On one fatty first impressions (anyone)

Love the look of the Fat Bikes but are they just for Sand ???
just feel i’ll be dying trying to ride on a forest trail !
Am I wrong ?

Love the look of the Fat Bikes but are they just for Sand ???
just feel i’ll be dying trying to ride on a forest trail !
Am I wrong ?

Yup, you’re wrong, they are ace in the woods… Especially at this time of year with the mud & gloop…

A 4″ mud tyre makes it all the more fun.. 8)

Was out in Delamere yesterday, as pretty much every day..

Great fun.

^^ Your bell is PINK! 😆

Love the look of the Fat Bikes but are they just for Sand ???
just feel i’ll be dying trying to ride on a forest trail !
Am I wrong ?

Do you see any sand in any of my pictures?

Yes, you are wrong! 😀

ok 😉

Second ride on the Fatty this afternoon. I did not die this time either. So now the cost per ride has now been cut in half. And I added a computer that I got for Christmas. 🙂

I lowered the tire pressure by 1 psi to 6 psi front, 7 psi rear. It felt a little bouncier this time with the lowered pressure. The tires also sounded a little different. Its hard to explain, but they sounded more like my regular bike tires when I run them tubeless. No issues with the sidewalls folding or anything, and I’ll continue to mess with the pressure.

I also had the Shadow Plus clutch turned on the whole ride this time. Last time, I forgot till I was almost done. 😳 To me, its not noticeable while riding. No real rough areas to really test it, though.

And I had to tweak the derailleur cable tension and tighten up the headset as I felt a little play. I backed the tension screws out on the pedals, but not enough. I need to spend a few minutes and get them set up right. And I have to figure out where to put the battery for my lights. On the other bike, it goes on top of the stem. This stem is too short for it to fit. It needs to be accessible, though since the switch is on the battery.

I put a new chain on the bike when I built it, assuming that the larger chainring would mean that the original chain was too short. But the original chain was actually longer than the one that I put on! I put a mid cage XT rear derailleur on, so I guess that the SRAM X5 that was stock on the bike had a long cage. So now I have 2 chains, and may try that chain switching thing that some folks do to try and minimize drivetrain wear.

And I need to get some fenders. Those fat tires can throw a lot of mud and water. I’m liking the looks of the PDW ones, but need to come up with $50 first. I also remembered to take a jug of water to rinse some of the crap off of the bike when I was done.

They’re calling for 2-4″ of snow tonight into tomorrow. Or rain. Or a rain-snow mix. It depends on which website/TV/radio station you check. So, maybe a snow ride soon! 😀

We got about 4 inches of snow overnight and today. Once the snowplow cleared my street in the afternoon, I decided to take the Fatty out for a snow ride!

3-4 inches if fresh snow was about the limit of what I could ride in. Its hard work, too! It didn’t take much of an incline to be the lowest gears. And if got steep at all, there wasn’t enough traction to keep going. Steering is tough, the front wheel washes out easily. Its fine when the ground under the snow is flat and firm; when its rutted or off camber the bike goes in the direction that it wants to.

It was much better on packed snow, which is no surprise. I started on the asphalt park road which had been plowed but still had maybe 1/2 inch of snow left on it. The tires gripped great, but they sure are loud! The bike also rode fine where it hadn’t been plowed, but a car or truck had packed the snow down. As long as you stayed in the tire track, that is. Riding on the unplowed section of th eroad was possible, but hard work. Where the snow from the plow was added to the fresh snow, it was too much so impossible to ride.

Singletrack was challenging, as the front tire tended to wash out on every twist or off camber section. It helped some when the tire was in an XC ski track. (I stayed out of the XC tracks on the wider doubletrack trails, but this is impossible in the singletrack!) And once you are stopped, getting started again can be difficult. I probably went down as many times today as I did in 6 months of regular riding. 😳 They were all low (or very low) speed offs, and the snow cushions things, too.

Only issue – I did notice that both tires wobbled left and right at the end of the ride. I don’t know if any of the crashes were enough to unseat the bead or exactly what happened, but I’m thinking that I really need to get these set up tubeless!

I came across a couple of cross country skiers. Ski chick “Wow, you’re really hard core!” Ski dude “I’ve never seen anything like that; super cool!” 8)

Sorry; pictures are crap. It was really overcast, and I can’t work the tiny camera buttons with fleece gloves on!

Tracks left to right; turkey, Fatty, XC skier

Fatty laying on the same trail

Bike again

And again

Joe, you may have already answered this, but whereabouts are you based?

I’m near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the USA.

Just down the road from me kind of, I’m in Queens, NY. I think we’re getting your snow at the weekend, alas no fatbike for me, are you commuting on it at all, or is it just for off-road use?

Same time zone, at least.

I think we’re getting your snow at the weekend

So, you’re shoveling my driveway then? 😉

No commuting or anything. Just a second bike for riding trails. Part toy, part physical fitness plan to avoid being as round as I am tall.

