So who's had a fat bike and didn't like it?

I’m seriously tempted, my mate loves his and although it’s too small for me I had a very quick go on his once and was instantly impressed by the inherent stability caused by the weight of the wheels…..despite it being so wrong just seemed right. It would definitely be an N+1 bike……..as I don’t really need any more bikes but think I would prefer one of them over a 29er .
Don’t tend to see them on classifieds so I am guessing folk love them?

Love my Fatty, mate tried it and new he’s looking to get one. Big sh#testing grins when he got on it.

Tell me about fatty chain sets.
Not that I’m even remotely interested or need one!
Are they a total nightmare on the road?

My Fatty has a Hope 34 retainer up front and an 11 x 40 10 speed on the back and I find it a super setup
But not going to be leading out many roadies on one

its not good on the road with the nobbly tyres but with some semislicks is pretty good
always going to be some bit of your ride that it is wrong for but for the rest you will be grinning all day .

I love mine and even more so not it has a bit of bounce up front
currently running the front at 10 psi and the back at 12 psi works for most of my rides but do lower them a tad when on gnarly stuff to avoid the suberball effect

Running a 32t works components thick thin on the front and 11-36 on the back. I can drag it up most hills.
Just running the carbon fork, can’t afford Bluto but not sure I really want one..

had my homebrew SS Frankenfat 3 yrs,love it.that is all.

Nope, sorry.. Love my 9:zero:7.

Liked mine so much I bought another one 🙂

same here theashnav.

bought a used reasonably cheap and light one (ie not a gas pipe pugsley) and enjoyed riding it , identified where i used it most and im now building another changing all the bits to be perfect for what i want it for.

waiting on a 9zero7 to arrive from tim in the next couple weeks

nope, had mine for a month now and love it.

got a 907 custom build from Tim at sideways cycles.

So who’s had a fat bike and didn’t like it?

I borrowed one (a Surly Pugley) at the weekend at the Bristol Bikefest. It was my first go on one. It was a large and probably a touch small for me.

My first impression was that the tyres seemed to squirm/roll around the rim quite a bit and I felt like it was constantly about to let go. As the lap progressed, I realised that while it did drift a lot, the noise of the fat tyres is disproportionate to the amount of slip (compared to normal mtb tyres) which I think meant I was expecting them to break away rather than just drift. With that in mind, I started to lean it a lot more and while they do move around, it’s the most controlled drift I’ve experienced but there’s loads of grip there.

Roots/rocks as you’d expect get swallowed very well – so long as you’re not going too fast at which point, you start to feel the lack of suspension.

Two big gyroscopes also mean jumping was a breeze and the bike is really stable in the air.

When rolling along the flat, it handles just like a normal bike really – no heavy steering or obvious significant drag. Unfortunately, hitting any kind of climb really made itself felt and I found it really quite hard work. With that in mind, I reckon if you were fit, you’d just cope with than and it’d be more than paid back on the downhill sections. For me, that was a bit of a downer but then maybe that’s not really meant to be their forte and you just accept that bit in return.

So, would I buy one? Right now, no though I’d happily borrow one again. If I got a good bit fitter then I might consider it differently though. That said, I’m not actually sure that I enjoyed it any more than a good ‘normal’ mtb – variety was the biggest attraction but I don’t know if that would stay the same (in the long term) for me at least.

Getting Fat is infectious. As soon as it happens to you, your mates who try it will want to join you. Mine has already been up some big hills and was great fun coming down again.

My bikes have a fat owner and occassionally creak in protest. Does that count?

I’ve ridden two, admittedly only a quick spin, but I absolutely detested both of them. Just sluggish and uninspiring. I imagine that on the soft terrain they’re intended for that they work well but I prefer something with some zing and response for normal terrain.

Untitled by T*inbred[/url], on Flickr

Pic from yesterdays tour of the Isle of Wight. Had great fun blasting (up and) down the hills, and popping little jumps and berms round the Chevy Chase trails. Kept up with the skinny hardtails and full sussers even though I’m no racing snake for 40 odd miles. Even got to fix my first fatty puncture in the sunshine! 😀

This bike has now replaced both my rigid ss and ti hardtail for general riding duties – just got the Giant Trance full susser for when it gets proper lumpy.

I had a fatty and got on with it okay but that’s it.
It was no more fun than my other bikes. I got bored of how slow it goes and how glued to the ground it was. Maybe when I’m older it’ll suit me more.

🙂 that’s a little unfair IMO

I had a Pugsley Ops and sold it pretty quickly. It either felt sluggish or like riding a bouncy castle, I never ever got the tyres to a pressure I was happy with. It just wasn’t for me at all. I then built up a second Krampus (having regretted selling the first one) and totally love it.

