$2500 for Fat Bike budget

[TForan]

I have a fatbike for urban riding and I love it. That said, I wouldn't without a 1000 watt motor and 3.5 inch street tires. It is so forgiving when it comes to variety of surfaces. I tried a Felt with the bosch motor and didn't care for that at all. Slow and clumsy is the way it seemed to me.

 

[mrgold35]

The biggest advantages I like about my fat tire over my old pedal bike is the smoother and faster transition between surfaces, smoother ride for me, and the 750w boost from the throttle if I need the extra speed/power. Just on my work commute, I can ride broken asphalt, uneven concrete sidewalks, ride off curbs, a sandy to muddy dirt lot (depending if it rained), and hardpacked/sandy/rocky single track trail (if I take a fun ride detour). The throttle will be your best friend if you hit a deep sandy spot on the trail.

I actually became a much better ebike rider and really improved my skill sets the more singletrack tails I rode (especially at night with a good set of head and helmet lights).

 

[Smiles4miles]

Rich C- Definitely sounds disappointing. Hopefully my Volt experience is different.

 

[JRA]

All I can say to the OP is that if you are used to riding a 29"er get ready to adjust your riding style with the fat bike as I personally find the two to handle differently even though the diameters are similar. I get to ride e Fat Bikes all the time after doing conversions on them and normally ride with a 700c x 2.3 tire in the front of my bike like yourself. The additional contact patch of the Fat Bike front tire, and steep by today's standards front end geometry generally found on Fat Bikes, make steering the bike feel really twitchy to me. I found the best method was to revert to my motorcycle experience and reverse steering the bike works a bit better but still hard to make that switch between the two.

To me it is less about tire width than tire pressure. With an i35 rim and 2.3 tire run tubeless I can run sub 15psi which yields great compliance and traction, easily enough for any terrain I encounter, some of which is pretty rough. Yet doesn't exhibit any actual handling difference over when I rode on narrower rims tubed @ 30 or so psi which I did for years. It is enhanced if anything and much more sure footed on rocks and roots with less chance of getting flats.

In fact after last day's off ride I hadn't really paid much attention to tire psi before riding but during the ride a few times it felt my psi might have been a bit low. When I checked with my accurate gauge the front was a 8psi and the rear was 13. We rode some very rooty trails and never a burp or loss of traction even on off camber stuff and root slamming


That said I wouldn't use that bike for riding primarily pavé/gravel and light trail but would ride my bikes for that have 45c tires run tubeless @ 35 and am having similar success with far less rolling resistance than a 4" tire increasing my range.

 

[Smiles4miles]

The biggest advantages I like about my fat tire over my old pedal bike is the smoother and faster transition between surfaces, smoother ride for me, and the 750w boost from the throttle if I need the extra speed/power. Just on my work commute, I can ride broken asphalt, uneven concrete sidewalks, ride off curbs, a sandy to muddy dirt lot (depending if it rained), and hardpacked/sandy/rocky single track trail (if I take a fun ride detour). The throttle will be your best friend if you hit a deep sandy spot on the trail.

I actually became a much better ebike rider and really improved my skill sets the more singletrack tails I rode (especially at night with a good set of head and helmet lights).

That’s what I’m looking for, versatility. I think I’ll try to sneak it on to the single tracks in my area, but luckily within 2 miles of my house I can pick up a network of hundreds of miles of dirt roads with some beautiful scenery. I’m sure some lights are in my future.

 

[Smiles4miles]

All I can say to the OP is that if you are used to riding a 29"er get ready to adjust your riding style with the fat bike as I personally find the two to handle differently even though the diameters are similar. I get to ride e Fat Bikes all the time after doing conversions on them and normally ride with a 700c x 2.3 tire in the front of my bike like yourself. The additional contact patch of the Fat Bike front tire, and steep by today's standards front end geometry generally found on Fat Bikes, make steering the bike feel really twitchy to me. I found the best method was to revert to my motorcycle experience and reverse steering the bike works a bit better but still hard to make that switch between the two.

To me it is less about tire width than tire pressure. With an i35 rim and 2.3 tire run tubeless I can run sub 15psi which yields great compliance and traction, easily enough for any terrain I encounter, some of which is pretty rough. Yet doesn't exhibit any actual handling difference over when I rode on narrower rims tubed @ 30 or so psi which I did for years. It is enhanced if anything and much more sure footed on rocks and roots with less chance of getting flats.

In fact after last day's off ride I hadn't really paid much attention to tire psi before riding but during the ride a few times it felt my psi might have been a bit low. When I checked with my accurate gauge the front was a 8psi and the rear was 13. We rode some very rooty trails and never a burp or loss of traction even on off camber stuff and root slamming


That said I wouldn't use that bike for riding primarily pavé/gravel and light trail but would ride my bikes for that have 45c tires run tubeless @ 35 and am having similar success with far less rolling resistance than a 4" tire increasing my range.

Lot’s of good info there man. Thank you. I’m still kind of considering the Enduro, but still leaning toward the Yukon. Decisions decisions...

 

[TForan]

Mike
I don't know where you live in Mi but if you're anywhere near Traverse City, you are welcome to try my bike for as long as you want.

 

[Smiles4miles]

Mike
I don't know where you live in Mi but if you're anywhere near Traverse City, you are welcome to try my bike for as long as you want.

Extremely generous offer TForan! I’m in Fenton, so a little ways, but I appreciate it much.

 

[TForan]

Extremely generous offer TForan! I’m in Fenton, so a little ways, but I appreciate it much.

I moved up here from Fenton. Lived in Coachlight Pines for 10 years.