As much as I often have a dig at PX, I would say the Fatty Trail is the best buy, if you are happy to fork out £900. The Bluto fork is worth ~£400 alone and I don’t recall any owners in this thread having issues.
I would certainly agree – at a £900 price point it is a best buy, but as the Dune can be bought discounted down to sub £500 the lines are blurred somewhat.
The Dune definitely has the weight advantage out of the store, has more modern spec hubs and a easier upgrade options to Bluto etc., but IIRC there have been hub/BB issues for some plus it does not come with hydraulic brakes. Now the tyres are Juggernaut Pros, it makes the bike lighter still, but I’m getting the vibe that are less versatile than JJs and fatbike tyres aren’t usually cheap.
Again, I agree on the Dune having ‘better’ specced hubs/clearences – I remember reading of one freewheel issue that was sorted under warranty, and a BB issue that was probably due to user error.
However, the 2×8 groupset is really cheap (= nasty). It’s functional, and some are choosing to stick with it, but I switched everything out to a full 1×10 set up after dropping the chain for no good reason and removing a fair amount of paint on the chainstay in the process.
Disadvantage is that I spent another £250 to go full 1×10 (including fancy new chainset), Advantage is that the bike now feels brilliant underfoot. Effortless gear change, no chain hop, sure footed. Also dropped about a pound in weight!
The Juggernaut tyres are super lightweight for a fat tyre and during this mostly dry season (South Downs) i’ve found them perfect on chalky/hardpack/flinty trails. My mind may change when we get to the muddy season – but to this end i’ve picked up a discounted set of Floaters for £20ea. So no biggy there.
I did swap out the bar for a spare wide carbon that I had, but the only other change (other than lightweight inner tubes) that id definitely recommend is the brakes. I hated the nasty cable pull ones and switched to a bargain set of Formulas picked up in the On-One sales (£100).
So all in, i’ve spent best part of £850 on it and it’s right where I want it to be in terms of sheer fun and performance.
Would I buy a Fatty Trail with Bluto for £900 if I have the chance to do it all again?
Thats the real question.
Personally, I didn’t have a lump of £900 to lay down at the time (plus they cost £1100 when I was in the market for Fat), and psychologically it was much easier to convince myself to part with £500 for ‘a whole new bike’. Also, the Dune is now riding superbly and I am really digging the rigid front end set-up having ridden front suspension for years. Having a fully rigid fat bike gives me a whole new flavour of riding.
I’d say, if you have any spares that you can swap out for a Dune ‘re-build’ then its still very good value – but if like me you are a bit of a perfectionist and cannot resist upgrading, then the Bluto Fatty is hard to look over.
A deciding factor for me is that im not a fan of the rear end spacing on the Fatty (or lack of bolt through axle), nor do I think it looks as fab as the Dune. The nuclear yellow (literally glow in the dark) paint work is awesome in the flesh. And the frames lines all look smart to me.
I kind of have a weird sense of pride that I enjoy riding this ‘budget’ bike more than pretty much all my other bikes.
Anyway when can I order my Dune, and will if fall to bits??!!
Erm, you can order ‘now’ ?
It won’t fall to bits, but you’ll be limited on outright pace by the stock brakes. Also, make sure to double check the axle bolts are tightened sufficiently. Square taper axles are probably my biggest hate in cycling – should be banished to Room 101.
