[Closed] Have folks realised fat bikes are shit yet ?

I just feel that the bike companies are laughing at us with killing 26"

You know what diameter most fat bike wheels are though?

Aye they've even got the cheek to get rid of excess 26" wheels by putting huge fat rubber on em 🙄

An extra piss take/kick in the beanbag 😥

I loved this line from the Single Track +bike reviews a couple of months ago

It took
a few rides to dial in the pressures, but after
that, it was time to ride the rocks – and the
bermed trails of Lee Quarry and Gisburn
Forest where, even in the pouring rain, it
performed well – with the plus bike caveat
of any slick, muddy ‘natural’ trail meaning
instant panic as the bigger tyre, at whatever
pressure (I got down to 11PSI in the end)
skated uselessly over the top of the trail.

I’m going to wait until tyre choice improves and the weather dries
out. If we revisited this test in the summer, we might get a dierent
view, but for now, they all get a slightly puzzled shake of the head.

So fay I've managed to resist

Not a fad to me.
Got my first one the original Salsa Mukluk 7 years ago and it's still going strong with the mate I sold it to.
My current fat bike is the 5" Travers Bat Fastard and it's my go to bike most of the time.
Just upgraded the tyres for the summer and gone tubless for the first time.
I'm finding it hard not to take this to Saturday's Sam Houghton Challenge

Definitely not shit but if I was to get one again I'd save enough cash to get something pretty high end and light to offset the draggy feeling that spoiled mine a bit.

I took my fatbike to a popular trail centre recently that involved a long climb to the top - I passed a group of riders at the bottom as I left the car park. Got all the way to the top, did the first section of the descent and climbed back to the top to be greeted by the same group of riders who had just arrived and then told me how my tires make my bike heavy and slow...let them go ahead on the descent to find them re-grouped at the bottom due to a puncture. Climbed back to the top for my third descent - they were still there fixing the tyre. My bike is totally $hit....

I actually [i]'get'[/i] fat bikes, I don't think they're utterly useless, I just can't see the real need for one in the UK, if this was Alaska or North Africa, or you have a huge journey over mixed terrain with loads of kit to lug, then they make some sense...

But pottering round some woods in Surrey or Hampshire they're just comical IMO. It's a fad...

But then so are "Gravel" bikes, and I am quite into that fad at present, so people in glass houses and all that...

It's all fads, enjoy your choices, scoff at others, but don't take it too seriously...

I don't know where you are all riding but I'm seeing more fatbikes than ever. of course folk who have more than one bike are maybe using something else at the moment - road, cross/gravel, XC, DH whatever but that doesn't mean they're not about to get dragged out again.

cookeaa - Member

But pottering round some woods in Surrey or Hampshire they're just comical IMO

I agree, mine certainly makes me laugh.

I love my fat bike.

On the woodland trails I usually ride it's far better in intermediate and dry conditions than winter slop.

The grip is just incredible and you can lean it over to daft angles.

When it's wet and muddy it just skates over the mud and then hangs up on roots. It's quite disconcerting.

Fatbike shit??.........**** OFF...

my fav bike

Though the op does seem to be living under a bridge he does have a point.
I was one of the early adopters but don't bother with them any more. Not a problem or worth worrying about they just don't suit my riding at this point in time.
That could change again though. That's the great thing about bikes,if you get bored just ride something else.

i have to say, i dont like them. but i dont think they are shyte.
i would love a carbon spesh fat bike, but it wont happen. rode a friends On One, and it was terrible. squirmy bouncy hard to steer.
i know the tyres are supposed to be ridden at low pressure, but as a 20 stone rider, this is not suitable, so more air in the tyres means ( i have been told) a pointless exercise.

please feel free to correct me if i am talking shyte.

Reckon the Ops frustrated, probably been left for dead by someone riding a fat bike.
Perhaps his bird dumped him & bounced off into the sunset having a backie off said fat bikerer.

but as a 20 stone rider, this is not suitable

Tried one in the Dubai desert, was fun. Don't want one though and they do look ridiculous overtime I see one. But hey, different strokes for different folks, so long as you're having a larf, go for it.

I live in the frozen North of Scandinavia and they are kind of cool for riding in the snow but it's not that fast really, more of a bimblers bike, hence the love on here :).

Would rather go cross country skiing or snowboarding in those conditions but it's good to have variety I guess!

