Do I 'need' a fat bike?

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PaulB2
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Re: Do I 'need' a fat bike?

Post by PaulB2 »

Out of curiosity do people use studded tyres with the fat bike on snow?
ScotRoutes
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Re: Do I 'need' a fat bike?

Post by ScotRoutes »

Nope. Studded tyres are only required for ice.

For snow, there are two approaches. The original fatbike tyres had very little tread depth, so you don't cut the snow up much and ride over the top of it. That works OK on groomed trails (until they ice up). Later tyres became more knobbly which still provide a bit of "bite" for both traction when pedalling and, importantly, for steering. Both have their place depending on snow conditions.

Studded knobby tyres are available but are very expensive and weigh about the same as a small moon. I've managed 9 years or so without them.
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dlovett
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Re: Do I 'need' a fat bike?

Post by dlovett »

PaulB2 wrote: Fri Sep 27, 2019 10:35 am Out of curiosity do people use studded tyres with the fat bike on snow?
Just letting the air out to about 2psi has always worked with Jumbo Jim's
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whitestone
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Re: Do I 'need' a fat bike?

Post by whitestone »

PaulB2 wrote: Fri Sep 27, 2019 10:35 am Out of curiosity do people use studded tyres with the fat bike on snow?
As Colin notes, studs are only really useful on ice and specifically sheet ice, if the ice surface is rough then for practical purposes it's just firmer snow.

I've been down to very low pressures to maintain traction, the mantra is "If in doubt, let it out!" In Rovaniemi this year I ran my tyres at something similar to the shot below which maybe was a bit too low but on the lakes and the non-packed trails if you had too much pressure you couldn't make any progress as the snow was soft and slushy and would grab your front wheel. There's no point in saying run at Xpsi because it's different for everyone and each situation is so different, you've just got to be prepared to let air out or pump your tyres up to cope with whatever's there.

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mikehowarth
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Re: Do I 'need' a fat bike?

Post by mikehowarth »

Hey Rich!

Consider a fat bike an ATB, it'll go everywhere and do pretty much everything, I should know I certainly put the Pugsley through its paces :-bd

If you're going to go down that route, I'd pay serious attention to the overall weight of the build and particularly tyre choice in terms of performance and weight for rotational mass.

They are ace on snow and sand particularly when the tyre pressures are dropped real low.

Personally I struggled to justify owning mine once I got back from travelling, a plus size format either 29+ or 650B+ is much more versatile with most of the benefits of plushness etc when ran tubeless.

Feel free to bend my ear on Thursday.

Cheers

Mike
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fatbikephil
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Re: Do I 'need' a fat bike?

Post by fatbikephil »

PaulB2 wrote: Fri Sep 27, 2019 10:35 am Out of curiosity do people use studded tyres with the fat bike on snow?
Always fancied giving them a go but I rarely encounter ice (although I generally take a header when I do....)
If its sub zero ice can be quite grippy and 2psi will get you over it safely if your careful. Its only when its above zero and wet that its lethal....

Bud and Lou at 1psi made for an amazing amount of float - I was able to ride over windslab that you couldn't walk through without postholing. It was incredibly hard work mind!
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Re: Do I 'need' a fat bike?

Post by bigtalljohn »

I use my fat bike less than I use to but when the riding involves boggy moorland or slushy wet it just works so well, riding the puffer I never used it because it's not it's environment, 27+ or 29 much better. Riding up Affric to the bothy it eats the track easily.
At my age you would think I would be very wise, but alas still stupid enough to get into trouble
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dlovett
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Re: Do I 'need' a fat bike?

Post by dlovett »

Hell Yes because it can become a not so fat bike!!

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Re: Do I 'need' a fat bike?

Post by fatbikerbill »

I love my fat bike as some here will know , climb anything, go anywhere.

The one terrain they don't like is rock/bouldery downs like Edale cross to Hayfield.

As for snow that can be hit and miss. Most often English snow is too warm and wet. The beast from the east snow was 100% perfect.

As Whitestone says if in doubt let it out.

For me in very boggy Lancashire though it is perfect. It just loves wet peaty boggy hags. Ask my wife!
omedunk
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Re: Do I 'need' a fat bike?

Post by omedunk »

fatbikerbill wrote: Wed Oct 02, 2019 6:13 am The one terrain they don't like is rock/bouldery downs like Edale cross to Hayfield.
Because the tires are too bumpy?
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Alpinum
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Re: Do I 'need' a fat bike?

Post by Alpinum »

Similar discussions have been held on here before and worth looking for.

I'm don't think I'd get one for UK use. Since you have ridden one already, you know what you get and as in doubt... let it be. When you need one you surely can borrow or hire one.

Or move to the Alps, get one and enjoy 5 - 6 months of fun in snow. I absolutely love how fatbikes combine my love for winter, ice and snow with biking. I love how I can ride in places where riding shouldn't really be possible.
I had 1 - 2 bad crashes every winter for 4 - 5 years due to ice hidden under a thin layer of snow and got to a point where I'd had enough of it.
I put on studded tyres.
This transformed the biking again. I remember riding over an off camber overflow, which dropped into a small ravine whilst a group of ski tourers had to go a long way round.
omedunk wrote: Wed Oct 02, 2019 6:25 am Because the tires are too bumpy?
Sorry to jump on this question.
Yes. No matter what pressure, they bounce more, much more than regular tyres thanks to the large volume. It's nowhere near even a rubbish suspension fork as the tyres have no damping at all.

Well... a tiny little bit if you run tubes - but tubes in a fatbike a cr@p; you can't run ambient pressure (I've torn off valves a few times) and when going for the only sensible tyre width, which is above 4.5", tubes are really heavy. So just for the sake of an insignificant smaller amount of bounce (due to friction between tyre and tube) I'd definately not run tubes.

Once you ride at a certain speed in rough stuff, the bike gets hard ro control as you have to work against the bounce. Even just on rather regular Alpine descents I was amazed how much I had to adapt my riding.
For me there's a clear line. My fatbike - as much as I love it - only gets out when there's snow, or when I go building sand castles.

Then there's Iceland's highlands. A perfect place for fatbikes and exploration. No?
I've traversed Icelands Highlands 5 times on different routes under own power and never felt a fatbike to be necessary. Only perhaps 3 % the tracks are so soft, that a 2.6" will have to be deflated to dangerously (punctures) low pressures, nothing risky here for careful riders. My girlfriend and I like to let it go on descents and we had not one single tyre problem - despite rather lightweight casings. For the other 97 % I rode - sticking to various types of single and double tracks - the 29+ hardtail seemed perfect.
When I hiked across the highlands, I hiked off track by bearing for most of the time - there it would've been different, but then riding off tracks is illegal.
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dlovett
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Re: Do I 'need' a fat bike?

Post by dlovett »

fatbikerbill wrote: Wed Oct 02, 2019 6:13 am I love my fat bike as some here will know , climb anything, go anywhere.

The one terrain they don't like is rock/bouldery downs like Edale cross to Hayfield.

Really what bike and tyre combo do you have? Mine smashes through rock gardens with ease. In fact it's my favourite bike by far for real technical DH.
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summittoppler
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Re: Do I 'need' a fat bike?

Post by summittoppler »

Well I'm gonna say "yep, get one" For me living in north wales they have been an absolute joy to ride whether its down on the beach or up in the hills of Snowdonia. Yes other bikes will do some of the routes I ride but they are not as much fun. O and its great to look out of the window during the winter and see snowfall on the hills :-bd

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