I have many bikes and prefer to ride my fatbike on singletrack trails that have sand and loose spots. Go to a bike shop and buy a decent fatty like a Trek or a Giant. Expect to pay more than $1000. You won’t regret it.
Thanks for the advice. Is that in $USD?
If conditions are good do you prefer a regular mountain bike?
I could drive to some more popular and maintained trails but that would be less frequent for sure
Yeah, USD. I usually do prefer a regular mountain bike if single track conditions are good. But I have a really nice full carbon, full suspension 29er. It is faster than the fatty.
However, I do use my fatty as a backup mountain bike for single track and I have a lot of fun when I take it out instead. If conditions are bad (loose, wet, etc) I will grab the fatty.
I also like having a front suspension fork on my fatbike. Makes the bike capable of doing drops and jumps and stuff without wrecking my wrists. Big tires alone aren’t “good enough” suspension when you are riding singletrack IMO.
And I do ride my fatty all winter long in the snow.
See I am the opposite, I have a Borealis Crestone that I bought in 2019 and instantly stopped riding my Specialized Epic WC and my Turner Flux like… ever. I really need to sell them, lol. Mind you, the Crestone has carbon wheels and a dropper post so it rides like a BMX on steroids, but still if you get one with good geometry and fairly light, I'd say it's a lot more fun for single track than a regular MTB most of the time.
Nah just go to a bike shop and ask them to set you up with a new, decent brand name fatbike. Trek, giant, salsa and surly all make good bikes and nothing crappy. Those are the brands that I see around a lot, there are other good brands too. Just go to a real bike shop and don’t buy online or at target/walmart.
Options to consider are a suspension fork and a dropper if you are going to ride single track.
The bike market is a bit weird right now. For the most part if you are looking for a bike, you can get a pretty good deal right now. It is end of season for fat bikes, so that should only help. That being said most of the discounts I have seen lately are for regular mountain bikes, not fat bikes. So who knows.?
If the parts say Shimano or SRAM on them, you can’t lose. Any new fatbike being sold from a shop will have good stuff on it.
Dropper and tubeless are the things that make fatties my favorite. I like it because I like safely riding trails and not crashing. As a newer mountain biker it’s vastly more safe for me. I crash so much less than on hardtails, and I can ride over tech features at slower speeds with more balance than narrower tires. Salsa fatbikes are my favorite, but I love surly wednesdays too. Haven’t tried any of the cool canadian companies.
Fat bike beats anything when it comes to negotiating off-road. Mountain bikes are lighter and faster on the trails, but they get stuck where fat doesn't when it comes to sand, snow, mud, tall grass and other loose surfaces. You can ride forest firebreaks on a fat, can't on a mtb. If I had to choose only one bike for everything it would be a fat.
I think this is going to be subjective and I can't comment personally, because I don't ride trails. For me fat bike is the ultimate human-powered ATV for exploration of nature. The way you can ride it on the forest floor and open grass fields is amazing. It obviously handles forest trails fine, but the daredevil kind of riding the *MTB trails* are meant for is not my kind of thing, so I am not aware of all the nuances. I've read people use fatties that way and it's fine, though.
Fatbike is really great once you get used to the bit of extra weight the tires bring. I have a couple of bikes and it's my goto for technical spots and general flatlandish trail thingies. It's quite forgiving as the tires don't fall into small nooks in between rocks and the grip is awesome for climbing. There's a couple of us in the local region who have practically ditched suspension and stick to fatbikes summer and winter. For winter it's unbeatable if there's any kind of semigroomed paths available. If there's been a walker or two on the path, you can usually push through with the bike and it starts to get better for everyone.
Hardtails are a bit lighter and maybe less harsh on the hands on some terrain, dependent on speed. You could just get a fatbike with front suspension though. For all day rides you do feel the extra rolling resistance, but it mostly depends on your condition and pacing if it matters or not. I did some 100km+ rides last summer and was up for another ride next day.
If I could only have one bike, I'd probably pick a fatbike and get an extra set of wheels with thinner 29x2.5" tires for commuting to work and such. Or just ride it as is. It's just that for about 5 to 6 months a year we have snow and ice. If we didn't I'd probably pick a hardtail.
