UKH

Anyone ride a fat bike and if so are they a practical consideration for regular off tarmac use? Any particular pros and cons? I’ve spoken to a couple of folk who have ridden one, and read some reviews but they seem very mixed bag of thoughts, slightly more negative than positive! I appreciate you would not want to ride on tarmac, but off road do they handle hard trails and soft terrain like mud ok? Is suspension necessary?

I have a fat bike and ride it in the snow all winter (in Canada) - it's a fully rigid bike.

I don't use mine at all outside of winter, they're not a great choice on gravel given their larger rolling resistance and the cost of new tires, which is astronomical.

Having said that, I do know people who ride their fat bikes on trails - it's definitely doable, maybe even fun.

I've ridden on on a fat bike trip in the alps, it was great. On the road unsurprisingly it felt very odd.

In mud they aren't great, they have quite a low profile tread, lack grip and float around.

I didn't have suspension and it felt fine. I've seen people use them at trail centres but I don't get it, plus tyres maybe but full on fat seems a bit daft.

If I lived somewhere with regular snow then I'd buy one, but I don't so I won't!

650b plus for comfort and speed.

D

Get one of these...

youtube.com/watch?v=QVomqV6M8LY&

I’m a bit late for snow use this year with me, but that would be a consideration for another winter as I regularly was stopped by snow on my regular mtb  in recent past. Generally though it would be for fun for me and uses considered on land that either stops me or really slows me down like sand, soft stuff including lots of mud, cross country with tussocky grasslands where rights of way go, maybe some trails though I am keeping my current mt bike.

I have noted the price of tyres!!

Interesting about mud. That would be on thing I need a bike to cope with. Tonight when out I ground to a halt several times as my 2.25 width sank into the mud too easily and too frequently! Not easy to walk and push the bike out in mud which is one reason why I was thinking of a fat bike for some of my routes!

Trail centres is not what I am planning as I can’t imagine the fat tyres at low pressure could handle the downs and corners! I’m keeping my current mt bike. Roads though are an acceptable small part to link regular routes I take. Compromise happy to accept if overall it’s a benefit.

Looked at plus tyres yesterday in my LBS. I would be happy to go that route as they seem ideal, but unfortunately my current bike is too new, can’t take them and trade in value is too low for me to justify a like for like change (excepting the plus tyres difference).

A fat bike would be an additional bike for some fun when the weather is not that favourable to my current mt bike.

Looks like a fat bike to me! I was speaking to a guy who was a competitor in a comp down in the lakes last year and he said a fat bike really annoyed him overall. The rider with a steady pace overall caught him up and would be behind him on the softer sections, and eventually as conditions worsened overtook him to beat him to the finish!

I've never ridden a full fat but Mrs B has a Scott Scale 27+ which has 3" tyres but the weight of a normal xc bike. She loves it. We went over Garburn Pass in the snow and I struggled to get traction or stay upright on a 29er with aggressive tyres while she floated over it without any trouble. It has pros and cons of course (floats and slides on mud and apparently doesn't do trail centre berms very well) but the pros seem to outweigh the cons, and of course if you want a fast xc whippet you can put normal 29ers on it. If you are tall you could also consider a 29+. 

That said, we went to see Lee Craig talk about riding the GR5 and she said that a fat bike was the only way to ride something like this because of the traction under braking when going down steep and loose paths. 

Not just a fat bike - an electric fat bike. According to my GPS, I'm doing about 40 kph, I reckon he's getting close to 60 without breaking into a sweat. You can just about hear the tyre noise over the wind in the clip, but I could hear it coming from a long way back!

Ah didn’t appreciate the speed. But 60 kph would not road legal in the UK without tax, insurance, etc, etc!!

Plus size tyres will be on my radar when I look to change current mt bike. I am trying to justify a fat bike for fun meantime!!!

Not legal here either! Motor is supposed to cut out at 25 kph but quite a few people appear to have removed the cutout!

Well depending on the mud they can float on it, but they generally lack actual grip (drive and steering).

Mud tyres are generally skinny to cut through the mud.

I'm sure there will be some tyres out there but from memory tyres and tubes aren't cheap.

Saying all that there are some bargains out there from time to time. If you've got the space and space cash F'it and buy one. On their day they are the perfect bike to be on, same as a DH bike is great at the right place - doing the SDW less so

Thanks, and thanks to others for their comments. 

Thinking about it, the ability to float better on mud would be much better than now since it would be more on level sections where ultimate grip is not necessary. Also, any real mud plugging is only limited short sections of where I go anyway and the big plus of extra places and terrain a fat bike could take me is very appealing.

It’s just a case now of deciding if I can justify all the costs for a limited number of days it would be used per year. I have little doubt it will be a fun ride when conditions suit !

Cheers all, appreciate your comments.

I have both 29+ and a fatbike for the last 3 years - I sold my regular 29er MTB soon after as it simply wasn't getting any use.  Bear in mind that a lot of people's opinions of fatbikes is often based on a single ride of a heavy, cheap bike with over-inflated, cheap tyres. A carbon-framed and rimmed fatbike will be lighter than most regular MTBs and the rolling resistance of fat tyres on softer surfaces less than normal tyres. If you're talking all-day riding on 'natural' terrain i.e. not trail centres the big wheels have benefits - they roll far better over rougher terrain, handle water-bars and the like easily plus the grip means they will outclimb most particularly on wet rocks and roots. Their stability on descents means you can simply 'let-go' and embarrass your friends on full-sussers. You only really need suspension if riding technical trails IMO - I've ridden mine rigid for 200+ miles in a day offroad. I use my 29+ more for bike backing and big miles in summer where the tyres roll really well on drier, hard-packed trails. I've also taken my fatbike 3 times to the arctic in winter including a 5-day unsupported race - a great experience. Fatbikes are also great to explore beaches and coastlines - terrain not normally accessible by any other means - but the sand and salt water is heavy on maintenance / parts. Downsides are good tyres are expensive and heavy but they will last 2-3 years

Many thanks for comments. Yes I am thinking mainly natural terrain including in particular some coastal beaches, as possible new areas to explore that my current bike can’t take me to. For trails my current mtb is more than capable for my level of ability and I’ll be keeping it meantime, or that was the plan. 

However have been talking to my LBS and he suggested I should take a test ride on his 29 plus demonstrator which is on 2.8s before I decide. Still to arrange that.

I agree about suspension

Good effort riding 200+ miles a day, offroad - must have been some day!

Agreed with bells on. 200+ miles would be enough for me on the road!

A friend of mine with an extensive collection of bikes bought a fat bike and sold it about 6 months later, which tells me what he thought of them.

If you're struggling in mud consider simply adding in a narrow DH mud tyre on the front - Swampthing or similar. I rode a couple of winters of XC with a Swampy 2.35 on the front and a Fat Albert 2.4 on the back - this was a pretty good combo that got me round some proper muddy stuff. Your legs feel it a bit at first but soon catch up and then when spring comes you're absolutely flying on the lighter tyres!