Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 2,164 total)
  • Would you buy a (new) fatbike for ~£1k?
  • rocketman
    Free Member

    There seems to be a fair bit of choice at this price point on-one/Mondraker/Felt/Scott to name a few

    The actual (component) spec doesn’t seem tooooo bad but important stuff like the frame and wheels and tyres are unknowns to me.

    Would £1k buy a decent fatbike or would I be looking at several hundred more to make it work?

    Ta

    scotroutes
    Full Member

    Err, it will be just fine. No need to pay niche tax these days.

    wwaswas
    Full Member

    They’ll be fine at the price.

    Having said that, wheel weight is highest on cheaper bikes generallya dn more so on fatties (obvs) and switching to lighter hubs, rims and tyres on my Puffin made a massive difference to how it rode and fatigue over longer rides.

    FuzzyWuzzy
    Full Member

    Kinda depends what you want it for. If you just want a fun n+1 bike for occasional use then a £1k would be more than enough to spend on one. If you want to use it as your main bike I’d spend more, personally I’d look at something like the Canyon Dude – surprised me how light they are when I lifted one up the other day.

    rocketman
    Free Member

    Yeah it would be for rolling around on nothing too serious

    gypsumfantastic
    Free Member

    Just bought an On One Fatty with carbon fork and dropper for around that price, it’s a great bike with confident handling and surprisingly goes up hill really well (honestly). The only thing I’ve had issues with is the poor b tension adjuster design on the X5 mech but that was easily fixed.

    It’s not a light bike though but that just means I have to pedal a little harder which is no bad thing. I could have spent thousands on some superlight fat bike or upgrade the engine for free!

    Is the 1K pricetag a barrier to getting a fatbike will do everything you ask it to and put a big stupid grin on your face? Absolutely not. Would a more expensive bike do the same? In all likelihood, yes.

    johnnyboy666
    Free Member

    Yes and no. I spent a 1k and then ended up buying some new wheels and a dropper, new chain and cassette so more like 1.8k! From my experience get something with good wheels. I bought a Felt because it was good spec and had 197×12 rear hub and 150×15 front which is quickly becoming the standard. This means bluto and 5inch tyre compatibility. The wheels were own brand and my free wheel quickly disintegrated. Of course being own brand it was a nightmare to sort as I didn’t know who made the hub and felt wouldn’t tell me so I had to wait for them to sort it which took about 4-5 weeks! I bought a set of dtswiss fat wheels in the meantime. I already waited 6 months on a pre order to get it. They did replace the freehub with a steel one so now I just have to flog them on. Probably be fine now with steel freehub.

    Other than that small issue, love the felt, couldn’t be more pleased with it, fair bit lighter than the on ones as well.

    Northwind
    Full Member

    I’m waiting for the halfords one to come back into stock, £500 it was. The way I see it is, yes it’ll be heavier than a carbon-everything moonlander, but if I wanted lightweight I’d ride my 21lb 29er.

    johnnyboy666
    Free Member

    Check out the Calibre Dune from go outdoors. There is one in my local store in Exeter and it looks really nice in the flesh. Good alternative to the the Voodoo, I think it was about 600 quid.

    Northwind
    Full Member

    Ooooh. OOOOOOOH! That ticks all the boxes- eye burning colour, even less cool brand…

    Double-fat tyres too: “Seated on these rims are two pairs of the Schwalbe Jumbo Jim Evo LiteSkin 4″ tyre”

    DaveyBoyWonder
    Free Member

    I don’t think I’d pay £1 for one, let alone a thousand.

    scotroutes
    Full Member

    Down to £522 (Code ALLDEP10) if you order it before tomorrow night.

    That looks like a stunning bargain – especially if that weight (13.2Kg) can be believed.

    rocketman
    Free Member

    That Calibre looks grim :mrgreen:

    Northwind
    Full Member

    Not sure I believe the weight… Just emailed them to try and get geometry as unless I’m blind, it’s a one-size-fits-nobody but everything else looks grand.

    Cheers johnnyboy, this is a Development.

    johnnyboy666
    Free Member

    It did feel surprisingly light when I picked it up the other day. Looked like it had plenty of tyre clearance as well. If it’s really that weight then massive scope for a pretty light build considering all the transmission stuff is going be fairly weighty.

    johnnyboy666
    Free Member

    Just seen that’s it’s even got 197×12 and 150×15 axles. Very impressive at that price. The frame looks really nice, i think it looks ripe for upgrading.

    thesurfbus
    Free Member

    I have an 18″ On One Fatty for sale for £600 if interested.