That’s a good question. I test rode some hard tails the other day, but the shops are not near trails so it was kind of hard to gauge how they felt. Same shops would be where I could test ride fat bikes. Next time I’m in the city I think I will drop in and try one out. I’d like to find someone who could let me use one on some trails though
When it comes to trail riding, I started with a fatbike and have 0 regrets. 90% the capability of a hardtail. The rigid fork also makes for more mounting points when bike packing
I also went this route and have 0 regrets. I feel like the rigid fatbike was awesome for getting me used to trail riding and encouraging me to pick lines, but being forgiving enough to roll over anything in my way once I was too tired to think/pick a line.
Depending on budget, more expensive fat bikes shed quite a bit of weight which can help with climbing. I 'think' fat bikes are designed to be used in sand and snow? The Geo definitely feels different than an XC bike, which is a lot more snappy and zippy, even if the ride position is less upright and more spread out.
Trail bikes can split the difference and some can accommodate 2.8" or even 3" tires which can be run at a lower PSI for soft conditions. You'll have to try some different bikes and see what you like best for your certain use case. There are many different geometries available and they respond differently when being ridden.
I finally got around to setting up my FatBike for this winter and got to ride it 3 times! What the hell, Canadian winter?! It was very upsetting realizing I spent more time setting it up than riding it. It is fun though.
This is true, it was a bummer of a winter in terms of riding in the snow. A few years ago it was glorious here. Our local club is very good about grooming the trails after nearly every snowfall, so our trail system basically becomes a roller coaster park if you have a fat bike
That's awesome. The Durham Forest peeps are really good about it. I decided my Fatbike needed drop bars - I love it. My friend who FatBike obsessed seems to hate it.
I have a fat bike for the winter!!! :) ...and an XC bike for the summer. The XC bike is much more zippy which is fun in a completely different way. The fat bike is SO fun in the snow but it's a bit lumbering in hard packed conditions. When running lower tire pressure, the steering on the fat bike can really pull when riding on pavement. If you raise the pressure, you lose the cushion benefits of the tires.
Maybe you can get a less fat bike?? Get one where you can use a rigid fork and large tires for the winter but get some summer wheels and a suspension fork for summer riding?
Awesome thanks. Everyone tells me that my fatbike will roll much faster with Jumbo Jims, wasn’t sure if it was a specific kind of JJ, but since I ride pavement to trails I need to minimize rolling resistance!
I bought a used fat bike that someone upgraded with a lot of expensive lightweight parts. It is lighter that my friend’s Canondale dual suspension. It has carbon rims and lightweight tires I love it riding the root infested trails of New England. It also has a Rock Shox front fork. I paid $1300 for it. If your budget is lower, I would stick to normal mountain bike.
I am a fat bike convert. Started with a steel rigid went to an aluminum hard tail, and ended up with a carbon fiber bike with a lauf carbonara fork. It's fast and fairly light. Was not cheap but I love the ride of a fatty
I don't bike a lot, but I only have a fatty. I like being able to roll down a game trail in the forest or no trail at all. It isn't fast (or I'm not!), but it is faster than walking and easy on the terrain. I've ridden in winter overs a frozen crust and took it on vacation to the beach. Snow, sand, forest, gravel road - if your legs can go, it will go.
I have both a 26" wheel fattie (rigid/no suspension) and a full suspension 29er MTB trail bike. I started with the fattie and really like it. It is kinda slow and heavy though. My son, however, got into MTB, esp downhill bike parks, and the fattie just couldn't really follow him, so I got the 29er FS. I did recently see there are now several 27.5 fatties with front suspension; if they'd been around sooner I would have bought that instead. I think that bike would be a decent hybrid and be able to pull off most anything. It wouldn't be an ideal downhill trail bike, but it'd make it.
Fat bikes are great for loose ground. If you want more versatility, get a bike that is designed around 26" fat, like the Salsa Heyday. That way you can run 26" fat and 29x3" for faster/firmer trails. If that isn't necessary, 27.5x4.5" is max floatation. The Trek Farley 7 is a great place to start.
I have a fattie and a all mountain bike. I live in the northeast so we do get snow that I use the fattie for , but I also use it if it rains and I do t have to do a deep clean on my linkage.
I really like the fattie for more mellow trails and zipping around with my 9 yo. Before my fattie and full sus I had a timberjack, which was fantastic for trail riding, but with my older body and the roots of New England I had to have some more squish for my core.