I’ve a Pug which I’m enjoying very much, it was built for taking the kids out on beach rides and such as well as satisfying my fat curious urge. Its been great for what I got it for and good at everything else but I think when the Rooster arrives (and if it does what I hope) then I might move it on. I never felt the urge to get rid of my other bikes though.

I never really liked my Pugsley that much. It was OK, and it was the tool for the job on snow, but the handling was a bit dull.

The Puffin on the other hand, is now my first choice MTB. It doesn’t climb fast, but gobs of traction mean you get there in the end. It’s a right laugh on the descents.

Like anything else, try a few and don’t just them all by one example.

The only bike for me now 8)

And it makes circles in the sand!

Nice looking Fatback in that picture 😉

I didn’t like mine at first but I had the tyre pressure way to high.

Once I found the sweet spot it’s a totally difference experience and now like it.

Mmmmm as I suspected……….. 😆

zippykona – Member
….Are they a total nightmare on the road?

No, just pump the tyres up a wee bit more. Gives a nice comfortable ride and you can laugh at any road surface.

Here’s mine at Ledmore Junction – ridden on the road from Dingwall. About 88 miles on the road all up for the day, until I ran out of light at Ullapool because of slow progress with 20+mph headwinds – otherwise it would have been a century – but I was using gears for once.

This.

There is quite a variation in how the various models handle. It would be foolish to extrapolate from one or two test rides.

You can get huge variations in feel simply from different tyre pressures on the same bike, so don’t assess the bike without trying a few different pressures.

I bought a Fatty and had it for a few months.
Got shot of it as I didn’t like it much. As Peterpoddy says above I thought it was slow and sluggish, not very enjoyable at all.

Houses for courses and all that but I can’t imagine that I’d bother with a fat bike again.

Tyre makes and pressures are more noticable than differant makes of fatbikes. I ride a 3,4 and 5″ fatbike and they all ride as differant as my 4″, 5″ and 6″ full suss bikes i once owned did.. 🙂

They are not replacement MTBs as some owners say, but for alternative riding where a regular tyre shod MTB struggles to be rideable and fun, they come into their own 🙂

29+ away from soft sand is the clear winner and a no brainer for non beach riders interested in low pressure low impact fatbikes for trails, I would choose the 29+ for trails anyday, they roll like hell and have loads of grip…
15th Jan; 2014 Bike line up 006 by coastkid71[/url], on Flickr

Aidan – Member

The Puffin on the other hand, is now my first choice MTB. It doesn’t climb fast, but gobs of traction mean you get there in the end. It’s a right laugh on the descents.

Had a go on this bike at the Alpkit do, normally I’m pretty slow but on this bike I was really fast 8)

Was great fun!

Have had mine for nearly 2 weeks now. I’m astonished how good it is. It’s proper quick along twisty singletrack and allowed me to go exploring the other morning across some of the quagmire fields that surround us here. The dog was very pleased when we dived off the track along her favourite beach.

I’m now looking at ghetto tubeless conversions. Anyone drilled their fatty rims?

I didn’t like mine at first, I was all set to sell it within a few weeks. Then it clicked and it’s all I’ve ridden since then, about a year and a half ago.

As others have said, getting tyre pressure just right makes a fatbike very capable indeed. Tubeless is a must imo for fast trail riding at low pressures.

I’ve just got me another one 🙂

I have drilled rims, a bit of orange tape and a 20″ bmx tube tubeless conversion was very easy.

Love my fatty. Did 8 hour solo at the Oktoberfest and did pretty well. Also did 12 hours solo at the Bikefest on my Cannondale Scalpel and did well. Both were great fun, both were pretty quick. I wouldn’t get rid of either of them!

Just a different bike for a bit of variety. At the end of the day, get one and sell it if you hate it. You won’t lose much. BUT, give it a chance. I hated my first ride, but once the tyres were dialled in and I was used to the handling I loved it.

I didn’t like mine at first, I was all set to sell it within a few weeks. Then it clicked and it’s all I’ve ridden since then, about a year and a half ago.

As others have said, getting tyre pressure just right makes a fatbike very capable indeed. Tubeless is a must imo for fast trail riding at low pressures.

I’ve just got me another one

This bike is stolen. Well the speed it was flying round Spain last month, it must have been. Those who think a roll round a carpark gives the proper answer, must try harder. 8)

I’m trying to persuade my wife i need one for my commute in case it snows. Its slow progress but I am getting there.

Its slow progress but I am getting there.

Sounds like you already ride one 🙂

Ha ha ha nice.