Fat Bikes Vs Regular Mt Bikes

Fat bikes are traditionally for snow and sand, conditions where the wider tire will not sink in. But people have discovered that they can roll over other obstacles. They are not so much a replacement for a traditional mountain bike. They tend to be a little heavier and slower but since they roll over a lot you tend to be able to keep rolling even when smaller tire bikes are having trouble.

Fat bikes come rigid, hardtail and even full suspension. They're fun to ride and have their place but I know very few people that have given up their 29ers for them full time.

It's terrain based...

Fat tires are great for really rough/nasty surfaces, sand, mud and snow.

They provide flotation and quite a lot of bump absorption...you can typically run them down at 10psi and lower depending on tires and wheels. They aren't the same as a full suspension for drops etc but for rolling over rocks and roots they are pretty compliant.

They aren't generally "fast" they are about going places more easily...a Rokon Ranger of bicycles.

Nothing fast about this as a motorcycle, but it will go places you aren't getting to go with a normal bike, at least, far more easily. It's about getting there.

I don't think it is really a VS more of an in addition too. I don't have one but they look like a lot of fun and would like to pick one up. Now that bikesdirect.com sells a few and for cheap I can almost justify it. Looks like they are coming out with a SS fat bike soon too so that would kill my want for a fat and a SS all in one.

I went trail riding on some snow covered single track yesterday. My mtb has 26"x2.1" tyres so I was sliding around alot. There was one other mtb 29 er possibly and one mtb with a fatty on the front, and at least one guy had a studded fatbike. Most had fatbikes IT was 10 degrees out and I needed to get back to watch football so I didn't have time to chat about their rides. The fatbikes definitely had the edge in handling but when the snow went shallow or hard enough I could catch up like a rubber band. I was spinning my rear tire A LOT. What was interesting is I could not maintain a sraite line or stay on the ridden trail to save my life but out in an open cornfield section I was better off forging my own trail in the 6" of snow. Took me 1.5 hours to go what I believe was 6 miles. It was one of the most intense fun workouts ever. After a while I got used to having no control and spinning the rear excessively but not yet how to handle the front tire sliding out.

I ride road and cross in the spring/summer/fall - fat bike was perfect for me to fill the 4-5 month winter gap.

If I had a regular MTB, my road and cross riding would suffer as a result, whereas the fat bike riding is complementary. It was a no brainer for me.

Fat bikes have little real world utility, maybe if you live near a sandy beach they will be useful?

ambal said:

Fat bikes have little real world utility, maybe if you live near a sandy beach they will be useful?

Couldn't disagree more. This past winter the northeast was crushed with the worst recorded winter ever. Fat bikes were the only bike being ridden, and there were plenty of them out there. We have a lot of sand in the summer, being near the cape, plenty of snow in winter. The fat bike is a great addition to the stable if you want to ride all year. There are so many places that you can ride with a fat bike.

I think fat bikes are great, they're great but not for mountains. Regular bikes are for mountains because they're made for that. Fat bikes are a bit heavy.

I've got one in addition to my other rides. It's by no means replacing any of them, but it sure is fun. It's getting more of my winter solo ride time than the other bikes. Not the bike I'll be taking on fast group rides, huck fests, or when wanting to just be pedaling and hauling ass.

Not as fast, different, and fun. Up and down stuff that would have me walking with the other bikes, at least in the little bit of snow we've had so far. Beyond a certain amount of snow, I'll still just be
busting out the snowshoes. Other than that, it's very fun in slow speed technical and rock crawling terrain - way more nimble (at least mine is) than I'd anticipated it to be. You can trackstand for days, and it's actually pretty easy
to hop around on the thing.

There is a lot of cush with the tires, but...it's still a rigid bike. If riding regular trails and not snow covered stuff, you still need to be smooth or it'll remind you very quickly of that.

I had seen a fat bike with the so called balloon tires. It's just a shame that I was not able to take a photo of it. Those balloon tires, as far as I remember, was popular in the 1960s. There was no mountain bike yet and the usual bikes were the slim tired and tall frames. When the balloon tires came out, my uncle bought one for my cousins which I would sometimes borrow.