    5thElefant
    Free Member

    Not sure I believe the weight… Just emailed them to try and get geometry as unless I’m blind, it’s a one-size-fits-nobody but everything else looks grand.

    Cheers johnnyboy, this is a Development.
    You’re not blind. I was going to order one, but… no bloody size options!

    One size fits all won’t fit me. Unless the one size is orangutan.

    NormalMan
    Full Member

    Northwind – Member
    Not sure I believe the weight… Just emailed them to try and get geometry as unless I’m blind, it’s a one-size-fits-nobody but everything else looks grand.

    Any reply yet NW? Must say I’m fat bike curious and that looks a laugh for little outlay.

    chrisylad24
    Free Member

    Johnnyboy 666 I killed the freehub on my felt fatty and had the same problem I managed to find a 5 point free hub that fitted and its been fine since although I think better wheels will be fitted in due course

    dovebiker
    Full Member

    Plenty of used O-O Fattys for £500-600 and spend the rest on a lighter fork, decent wheels and tyres

    fadda
    Full Member

    Where are these 2nd hand fatties, of which you speak…?

    Bregante
    Full Member

    Well there’s one just 5 posts up from yours on this very thread…

    Northwind
    Full Member

    No response Normal Man, but I’ll pass it on if I get one. I’m going to pop into the shop tomorrow and check it out.

    rocketman
    Free Member

    Went into the lbs on the way home last night and they wouldn’t sell me a fat bike 😕

    psycorp
    Free Member

    ^^^^^^

    Any particular reason?

    rocketman
    Free Member

    To be diplomatic about it they couldn’t think of any advantages

    The word ‘handicap’ came up a lot

    Alex
    Full Member

    That Calibre Dune looks outstanding value. Hoping NW comes through with sizing that makes it entirely unsuitable for normal human sized person.

    mattjg
    Free Member

    Where are these 2nd hand fatties, of which you speak…?

    Facebook page. There seems to be quite a trend of people selling OOFs and the like as they upgrade. (Wonder what they’re buying?)

    https://www.facebook.com/groups/718295778279805/?ref=ts&fref=ts

    mattjg
    Free Member

    To be diplomatic about it they couldn’t think of any advantages

    The word ‘handicap’ came up a lot

    Perhaps that’s bikeshopese for “the brands we sell don’t make any yet”.

    I rode my buddy’s fatty on 4″ tyres, it was great fun, and I reckon it’ll be brilliant when the 10 million leaves we have here fall off the trees and all goes sloppy and mulchy. I’ll be getting one. (Yes I have a fast bike too).

    rocketman
    Free Member

    Perhaps that’s bikeshopese for “the brands we sell don’t make any yet

    Hmm there was a Spesh Fat Boy and a Cube Nutrail right there in front of us

    I think they were just being honest

    mattjg
    Free Member

    Fair dos.

    I heard the Nutrail wasn’t available for a few weeks yet so that’s good news.

    cheekyget
    Free Member

    I paid almost a G for my fattie ( rose Tusker )……. Worth every penny IMO
    At the end of the day you get what you pay for….

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    It depends how and where you ride.

    Being local Swinley is my ‘get out of jail free’ trail when either I’ve not got the time or imagination to plan something, or the trails are muddy.

    I can get through the downhills (well, the five that really count as down) as quick as I could on a 150mm travel bike, and quicker than on an XC bike. OK I’m always getting faster and pushing, trying new lines etc but it’s not a ‘handicap’ anymore than a 140mm+ travel bike ruins an all day ride involving pedaling.

    It even opens up a few more trails which were previously devoid of ‘flow’ for one reason or another.

    The only downside is acceleration, it may be rigid but getting going is like riding a 150mm travel bike, you need a degree of sprinting fitness to REALLY mash the pedals out of some corners, if the front wheel is5nt lifting on the way out your not going at it hard enough. Without that mentality they do feel slow and pondorous.

    Someone the other day said a fat bike was to mountainbikes whaf a 110 defender was to an impreza WRX. It’s more like the fat bike is the Impreza and the MTB is ford Focus. Both good cars, but regardless of which chassis you pick, it’s the 300bhp turbo engine (i.e. your legs) that makes them fun and the impreza will have more grip.

    mattjg
    Free Member

    You lost me on the motoring analogies there.

