There a a particular model of fat bike that I have desired ever since I failed to buy one at a substantial discount a few years back. One has just come up for sale. I already have several bikes, including a racy xc hardtail, a trail bike, a gravel bike, a single speed with another on the way, two mountain unicycles. I'm not sure I have room in the garage. Mrs Onewheel will be cross. But I'm sorely tempted.
Fat bike afficionados, tell me what I should do.
Accept that if you are going to get one, it will be pretty much a niche bike. I have got a Calibre Dune & I love it....when it gets used. Which essentially means snow/beach useage, so not often. I know you can use them in other ways, but your other bikes will be generally better for more normal conditions.
I dearly miss my Voodoo Wazoo fatbike being rideable (sheared drive side crank almost five years to the day).
Yes their forte is snow and sand, but they are so much fun, mine gave me confidence to ride regularly again after an RTA, mostly on the road by some margin.
Ditch either the gravel bike or the XC hardtail, the old singlespeed when the new one comes, and then one of the unicycles. You'll then have room for the fatbike.
Also, YOLO!
Get one, they are loads of fun and can be quicker than they look.
tell me what I should do
Like that is in any way related to what you are going to do 😀
I had a fat bike, a stooge ti one, was my first choice bike for 4 years rode northern fells, trail centres, trails and connecting roads. My favourite bike and supervising capable over most things bar mud, which was the tyres. Enormous funny catching roadies, overtaking them briefly.
I damaged my neck so sold it and regret it.
I had 4.8 front and 4.0 rear tyres.....should have had 4.0, front and rear.
Get one they are stupid fun.
You shouldn't really be surprised to learn that all fatbikes are not equal. Just as with any other type of bike they have their geometry, suspension design, tyre preferences and so on. Depending upon what you want to ride, a fatbike of some type might be good/fun.
I'd like more details before I'd venture an opinion.
I’m addicted! Had a WO! for over a year now and it’s fantastic, I use it on all the trails that I’ve ridden over the years and at 65 I’m getting up slopes that I used to struggle on 20 years ago. The grip is phenomenal and the ability to change line in rock fields and ruts is confidence building.
I ride mostly in the Peak District but I have also been to the Lake District too.
Amazing fun and minimal maintenance.
Direct message me if you want any more encouragement!!
I love mine, an original OO fatty, great fun on trails and the perfect bike for the local coastline.
If you can make room then you should definitely buy it.
It’s yes of course. Always nice and different to ride with silly levels of grip. Also doubles up as a really good bikepacking bike. Just sell one of the other bikes and you got no reason not to. I’ve got a Specialized Fatboy which is 9 years old now and still as much fun as when I first got it.
Some fat love, excellent.
Going tubeless requires a few tricks but is definitely worth it, and related, nextie carbon rims are light and make tubeless a bit easier.
My guess you are looking at a Henderson
I already have several bikes, including a racy xc hardtail, a trail bike, a gravel bike, a single speed with another on the way, two mountain unicycles.
I don't see a fat bike there so clearly there's a gap.
I'm not sure I have room in the garage.
Bikes are like good deserts. You always have room.
Mrs Onewheel will be cross.
If not this then something else - it's the reality of married life. You may as well make her cross for something of value.
There a a particular model of fat bike that I have desired ..... But I'm sorely tempted.
The real answer.
If you can afford it and the level of Mrs Onewheel crossness is at the roll eyes end of the spectrum rather than sleeping on the couch type of angry .... then you should seriously consider it.
Fat bikes are huge amounts of fun and your range of bikes would tend to imply it's likely to be right up your street.
You've fancied one for a long time, the opportunity for the bike you want will get less likely at time goes by so you should strike whilst the iron is hot.
And don't forget to factor into the cost a present or a meal for Mrs Onewheel! 😆
Mrs Onewheel will be cross.
If not this then something else - it's the reality of married life. You may as well make her cross for something of value
This is really good advice 👍
Forgiveness is easier than permission. 😉
Get the bike, ditch the wife 😋
Seriously though, I love my fatbike, although I live in Norway, so it gets a good amount of use on snow in the winter. But I also love riding it in the summer with a pair of jumbo jims, its super capable on rooty/rocky/swampy/sandy terrain and it's great for bikepacking.
Be aware that there are a bunch of different hub and bb standards for fatbikes and the availability of spares from manufacturers isn't what it used to be, so I'd steer clear of anything that uses QR axles or 135/170mm hubs...
If you let us know which bike you're looking at, chances are someone will have first hand knowledge!
