my brother rode singlespeed before SSStu so he can shut up.

His brother^^^ is my hero.
But I’m so awstruck by him i have no idea who he is anymore. 😳

mattjg – Member

As a home mechanic, and who doesn’t ‘do’ Enduro, Procore looks like a bunch of faff.

It looks like about 1% more faff than a normal inner tube to me

inner tube?

Tom_1987 I can’t take you seriously since you posted

I guess you failed school comprehension tests, I didn’t as my verbal IQ is 135.

in a thread about religion. Calm down son. Have a power ****. You’re arguing on the Internet about tyre sizes….think about it…

Go easy on him, he wasn’t born until 1987!

power ****s sound awsum.
Are they like danger ****s but with a stronger arm?

Not my finding personally… And it doesn’t really get much rockier than kinlochleven, if it wasn’t for the boulders you’d just sink up to your neck in the swamps. I’ve used heavyweight singleplies tubeless (specialized sx) for dh racing at glencoe and fort william too (and ironically the one time I used dualplies for the endurance dh, I flatted) I tend to use fairly thinwalled singleplies- butches and barons. Mind you, I’m not fast, midfield in most races.

You don’t have to be fast Northwind, you probably just ride differently. Some people are either less aware of sharp rocks or straightline stuff disregarding features that might pinch flat or slash the tyres.

Tom_1987 I can’t take you seriously since you posted

Not really millitant or viciously defending fat bikes just taking the piss because you think you’re the bees knees because your brother once beat another child riding Down a hill & the child grew up to be world champ.

Have any of you actually posted some logical explanations as to why semi-fat tyres are any good? Apart from…”he probably hasn’t ridden any”. All I’ve seen so far is regurgitated marketing bollocks from a bunch of angry fat bikers who jumped down my throat because they felt threatened by me criticizing a trend that’s not even based on proper fat bikes, I’ve been riding since the age of six, I grew up with the sport – I’ve ridden plenty of bikes, plenty of tyres of all sizes, I’m free to make my own opinions without idiots resorting to ad hom.

If you can come along and explain to me, with some well researched opinion, as to why tall, 2.8 to 3 inch tyres instead of 29ers makes sense – then I’ll engage you properly – as Northwind does.

power ****s sound awsum.
Are they like danger ****s but with a stronger arm?

Done wearing business socks, obviously. And possibly while flicking through a copy of the Economist..

Tom_W1987 – Member

Have any of you actually posted some logical explanations as to why semi-fat tyres are any good?

Because they might be quite fun, and they can fit in many existing bikes?

Have any of you actually posted some logical explanations as to why semi-fat tyres are any good?

Hang on.. Do we need to know why? Surely some real experiences are more important? We have had those haven’t we?

In reality, riders, trails and what riders enjoy vary so much that there can be no ‘any good’. It’s all subjective. So stop arguing, it’s stupid.

Because they might be quite fun, and they can fit in many existing bikes?

Fat bikes are fun, I’ve mentioned that. Proper fat bikes that is. Whether having to changed your standard trail bike for a new standard that isn’t as fun as a proper fat bike, is fun, is a different matter though.

I’m really cynical about the whole thing, over the next year we will have industry and mags pushing how “fun” semi-fat bikes are – pushing new forks and frames and we’ll have a whole load of people buying them based on the hype. None of these bikes will actually be able to do what a fat bike can do, but hey they’ll be a bit more bouncy and fat looking. And then people will sing praises about the POS they just blew 5 grand on, to make themselves feel better about the purchase. Meanwhile we’ll get a tonne of new ‘essential’ axle standards being pushed by the big three swamping the market to make the semi-fat bikes ‘work’ – these standards will then be applied to normal bikes which will be designed as semi-fat compatible or whatever the **** they decide on calling it – which will just help to drive the small boys like BTR, Cotic and even Orange out of business.

I think this adequately sums up my feelings towards 650b+.

Will anyone win any xc races on 3″ tyres, will anyone win any DH races on 3″ tyres, will anyone win any enduro races on 3″ tyres.

If not it will only be marketed as a fun’ish trail bike for people who like to be extra.

If it does win any of the above races they may actually take off as the next big thing replacing the last big thing.

Was that before or after you and scruff cried when Phil made you carry your bikes up a bit of a hill?