Oh god, the snow….I’m chief shoveller on my block due to being surrounded by lots of old ginks who’s shovelling days are well and truly behind them.

I got mine a couple of weeks ago and have been out a few times, on ‘normal’ trails plus the beach a few times. First impression was that I couldn’t get the bloody mech on properly for ages, and like Joe I couldn’t get the powerlink off (never had any problem with 9 speed ones!) but after I’d got past my mechanical incompetence I got it onto a trail.

First ride was on some mixed trails with a mix of surfaces including quite a lot of boggy bits. It was ace fun, felt quite different to normal MTB, probably harder work but encouraged me to take different lines – have never gone seeking mud before. Going through mud the tyres would slide, but it felt controlled, much more stable than normal tyres. Left the tyres relatively hard for that as didn’t want to end up pumping up on the trail – about 18psi which felt like a good starting point for normal trails, though will try a bit softer next time.

After that I have been out on the beach a couple of times. Both rides have been at night, so can be hard to tell what sort of sand you are on until the bike’s reaction tells you – as with Joe on the snow, when it got deep and off camber I found it hard to steer on the direction I wanted, suspect there is a technique point here – any tips? Not came across any sand I couldn’t ride through yet ( except when I tried towing the kids in trailer!). Had the tyres down to maybe 12 psi, then tried even lower last night (sub 10) and that started to feel too low, especially on road on way home, felt really squirmy.

As for the bike, so far I have found the 1 x 10 to be about right for what I will use it for – mainly playing around on local/beach trails which don’t have massive hills. It’s clearly a pretty burly thing, but again for what I’ll use it for that’s no issue – and is as expected. It does feel very stable at low speeds – has felt quite confidence inspiring when mucking about on rocks at the water’s edge – plus when I have got a bit of speed up it felt pretty planted. Do think I will chop the bar down a bit. Traction is impressive – if you can keep the pedals turning I think you could pedal up a wall.

Only issue I have is that the rear brake feels terrible – lever coming to the bar, unless I pump it a few times – after which it bites earlier but then quickly reverts to pulling to bar again. Front is better but still a bit inconsistent. Obvious diagnosis would be that it needs bled but seems a bit strange when it’s brand new – any suggestions…?

Elixir 1’s do that. Bleed does not help, nor will replacing it with another E1. Get a Deore as a replacement.
We have been replacing all E1 brakes on new bikes with Deore as they are effectively pants.

TBC, cheers. Not an encouraging answer, but useful to know nonetheless!

Other than a slight squeal when wet, the Elixrs on my Fatty have been faultless so far. Which is a good thing as all of the other upgrades haven’t left me with the $ for new brakes. Only 3 short rides though, so we’ll see how they do long term.

As I said in one of my earlier posts, they were definitely a concern for me. But so far, my fears were ungrounded. YMMV.

I may be a little naive but I bloody love my fatty. I did 30 miles on it today, and grinned for all of it. It was mostly on towpath, with a little bit of road, town and soggy forest thrown in (too wet round here for much else.)

I did get a lot of questions from riding pals, and a little ribbing, but those that rode it loved it.

I’ve had no trouble getting it rolling, and when rolling it does roll!

I ordered it ages ago and after a bit I started to regret it, wondering if I really needed one, but so many fat riders say (type) about how great and fun they are, I had to have it. Anyway, as it stands, I’m not sure when I’m going to want to ride anything else again.

I’m not really all that into weights and components and fettling, I just like to ride.
I love riding my fatty. Thanks on one.

I just got my front wheel set up tubeless! 😀

Tire seated with a floor pump. We’ll see how it does before I do the back wheel…

How heavy are you – re. the 6psi?

I’ve got some Elixir 1’s here that are just fine. I don’t think it’s fair to say they’re all awful.

I heard from On One this morning my Fatty frame will be with them via air freight next week.

cynic-al – Member

How heavy are you – re. the 6psi?

I normally weigh about 175 lbs. I have not weighed myself recently, so it’s remotely possible that I am a few pounds heavier at this point. 😳

I just got my front wheel set up tubeless!

Tire seated with a floor pump. We’ll see how it does before I do the back wheel…

I rode it tubeless! 😀 For 4/10 of a mile, then it went flat. 🙁

Will try again this evening…

What exactly is the point/advantage of running a fatty tubeless?

http://youtu.be/W4wONSlagaM a few are riding thenm over here

What exactly is the point/advantage of running a fatty tubeless?

Same as any other bike. Less weight. Should be able to run lower pressure for better grip. Sealant inside plugs punctures, etc.

I think that bike looks fantastic.
The thin tapered fork legs seem like a good idea to me to allow for a bit of flex/give.
My Moony still rides pretty harsh in the front despite the 5 inches of rubber.

JoeG – Member
Sealant inside plugs punctures

But you don’t ride your’s you just talk about it, so what’s the issue?