I love mine, I haven't ridden it so much recently as I've been having a bit of wrist trouble after an injury, but before that I rode it about as much as my hardtail.
The thing is, there's different ways to fatbike. I've taken mine down a bunch of the golfy trails and a ton of similiar stuff, really things it is terrible for, and for me that's great fun. Some people consider them basically snow or sand bikes but I've rarely ridden it on snow (cos there's rarely slow) and literally only twice on sand, for me it's just a big stupid mountain bike that's fun to ride and makes me smile. (Rigid Calibre Dune with nice bits on)
Also not going to lie, I do enjoy the reactions, I took mine out when the new glentress trails had just opened and bouncing it down the new black with crowds around eyeing up the ugly drop on the taster... Or racing it at the gt7 (and getting in Singletrack for it!), or just making kids laugh, it's great. When you can actually make it go fast or do things people don't think it should be doing, it's ace, you go instantly from "weirdo" or "idiot" to "ok that's cool" (and, don't tell anyone, but it's easier than they think)
And people generally react well to it, even grumpy Pentlands walkers and canal path ****ers tend to see it and be more cheerful, it's just harder to be angry at a person on a cartoon bike.
You cannot know til you try though, the limited performance might be hateful for you. Don't be fooled, 4.8 of tyre suspension is nothing like a fork, it's like a couple of inches of fork and a load of spacehopper. Sometimes you really lack control or grip because the wheel's just not really reliably on the ground. So it's totally possible you get one and hate it.
Do be aware if you want to do stuff like this then tyre choice is <very> important. Because of the whole "different jobs" things there are high quality, highly recommended fatbike tyres that absolutely suck for trail riding. And for that matter I suspect my beloved fbf 4.8 minion is probably quite a bad "proper fatbike tyre", it's not as good a crawler or a snow tyre as my old Bud frnstance. Also rolling speed is a lot down to the suppleness of a tyre, so sidewalls and tpi and such are really important.
I think a lot of people miss the point by trying to fit fatbikes to their optimum type of riding (beach, snow etc)
They're just fun and make you smile on anything.
Get one. 👍
YES .
I have a fatbike. Its great fun to ride and particularly good at trail centres where the amount of grip you have can really be used. However its slow and draggy and as much of my riding is from home it does not get used that much
I've had my fatbike since 2015...im out with my mates all the time on it..they have their full sus 29ers...and i have my fatty....wouldn't change it for the world
Get one
If you have room for one then yes. It will make you, and everyone you meet, smile everytime you ride it 🙂
Fatbikers - spreading the joy!
Rode the Baja Divide in January to March this year on my 2014 Salsa Mukluk. Probably the hardest and most amazing bikepacking trip I’ve ever done. The Mukluk excelled, and I smiled every time I climbed aboard for another day’s riding.
That said, I’m selling it now as I just don’t ride it regularly otherwise. It’s just a bit too spacehoppy on the rocky trails here in Calderdale, and I’m fortunate to have other bikes better suited for the various types of riding I like doing.
No bike will make you smile like a fatbike will though, for all the reasons already outlined above.
If you can, do!
I used to live in a place with a long winter. A fatbike was essential and a lot of fun on groomed trails.
I always Intended to ride it in the short summer, but when the time came I couldn’t bring myself to not ride my normal mountain bike. in hindsight, I regret having not taken it out in the summer.
so, to answer your question, buy it. You obviously enjoy different types of bikes and are curious. I wouldn’t want another curious person to live with the regret of having never ridden a fatbike in the summer
Probably the most versatile bike in our collection. Winter or summer, it's all good.
I'm curious what brand has caught your eye. I always had a thing for Borealis bikes. Now have a couple of e-fats and bio fats. We get a good winter here in Black Forest and all the Swiss winter walking trails are not far away so it gets a fair bit of use.
I'd say give it a go...
Bought it for the snow and the sand - but it does so much more.
I do fear there will come a time when it has to get retired for lack of components and tyres. Current moulds for tyres will come to the end of their lives and I'd imagine justifying retooling for new ones might well be hard.
They make a brilliant, n+1, fun thing. Not sure I’d want one as an only bike, but they are a great laugh.
Not sure I’d want one as an only bike
You are probably right, but I've put a suspension fork on mine (Wren - just to add to the quirk of the whole thing!) and it's surprisingly capable on a trail centre red. And bike packing style riding on rough estate roads - so comfy.
In a n+1++++ kind of way mine now also has 3 sets of wheels - 26" with 4" fast rolling jumbo jims, 26" with 4.8" Surly Bud & Lou. and also 29+ with 3" tyres that were probably a step too far and a bit unnecessary.