Like I said I've tried/bought most of the fads biking has churned out over the years 😀

Prime sucker me 😳

And yes I enjoyed every bit of it too !! But maybe now older/wiser/grumpier I can only see greedy b******s in marketing rubbing hands in glee at the suckers buying every fad churned out 🙄

**** me I was first in the queue for most of it 😆

Yes I know it's business and it's how companies operate etc etc .. But I'm down to 4 bikes- 2 road bikes/cx bike/fixed wheel errand bike and every one of them make me smile like a loon after a ride 8)

Guess I've just been full circle and don't need all the added on Pish that adds naff all to the ultimate feeling of riding 8)

You own a cx bike and consider a fatty an unsuitable off road bicycle?

P-Jay - Member
...if I had to put a figure on it - maybe 1 in 200 bikes I'd see at a Trail Centre would be a full fat bike and they've stayed at about that level - you see less bikes of course "out in the wilds" but I don't think I've ever seen one out of a trail centre...

Trail centre? Not really what fatbikes are made for, so I wouldn't expect to see many there. There's far better bikes for that purpose although a fattie would be fun.

Out in the wilds is where the fatbikes are at their best. I'm not surprised you haven't seen any though. I would regard the hills as a bit crowded if I ran across another rider when I'm out on my fatbike.

A fatbike is primarily a going places bike, not a sports bike, ideal for difficult routes through the mountains.

cookeaa - Member
I actually 'get' fat bikes, I don't think they're utterly useless, I just can't see the real need for one in the UK,

You must live in limited access England. 🙂

Run what ya brung, saw 2 in Guisborough Woods last weekend & heard them before I saw them. (& I'm on an Orange 5!)

Lovin the first ride I put in my 26+ Surly that I'm actually going to get rid of the mint £6k susser.

That must surely say sonething + about them.
Ok so 2.75"/3" tyres aren't full fat but it's certainly fun with traction.

Maybe you tried an asda special fatty that put you off...?
Who knows but give it another go, what you have to lose apart from grinning ear to ear.

Pished on a few folks chips there Colin! 😆

I had singlespeeds for years. I suddenly realised in the middle of the night at the Plymouth Bontrager 24/12, as I walked wearily up a hill trying not to cramp, that I didn't want to ride singlespeeds any more. So I don't.

They aren't and weren't shit, but I have moved on. I've not got a fat bike, but I can imagine after many happy years of riding one perhaps struggling to inflate a 5" tyre with a wheezy hand-pump while lost in a remote and midge-infested bog somewhere, and thinking "[i]you know what? The last 3 years have been fun and all, but I'm getting a fluorescent Santa Cruz Bronson and I'm going to ride Afan[/i]".

😀

ive got a fat bike, and i love it:

does remind me of this:
a fat bike is like a fat girlfriend
its ok till your mates see you riding one
hehe

It'd be a boring old world if we only used things that were optimal for the purpose.

I love my fatbike. Hitting a downhill track in the same way as I might on my 160mm [s]enduroist gnarpoon weapon[/s] bike, I soon discover the difference but it's fun, and that's enough. 🙂

I actually 'get' fat bikes, I don't think they're utterly useless, I just can't see the real need for one in the UK, if this was Alaska or North Africa, or you have a huge journey over mixed terrain with loads of kit to lug, then they make some sense...

The bit you possibly don't get is the fun part. There doesn't have to be a need does there?

I have ridden what many would think of as inappropriate bikes for off road riding but they were fun and I enjoyed riding them. Still tempted now to go back to brakeless/fixed track bike off road as I am missing it and it was fun in a different way to fun on an MTB (it was also faster which is enjoyable too)

I don't see many on my local trails the Peak District, West Yorkshire, can't imagine they are great on serious climbs
In fact I've never seen one..

I'd love one but having to climb on a average 500-800 metres a ride I can't warrant one

The climbing aspect on a fat bike had put me off also.

My usual climbing for a ride is somewhere around 800 to 900 metres.

I am buying a Fat E Bike though, just to give enough assistance in my advancing years.

Its a Felt Lebowsk -e.

I climb faster on my fat bike than on my full suss. I can tackle equally steep descents, albeit a little slower in rough descents. On bridleways churned up by horses they are superb. On stick mud they rise up over the top and glide serenely by.

On slick mud, especially over a hard surface, they are like bambi on ice.
On steps they are like a bouncy rigid bike - at least my Fatty is.

They're great when you meet citizens who know their rights / the law on cheeky trails.

They make me smile.

And the last point is the only one that matters.

BigDummy - Member
....but I can imagine after many happy years of riding one perhaps struggling to inflate a 5" tyre with a wheezy hand-pump while lost in a remote and midge-infested bog somewhere, and thinking "you know what? ...

...I'm going to buy a decent pump, a map, and some midge repellent?

maybe we should all go and buy enduro rigs and try and strava our way around a trail centre. woopy f*cking doo.
been there done that. got bored. 6,7, or even 8" of suspension to ride afan or glyncorrwg. balls.
i'll stick with my fat bike thank you. beaten a hell of a lot of riders, up and down on it.

