First fat bike advice….. 650b fat???

Hi all,

I’m just about to buy my first fat bike. I was all set to buy a specialised fat boy, however I then saw treks Farley range – I’m quite tempted by the carbon frames version. I then noticed most fat bikes run 26″ wheels whereas the treks now run 650b fat tyres?!?

Would staying with 26″ be the best option or is 650b fat worth a punt???

Any thoughts would be welcomed!

Thanks

Tyre choice is critical on a fatbike. How many options are there for a 650×4 tyre?

I’d avoid.

Mmmm I noticed there’s very few choices so far!

That’d be like having skimmed milk in your cuppa 😯 Go full fat or go home imo 😀

oink1 – Member
That’d be like having skimmed milk in your cuppa Go full fat or go home imo

The OP is talking about “full fat” 4″ tyres, but on a 27.5″ rim.

scotroutes – Member
oink1 – Member
That’d be like having skimmed milk in your cuppa Go full fat or go home imo
The OP is talking about “full fat” 4″ tyres, but on a 27.5″ rim

And I’m just saying – if you want fat tyres, get a fat bike – 26″ FTW 😆

I had a similar dilemma. I was very close to a Farley 9 and in the end bailed over this limitation.

To be fair, the Hodag is supposedly quite a good tyre, but there aren’t many other options…

I went with a homebuild 26×4 in the end…

As long as there is at least one decent tyre why not? I believe their thinking was 650b x 4 to go quick and had loads of space for 26 x 5 when necessary. If push comes to shove a pair of new rims when you need new tyres.

If push comes to shove a pair of new rims when you need new tyres.

And spokes. And the time/cost to build them.

I’m a recent convert to fat biking.

I’ve been very pleasantly surprised by its ability. Traction and confidence at previously undreamt of levels

The downsides? Accelerating those big hefty wheels up to speed and tyre weight. Both would be worse with bigger hoops

I’d go with a 26er

Worth checking if you can run 26″ as well. That way is 650s don’t work for you can sell on and buy 26″ = costly but problem solved. You might be surprised.

James

I must admit I work at a Trek dealer and was going to go for the Farley, but in the end there just didn’t seem to be a decent selection of tyres so I went for an Ice Cream Truck in stead to stick with 26″

It’s awesome by the way 😉