Can Fat Bike be a 'do it all' bike?

I’ve had fat, half fat and full suss and hardtail etc.. I rode the Trans Provence on a fat front Jones rigid.
.I loved my full fatty and really wanted one but sold it quite quickly. With other similarly fit riders on mix of singletrack, road, fire road, roots/rocky I was dying in comparison.

They grip around (smooth) corners fantastically, you just can’t crash them, they do give you a massive grin, you could use it as your only bike.
All that grip results in a massive slowing down on the straits compared to a normal mtb even with 2.4 or 2.5s and, whilst great fun and doable, they are much slower in rough terrain and get out of control with the lack of damping…doesn’t stop it being any less fun.

In mud they are ok until it gets very muddy then yes they plane and float, in just soft they are great.
In snow they are good but unless It’s more than a foot deep my mates were just as fine on their normal mtb but like some sort of reversal it’s more effort on the normal bike in snow.

In summary great fun but as soon as I swopped to my ‘normal’ 150mm AM 29er on jumpy, fast flowy and rough stuff it was like switching to the Millenium Falcon from a WW2 fighter plan…for me. Just trying to add some balance
Like all bikes, it depends what you want. I think. I really really wanted a full fat but the reality did not match up to the fantasy for me.

brumsgrove 😀

What road bike? 🙂

The answer to you question is “yes” if you buy the right bike.

I ride mine all year
I ride in all conditions

Now with 2nd 29er+ wheelset

Tis for me 🙂
But i ain`t normal

A fatbike which is also 29+ capable is the way forward for UK xc trails if you like to ride a rigid bike, and if a fatbike for regular trails tickles your boat. Fat is fun-monster grip, get onto faster flowing singletrack and 29+ is faster 🙂
29+ needs more than just the Knard tyre option though!

The rebound of the tyres causes havoc on this type of trail once you start climbing the steeper stuff.

I was thinking about this, then I thought you could do with a tube of closed cell foam inside the tyre taking up some of the volume but not all of it. This would provide a two stage damping effect.

Just did a bit of googling and found out that as with many things it already exists in the motorcross world:

http://motocrossactionmag.com/mobile/News/MXA-WRENCH-TECH-THE-PLUSES-AND-MINUSES-OF-THE-BIB-3005.aspx

However they use it to replace the inner tube. I reckon you’d be better off with one inside a tubeless fat tyre, so you could still top up via the valve as normal. Fitting might be a bit of a faff tho 🙂

Bit like those Schwalbe tyres last week as well? One high pressure tube to provide cushioning, with a low pressure one on the outside to provide grip.

I want a fat bike, but the tyre cost put me off. Say I bought a fatty, with the floaters which are apparently an all rounder but not so good in mud. I’d then want 120tpi Nates for the winter, at $150 per tyre! And inevitably something semi-slick for dry days, the fatty equivelent of SB8’s. I’d be afriad to commute on them at those prices!

Unless fat bikes really take off and mainstream manufacturers bring out tyres at mainstream prices, I’m 🙁

Bit like those Schwalbe tyres last week as well?

Not quite, as rebound would still be fast. The foam would have slower rebound than air.

Unless fat bikes really take off and mainstream manufacturers bring out tyres at mainstream prices

Vee rubber… 😉

And floaters, made by vee rubber, a very good in new forest mud!

I reckon you’d be better off with one inside a tubeless fat tyre, so you could still top up via the valve as normal. Fitting might be a bit of a faff tho

Having used bib mousses for years in enduros I’d not be wanting one in my fatbike thank you very much.
Fitting is easy once you know how though. 🙂

Why not? Too heavy?

That and the dead feeling they give.

You could maybe try to improve the feel by drilling holes straight through them and the tyre if you were feeling flush…

Seems to be what a lot of people are doing now at events like Hellsgate.

I’ve used my Beargrease for my usual N Downs epic loop. It was harder work on the hills than the usual ti 29er hardtail but lot more fun on the downs!

I’ve also used

I’ve used my Beargrease for my usual N Downs epic loop. It was harder work on the hills than the usual ti 29er hardtail but lot more fun on the downs!

I’ve also used it for a 4hr XC enduro and was winning for 2.5hrs, at which point the effort required to race a 28lb fat bike really started to show and I ended up 2nd.

So they aren’t as flat out quick as a normal bike on normal trails but are a lot more fun.

postierich – Member

brumsgrove

What road bike?

The one you were too embarrassed to tell me about in the shop ! 😆

That and the dead feeling they give.

Hmm but don’t MXers run only the foam and no air? I was thinking of air and foam together. So you’d still be riding on air somewhat.

I was thinking of air and foam together. So you’d still be riding on air somewhat.

Why not just make the tyre smaller instead of trying to make the volume of air in the tyre smaller. 😉

TBH I don’t have a problem with my tubless nates as long as the pressure is “just right”
I’d have no interest in adding extra weight and expense to make it feel like a smaller volume tyre.

