Fat Tire or no?

[teskow]

Fat, skinny, it all boils down to where and how one likes to ride. I ride lots of dirt trails, some very soft some rocky and hard road and everything that comes along. The 4" tires allow me to do any side trails the spirit moves me to which I often do and enjoy. My knobby tires are a bit noisy only on a paved road but I don't notice it anymore. Does the bike feel like a road racing skinny tire bike, of course not. It feels more like a small dirt bike motorcycle.
As for tire rolling resistance. When I coast alongside narrower tire bikes I don't believe they coast any better. If the 4" tires are aired up they only ride on a very narrow strip down the center that contacts the road no more than a skinny tire would. I would like to see some actual test stats on rolling resistance. At any rate with the E- assist it isn't an issue to loose sleep over.
I am keeping my fat tire bike. The only thing I don't like about the 4" tires is everybody asks to dang many questions.

 

[GypsyTreker]

I love my fattie. I ride it mostly on paved or gravel and it works fine. On real bumpy stuff I will air down the rear tire ( I up-graded the front forks to suspension). I have no idea what the rake/trail specs are but the fat tires do slow down steering it seems, which is ok. I have ridden alot on sandy wash in Fl and its great, opens up areas I would have never attempted. So yeah why not a "fattie"? If your in the position to do so have a road and std mtb and fatti. I am considering another set of rims with "slick" style tires. I had planned on keeping an extra rear hub available. Anyway...go for it

 

[Dallant]

My approx 2.5” Schwalbe G-Ones are the biggest tires I’ve ever ridden and are great but not sure folks would term them “Fat“ tires. I really like the tread pattern because it’s not so “knobby” as to make a lot of noise.

 

[ElevenAD]

You have a choice of tires with the Juggernaut, you can order it with road
tires with no up charge I believe

 

[GenXrider]

- not a lot of fat tire choices, choices we do have are not as flat resistant as other thinner brands (1-3 tubes a year even with Stans+Mr. Tuffy liners)

Yikes. I didn't realize they were so vulnerable over a summer of riding. Riding conditions and tire pressure would be factors. I heard they are more difficult to work with after getting a flat also. It's really my only concern - was thinking about getting an Espin Nero fat bike.

 

[Taylor57]

I cant wait to compare rides between my Lectric and my Sport (Aug delivery). Do you think I will need a suspension seatpost with the Sport? I know it sure helps with the XP..

 

[GenXrider]

Suspension seat posts are a luxury. I have a ineffective suspension seat post on my standard hybrid using 35c tires. The Sport is not a fat bike, so it might be a nice luxury to have, especially if the surfaces you ride on aren't the smoothest.

 

[Taylor57]

Yeah, I'm leaning towards another Suntour purchase. Here is the response from ESPIN when I asked what size seatpost fyi...


ves (Espin Electric Bikes)

Jul 21, 2020, 8:18 AM MST

Hello,

Our seatpost is 30.4mm. You would get the 27.2 and use an adapter to make it fit.

 

[mrgold35]

Yikes. I didn't realize they were so vulnerable over a summer of riding. Riding conditions and tire pressure would be factors. I heard they are more difficult to work with after getting a flat also. It's really my only concern - was thinking about getting an Espin Nero fat bike.

I get more flats work commuting compared to trail riding. We mostly have "share the road" painted bike lanes next to the extra wide roads in ABQ compared to dedicated bike paths for bikers/joggers/walkers. All the road debris gets pushed into the bike lanes (glass, screws, rocks, auto body parts from accidents, etc...). We also have a ton of goat-head stickers weeds that grow on either side of sidewalks. I end up getting 5-20 of them depending on where I ride (reason for Stans+Mr. Tuffy). I had to get into the habit of checking my tires at lunch during work to make sure I didn't have a slow leak because nothing is worse that having a flat before heading home.