Crying? All I see in this photo is calm composure. I only had to get off for the last 2 mninutes 😉

🙂

Will anyone win any xc races on 3″ tyres, will anyone win any DH races on 3″ tyres, will anyone win any enduro races on 3″ tyres.

Will 90% of the bike buying public care? No

Will 90% of the bike buying public care? No

98%.

Will 90% of the bike buying public care? No

And this is what I like about discs on road bikes, fat bikes, etc. It’s not truly race-bike inspired and it’s breaking that link between racing and bikes that non-racers, ie most of us, ride. There’s a place for racing and it does drive innovation but too many bikes/brands have been influenced by it for too long imo. It’s good to see brands looking for other influences for products and marketing, needs a bit more imagination.

My, there’s a lot of paranoia out there, isn’t there?

Personally, I think the past few years have seen some great innovation and we now have more choice than ever about the sort of bikes we want to ride. Of course the industry/market won’t support everything but that’s life.

I love riding my rigid bike with a 29+ on the front. For me, that’s all that matters.

^^ more importantly when are you splashing for a B+ rear so I can demo it?

Know what I got really shaken about on my N9 at Afan on that last trip, a B+in the rear would probably have been just the ticket.

Yep, waiting for B+ too

I really don’t care what kind of bike wins at DH, or any race for that matter!

it’s breaking that link between racing and bikes that non-racers, ie most of us, ride

That happened late-90s for MTB though.

Will 90% of the bike buying public care? No
98%.

I beg to differ, most of the mountainbikers I see locally are all about performance, Lycra clad racing snakelike strava’ites.

That happened late-90s for MTB though

Agreed, started then but taking a while to filter through based on the splits between race-inspired bikes and non-race bikes, compared to racers and non-racers among the buyers. I didn’t mean it was a recent thing in MTB, more just noting another few developments that encourage the detachment from pure race-bred bikes.

I’m much less excited about big tyres on the back. I’d like to try a B+ back end on my Stooge but the cost-benefit trade-off seems less clear-cut to me.

Hey – bit of an old thread now but am interested in your opinion.
Any (non-cynical) thoughts on why manufacturers seem to be producing more 27.5+ tires than 26+ tires? Given the way that 27.5″ has taken off, I would have expected a more even spread of options. Right now there’s just the 26×3.0″ Surly Knard.
For those who haven’t used it, it is nothing like the Duro 26×3″ or discontinued Gazz 26×3″ – completely different feeling tire at half the weight.

My, there’s a lot of paranoia out there, isn’t there?

I think that’s because a good number of us feel well and truly fisted by the industry and the relentless churnout of new “standards”.

27.5 only took off because all the manufacturers stopped making 26ers and a few stopped making 29ers too. I could prattle on about axle standards, but that really would be tedious.

krisholm – Member

Hey – bit of an old thread now but am interested in your opinion.
Any (non-cynical) thoughts on why manufacturers seem to be producing more 27.5+ tires than 26+ tires? Given the way that 27.5″ has taken off, I would have expected a more even spread of options. Right now there’s just the 26×3.0″ Surly Knard.
For those who haven’t used it, it is nothing like the Duro 26×3″ or discontinued Gazz 26×3″ – completely different feeling tire at half the weight.

Are you the Kris Holm?

I’ve actually been looking at quite a few unicycling sites recently seeing if there are any cheaper alternatives to the Surly Knard or the Vee Trax.

Makes me glad to be a mountain unicyclist.
As a rider and owner of one of the big brands I can say that unnecessary “innovation” and excessive numbers of different standards is something we systematically avoid.

It helps to be small, with the main industry decision makers still being close to the riders. Despite the sport having now increased across every continent there are only a handful of lead designers setting international component standards for this part of the industry and we actually talk to each other (in friendly terms!). Grassroots at its best.

FYI – here’s a 26+ and 29+ unicycle.

Re cheaper tire alternatives… no nothing from the unicycling industry on semi-fat tires as yet. Tire manufacturer minimum quantity requirements and costs are big compared to the size of the sport. The 26+ and 29+ tires are great though – I redesigned KH frames around them for 2015. Here’s team rider Max Schulze on his first ride on the 2015 KH26+:
https://vimeo.com/128946540