Does it exist..??? A fat-tire bike (generally for sandy, or snowy roads) with the power of a serious e-MTB (apt for steep hills, off-roads) ..??

[PedalUma]

@Haystacks and @rich c said it all in the first and second replies. Please re-read them. Fat tiers tend to have noisy nubs and do not last. SuperMoto X are not too fat and ideal for flying over the worst broken pavement. They are fast and last. Too fat a chain stay width and the chain line gets out of whack. The upsides of wide tires for a commuter suffer quickly diminishing returns when they start getting over 50mm - 60mm on a 700c rim. Tall wheels will also smooth the ride. With a conversion you will get the cocktail mixed to your specifications and needs and not someone else's marketing committee's needs. Lower nominal expenditure rate motors have greater range and can still have high peek draws when needed. State of the art high-end mid-drive mountain bikes use this principle such as offerings from Santa Cruz and Specialized. What about Orbea? They are Spanish and have the Wild Thing! https://www.orbea.com/es-es/ebikes/mountain/wild-fs/

 

[J.R.]

You don't need 1000 watts to tackle serious hills. Euro spec mid drives will get the job done.

It's not like the rider is some ripped, pro athlete.

 

[mjeds]

@Haystacks and @rich c said it all in the first and second replies. Please re-read them. Fat tiers tend to have noisy nubs and do not last. SuperMoto X are not too fat and ideal for flying over the worst broken pavement. They are fast and last. Too fat a chain stay width and the chain line gets out of whack. The upsides of wide tires for a commuter suffer quickly diminishing returns when they start getting over 50mm - 60mm on a 700c rim. Tall wheels will also smooth the ride. With a conversion you will get the cocktail mixed to your specifications and needs and not someone else's marketing committee's needs. Lower nominal expenditure rate motors have greater range and can still have high peek draws when needed. State of the art high-end mid-drive mountain bikes use this principle such as offerings from Santa Cruz and Specialized. What about Orbea? They are Spanish and have the Wild Thing! https://www.orbea.com/es-es/ebikes/mountain/wild-fs/
View attachment 91603View attachment 91609

i dunno man, I have 3 fat tire bikes hub drive with 750watt bafang motors, 7,000+ miles on the Cyrusher, 1,800 on my tandem and nearing 1,000 on my bikonit, no issues with them so far except chain wear and 4 punctured tubes from road debris. 50 miles a day on the Cyrusher for almost a year now. all road commuting a slight 9% grade for 2.5 miles at the end of my commute. so I can't speak to hard hill climbing. but for commuting they have been great.

I am looking to move to a road or gravel bike for non-commuting riding. but I like my fat tire for commuting. probably due to riding motorcycles for 35+ years. the fat tire is more comfortable to me

 

[PedalUma]

You don't need 1000 watts to tackle serious hills. Euro spec mid drives will get the job done.

It's not like the rider is some ripped, pro athlete.

70Nm! That is a Euro 250W motor he did that climb with. Once you do big climbs with over 90Nm you shred drivetrains. Less is so much more, particularly with weight. Throw everything you can out of your hot air balloon or in this case off your bike and it will fly. The smaller the motor, the smaller the battery, the lighter the frame... in a cycle of virtue. I will use a display the size of the end of my thumb and remove all the bulky wires and connectors from a build. That junk all goes in the dustbin along with any zip ties. The extra effort in going beyond satisfied is worth it for the best rides.

 

[DandyD]

@Haystacks and @rich c said it all in the first and second replies. Please re-read them. Fat tiers tend to have noisy nubs and do not last. SuperMoto X are not too fat and ideal for flying over the worst broken pavement. They are fast and last. Too fat a chain stay width and the chain line gets out of whack. The upsides of wide tires for a commuter suffer quickly diminishing returns when they start getting over 50mm - 60mm on a 700c rim. Tall wheels will also smooth the ride. With a conversion you will get the cocktail mixed to your specifications and needs and not someone else's marketing committee's needs. Lower nominal expenditure rate motors have greater range and can still have high peek draws when needed. State of the art high-end mid-drive mountain bikes use this principle such as offerings from Santa Cruz and Specialized. What about Orbea? They are Spanish and have the Wild Thing! https://www.orbea.com/es-es/ebikes/mountain/wild-fs/
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Thanks for your thoughts... I'll check the websites...

 

[ruffruff]

Norco makes a nice fat tire

Bigfoot VLT 1 | Norco

The Bigfoot VLT 1 is the electric fat bike that you'll forget is an electric fat bike.

www.norco.com

 

[john peck]

You don't need 1000 watts to tackle serious hills. Euro spec mid drives will get the job done.