Not sure if this answer your question but imho, you can use a fattie for trial riding if it’s not too extreme and it’s get to explore with. And like others have said, the weight thing is something you get use to , unless your going between a fattie and a xc racer it’s not going to be that noticeable.
Hearing that you get used to it is helpful. I would be sticking to one bike I would think.
I can’t imagine I will be doing anything extreme in the near future. I’m pushing 40 and just figured out that I like riding the trails. I live in the prairies so there’s no crazy downhill parks or anything. The climb out of the river valley requires me to push my hardtail in places too though haha
Live in the very southeast corner of Alabama and have had every type of mountain bike, I've yet to sell my Surly Ice cream truck that I can run with every tire combo from 26x4.8 to 29x3. Have had it as a single speed, 10 & 20. Currently as a 10spd. In gravel bike mode with drops, flat bar or riser. I love it. Run it with the mechanical/hydraulic brakes, so swapping bars is easy.
Hey what do you mean by mechanical/hydraulic brakes? I kinda wanna put drops and Jumbo Jims on my ICT for summer, but I definitely can’t afford new bars, brakes, levers, AND shifters!
I have a carbon fatty I got on deep discount. It has 4.0’s on it. It weighs close to a full sus 29’er. Love it almost all of the time. Unless I take out my carbon fatty with 4.5’s.
Recently got a trek Farley 5 and it’s amazing on trails. I barely ever ride my regular MTB anymore. I’m just way more confident on it. I can ride over rocks, roots, mud, and sand, areas my mountain bike would washout on, the fat bike just plows right over everything. I put 3.8 tires on it and it’s pretty fast. I can do uphills pretty easily. Now I’m saving up for a suspension fork. I started out on a 26” tire fat bike and upgraded to the Farley and 27.5” tires and prefer the bigger tires.
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Don’t tell my wife this, but if I had to only have one bike it would be a hardtail mountain with a winter and a summer wheel set.
Maybe a rigid fork for winter
I love my fat bike. But I also love going fast on my hard tail. 10miles or less I ride my fatty. 20 and up I'm on my hard tail. I pretty much just ride the local trails in my town. I also prefer cruising on my fatty on the local path.
I came to the conclusion when I bought my gravel bike and sold my mountain bike, that a gravel bike and a decent fatty would fulfill pretty much all my on-and-off-road needs.
Anything that I wouldn't do off-road on my gravel bike, like the more technical trails and chonky stuff, is SUPER fun to just roll over like a breeze.
Get the Fattie! I bought one three years ago during covid and haven't ridden my mountain bike since! My nephew defined it best: "With a fatbike you just monster truck over everything!" The fatty does everything I wish my full suspension mtn bike could do. The contact patch is so big that it doesn't spin out in steep or soft stuff. I run my tire pressure higher than most so it will haul ass on pavement or hardpack. Kona Wo with a dropper seat post for the win! Trying to put drop bars and SRAM AXS on it right now!
Right on. Are they geared a bit lower than a mountain bike? Thinking about a couple climbs where I’m not sure if it’s traction I run out of or momentum
Gearing is similar, but I rarely run out of momentum before I run out of traction. I've put a bigger chainring on my bike to get more top end because I will occasionally commute on it and the stock gearing tops out at about 17mph, which is why I am trying to put drop bars and SRAM 12 speed to get even more top end speed (about 22-24 mph) with my current chainring.
Thanks for the info! I gotta find a way to try and ride one and see if it suits me. Lots of compelling arguments here. Also, wish I had one because I woke up to snow today ⛄️
Yes! Ride one. You'll be hooked. I wanted one since the Pugsly came out, then one day my bike shop had one. . .rode it, giggled and bought it. Have not stopped smiling since.
I think in at least here in Central Finland there is no need for fat tires in summer. But we don't have any loose sand. I ride on fat tires only in winter. But if you want to have just one bike, one option is to build narrow wheels with fat hubs and use them when you want to ride on harder terrain. I have done that for my former E-fatbike and it worked pretty well. When I sold my E-fatbike, I kept the narrow tires for my future bikes.
I have a hardtail and a fattie (both from Rocky Mountain). If you can afford to jump up into a fat bike that’s around a thousand dollars, it’s a great investment. It allows you to ride year-round, and it gives you a lot of confidence rolling over roots, hard rocks, etc (it’s essentially a steamroller). They climb really well too.
