The 5″ tyres on the Fatboy would put me off. For what I ride, 4″ is enough.

The future is fat.

I reckon non-fat bikes have about 5yrs left of being the norm.

Why would anyone want a bike with no grip or traction?

The FB is a good option out of the current offerings.

It is lightweight (tubeless makes a nice, noticeable improvement too), has decent parts (CF fork, GC tyres), and is specialized, which means a well sorted overall bike. Price is good too

It rides well, the GC tyres perform superbly, and you get the back-up which from Spesh (I have always found) is faultless

However, you may have problems finding one now – Place I bought mone from aren’t getting more till Feb

But, all that’s just my opinion, and Fat Bikes maybe crap and no fun after all

and is specialized, which means a well sorted overall bike.

Hahaha, much as it’s probably a great bike but “well sorted overall” is not a plaudit I’d level at specialized. On my comarably priced FS from them:
The free hub died in 5 rides, allong with the hub bearings as they relied on a cartrige bearing copy of a shimano hub (i.e. only 1 bearing in the hub and one in freehub, and being cartridge, they were tiny compared to C&C bearings). The headset was looseball, the OEM stem somehow managed to be both 70mm and flexy (and I normamy ride with 120mm XC stems!), and any component without a name on it was made from lead (seatpost, cassette, even the spesh branded bars and saddle were beyond reasnobly proky for a £1800 bike). If they can scrimp on it, Spesh will scrimp on it.

All fair points, but I think you must have had a bad one there 😉 You swap out the heavy/unreliable stuff as you go along though don’t you 🙂

Seriously though, I still rate Spesh bikes. I’ve just sold a FSR Stumpy frame. Attention to detail was spot on, and it rode well. And the Fat Boy I have now seems all good – although I have swapped out some stuff already, and it’s in the bike shop as we speak having the BB replaced under warranty 🙂

I get the feeling I’m in the minority of fatbike owners who don’t say “never ride anything else now”. It’s just a different bike, and some times that’s what I’ll be in the mood for; other times I’ll take out the bronson and have a rag on that. They’re different in the way that hardtail is different to full sus or a cx bike.
As I’ve learnt more (I’m on my second fatty now), I’ve decided 80mm rims is about perfect all-round with 4″ tyres, and that offset rear ends are bloody stupid.
As such, I’ve got two full sus’, a fatty, a road bike, a SS CX, a fixie. I’ll ride whatever I’m in the mood for. Mostly offroad my short travel full sus gets used unless I’m going through absolute slop, in which case the fatty comes out.
I also commute on it a hell of a lot because they’re an absolute riot on the streets.

Am I the only one NOT getting the Fatbike love?
I’ve tried several of my friends’ bikes and just found them bulky and bouncy. Maybe at ten and a half stone I’m just too light to keep such big tyres under control? The 2.4 inch tyres I run on my Surly 1×1 feel just right for me for sloppy winter riding.
The only exception was a summer beach ride I did with the fatties where I was obviously expending far more energy to keep going on the soft sand than they were.

Seriously though, I still rate Spesh bikes. I’ve just sold a FSR Stumpy frame. Attention to detail was spot on, and it rode well. And the Fat Boy I have now seems all good – although I have swapped out some stuff already, and it’s in the bike shop as we speak having the BB replaced under warranty

True, it was just the relentlessness of the failures for the first few months, compared to any bike I’ve ever built from scratch. Once I’d put in some decent wheels, a shimano drivetrain, swapped finishing kits from the parts bin, shimano brakes it was a ton lighter and never failed again. The frame’s are great, but I could have saved the effort and just build one up from a frame only.

I’ve tried several of my friends’ bikes and just found them bulky and bouncy.

That’s just it.. think of them as a bastard lovechild of a BMX and a space hopper..

But seriously tho, if they where bouncy, they have too much air in the tyres IMHO.

gardron – Member
I get the feeling I’m in the minority of fatbike owners who don’t say “never ride anything else now”. It’s just a different bike, and some times that’s what I’ll be in the mood for; other times I’ll take out the bronson and have a rag on that. They’re different in the way that hardtail is different to full sus or a cx bike.

I still have other bikes I ride regularly. Usually it’s a question of taking the “best” bike for the job in hand. However, it’s also great fun taking something that would otherwise be a bit “inappropriate”. It can often make things a bit more challenging both in terms of fitness and required skill levels.

I do have to say that after riding the fatbike for a long time, anything else feels a bit sketchy and grip-less 🙂

I do have to say that after riding the fatbike for a long time, anything else feels a bit sketchy and grip-less

4″ surly Nates on tarmac, leant over at 25 degrees is about the sketchiest tyre I’ve ever known. Massive dead spot before the side lugs kick in. That was the reason for 6 months of physio on my knee at the start of the year. It’s all about the tyre, not how wide it is. Can’t wait for the jumbo jims to be out at the start of next year.