It's not like the rider is some ripped, pro athlete.

I usta do dumb stuff like that, & I´ve got the xrays to prove it

 

[DandyD]

Norco makes a nice fat tire

Bigfoot VLT 1 | Norco

The Bigfoot VLT 1 is the electric fat bike that you'll forget is an electric fat bike.

www.norco.com

Indeed, nice bike, but for some reasons I tend to keep leaning back towards the wattwagons bikes, also because of the many options to choose from...

 

[ElevenAD]

Biktrix is the way to go for a Fatbike Commuter! they have at least 4 Fatbikes with 160nm of torque and they have fantastic customer support!
Juggernaut Ultras are sweet bikes!

 

[DandyD]

Biktrix is the way to go for a Fatbike Commuter! they have at least 4 Fatbikes with 160nm of torque and they have fantastic customer support!
Juggernaut Ultras are sweet bikes!

Unfortunately USA + CANADA only... ;-(

 

[ElevenAD]

Unfortunately USA + CANADA only... ;-(

oh sorry i didnt know you were in Europe

 

[DandyD]

oh sorry i didnt know you were in Europe

Si Sr.

 

[ElevenAD]

Ah ok, so that tells me you want full suspension but don't need it. Full suspension on a fat bike takes your availability way down. Also, the fat bike rentals you had that only made it halfway up the hill... I am guessing they were a geared hub in the back? Could also have been a 1 donkeypower (250w) motor.

Ditch the rear suspension requirement and you have a WIDE variety of choices where otherwise you have only a very few at the top of the price heap. Get yourself a good suspension seatpost like a Thudbuster LT or a Kinekt. Fat hardtails configured like this, with a mid drive, can climb any street in comfort. My bikes generally have panniers on them specifically because they are commuters and store bikes that are carrying extra gear like work clothes/shoes, or my lunch or both.

A BBSHD conversion like this one can get you up the hill without any pedaling. Just upshift, relax and either hit the throttle and snooze your way up the hill, or max the pedal assist and gently pedal yourself up as if you are on flat ground.

I will almost always pedal a bike like this and get exercise, but if I have a date then I might throttle it all the way home, or a conference call coming up shortly same deal on the way into the office.

View attachment 91580

Lastly: You will find that plus-sized tires about 3" wide are just as comfy as fat tires on the street but are much easier to deal with in a number of ways. I would broaden your search to plus size tire'd bikes.

i agree with everything in this post except "3" wide are just as comfy" im running 3" wides now and overall i prefer them to fullfats,the pros just out weigh the cons but i feel like the difference in comfort is huge, for just a 1inch difference full fat 4"+ delivered a much more comfortable ride imo,much softer on the bum just not as nimble or efficient, as for the BBSHD build thats the route i would take if i lived in Europe,that or an M620 build. The bike in this pic looks friggin sweet! i also have a BBSHD Fat bike and that motor peaks at well over 1000watts,im sure it can handle whatever the OP throws at it,great motor that is time tested.

 

[ElevenAD]

I have to say first i'm sorry for the quality of this picture, i snapped my phone in half clearcoating the bike and have had to use an old broken phone which it also happens has a bad lense, i wasn't going to post any pictures until i had some decent ones in the sun but the forecast is for rain all week oh and please forgive the messy cockpit/wiring, i haven't shrunk the heatshrink yet until i know everything is 100%

Self build FTW

View attachment 91581

wow! that came out great! very inspiring!

 

[DandyD]

i agree with everything in this post except "3" wide are just as comfy" im running 3" wides now and overall i prefer them to fullfats,the pros just out weigh the cons but i feel like the difference in comfort is huge, for just a 1inch difference full fat 4"+ delivered a much more comfortable ride imo,much softer on the bum just not as nimble or efficient, as for the BBSHD build thats the route i would take if i lived in Europe,that or an M620 build. The bike in this pic looks friggin sweet! i also have a BBSHD Fat bike and that motor peaks at well over 1000watts,im sure it can handle whatever the OP throws at it,great motor that is time tested.

Hi @ElevenAD, thanks for your useful comment, especially on the tire section... I was already investigating, but as I seek the most comfy ride possible I agree to opt of a +4" tire set...

About the self-build, I believe I will not feel comfortable enough to do that as this will be my first bike, so I seek a ready made, preferably configurable bike at first...

 

[ElevenAD]

Hi @ElevenAD, thanks for your useful comment, especially on the tire section... I was already investigating, but as I seek the most comfy ride possible I agree to opt of a +4" tire set...