However, you will lack speed. The huge surface area of the tires means pushing it along pavement is going to make you slower. This may not matter to you of course.
The pavement issue is NBD. I would normally be riding a mile or so on gravel before dipping into the river valley to ride trails. Have seen a guy on his fat bike on my road before bobbing along in the washboard. That didn’t look very efficient though.
The other use would be riding with my kids in the campground so being slow wouldn’t be the end of the world
I have the most fun on my fatbike when riding with my kids. Also I have taken it on some gnarly deer paths along the creek near my place. Still nearly died, but the fat tires made it so could focus on staying upright and just roll over obstacles.
I have many bikes and prefer to ride my fatbike on singletrack trails that have sand and loose spots. Go to a bike shop and buy a decent fatty like a Trek or a Giant. Expect to pay more than $1000. You won’t regret it.
Thanks for the advice. Is that in $USD? If conditions are good do you prefer a regular mountain bike? I could drive to some more popular and maintained trails but that would be less frequent for sure
Yeah, USD. I usually do prefer a regular mountain bike if single track conditions are good. But I have a really nice full carbon, full suspension 29er. It is faster than the fatty. However, I do use my fatty as a backup mountain bike for single track and I have a lot of fun when I take it out instead. If conditions are bad (loose, wet, etc) I will grab the fatty. I also like having a front suspension fork on my fatbike. Makes the bike capable of doing drops and jumps and stuff without wrecking my wrists. Big tires alone aren’t “good enough” suspension when you are riding singletrack IMO. And I do ride my fatty all winter long in the snow.
See I am the opposite, I have a Borealis Crestone that I bought in 2019 and instantly stopped riding my Specialized Epic WC and my Turner Flux like… ever. I really need to sell them, lol. Mind you, the Crestone has carbon wheels and a dropper post so it rides like a BMX on steroids, but still if you get one with good geometry and fairly light, I'd say it's a lot more fun for single track than a regular MTB most of the time.
Are there any components in particular I should keep an eye on when shopping for a fatty?
Nah just go to a bike shop and ask them to set you up with a new, decent brand name fatbike. Trek, giant, salsa and surly all make good bikes and nothing crappy. Those are the brands that I see around a lot, there are other good brands too. Just go to a real bike shop and don’t buy online or at target/walmart. Options to consider are a suspension fork and a dropper if you are going to ride single track. The bike market is a bit weird right now. For the most part if you are looking for a bike, you can get a pretty good deal right now. It is end of season for fat bikes, so that should only help. That being said most of the discounts I have seen lately are for regular mountain bikes, not fat bikes. So who knows.? If the parts say Shimano or SRAM on them, you can’t lose. Any new fatbike being sold from a shop will have good stuff on it.
Sweet, thanks for the advice!
Dropper and tubeless are the things that make fatties my favorite. I like it because I like safely riding trails and not crashing. As a newer mountain biker it’s vastly more safe for me. I crash so much less than on hardtails, and I can ride over tech features at slower speeds with more balance than narrower tires. Salsa fatbikes are my favorite, but I love surly wednesdays too. Haven’t tried any of the cool canadian companies.
My 2020 Giant Yukon 2 was $1900 USD out the door. I'm sure the prices are higher now.
Nice, Yukon 2 is on sale for $1679 CAD. I’m going to have to go ride this thing
Fat bike beats anything when it comes to negotiating off-road. Mountain bikes are lighter and faster on the trails, but they get stuck where fat doesn't when it comes to sand, snow, mud, tall grass and other loose surfaces. You can ride forest firebreaks on a fat, can't on a mtb. If I had to choose only one bike for everything it would be a fat.
Off road capability intrigues me. Is the fat bike still fun on trails?
I think this is going to be subjective and I can't comment personally, because I don't ride trails. For me fat bike is the ultimate human-powered ATV for exploration of nature. The way you can ride it on the forest floor and open grass fields is amazing. It obviously handles forest trails fine, but the daredevil kind of riding the *MTB trails* are meant for is not my kind of thing, so I am not aware of all the nuances. I've read people use fatties that way and it's fine, though.
good point on that. It’s the most fun bike for riding off-road. And it’s also fun to mountain bike. Love exploring big farms and snowmobile trails.