I've realised they're not shit, if that's any help?

whatyadoin, Denis, climbing was one of the reasons why I wanted to try one second hand, so I could ship it on for not much loss if it held me up. It's not holding me up, I'm not selling it.

difficult to do less than 100ft /mile on my usual trails (the aforementioned surrey/hants woodlands), so 25 miles will get me to your 800-900m.

A lot of the fastest times I've posted on climbs round here have been on the fatbike. short and steep and long and draggy. The tyres aren't slow and they allow you to transfer more power to the ground. When it's really steep and you're on the limit of stalling, that little bump that will stop you on a normal tyre will just disappear under the low pressure tyre and you'll be on and up. There are some steep, scrabbly climbs which I've only managed to clean on the fatbike.

So if "rubbish at climbing" is your top reason for dismissing fatbikes, you should really reconsider!

igm, well said!

OP - nope, looks like they're all still in denial :p

Would love to have a go on one really but I think it'd get old quite quickly for me. Hate draggy feeling tyres as it is. That said I can see them being great for short hoons in the woods

I really don't get why people moan about different bikes, tyre sizes, axle sizes, rim width,.... 2 things:

1 - As a mtber you now have more CHOICE than at any point in the history of the sport to ride the bike that is right for you and the type of riding you do and the conditions you ride in. Choice is a good thing. Making product better is a good thing. making your rims stronger and stiffer is a good thing, giving you more grip is a good thing, having brakes that work is a good thing, having an xc bike with big wheels is a good thing, having a dh rig with agile small wheels is a good thing. Sh1t even being able to have a bike with pedal assist is good thing.

2 - YOU DON'T ACTUALLY HAVE TO BUY IT!

Don't confuse a fad with progress. And if you are that annoyed by it go ride alone on your early 90s steel rigid clunker with rim brakes and have a great time doing it if that's your bag. Just stop moaning.... Please.

I don't see many on my local trails the Peak District, West Yorkshire, can't imagine they are great on serious climbs
In fact I've never seen one..

I'd love one but having to climb on a average 500-800 metres a ride I can't warrant one

You probably haven't seen one because there aren't that many out there, nothing to do with your local terrain. I did a big loop on mine in the peaks the weekend before last, 2000 metres climbing, the bike is not the limiting factor.

Would I have a go on on? Yes.
Would I use one for a week to get used to it? Yes.
Would I buy one? Maybe but unlikely.
Would I use one as my only (off-road) bike? No.

I've got a pair of B+ wheels/tyres for my 29er and they're probably about as far as I'd like to go in the fat direction. But that's for the riding that I do I can see me using them maybe 40% of the time.

As for no good on serious climbs: postierich got a damn site further up the Kentmere side of Garburn Pass on his fat bike the other month than I did on my 29er.

The climbing aspect on a fat bike had put me off also.

I generally climb faster on my fatbike than my (now gone) Scott Spark. It is a bit slower on longer/rougher descents.

On the strength of this thread I dug my Spearfish out from the back of the shed.
The steering feels twitchy, the narrow bottom bracket has brought back my chaffing downstairs, it's not any comfier, i dont like the bouncing when climbing and most of all I miss that instant power that a big fat tyre and rigid frame give you.
Shall Strava some off road climbs on the way home and see if fatty is any slower.

now plus one has got all the fatties' attention, can I ask.... How do you find them going down steep technical stuff? Comparatively. Are [i]you[/i] still riding the same steep stuff as [i]you[/i] ride/used to ride, on your main bike?
No matter what your main bike is/was (unless your main bike is a DH or Trials bike - I guess that would skew things)

Just wondering whether your average fat bike is less comfortable on the steeps than your average middle of the road FS/HT. Like I said comparatively, I've no doubt postierich would kick my arse up hill and down gnar on his fatbike.

My first post ever on here was in response to the knocking that these new fangled 29ers were getting.
I'm sure if STW was around in the 90s we would be arguing about suspension.

Are you still riding the same steep stuff as you ride/used to ride, on your main bike?

I'd like to give a fs fat bike a go. The new trek looks promising.

IMO a fad, you won't see many in a few years time outside of the odd die hards.

I'm seriously considering getting one as a mess about in the woods & ride with my little lad kinda bike as a high spec carbon 29 XC FS is a bit overkill for that kinda thing.

I'm not expecting it to be a revelation in all things biking, but more a bit of fun for bumbling round the woods, as a plus point he things the bigger the tyres the more a bike is for riding in the forest so win win.