Fat bike curious. What would you recommend

[Bearbonesnorm]

Cant find a price on the website Stu? Though I suspect you're right...

Uhm, it was there before. Think the double scoop was a shade over £900.

[giryan]

It's right at the top, the Overview, etc... links don't actually take the page high enough.
£919

[johnnystorm]

£919 at the top of the page. I recall they were a total faff to get hold of to begin with. The caribou is OK, it was better when the previous years models were reduced to 900 as the spec was much better. The Charge Cooker Maxi looks decent around that price range too.

Pfft. Too slow!!

[TheBrownDog]

Now I like the look of that. Is it on their website?

Here's the link the OnOne fat bike range. Two frames built up in different ways.

http://www.on-one.co.uk/c/q/bikes/mount ... /fat-bikes

[pushbikemike]

Christ almighty there are quite a few fat bikes out there. Lots of them are very tempting. Still liking the versatility of the ice cream truck ops. Can go fatter and take a suspension fork if you want. But the on one trail fatties look pretty good value.

[gairym]

From what I've experienced the cheaper trail fatties are great fun and the closest to being the mythical 'all rounder' that fatbikes have been touted as being but.....they aren't any where near as capable in the conditions that fatbikes were originally intended for (snow/sand).

The short wheelbase makes a lot of difference in stability and float in the soft stuff and the cheaper they are the heavier they are (the slower they roll).

On something a oversized as a fatbike cheap bits (and especially wheels) make a lot of difference in terms of real world experience.

Worth keeping in mind if you want something for boggy marsh riding (which I think you mentioned somewhere above).

Gairy.

[pushbikemike]

From what I've experienced the cheaper trail fatties are great fun and the closest to being the mythical 'all rounder' that fatbikes have been touted as being but.....they aren't any where near as capable in the conditions that fatbikes were originally intended for (snow/sand).

The short wheelbase makes a lot of difference in stability and float in the soft stuff and the cheaper they are the heavier they are (the slower they roll).

On something a oversized as a fatbike cheap bits (and especially wheels) make a lot of difference in terms of real world experience.

Worth keeping in mind if you want something for boggy marsh riding (which I think you mentioned somewhere above).

Gairy.

Cheers Gairy. Good point. Are you looking for a new fatbike yourself? If so which one are you thinking of?

[JohnClimber]

From what I've experienced the cheaper trail fatties are great fun and the closest to being the mythical 'all rounder' that fatbikes have been touted as being but.....they aren't any where near as capable in the conditions that fatbikes were originally intended for (snow/sand).

I'll second this quote

The On One Fatty is a fantastic trail bike, once you've learnt how to fit your floater tyres on the rims (not egg shaped) it's great fun and fit it with a Bluto fork and it will fly downhill as well. BUT......

If you want to bike pack with your fat bike don't get an On One Fatty as the frame is the wrong shape to carry much gear.
Or if you want to ride on beaches, don't by an On One Fatty as the stock bike has (this sounds silly) rounded tyres (very round from side to side) which don't float as well as "normal" Fat Bikes.

All of the other bikes with the classic double triangle design ride very similar to each other, with slight changes depending on frame sizes and rim/wheel widths but nothing as major the difference between the Fatty and the others.

Because of my riding is 80% on sand and beaches, 20% is touring and bike packing a classic double triangle frame is perfect for me.
At 48 I like a bit of suspension, but rather than the heavy Bluto I've gone for the Lauf fork, a titanium frame, seatpost and Brooks Cambuim saddle all sitting on 100mm rims and 4.8" tyres.
Here it is from Sunday


And in bike packing mode

[pushbikemike]

Smart looking bike john. Cheers for the tips about the oo.

[JohnClimber]

Smart looking bike john. Cheers for the tips about the oo.

I'm not knocking the On One Fatty, I had one for 12 months and it's perfect for technical trails and trail centres for rides up to 6 hours.
I sold it because I wasn't using my trail bikes because I was always on the Fatty.
Anything else go for a double triangle framed Fat Bike
4" knobbly tyres for trails, some sand, some snow
5" smoother tyres for beaches and snow, plus some trails

so buy 3 Fat Bikes to cover everything

[johnnystorm]

It's not that bad for fitting kit on.

20150219_122910_HDR.jpg (83.63 KiB) Viewed 3263 times

[benp1]

All I can see are two black rings and some hi vis shapes

I saw a bloke in a fat bike near work in Holborn, Central London. Not sure what one, was too busy smiling at his awesomeness

[JohnClimber]

It's not that bad for fitting kit on.

20150219_122910_HDR.jpg

Johnny proves the very good point that no one is right and no one is wrong, bikes are bikes, fat bikes are fat bikes.
Get one, ride it and smile

[voodoo_simon]

It's not that bad for fitting kit on.

