I’d have to say that I tend to agree with the review. When I first got them and trails were dry (remember that) they were great. Lots of fun and PRs all over the place. But I’ve been much less convinced over winter (except in snow, but we’ve not had much of that this year).

The Trailblazer tyres had very little grip in greasy/muddy conditions. I’ve switched to Nobby Nics and they are much more secure, but also pretty slow in the mud. It seems that you can’t win with a big tyre on soft ground. If it floats over the mud then it will roll fast but give very little grip (cornering is fun to say the least), but if it digs into the soft ground there will be a lot of drag.

I had a fat bike a couple of years back, and the grip in Ayrshire mud was excellent, incredible at times. I got rid of it as it just kind of chundered over stuff and didn’t really inspire me to ride it, but that was just my view, others are different and that’s cool.

Skinny ones that can cut through and find harder ground underneath? Scott pitching 29er wheels for the + bike in winter makes it sound that way

Ok, so we are still saying that they’ve got naff-all grip at pace in mud then?

Or to put it the other way, skinny tyres are worse in summer, and in deep mud?

I read the ST mag review and found it refreshingly honest.

I do wonder if we will still see + bikes in a few years time. Will anyone racing Enduro or XC use them this year at a top level (non sponsored riders) ?

Will anyone racing Enduro or XC use them this year at a top level (non sponsored riders) ?

Doubt it because, as implied by Jared Graves, they’re either very heavy tyres or silly thin sidewalls (looking at you nic) with the latter being too much of a risk for a race. Can’t see why any xc racer would even contemplate them?

Personally I’m undecided. The lack of outer diameter compared to a 29er is a big loss to me and I find them very vague in a full suspension bike (not read the STW review).

There’s a decent review on NSMB as well where one of the testers likes them and the other not so much. It does seem they are either a love it or don’t get it wheelsize.

No, you are. I said

Depends on the mud

IMO if the racers (XC, Enduro and DH) aren’t using them, plus sized bikes won’t take over.

It’s the racers and the accompanying marketing bullshit that sells bikes, people want to ride what their favorite riders are on.

Personally, I will laugh with glee if 650b+ goes the way of Giant Overdrive etc etc etc.

Maxxis have normal sized tyres now that are specifically designed for 35mm internal diameter rims, the “wide trail” models. That is the way forward (especially for those of us who don’t destroy rims and have lots of money to blow on superfluous bollocks), combine those with say…some of those 650b+ chubby carbon rims (36mm internal diameter) and procore/ghetto or knockoff procore – and you have a light package, with less vagueness in corners, better puncture resistance and more grip than a standard non-plus setup.

Oh…and it grants you the use of minions, high rollers and shortys….all year round grip. 🙂