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Thanks Jerry but I'm up north.
sandy sloshy New Forest mud
That might be a good description of what they are good at...(though you can stick y'er New Forest ;_) )
I've commented before that I thought mine awesome in mud and others have replies that they thought they were terrifying. I suspect it's the type of mud. I'm lucky to live somewhere that does very little mud but the bits that can get muddy are loamy or quite sandy. There's a bit on my local loop that can flood or become sloshy and if you got off you'd be most of the way up your shins. The fat bike just sort of floats through it, finding grip where none should be possible. Ride into it with my FS on 2.5" rubber and you come to a halt through the resistance and spinning rear wheel and have to do the wade of shame to get out.
If I was back in the South Downs with its special brand of bike killing claggy clay and chalk combo I might well have a different opinion.
Looks like I might be riding the puffer this next edition and I think the dude with either it's proper fat wheels on or its 29x3" depending on conditions will be my bike of choice.
others have replies that they thought they were terrifying. I suspect it’s the type of mud.
Very much so...
I've done an couple of xc races on mine in the mud, I was the only fatty and the only one to ride all of both courses with now running (and yes it was quicker to ride). However if it's the type of mud that the fat tyres sit on top of and float, then it can be a little sketchy. I would suggest that those claiming fat bikes are no good in mud are more than likely using OEM Jumbo Jim's which are imo only good for dry fast conditions.
Yeah, I remember feeling that way with the 4.0 JJs, weirdly the 4.8 turned out to be massively better at most mud, not to mention less orrible when it gives up. I wonder how many people get put off by crap OEM tyres? Especially back when good ones cost a million quid.
I had Surly Ednas and they still went sideways in mud.
It was from slow ,I actually had a road PB on it. The wheels seemed to have a flywheel effect , where if you got puffed and stopped pedalling the wheels would have enough momentum to let you catch your breath.
My Wazoo fatbike sitting in the shed still, needs a replacement drive side crank after shearing through the pedal axle summer '20.
Would love to get it rideable again, especially after putting 16Kg on over the last two years of long covid, now 96Kg.
Those 4" Jumbo Jims were fun on tarmac, never did get chance to fit a 4.4" on the rear, as I didn't have a front wheel that worked with the PlanetX carbon fork, so often had a 29*2.35" G One Speed on a PX FatNotFat wheel set.
Far more fun a bike than the Voodoo Marasa hybrid that replaced it... And lighter too in 29er mode at ~10.5Kg!
Good lord, I don't understand this at all.
Each to their own etc.
I'm on the cusp of throwing in the towel with my Wazoo, absolutely wayward handling seemingly unimproved by any tyre pressure I could find. I've read that the Wazoo's Vee tyres were particularly prone to that but I haven't had the courage to spend money replacing them in case it's not a major improvement. I presume from the happy riders on this thread that it's possible to have a normal handling fat bike? What would be a reasonable recommendation? (and if anyone's got any lying around...)
My first fatbike came with Vee tyres, not sure which model but I felt like the bike was trying to kill me as the steering was so unpredictable!
Replaced them after a couple of rides with a set of Jumbo Jim's and it transformed the bike. I would suggest doing that before getting rid of the Kona.
And then sell your Vee tyres to some Deliveroo guy with a shit Chinese ebike, like I did 🙂
Thanks Sefton for this thread.
It reminded me that now it’s getting damp it’s a good time to take out my 9 year old Trek Farley. It’s great fun to ride up and down, until the Surrey Hills trails build up their winter mud - which unfortunately the front tyre floats over in whatever direction it fancies, makes for exciting riding.
Jumbo Jims far better than the Mission Commands that came with my Wazoo.
And if not going tubeless, those Schwalbe sv13(???) jump tubes expand fine inside JJs and are only ~390g iirc, big weight saving compared to standard fat tubes.