    Northwind
    Full Member

    @Normal Man and Alex, and anyone else who cares… Go Outdoors didn’t respond to my email, so I’ve secured rough numbers by buying the thing and measuring it.

    These are not too precise but will be a reasonable ballpark.

    Headline! Weight! No, it’s not 13.2kg, it is a hair under 15kg, with pedals, reflectors etc. I suspect they weighed it without pedals but it’ll still come in over 14kg. Still, this isn’t awful.

    Wheelbase 1140- 46.5 rear, 67.5 front.
    ETT 560
    Reach- something like 420, eyeballed this so treat with caution
    Head angle I made about 68, seat tube about 72.

    I’m going to measure the reach again as I’m not sure about that, and the seat tube and weight without pedals and bell and such bollocks. But that 10% runs out tonight so I figured someone might want to see it quick! 1 year frame warranty, not brilliant, everything else is manufacturer’s warranty but it’s mostly branded parts so that’s not so bad.

    The frame’s pretty damn compact, overall I’m calling it a medium but at 5’10 I’ll need a 400mm seatpost.

    Comment on Go Outdoors… It’s quite Halfordsy. It had been assembled with the fork back to front, apparently they come out of the box that way so they’ve just been assembling them that way, so 3 people have gone off with backwards bikes. But! The dude took a little convincing but once we established it, he was making plans to contact the buyers and fix it, that’s pretty good I think. Silly mistake but I like that they’ll fix it.

    It’s all very nicely set up and assembled now that the fork is right way round, perfect gearing and brakes and that, some spacers on the steerer. Tons of room for more tyre, it comes with schwalbe 4 inchers which are too big for me to measure with my calipers but if they’re a true 4 then it’ll definitely take a 5 in the frame. Finish is lovely, though feels like it might chip easily, logos are all in teh paint not stickers and nicely done imo, tidy welding etc. I love the attention to detail with the yellow striped saddle but they’ve gone with green rim tape which is odd. Tyres are pretty slack on the rims.

    So far I have genuinely 3 criticisms- it comes with a 350mm seatpost which is going to limit the sizing considering the overall dimensions, the thru axles aren’t very nice, oh, I think it’s drilled for schrader which is a bummer if I’m right. I don’t know what the hubs are but the front feels like it’s cartridge bearing, no great surprise with 15mm axles but there’s a limit to how badly you can do a cartridge bearing hub I reckon. No real comment on the brakes and gears, they’re coming off anyway.

    I rode it round the shop, it has loads of grip on carpet. I know ****-all about fat bikes so I’ve no opinion on this, I was checking for size not ride quality!

    Next- tear it to bits.

    johnnystorm
    Full Member

    It is such a shame they can’t be arsed to employ anyone with even the slightest hint of common sense not to notice the forks.

    Northwind
    Full Member

    It didn’t feel as bad as that tbh. The chap was a decent “fitter” if you like but they’d just made a daft call based on how the bikes come from the factory, they’d actually put some thought into it and were convinced it was actually right, rather than carelessly doing it wrong. Black mark but I feel quite unjudgemental about it for some reason.

    Northwind
    Full Member

    OK, 14.6kg without pedals and all the reflectors etc binned (still got cassette ring thing on) Let’s say 430 reach. Forgot to measure seatpost, but it’s got to be 17 or thereabouts. I’m IIRC 32 inch inside leg and I’m absolutely on the limit of a 400mm post so be careful there. And yep, schrader valves. And seems to be a genuine tapered steerer rather than that straight-steerer-in-tapered-tube bollocks, so I’m just going to assume that means blutoable for now. Rims are about 82mm external.

    Also, full drop available on the seatpost as it only has downtube bosses, do like, just took it out for a wee blast round the local steps and the seat slammed and it really adds to the bmxeyness.

    Still know **** all about fatbikes but it feels fun. Might need less air in tyres. Corners better than I thought. GW’s going to take the piss something rotten.

    Tomorrow I’m going to weightweenie the **** out. There’s going to be spreadsheets.

    johnnyboy666
    Free Member

    Please keep us posted on this as that’s still a good weight considering some of the basic parts. Loads of potential so save a good few pounds on that thing. I can confirm that a jumbo jim on an 80mm rim is bang on 4″. Once you go over that sizes start to get exaggerated. Surly buds and lous which are amongst the biggest come up closer to 4.5 than 5 from what I have read. Nice future flexibility in tyre choices for the Dune then.

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