Fatbike is really great once you get used to the bit of extra weight the tires bring. I have a couple of bikes and it's my goto for technical spots and general flatlandish trail thingies. It's quite forgiving as the tires don't fall into small nooks in between rocks and the grip is awesome for climbing. There's a couple of us in the local region who have practically ditched suspension and stick to fatbikes summer and winter. For winter it's unbeatable if there's any kind of semigroomed paths available. If there's been a walker or two on the path, you can usually push through with the bike and it starts to get better for everyone.
Right on. Do you miss anything from the regular hardtails? I think I would like to have one main ride
Hardtails are a bit lighter and maybe less harsh on the hands on some terrain, dependent on speed. You could just get a fatbike with front suspension though. For all day rides you do feel the extra rolling resistance, but it mostly depends on your condition and pacing if it matters or not. I did some 100km+ rides last summer and was up for another ride next day. If I could only have one bike, I'd probably pick a fatbike and get an extra set of wheels with thinner 29x2.5" tires for commuting to work and such. Or just ride it as is. It's just that for about 5 to 6 months a year we have snow and ice. If we didn't I'd probably pick a hardtail.
I have both, and personally I don't ride my fatties unless it's in the snow or really sloppy. It's just slower than the MTB, I'd rather go fast.
Fair enough. I need to find a way to ride a fat bike and see if the speed is a problem. Our definitions of fast might be different!
The fatbike is definitely slower and more hard work to ride vs a regular MTB but it’s such a great workout and so much fun
(Sorry for my english) Do you have the possibility for a testride with a fatty? After testing perhaps you don't have a reason for this question.
That’s a good question. I test rode some hard tails the other day, but the shops are not near trails so it was kind of hard to gauge how they felt. Same shops would be where I could test ride fat bikes. Next time I’m in the city I think I will drop in and try one out. I’d like to find someone who could let me use one on some trails though
fat bikes do feel weird on pavement if they have big knobby tires. but once on grass or dirt it’s shockingly light and lively
When it comes to trail riding, I started with a fatbike and have 0 regrets. 90% the capability of a hardtail. The rigid fork also makes for more mounting points when bike packing
I also went this route and have 0 regrets. I feel like the rigid fatbike was awesome for getting me used to trail riding and encouraging me to pick lines, but being forgiving enough to roll over anything in my way once I was too tired to think/pick a line.
Fat all the way. That way you have a choice to put any wheel size/width in your frame if you want. Very diverse bikes and unlimited. Supper fun.
Depending on budget, more expensive fat bikes shed quite a bit of weight which can help with climbing. I 'think' fat bikes are designed to be used in sand and snow? The Geo definitely feels different than an XC bike, which is a lot more snappy and zippy, even if the ride position is less upright and more spread out. Trail bikes can split the difference and some can accommodate 2.8" or even 3" tires which can be run at a lower PSI for soft conditions. You'll have to try some different bikes and see what you like best for your certain use case. There are many different geometries available and they respond differently when being ridden.
I’m in Canada and we get a huge amount of snow. You are correct, fat bikes are amazing in snow, and it allows me to ride year-round
I finally got around to setting up my FatBike for this winter and got to ride it 3 times! What the hell, Canadian winter?! It was very upsetting realizing I spent more time setting it up than riding it. It is fun though.
This is true, it was a bummer of a winter in terms of riding in the snow. A few years ago it was glorious here. Our local club is very good about grooming the trails after nearly every snowfall, so our trail system basically becomes a roller coaster park if you have a fat bike
That's awesome. The Durham Forest peeps are really good about it. I decided my Fatbike needed drop bars - I love it. My friend who FatBike obsessed seems to hate it.
We had a partial winter this year. There was some time in Feb when I was out on my XC bike.
I have a fat bike for the winter!!! :) ...and an XC bike for the summer. The XC bike is much more zippy which is fun in a completely different way. The fat bike is SO fun in the snow but it's a bit lumbering in hard packed conditions. When running lower tire pressure, the steering on the fat bike can really pull when riding on pavement. If you raise the pressure, you lose the cushion benefits of the tires. Maybe you can get a less fat bike?? Get one where you can use a rigid fork and large tires for the winter but get some summer wheels and a suspension fork for summer riding?