Yes.
Although
- Don't expect it to be so substantially different t any other similar bike, if it's a rigid hardtail, it still rides like a rigid hardtail.
- They aren't actually that 'soft', after all a 3.1"x3.1" contact patch at 10psi has the same reaction force form the ground as a 1"x1" patch at 100psi. They dull the buzz a bit but they don't cushion much. A suspension fork will still help.
-Lethal in mud / roots. I had a bit of a sense of humor failure with mine when it launched me into the undergrowth at tunnel hill three times in one ride. No drifting, no warning, just 0-60 sideways in the blink of an eye
Still great fun, I eventually sold it to justify 1in1out and wanted a 'normal' bike for longer rides.
4.8’s run at 5.5 and 6.5 are lovely over peak district rocks, roots and mud, Sun Ringle rims seat tubeless really easily and there are still some DT Swiss wheels around with ratchet hubs.
The short answer is yes.
The long answer is also yes but there is a but .....
I have a Singular Puffin, bought new from the original Kickstarter.
I've "raced" on it at MM and local enduros, have actually ridden in snow and on a beach!
My 2 cents ... If you are prepared to play with tyre pressures (I mean in single PSI increments) then they can be great. Too much pressure or too little and it will feel like all your effort is going into just bobbing along.
There are some really sandy sections around here and you really can float through those sections but sticky mud will quickly see a sense of humour failure.
I have recently swapped out the ti post and Brooks saddle as these just exaggerated the bob when it happened.
If you are thinking 26'' rather than 27.5'' Surly's Bud tyre is great out front. I can only really fit a ~4.6 tyre in the rear ( A BFL does fit though if it's not muddy)
Having the option to run 29 plus is a bonus too.
JRA built my wheels in 2014 and I've not had to touch them with the exception of bearings.
A coulple of photos from when I originally built the bike up in 2014 (includes Colnago carbon saddle 😊 ) and as it was built a few months ago.
Thank you all for your contributions, really interesting. I'm still really tempted, but I think I've decided not to go for it. So for everyone who was wondering which model it was, here's the link
A fat bike with a Lefty. How awesome is that?
Yeah that's awesome, I love mine rigid but I used to often see a lefty one at glentress and it made me so, so jealous. Just increases the ridiculousness factor so much.
When I tried a fatbike from my lbs, it felt totally lifeless.
i think they’d make far more sense, electric.
slight hijack: what are they like on black ice?
When I tried a fatbike from my lbs, it felt totally lifeless.
Like I wrote up above, geometry and so on varies with fatbikes as with any other type of bike.
what are they like on black ice?
Same as any other bike. If you want traction and steering on ice, you need studded tyres.
Electric you say?
slight hijack: what are they like on black ice?
Pretty much the same as normal bikes. A little better, but not in a way that really makes a difference, still a long way from making it smart or safe. They do tend to be more stable than a normal xc or trail bike, which can help when it's going wrong but again not enough to really change things. Improves your odds a wee bit when you're caught out basically.
They do work much better on normal ice, just because of the size of the tyre patch- they can make more grip from texture or find the one bit that isn't iced or has a bit of grass or whatever, most ice isn't just smooth ice. Still tricky, it's nothing like the difference ice spikes makes.
...slight hijack: what are they like on black ice?
Better than an ordinary bike. What make ice slippery is pressure melting the boundary layer between tyre and ice. The low pressure of fatbike tyres makes this less likely.
It's still not great though. 🙂
From years of ownership I have learned
They are pretty rubbish in
- Ungroomed snow
- Local clay based mud
They are heavy, get attention everywhere you go.
They are great on sand dunes, groomed snow and dry single-track.
I've had an on-one fatty and a smokestone Henderson but it now only gets ridden on global fat bike day as all my fat bike riding friends have moved on to other things and keeping up with a modern MTB is a chore if you are the only one on 4"+ tyres
They are pretty rubbish in
- Ungroomed snow
Hmmm - not so sure. Sure it's hellish slow and hard work in virgin snow (and there's a depth after which is not possible)- but that's just like nordic backcountry skiing* and kicking in tracks. Person at the front is working their nuts off and the person behind not so much. Then, when you come back the next day you are grateful for the work you put in the day before. But what's definitely true is no other bike is going to be able to cut/roll in those tracks.
*to be fair in those conditions, I'm on the skis.
get one. fun fun fun.
owned 2 over the last 5 years. a kona woo and a silverback. both just big huge trail hardtails.
faster than any hardtail i have ridden down rocky slatey lakeland descents.
ace fun on local gloopy trails in winter.
super on groomed snow in norway last year.
currently looking for a new xl fatty myself.