About the self-build, I believe I will not feel comfortable enough to do that as this will be my first bike, so I seek a ready made, preferably configurable bike at first...

how are local bike shops in Europe when it comes to putting together E-bikes? i know here in the US you can often buy the parts and have a LBS put it together for you, price is usually around 100 bucks...

 

[Jon A]

Fat tires for snow and sand is partially inaccurate. In snow, they are wonderful in fresh powder. But not worth a hoot on ice, frozen slush, frozen bike tire tracks, or any type of precip on top of ice. On sand, they are better, but really soft and dry sand takes a ton of power. In my opinion, oversized tires like 2.4" wide are far superior for serious e-MTB. On our single tracks, you can ride if it's muddy. So less air pressure in a Schwalbe Super Moto-X is the perfect tire for me. The fat eBike I had was horrible on sharp switchbacks and hard climbing.

I've found the exact opposite of most of that to be true. Maybe I'm just using different tires? What bike and tires did you have? I will say the $10 (if that) tires that came on my wife's fatbike performed about like that...but I wouldn't expect a $10 MTB tire to perform well on a MTB either. Of course the OP isn't looking for challenging trail rides so it's moot to him.

To the OP: Were the fat bikes you tried hub drive? If so, keep in mind a mid-drive of the same power will perform much better on hills. I do agree with some here that you generally don't need a ton of power to do well on hills with a mid-drive, but "well" on a trail ride where lower speeds are acceptable and you're in it for "the experience" is different than what you're looking for. You're trying to get somewhere in a reasonable amount of time without having to do interval training at the same time. So I think you are on the right track looking for something with lots of power. To add a couple more to your possibilities that haven't been mentioned yet to your list:

SONDORS Mid-Drive 2020

shop.sondors.com

Not really high-end, but the cheaper bits can be upgraded. The LX might suit you well. They use the Bafang Ultra.

The Premium Electric Bikes Direct From Manufacturer

EUNORAU E-bikes are ideal for all levels of riders and are available in a wide range of designs, colors, styles, and models. we offer: #Electric Mountain Bike #Electric Fat Bike #Electric Beach Cruiser #Electric Folding Bike #Electric Cargo Bike #Electric Hunting Bikes #Electric Scooter...

eunorau-ebike.com

Again, not super high-end but may get the job done for you. Quite a selection, some you may like use the BBSHD others use the Ultra either of which I think would be powerful enough to make you happy.

 

[Haystacks]

wow! that came out great! very inspiring!

Terrible picture though, think it needs a newer one for the record

 

[m@Robertson]

i agree with everything in this post except "3" wide are just as comfy" im running 3" wides now and overall i prefer them to fullfats,the pros just out weigh the cons but i feel like the difference in comfort is huge, for just a 1inch difference full fat 4"+ delivered a much more comfortable ride imo,much softer on the bum just not as nimble or efficient

Your experience may be colored by the rim widths you used. For example, some here will be horrified but its quite possible to put 2.5" tires on 80mm rims. Its common for people to do that if they find they (or more commonly their wives) are not tall enough to ride the bike even after they have lowered the seat all the way. Sure the proper answer is a different bike , but people do it anyway. Most frequently the tire used is a Maxxis Hookworm.

Another common choice is the Duro Beach Bum which is a 3" tire. Sidewalls go straight up at least on that combo. And again: ride comfort is severely compromised. I actually tried it on my daily driver at the time (80mm rims) and hated it. Tire profile is surprisingly good. but ride comfort is nonexistent.

Now, if instead I use rims with a 30mm inside width... Tire profile is completely different - and ride comfort is like rolling on pillows compared to 2.0" tires on the same rims. Only difference is rim width. These are 2.8" tires on 30mm MTX39's and as you can see they look like balloons.

.

This is part of proper bike building that is seldom brought up: Matching the tires to the wheels. This guide to picking the right combo is invaluable (and a little conservative)

https://www.dtswiss.com/pmt/00/00/00/00/00/00/00/10/00/00/00/86/6/MAN_WXD10000000866S_WEB_ZZ_001.pdf

 

[DandyD]

how are local bike shops in Europe when it comes to putting together E-bikes? i know here in the US you can often buy the parts and have a LBS put it together for you, price is usually around 100 bucks...

OK, I didnt know... Im quite a newbee on the topic unfortunately... Not aware if there are Bike shops who assembly parts bought somewhere else by a client..., I somehow doubt it..., but it's an interesting angle...