Hi all,

Wanted to pick the collective brain, first summer on my fat bike #itsmyonlybike and the winter tyres whilst fab (FBF and FBR) are way to treaded for summer, so what’s everyone running or seen recently?

My ride are pretty much SDW and the odd trail centre, Schwalbe Jumbo Jim seem to get a lot of mentioned on a quick web search but what’s the real life experience? Any other suggestions?

Whilst picking the collective STW hive mind, what’s the view on tubeless tape for MuleFut rims?

Thanks in advance.

James

I bought my fat bike second hand as a rolling frame, it came with 45nrth Husker Dus. I’ve no experience with anything else so no idea how they compare for summer use. I did fit some Van Helgas for winter use which are completely different.

None of the 45Nrth offerings are particularly cheap! 😯

currently using a pair of mammoths for better weather duties (£60 per pair from PX) with no issues yet 🙂

I use a Larry or Mammouth front and Endomorph rear…..

4.8 Jumbo Jims for me but I’ve not used the alternative summer tyres

Thanks for the ideas all, much appreciated.

I can so relate to you run what you have and hence the collective check before splashing hard to earn cash on new tires.

James

Jumbo jims for me. Great but struggle in mud or slop. Nice rolling and better than floaters but not much edge grip.

Now we’re back in slippiness I’m looking for a more aggressive front.

100mm wide Scapa 3122 tape (waterproof duct tape) from ebay worked a treat on my Mulefut rims (applied over the original rim strips after taking them off and de-greasing them and the rims).

I can only speak of Barbegazi 4.7″ tyres which seem to roll particularly well, and still be grippy, pretty tough and long lasting.

HuDu’s

@dufusdlp Thanks for the kind suggestions, the JJ seems a popular choice, I’d recommend the FBF if you want an aggressive front tyre but it’s way to much in summer or hard packed soil (for the two months of that I get!).

Thanks for the suggestion on tape @tillydog, will check it out. Tried the Orange tape but it wasn’t wide enough to cover over the little holes in the rim edges :/

Will look at the HuDu thanks.

James

larry’s for summer

or husker du’s

or knards

Nates in the winter and Jumbo Jims in the summer for me, less rolling resistance than the nates and a fair bit lighter…..
But….
Awful in comparison when it gets muddy – so fair weather only.

Tried the Orange tape but it wasn’t wide enough to cover over the little holes in the rim edges :/

Yeah, I found the same with Gorilla tape that was 78mm(??) wide – I may have had to trim a little off the 100mm tape (can’t remember), but it has done the job for the last 18 months.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/sun-ringle-tubeless-conversion-tape/rp-prod132907

Nates all year round for me. But then I’m too lazy to swap them over!

Jumbo Jim 4.8 all year for me. Fast rolling and great grip, and one of the lightest options out there. No fat tyre is good in the mud because they all float and the grip just drags wet mud because it can’t hit the hard ground. The JJ does at least clear well so I find it the best option in mud. That said if you want good mud riding you need skinny CX tyres or 2.0″ mtb ones.

Tape I use Tweeks stuff. It comes in 100mm wide then I measure the rim and run a knife around the roll to cut it down before applying. A double layer of duck tape as a rim strip is needed to fill the holes in the rim first and make it look pretty but this pvc stuff is waterproof and very light, and sticks like crap on a blanket!

I run 4.0 JJ all year round and they are great. They don’t work very well in mud as they tend to skate over the top but other than that they are fine. They roll so much better than anything else as well.

I may have some 4.8 JJs that have done about 10 miles for sale if that’s of any interest?

John

Given the cost of fatbike tyres, I doubt you’ll find many people who have ridden more than a couple of different options. I’ve used Jumbo Jim (4.8 and 4.4) and Bud/Lou. The JJs are light and fast and I’m happy with them for all but the worst of the winter slop (although we don’t get proper mud up here). When things are really sloppy the extra tread on the Bud/Lou gives a lot more confidence, but you really notice the extra drag.

I’d be surprised if there is a faster rolling fatbike tyre than the JJs, but I’ve not tried the alternatives.

Obviously it doesn’t take into account the grip and general feel of the tyre but worth looking at this,

http://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/fat-bike-reviews

I have had a go on Mammoths, Vee Snowshoe XLs On one Floaters and JJs in 4.0 liteskin and 4.8 snakeskins.

John

Seems bizarre that the feather light juggernauts can roll so badly!

It seems like with fatbikes a lot of the drag comes from hysteresis- basically the lag of the tyre deforming as it rolls. The less supple the tyre, and the more you outrun the tyre’s deformation, the more you’re basically pushing a bow-wave of tyre. (which is also why the drag increases so much the faster you go). So tread is less important for drag than it is with a normalbike, and carcass and rubber more important.

(same reason 60tpi versions of a tyre are slower and less grippy than 120tpi)

@JoeG thanks for the link to the Sun Ringle tape but it’s been out of stock forever and even a quick look on fleabay finds the same tape at mad prices, obviously a great choice if you can get it but not cost effective right now.