AKA ungroomed
But what I'm saying is - that's fine and to be expected. 'Hellish slow' means moving. And moving is good!
If you are the sort of person that would say kicking tracks on backcountry nordic skis being a slow, hard process makes nordic skis 'pretty rubbish' then maybe you have a point. Me - I'm kind of glass half full - the very fact it's even possible makes them awesome! The added bonus that you can come back the next day and ride yesterday tracks makes it even more awesomer!
Perfect on "snowgletrack" created by the snowshoe bods. Wait patiently for a day or so after fresh snow, the snowshoe teams will go through leaving perfect consistency snowgletrack. Firm enough to ride and soft enough to get grip.
Video fail...
Obviously I am a bit biased (see forum name) but yes you should! They are so different and as someone above said that not all fat bikes are the same, light ones with light wheels can fly along and more robust ones you can jump / camp etc.
But is is the biggest grin to ride a fat bike, but be warned everyone you meet will either a) ask you about it or b) make a joke about the tyre size.
Tyre pressure is critical though and go to tubeless instantly!
I am forced into just one bike right now, a nice hardtail, but if I had a second it would be a replacement for the fat bike, something light, fast and fun.
Anecdotally I enjoyed riding down the switchbacks in a swoopy fashion and then riding straight back up them as the traction is off the scale.
Enjoy.
James
Really good on the open hill in the Southern Uplands. The quadbike tracks are excellent with a fatty.
It's a hard NO from me. I had a Singular Puffin and built it as light as I could and it was still far closer to a Pudding than a Puffin. It just felt slow, cumbersome and dull everywhere I rode it. You have to gear them quite low to be pedalable, but then if you need to link a section, as soon as you're upt to any speed, your legs are spinning and your bum is bouncing all over the place due to the bouncy tyres.
I then bought a Trek Stache 29+ and that was MUCH better, similar grip in the dry, better mud shedding and almost entirely normal components. I replaced it with a Stache Carbon and that was a bloody hoot. Light, fast, nimble (as it's wheelbase was quite short) and with low pressures, it would do snow (UK snow), so not fine powder. Still a little compromised on anything with a LOT of climbing, but often worth it.
I'm now on 2.4s and 2.6 29ers and don't see the need.
It didn't sell, zero bids, and it's been relisted. So it's just sitting there tempting me. Can't one of you just buy it and put me out of my misery?
If it was local to me, I'd probably buy it just for the laughs.
Fate has decreed that it shall be yours, who are you to argue with fate?
Fat has decreed that it shall be yours, who are you to argue with fat?
Probably the best way to sum up fatbikes is that they are fun on most terrain, but not as good as a "normal' mtb.
However, and it's a big however, once you get into real fatbike terrain, nothing can touch them, you can go places that the 'ordinaries' can only dream off, and that is frabulous joy.
In soft snow, once your pedals are scooping out chunks, then it get too hard very quickly.
Dupe. Got asked to resubmit.
Yes!
I've a 2017 Mukluk (the povvo aluminum one) and it is suprisingly fast as Rocketdog says on dry singletrack. I've had it with a dropper and suspension which is a hoot but its currently in bike packing mode with carbon fork and thudbuster
Its the bike I've held on to the longest and to be honest i can't really see me ever selling it (cos no one will buy it off me boom boom!) as every time I'm a bit down or bored of cycling i take it out and it just picks me up in a way thats difficult to describe - I guess because they shouldn't work.....but they do.
I’ve got an original oo fatty as well, upgraded the fork when “Dave’s” family and friends discount code got leaked 🙂
I actually had one of the carbon frames in green that they did but returned it,I did regret that.
If not this then something else - it's the reality of married life. You may as well make her cross for something of value.
TBH there are other things you can swing your leg over and spend money on that would make her much crosser 🙂
so I’d get the bike and keep everyone happy 🙂
It didn't sell, zero bids, and it's been relisted.
Doesn’t this tell you something?
Honestly it’s not 2015 anymore, nobody wants fat bikes in 2025. The novelty wore off long ago and they’re now a “bit of fun” purchase hanging about in the corner of various sheds reminding people of their lack of financial self-discipline…
If you’re not in Siberia or the Sahara it’s not worth burning brownie points with the SO for a fat bikes… (IMO of course).
I’m actually faster on my fatbike on my regular routes than my lightweight hardtail! That tells me something, I’m just not sure what yet!