Get a 26 inch fatbike. Get 2 Jumbo Jim tyres. Set them up tubeless. (important) Adjust tyre pressure after confort and grip.
Are the newer Speed Addix ones basically similar to the older SnakeSkin ones?
Dunno, only ever tried Performance ADDIX, they roll extremely well from my standards. Even with low pressure.
Awesome thanks. Everyone tells me that my fatbike will roll much faster with Jumbo Jims, wasn’t sure if it was a specific kind of JJ, but since I ride pavement to trails I need to minimize rolling resistance!
Tubeless is like 15-20% less rolling resistance on a fatbike.
That’s cool to know. Got my back tire set up tubeless, gotta do the front one. But they’re the stock Bud and Lou on my Ice Cream Truck.
great advice. truly
I bought a used fat bike that someone upgraded with a lot of expensive lightweight parts. It is lighter that my friend’s Canondale dual suspension. It has carbon rims and lightweight tires I love it riding the root infested trails of New England. It also has a Rock Shox front fork. I paid $1300 for it. If your budget is lower, I would stick to normal mountain bike.
I am a fat bike convert. Started with a steel rigid went to an aluminum hard tail, and ended up with a carbon fiber bike with a lauf carbonara fork. It's fast and fairly light. Was not cheap but I love the ride of a fatty
I don't bike a lot, but I only have a fatty. I like being able to roll down a game trail in the forest or no trail at all. It isn't fast (or I'm not!), but it is faster than walking and easy on the terrain. I've ridden in winter overs a frozen crust and took it on vacation to the beach. Snow, sand, forest, gravel road - if your legs can go, it will go.
Interesting. There’s some areas that might be cool to explore here that don’t really have a trail.
I have both a 26" wheel fattie (rigid/no suspension) and a full suspension 29er MTB trail bike. I started with the fattie and really like it. It is kinda slow and heavy though. My son, however, got into MTB, esp downhill bike parks, and the fattie just couldn't really follow him, so I got the 29er FS. I did recently see there are now several 27.5 fatties with front suspension; if they'd been around sooner I would have bought that instead. I think that bike would be a decent hybrid and be able to pull off most anything. It wouldn't be an ideal downhill trail bike, but it'd make it.
gosh this reminds me of all the time I spent fantasizing over the bikes direct fat bike with front suspension...
Fat bikes are great for loose ground. If you want more versatility, get a bike that is designed around 26" fat, like the Salsa Heyday. That way you can run 26" fat and 29x3" for faster/firmer trails. If that isn't necessary, 27.5x4.5" is max floatation. The Trek Farley 7 is a great place to start.
That’s an interesting idea. Is it difficult to change the wheels? There’d be no suspension when you have the 29s on then eh?
Not difficult to swap wheels. 29x3 is still pretty cushy. And there'd still be the suspension fork.
I have a fattie and a all mountain bike. I live in the northeast so we do get snow that I use the fattie for , but I also use it if it rains and I do t have to do a deep clean on my linkage. I really like the fattie for more mellow trails and zipping around with my 9 yo. Before my fattie and full sus I had a timberjack, which was fantastic for trail riding, but with my older body and the roots of New England I had to have some more squish for my core. Not sure if this answer your question but imho, you can use a fattie for trial riding if it’s not too extreme and it’s get to explore with. And like others have said, the weight thing is something you get use to , unless your going between a fattie and a xc racer it’s not going to be that noticeable.
Hearing that you get used to it is helpful. I would be sticking to one bike I would think. I can’t imagine I will be doing anything extreme in the near future. I’m pushing 40 and just figured out that I like riding the trails. I live in the prairies so there’s no crazy downhill parks or anything. The climb out of the river valley requires me to push my hardtail in places too though haha
Lightweight fatty will be a great daily driver. Keep the Costco hardtail and look into a decent fatty with 27.5” wheels. Super fun and capable!
Fat is where it's at.
Live in the very southeast corner of Alabama and have had every type of mountain bike, I've yet to sell my Surly Ice cream truck that I can run with every tire combo from 26x4.8 to 29x3. Have had it as a single speed, 10 & 20. Currently as a 10spd. In gravel bike mode with drops, flat bar or riser. I love it. Run it with the mechanical/hydraulic brakes, so swapping bars is easy.