Hmm but don’t MXers run only the foam and no air

There are some mousse tubes with a small air tube inside. That’s so that you can make them feel harder though not softer.

how would a fatbike be to ride the chalky wet clay stuff that makes up my local riding terrain (wiltshire).

wouldn’t it just clog up and weigh 1/4 tonne 😕

What’s it like lifting one over a stile? Do you need pulleys?

Depends if you an 8 stone strip of piss or not. 😉

Why not just make the tyre smaller instead of trying to make the volume of air in the tyre smaller

It wouldn’t feel like that.. it’d be more like having the wheel mounted on some kind of swingarm with a damped spring at the other end 😉

Seriously though, a soft fat tyre could in theory give you amazing traction as it moulds to the ground, and if you could control the rebound that would solve the problems mentioned above.

iain1775 – Member
Was chatting to someone on one at Parkwood Springs today, seemed to be enjoying it, was faster than me (not hard), wasn’t any mud or snow and he didnt die
First fat bike I’ve seen ‘in real life’ looked like fun

that was me 😀
and you’re absolutely right, it is fun.

Rorschach – Member
I reckon this could do 90% of what a fat bike does (in this country) and 90% of what a ‘normal’ bike does as well (well I hope so). (Pic of 29er+)

Possibly true, but that 10% you can’t do with the 29er+ is the more interesting 10%

I’d agree a fatbike doesn’t feel as fast as an ordinary 29er, yet in the ‘Puffer I have twice done my PB on a fatbike weighing twice what my pretty Ti bike does.

Is it any good on the road? If you know where this is – it’s a very long way from anywhere… 🙂

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All types of bike on this local ride last summer 🙂
Fatbike, 29+ KramPug(me), 29er hardtail, 26″ hardtail, 26″ full suss, CX bike, all good in their own way on this ride around some local xc trails,
The Fatbike/29+ were never lagging behind despite nearly twice the weight of the cross bike 🙂
All these bikes are fun to ride though, esp with good mates 😉

29+ KramPug still holds the fastest lap of the original loop around Butterdean Woods to mates Strava times 😉 😆
No suspension and 29+ 🙂

And another film of fatties on regular xc stuff

birdage – Member
What’s it like lifting one over a stile? Do you need pulleys?

Yes

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birdage – Member 
What’s it like lifting one over a stile? Do you need pulleys?

My fatbike weighs in at a smidge over 30lbs.TThat’s an aluminum frame and a full set of gears.

If “do it all” includes riding down the World Cup DH track at Fort William, at night & in the snow, I guess they can 😉

Right bike for the job…..probably not! 😆 But deffo the most fun!

I must say they look absolutley ridiculous with full mudguards on.

Rickmeister

That looks mint! Have you a brief description so I can find your route on a map?

So has the OP bought one yet? 😀

Sanny – that’s the route out from Morar to Tarbert along Loch Morar. We did it as a there-and-back but you can also link it up with a Bruce Watt Cruise trip.

More photos here… http://www.flickr.com/groups/morar7/

molgrips – Member
I must say they look absolutley ridiculous with full mudguards on.

Not as ridiculous as a fashion conscious rider sprayed with emulsified dog and cow shit….

epicyclo – Member
molgrips – Member
I must say they look absolutley ridiculous with full mudguards on.
Not as ridiculous as a fashion conscious rider sprayed with emulsified dog and cow shit….

If thats what could happen find somewhere better to ride!

Sanny, Colin is right, it was a grand day out too… (apologies Colin…)

Chips and Beer after also ace..

Not as ridiculous as a fashion conscious rider sprayed with emulsified dog and cow shit….

Fashion conscious? You’re the fatbike rider not me 🙂

With over 30 fatbikes around North Berwick now-including a family with 5 bikes with 3 XS Pugsleys for the kids, no one ever looks at me anymore on my fatbikes 😥 just not niche enough now… 🙄

ordered a fat bike today, gonna be interesting…hoping it will give me a new perspective to what have become bland local trails.

molgrips – Member
“Not as ridiculous as a fashion conscious rider sprayed with emulsified dog and cow shit….”
Fashion conscious? You’re the fatbike rider not me

Ha! The day I’m a fashion follower, the trend has long gone…

Besides, my daughter frequently lets me know I am deeply unfashionable.

If you don`t want fat all the time just fit 29er rims and tyres 🙂

Rabbit Hole 29x 50mm rims and 29x 2.55 tyres…
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2nd Feb; 29er & 29+, Messing around in the Garage 019[/url] by coastkid71[/url], on Flickr

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2nd Feb; 29er & 29+, Messing around in the Garage 014[/url] by coastkid71[/url], on Flickr

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2nd Feb; 29er & 29+, Messing around in the Garage 016[/url] by coastkid71[/url], on Flickr

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2nd Feb; 29er & 29+, Messing around in the Garage 021[/url] by coastkid71[/url], on Flickr

First ride out on the fat bike today at the local jump spot. Its no slower than my old Mojo HD but in the interest of balance these aren’t rough trails.

The grip is amazing, but the bike is going to have to go on a diet. Cable disc brakes….much better than expected but will be the first thing I upgrade.

Will see if i can get the tyres to run tubeless as this will save 1.5lbs!!

Overall though lots of fun, think its going to be pretty sweet on the local single track.