20150219_122910_HDR.jpg

I forgot how bright that was /is

[johnnystorm]

It's not that bad for fitting kit on.

20150219_122910_HDR.jpg

Johnny proves the very good point that no one is right and no one is wrong, bikes are bikes, fat bikes are fat bikes.
Get one, ride it and smile

Amen brother. That's without a mahoosive drying fitted to the front.

[fatbikephil]

If your definitely sticking to 4" tyres there aint much point getting the ICT. Surlys upcoming Wednesday has the same geo, weighs a pound less (frameset that is) and will still accept 29+. That said, the other agrument is if your going to get a fatbike get one that can fit 5" tyres for max floating fun. There isn't much difference rolling resistance wise. A well specced wednesday with jumbo jims will be very close to a 29+ (a Kramp say) in terms of weight and rolling resistance so this would be my choice now. In fact I might get one anyway as a summer fat bike cos it looks dead good and I haven't bought a frame in nearly a year

Mind you the ne O_O looks good value 'tho I wouldn't bother with the bluto as its the usual rockshox rubbish and riding rigid is one of the many charms of going fat.

[Motorman]

A lot depends on what you actually plan to do with the bike.
Whatever frame you choose, make sure you can fit 29er+, because you will soon realise that there are better options than full fat for most riding conditions.

[Drillmaster1]

Got a Salsa Blackborow in July, the geared version.
I absolutely love it, I just don't ride it on the road if I can avoid it, try it and you will see why…. especially uphill
On anything else it is fantastic, although I don't have much to compare it to apart from my other mountain bike which is a 1999 Orange, with a rigid fork.
So I can't say its better than other types of bike out there, but I like its simplicity, it has amazing grip and climbs like a mountain goat with the wheelbase lengthened as much as possible with the alternator dropouts. Its also very comfortable, though I haven't ridden it for more than about 5 hours in one go so can't vouch for long rides..
We have a lot of boggy ground and moorland near where I live and it excels on that, as well as the bigger rocky stuff. Really the only situation where I don't like it at all is on tarmac, especially uphill. The technique here for me is not to change to a low gear like you think you should, but to grind it up in a high gear.
Hardly ridden anything else since I got it apart from my road bike.

[Solo]

Cheers for link.
It would be as a second bike. For winter or foul weather adventures. 29er would be kept. Full suss probably sold

In know this feeling too well.

FS as good as gone (when the new owner gets round to picking it up - side point I know but how long do you wait?!).

Love my 29er ht but keep looking at fat bikes.
I know here (down south) I don't have mountains on hand to disappear too. Most offroad is either via about 4 miles of road riding minimum or a mix of road and tow path.

Still I look at them. Not sure my family will be up for moving just for where I can ride a potential purchase

But, as a second bike. For fat bike fun. Am I right in reading this thread as it might be worth swallowing my pride (read that as overlooking my negative view towards the brand) and considering an OO Fatty?

[pushbikemike]

I may have "accidentally" bought a second hand genesis caribou. It's a blast. Heavy. But makes me smile. Can't say i would enjoy too many road miles in it though.

[JohnClimber]

Living in the borders do a Google search for Coastkid he was the to buy a Fat Bike and sing it's praises and he still does.
He's based just East of Edinburgh.
If you want in on the old style* (that we are trying to upgrade) UK Fat Bikes forum drop me a pm and I'll ask the gatekeeper (also local to you) to let you in


*one day the forum owner will pull his finger out and get it updated

[Solo]

Funnily enough I've just submitted a registration for the UK fat bike forum.

Hope to get some info. etc.

[pushbikemike]

Living in the borders do a Google search for Coastkid he was the to buy a Fat Bike and sing it's praises and he still does.
He's based just East of Edinburgh.
If you want in on the old style* (that we are trying to upgrade) UK Fat Bikes forum drop me a pm and I'll ask the gatekeeper (also local to you) to let you in


*one day the forum owner will pull his finger out and get it updated

That would be appreciated. Tried a couple of times to register with uk fatbikes forum.

[TheBrownDog]

But, as a second bike. For fat bike fun. Am I right in reading this thread as it might be worth swallowing my pride (read that as overlooking my negative view towards the brand) and considering an OO Fatty?

Go for it. In my long and turgid bike history, my Fatty is the one bike I have never regretted buying. There have been a few times Ive regretted riding it, but never been sorry to have it in the garage.

[Pat]

I'm also curious!
As I live in an area that when it rains, the clay reaches a magical point at which it sticks like poor show to the proverbial......how do fat tyres cope in this scenario?