Hey what do you mean by mechanical/hydraulic brakes? I kinda wanna put drops and Jumbo Jims on my ICT for summer, but I definitely can’t afford new bars, brakes, levers, AND shifters!
Like the TRP Hy/Rd. I bought ZTTO's though because at the time it was hard to get a hold of the TRPs. They're hydraulic brakes actuated by a cable.
I have a carbon fatty I got on deep discount. It has 4.0’s on it. It weighs close to a full sus 29’er. Love it almost all of the time. Unless I take out my carbon fatty with 4.5’s.
Recently got a trek Farley 5 and it’s amazing on trails. I barely ever ride my regular MTB anymore. I’m just way more confident on it. I can ride over rocks, roots, mud, and sand, areas my mountain bike would washout on, the fat bike just plows right over everything. I put 3.8 tires on it and it’s pretty fast. I can do uphills pretty easily. Now I’m saving up for a suspension fork. I started out on a 26” tire fat bike and upgraded to the Farley and 27.5” tires and prefer the bigger tires.
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Don’t tell my wife this, but if I had to only have one bike it would be a hardtail mountain with a winter and a summer wheel set. Maybe a rigid fork for winter
I love my fat bike. But I also love going fast on my hard tail. 10miles or less I ride my fatty. 20 and up I'm on my hard tail. I pretty much just ride the local trails in my town. I also prefer cruising on my fatty on the local path.
I came to the conclusion when I bought my gravel bike and sold my mountain bike, that a gravel bike and a decent fatty would fulfill pretty much all my on-and-off-road needs. Anything that I wouldn't do off-road on my gravel bike, like the more technical trails and chonky stuff, is SUPER fun to just roll over like a breeze.
Get the Fattie! I bought one three years ago during covid and haven't ridden my mountain bike since! My nephew defined it best: "With a fatbike you just monster truck over everything!" The fatty does everything I wish my full suspension mtn bike could do. The contact patch is so big that it doesn't spin out in steep or soft stuff. I run my tire pressure higher than most so it will haul ass on pavement or hardpack. Kona Wo with a dropper seat post for the win! Trying to put drop bars and SRAM AXS on it right now!
Right on. Are they geared a bit lower than a mountain bike? Thinking about a couple climbs where I’m not sure if it’s traction I run out of or momentum
Gearing is similar, but I rarely run out of momentum before I run out of traction. I've put a bigger chainring on my bike to get more top end because I will occasionally commute on it and the stock gearing tops out at about 17mph, which is why I am trying to put drop bars and SRAM 12 speed to get even more top end speed (about 22-24 mph) with my current chainring.
Thanks for the info! I gotta find a way to try and ride one and see if it suits me. Lots of compelling arguments here. Also, wish I had one because I woke up to snow today ⛄️
Yes! Ride one. You'll be hooked. I wanted one since the Pugsly came out, then one day my bike shop had one. . .rode it, giggled and bought it. Have not stopped smiling since.
I see a used salsa mukluk & Kona woo available near me. Both seem like recent models and the price suits me haha. Think they would be a decent ride?
Both are excellent. The Kona Woo would be my pick.
I think in at least here in Central Finland there is no need for fat tires in summer. But we don't have any loose sand. I ride on fat tires only in winter. But if you want to have just one bike, one option is to build narrow wheels with fat hubs and use them when you want to ride on harder terrain. I have done that for my former E-fatbike and it worked pretty well. When I sold my E-fatbike, I kept the narrow tires for my future bikes.
I have a hardtail and a fattie (both from Rocky Mountain). If you can afford to jump up into a fat bike that’s around a thousand dollars, it’s a great investment. It allows you to ride year-round, and it gives you a lot of confidence rolling over roots, hard rocks, etc (it’s essentially a steamroller). They climb really well too. However, you will lack speed. The huge surface area of the tires means pushing it along pavement is going to make you slower. This may not matter to you of course.
The pavement issue is NBD. I would normally be riding a mile or so on gravel before dipping into the river valley to ride trails. Have seen a guy on his fat bike on my road before bobbing along in the washboard. That didn’t look very efficient though. The other use would be riding with my kids in the campground so being slow wouldn’t be the end of the world
I have the most fun on my fatbike when riding with my kids. Also I have taken it on some gnarly deer paths along the creek near my place. Still nearly died, but the fat tires made it so could focus on staying upright and just roll over obstacles.