And as for “Less weight” if it’s heavy it will make you fitter.

I’ve ridden #Fatty a fair bit now. most of my snippets are on Twitter. Im not a complete #fatty novice having been semi-skimmed before.

Its ace fun on normal trails if to quote Ed Oxley, a bit slow & Ugly with flashes of brilliance, but I knew that. It does have quite alot of rolling resistance…but this also means to quote my best mate after a thrash “you just can’t crash it!!” It hass ooodles of grip in corners.

As with all tyre pressure makes a huge difference to ride feel..no surprises there.

a big surprise is that the grip with the OnOne Floaters is also awesome in proper mud, really disgusting, slithery sloppy mud..it drifts a little but keep the faith, steer a little more and it just corners, no drama. I swopped with a mate, again so he could have a crack, and nearly scared myself witless on his mud tyred std bike…of course I pay on the climbs…

As for the build, so far its all good. I’m not keen on the brakes, but they work so far and it’s a grand all up ffs. I was dissapointed in the cranks I have to say, mostly ‘cos I expected to be able to slap a granny ring and a mech on it as I fully expected to be struggling on the steep stuff in bad conditions with the weight/gearing. The gearing I’m normally fine with (normal bike is 28lb, 1×10 29er)but with the rolling resistance, extra weight and slip slidey conditions its been a bit tough…doable but tough. I looked at the crank and the granny tabs are blanks, I might be able to tap and space them I guess, otherwise its new cranks to get 2×10. So I’ve renamed her #fitty and told myself to MTFU and convinced myself I’ll be all the better for it in the Spring!

Handling is spot on, stable but not slow steering, BB height is good, it just feels very normal. It’d be fantastic with a suss fork up front but since I justified it as my hack/pub/shops bike with a side order of trail silliness and winter thrashing, I don’t think I’ll be doing that, 4.5psi in the front will have to do 😉

So there we have it, it sticks to the trail like shit to a blanket, which is awesome in corners and gets you fitter every time you ride uphill. I can’t even look at it without smiling let alone ride it…

Short summary, #Fatty gets you #fitty with overtones of shits & giggles and a HUGE side order of GRIP…bloody great 🙂

JohnClimber – Member

But you don’t ride your’s you just talk about it, so what’s the issue?

And as for “Less weight” if it’s heavy it will make you fitter.

The bike was delivered a week ago today. I then spent two days building it (that’s normal, isn’t it? :wink:) and have ridden it five times. I don’t think that’s too bad, considering that we’ve had 3 decent snowstorms in that time (4″ of wet snow overnight and this AM) as well as having to spend some time with my sister and her family that live out of state. Although yesterday’s ride was a bit on the short side due to the tubeless failure. 😳

Riding the fat bike is definitely part of a plan to be fitter in the spring, but 600 gram tubes along with 1500 gram tires with deep tread really take a lot of effort, especially on the climbs. Thus, I’m going tubeless. 8)

Photos from today’s ride to follow shortly.

From today’s ride.

I had my first ride today on my fatty first thoughts are a job well done by on one. my last bike was a on one 29er inbred I was a little concerned about handling weight ect ect. I got on and it felt great. I was riding around the Cleveland hills wet boggy mud rocky decents single track to be honest give it a really good test over 12 miles of lots of different types of ground the confidence that the grip of the tyers amazed me.I did miss my granny ring but this little problem is getting sorted. My mate rode a pug and my other mate has a 907 and they have gave it very positive complements which makes me smile since its my first full fat bike. To sum it up great fun. Dalby in the dark next Thursday can’t wait!!

What do you reckon compared to your Inbred 29er?

More pictures of my bike not being ridden. 😉

Great photos Joe.
The white backdrop really helps bring out those orange decals 😉
( wish we had snow here )

The white backdrop really helps bring out those orange decals

Yes, it does. 🙄

Effing Outrageous On-One Orange decals… 😡

Apologies if its been mentioned already but I havnt read it. Where is all this snow in these pics? I am very jeolous!

The snow is near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the US. Looks like we’ll get a little more tomorrow, and that it will all stay for a week except for what melts in the sun.

I must admit that the Fatty arrived at just the right time!

Re Salsa rims/ tubeless, been running regular Salsa 29er rims tubeless with a Stan’s kit for 2 years (Maxxis Ardent 2.25 tyres). Bit of a pain to get inflated and seated, needed a compressor but once up and running have had zero issues.

I guess they are covering their asses.

andyh2 – Member
What do you reckon compared to your Inbred 29er?

My inbred is a gr8 bike I’ve got the sliding dropout version I ran this bike as a single speed,1 x9,2×9,geared hub,half fat fully ridged, and front suspension, (rebas which I’m selling) but getting on the fatty I just felt so much more confident having all that rubber holding me up the grip was great even on off camber soggy stuff! The bike just felt right .