I’m mostly riding 120tpi Husker Dus. Seem to be a good combination of grip and speed. I don’t think I even fitted the Nates last winter!

Fatbike curious here and LBS has the Genesis Caribou available in my size as a demo….. this could be a costly Christmas…. 🙂

I get the feeling I’m in the minority of fatbike owners who don’t say “never ride anything else now”. It’s just a different bike, and some times that’s what I’ll be in the mood for; other times I’ll take out the bronson and have a rag on that. They’re different in the way that hardtail is different to full sus or a cx bike.

Yup with you on that.
It’s ace but not enough to make me not ride anything else.
33.5lbs feels like it going uphill. Now if I could afford a sub 28lb one with sus forks I might feel different.
Mind you it does make the light bike feel VERY fast when I switch.

4″ surly Nates on tarmac, leant over at 25 degrees is about the sketchiest tyre I’ve ever known.

Odd. That’s not a characteristic I recognise…

scotroutes – Member

I still have other bikes I ride regularly. Usually it’s a question of taking the “best” bike for the job in hand. However, it’s also great fun taking something that would otherwise be a bit “inappropriate”. It can often make things a bit more challenging both in terms of fitness and required skill levels.

I completely agree. It’s an alternative option to my full-susser and keeps things interesting. Some of our local woodland singletrack is a vastly different experience depending on which of the two bikes I choose to ride. Yeah they’re not the fastest uphill, but is always about going the fastest? Not for me.

… it’ll also be ace when the snow arrives 😉

“The Angry Singlespeeder’s” article on fat bikes:

The Angry Singlespeeder: Fat Bikes. Meh.

I’m with the likes of Scotroutes and Paceman on this one… Most of the time, we go biking for fun and on a lot of rides, the fatty is quite simply the most fun. Mine’s been all over the place, woodland singletrack, tops of munros, mud, gutters and commuting into Dundee. If you’re enjoying it, it’s all good. Who cares if it’s 5% slower here or a bit boingy there; I ain’t racing and if I wanted totally smooth, I’d go ride some freshly pressed tarmac.

Interesting article from the Angry Singlespeeder… Reminds me of Langlauf Ski ing and being asked if everything was Ok by another ski-ist, I was walking with my skis having come to realise that this was the most mind numbing thing I had ever done. I just wanted it to stop.

Other people like Langlauf, thats fine… if we were all the same it would be very dull.

I am however, looking forward to Fatbiking alongside the Langlauf runs and smiling a lot at the slot racing equivalent of skiing.

love this quote from that blog link :

So if you’ve been considering a fat bike and you don’t either A) live in the middle of a desert B) live in tundra that’s frozen over half the year or C) live on a beach in the middle of nowhere, a fat bike probably isn’t the best investment. Just find a friend who owns one. That way when you get that once a year urge to ride a fat bike, you can just borrow it, get your fill of fatty and give it back.

🙂

Is there any viable cheap fat options (sub £500 for the whole bike). For what I can see it think the answer is no.

That Argos bike 😉

Or, second hand.

http://coastkid.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/can-you-build-cheap-fatbike-here-is-sub.html

Looking forward to going out on mine tomoz

iainc – Member
Fatbike curious here and LBS has the Genesis Caribou available in my size as a demo….. this could be a costly Christmas….

who has the Caribou as a demo? Would be interested in trying one

4″ surly Nates on tarmac, leant over at 25 degrees is about the sketchiest tyre I’ve ever known.

Odd. That’s not a characteristic I recognise…..

+1

My lbs has a Kona WO demo bike and a Genesis Caribou in stock.

http://www.facebook.com/bachebrotherscycles

Love that orange

What that does make for however, is an extremely ‘stand out bike’

beargrease owner here. when a fatbike is 26lb it becomes a real hoot and way easier to climb up hill. mate has a caribou and chases roadies down on it the look on their face is a picture.

stevie750 – Member
iainc – Member
Fatbike curious here and LBS has the Genesis Caribou available in my size as a demo….. this could be a costly Christmas….
who has the Caribou as a demo? Would be interested in trying one

Sprockets in Kilmarnock have it 🙂

Looked at a Genesis Caribou the other day and then a Specialized Fatboy. Want a fatbike and will probably be one of these two, but can’t decide. One looks great for hitting the hills and staying out over night and the other looks easier to live with for general trail duties. Decisions decisions!

Anyone made the choice between these two?

We’ve had a Kona Wo as a demo and I’ve still got a 2014 Caribou that we’ve been hooning around as a shop bike for a couple of months, massive fun on both but the Caribou is definitely the better bike, makes all the difference having hydraulics rather than mechanicals and knobblier tyres. If you haven’t bought one yet ours is up for sale at £900