Have folks realised fat bikes are shit yet ?

Not a troll !!

I had a shot a few years back and was blown away(10 min) around small loop … Very nearly bought one last year but money was tight ..

Couple of lads I know got some and raved about them and were never off them but last few months they’ve never even touched them 😕

I love all types of cycling and been pulled in before by spurious claims/products 😳

But the more I see of them they seem to me utter shite and niche too far ?

You are entitled to your opinion even if it is wrong.

Specialist tools that got marketed to a wide audience.

I’ve recently bought one and I’m loving it. Can’t see the honeymoon period ending any time soon.

They have their place, but having been off the bike and doing more walking recently, I think I’ve realised that their place is broadly described as not too soft snow, sand, or places that are more easily and just as enjoyably traversed on foot.

Some people I know love theirs though, which is fine, they probably think more than one of my bikes are fairly pointless.

So…..let me get this right…… you were “blown away” and your mates “raved about them” and bought some?

Must be shit right enough.

there’re not for everyone

If it looks like a troll and smells like one….

Everyone has their own trails and preferences – for some folks a fat bike suits them perfectly, others just like them time to time. Looks like you’ve come to the conclusion they are not right for you. Fair enough, but making a blanket statment like ‘utter shite’ is trolling…

Strava told me fat is as fast as skinny. Skinny bike given away.

I was blown away by the OP, it was rubbish, I’ll be sticking with the village bike from now on.

No.

If it looks like a troll and smells like one….

No, no. We have been assured…

having been off the bike and doing more walking recently

I was out for a pleasant walk yesterday and every time it went downhill I was yearning to be on a bike.

Ive got one, it tends to get used sporadically. Its certainly been hanging up unused for the last month as any riding time has been the big sus bike taking advantage of the superb dry conditions on the local trails or the calm dry evenings out on the nice road bike. Not that my fatbike is my mud bike, but it does get used a lot less when conditions are prime for riding other bikes.

but last few months they’ve never even touched them

Neither have I
that’s because we have actually had some decent weather for a change
Wont be long before its out again though

All mountain bikes are pointless. I mean we ride them round in big muddy circles going nowhere, when there’s generally a decent bit of tarmac that actually goes somewhere. Nuts.

But they are fun aren’t they?

All mountain bikes are pointless. I mean we ride them through and across great countryside when there’s generally a decent bit of tarmac that gets you there quicker. Nuts.

FTFY 😛

“I’m not a troll but..”

For some of us no such realisation was involved. Instead their shitness was immediately apparent on first apprehension.

Whitestone – I shall accept that correction.

I haven’t tried one and don’t have any opinion on how they ride really, nice to have the option I guess.

As for their popularity though, when they were big news I saw a few, people used to stare at them as if they were some mythical creature brought to life, then it sort of died down to I don’t know – 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.

Perhaps I’m wrong, but I think a lot of people bought them because, they have a collection so something a bit fringe is a nice addition but a few thought they were ‘the future’ and they really aren’t, I think these newer ‘Plus Bikes’ are the bikes that the people who though fat bikes would be the future were really looking for.

I had an opinion based on nothing but looks alone that they would be sh*t.

I rode one, and it was indeed, sh*t. Same applied to a plus bike.

I can appreciate we’re all different, even if I don’t understand it though 🙂

It’s a fad, it will pass*.

* for the mainstream, I’m sure they have a place for mega-niche circumstances.

If only we didn’t have to buy them, that would be great! If we had the power of independant thought we wouldn’t have to keep buying things we don’t want that we’re currently forced to, imagine the possibilities???
We could even invent a thingy that could remotely turn over the tv channel, or even.. (get this, it’s so mad it’s genius) something like a button that’d turn it off!!!
that’d shut up all the Top Gear whingers once and for all…
But no, I’m sat here in a sea of fat bikes, gravel bikes gnarrpoons and clarkson videos.. in misery.. 🙁

@p-jay PostieRich rides one and I’ve been out with a couple of other lads in the Peak and the Lakes who’ve got one but apart from a lad who occasionally gets on the train with an e-fat bike (I kid you not!) that’s it.

I’ve got some plus wheels for my 29er – sometimes they are better, sometimes they aren’t. Which set I use will likely depend on what ride I’m heading out to do.

I don’t have a fat bike so can’t really comment, but I feel my contribution to the thread is about as worthy as the OP’s!!

There will be a number of people who try them and stick with them while others while thinking it is all they will use for the rest of their life sell it 4 months later

Very similar thing with single-speeds 15 years ago. I haven’t used gears since as a single-speed was great for my needs in 2003 and is still great for my needs now.

I feel they would be very useful opening up the miles of moorland choss that is not really rideable on a normal bike. I can think of one spectacularly remote valley somewhere near Plynlumon iirc that I guess would be quite rideable on one but was hike a bike on a normal bike.

I like turtles

I like turtles too. Cowabunga!

My Muk is in it’s 4th year and still going strong, I’ve recently singlespeeded my Puffin and love it even moar! So no I don’t think they’re shit 😉

But they are Turtelly pointless!

(IGMC)

Of course turtles are pointless, if they weren’t then it’d make the soup taste sharp.

In fairness, the op has stated he has neither the experience or knowledge to make such a statement, which is a bit more honest than most on here.

Do you have to have everyone agree with you on everything all the time, or can some things be different?

Mine is brilliantly shit. Or shittily brilliant. If it was really good, it’d be pointless, because I already have a really good bike.

I too have a really good bike but now prefer to ride a “shit” one .

Couple of lads I know got some and raved about them and were never off them but last few months they’ve never even touched them

So they didn’t ride them over the mild, wet winter and into the mild, wet spring? Those conditions where fat tyres act like boats?

Shite, obviously.

Pointless unless your fit as and drink proper ale 🙂

I reckon they are “utterly shite” as mountain bikes, if by mountain biking you mean any of the standard racing-inspired disciplines (XC racing, Downhill, Enduro). Of course they are shite in quite a comic way and that alone can be enough to make them fun (see, for example, Northwind’s response above).

They can also open up a totally different sort of riding. One that has nothing to do with speed and is really all about exploration. It’s about as different to regular mountain biking as touring and Audax are to road racing and sportives, but it still appeals to some folk.