@normalman you did make me laugh, I know exactly what you mean. I change mine once for summer and once for winter. The best trick I got told was standing on the side of the tyre to make the bead brake, works a treat!

Thanks @lustyd I will check out that tape.

Thanks for the link @johnnyboy666 – I’d seen that make for really interesting reading, picking up on @northwinds points. The lightest is not always the best, see Kenda fatbike tyres for details it appears.

Thanks for all the kind replies, sounds like JJ might be the way to go.

James

4.8 JJs most of the time although I have some 4.0s for softer conditions. If it’s muddy I take the HT those thin tyres are really good

I may have had to trim a little off the 100mm tape (can’t remember)

Yes, I did:

Very good bead retention on the Mulefut rims.

@Rocketman I used to think that before I junked the thin tyres and went Fat only with the MAxxis FBF and FBR they seem to work well in my mud most of the time :/ we’re all different.

That’s a really useful picture, thanks @tillydog

James

Interested that you taped to the edge of the rim tillydog. I stopped short of the bead retention ridge (on DT Swiss BR710s). Is this what others have done?

I’m going to re-tape my rims in swanky blue to match my frame when I fit my 4.8 JJs for summer duties to replace my FBF, FBR combo.

Interested that you taped to the edge of the rim tillydog. I stopped short of the bead retention ridge (on DT Swiss BR710s). Is this what others have done?

I’ve tried both ways. Stopping short of the bead seat seemed to allow stans fluid to seep under the tape and “dissolve” the glue. So now I tend to run the tape all the way to the edge of the rim. Mind you, I’m running two wraps of 75mm tape at the moment, so there is still a seam, but there seems to be enough overlap to cope (or maybe the tape just sticks to itself better than it does to the rim).

Using the tape I linked it makes no difference because the tape is MUCH thinner than cloth tape (also lighter, more waterproof…) and the glue is not affected by Stans. I tend to cut it to the width of the rim so that it hits the outer wall when stretched but doesn’t ride up the wall.

Had an unsuccesful tubeless attempt of my 4.8 JJs using Gorilla tape which resulted in a Vesuvius like eruption of Stans from the rim cut-outs when I added a bit more air to the front prior to a post work ride on Wednesday.

I’ve bought the Tweeks tape on lustyd’s recommendation so will have another go with that tonight. First impressions are that the tape doesn’t stick as well to the rim as I had hoped though.

I paid £17 for two fattystrippers delivered, same price as that sun ringle tape, OK fattystrippers are questionable as to how versatile they are when changing a tyre, but it’s so easy to setup BR710/2250 rims tubeless using them.

Wee update. Did the tubeless setup last night and have to say I’m very impressed with the results. Method used on DT BR710 rims was:

1) 50 mm Surly nylon rim tape. Perhapsa a minimal weight penalty, but the sticky side in Duck tape is a faff and I was struggling to get it crease free.
2) 2 layers of the Tweeks PVC tape linked to by lustyd above all the way to the rim edge.
3) Mount tyre with tube to seat bead on one side
4) Remove tube, and seat other side with Aishot inflator.
5) Deflate and add Stans.

Was impressed that the tyres were holding air very well before adding Stans, and have lost no pressure overnight.

Yes, that’s pretty much the procedure I’ve used with BR710 rims and never had a problem. I’ve done it using just Duck tape (75mm), Tyvex tape and the Orange tape. Two layers (to the rim edge on each side). To be honest, it’s worked fine with all three but the Duck tape does tend to absorb the stans so would probably fail at some point. The tyvex tape was fine until I left a wheel in the car on a hot day when the glue seemed to melt. Not had the Orange tape on for long enough to know how it lasts, but so far so good.

Heads-up for those of you looking to buy tyres…

http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/TYMAMA/maxxis-mammoth-120tpi-tubeless-ready-folding-tyre £28 with code

http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/TYSCJJLS/schwalbe-jumbo-jim-liteskin-fat-bike-tyre £42 for 4.8″, £49 for 4.0″ with code (not many left, especially the 4.8s)

“PRATOZH” code ends tomorrow (9th) at 1200.

I’ve only done the awful OEM Mission Commands and snakeskin JJs, the latter are very versatile (except in very muddy conditions). If money wasn’t so tight after buying my Cube road bike last month, I might have been tempted to put a 4.8 JJ in the spares box (which already has a 4.0 and 4.4 tucked away from Athleteshop).

Two JJ’s ordered – Cheers Nobodyofthegoat

They should be a bit quicker than my floaters, I hope 😉

JJ are ridiculously fast, and much faster than Floaters.
I’m smashing koms everywhere I go!

Can you ride with no hands using JJS?

Can’t tell if serious? Why wouldn’t you be able to ride hands free?

I think it’s a good way to find out if a tyre self steers.
If I tried it on knards I’d end up in the nearest bush.

Double 4.8 Buds here, half a days rain and the loose rock in Yorkshire renders JJ’s next to useless. The buds have a much better sidewall and carcass on them, far less draggy than even 3.8 Nates.