Thicc Bikes

[pushkar]

I am exploring some fat tire bike options for trail riding. What is your ideal wheel width for fat tire trail bikes?
Please vote!

Examples or pictures welcome.

 

[byunbee]

I think this will depend on geographical location of where we live. I expect many people who live where there’s snow and muddy terrain would prefer to have fat tires as option. Me personally can’t ever see myself riding anywhere in Southern California with 4 inch tires.

 

[byunbee]

You may say, what about riding on the sand at the beach? I can honestly say that in almost 50 years living in so cal and almost living at the beach during my younger years, I have yet to see one person riding their bike on the sand. The pics you see on the Internet including Luna Babe photo, is just that. A photo shoot.

 

[TomW]

I cuncur with byunbee. Personally fat tyres are not much use for me. Rarely snows and there is not much sand. We get plenty of mud but a narrower tyre like some Magic Mary's are brilliant in the mud. I have built the bike to accept up to about 3 inches which is as wide as I would go. Currently I am using 2.4's.

 

[vincent]

my next heavy bike is going to be a 4 inch or bigger, just did some trails with a lot of sand and the 2.8 on the WW were not cutting it at all

having done a lot of miles on a rad rover in beginning and been able to go anywhere and hardly ever bog down i like having at least 1- 4 inch fat tire in my stable

i also do always ride some on the beach when i go to southern cali

so for me it is definitely an option

 

[Ebiker33]

I like the Johnny 5 from Terrene, it's not a true 5, more of a 4.8

Something cool about a tire named after a robot from a 80's movies

Johnny 5

The Johnny 5 is one seriously large tire with gobs of traction and stability. The extra siping is a smart feature to increase overall surface area.
Fat Bike Tester

These tires have such insane hook-up. I can’t imagine there’s a better tire for grip!
Greg Matyas

A upgraded Hiabike with a Johnny 5

 

[byunbee]

my next heavy bike is going to be a 4 inch or bigger, just did some trails with a lot of sand and the 2.8 on the WW were not cutting it at all

having done a lot of miles on a rad rover in beginning and been able to go anywhere and hardly ever bog down i like having at least 1- 4 inch fat tire in my stable

i also do always ride some on the beach when i go to southern cali

so for me it is definitely an option

Is the problem with the sand more to do with tire type than the width? If you swapped out the tires with knobby I’m sure you’ll notice a marked improvement.

 

[vincent]

Lol I am running maxxis minion knobbies but I did not have my pressure low enough, that didn’t help any

All that being said I’ve run the rad rover through the same area with no problems and on the beach with no problems not even aired down low so definitely tire width makes a difference

I definitely want at least one more fat 4 maybe even 4 1/2, I don’t really know that I need fives but I havent actually ridden a 5 inch fat bike

 

[byunbee]

Lol I am running maxxis minion knobbies but I did not have my pressure low enough, that didn’t help any

All that being said I’ve run the rad rover through the same area with no problems and on the beach with no problems not even aired down low so definitely tire width makes a difference

I definitely want at least one more fat 4 maybe even 4 1/2, I don’t really know that I need fives but I havent actually ridden a 5 inch fat bike

Well, you do seem like a collector with so many in your stable...so there’s nothing wrong with adding another flavor to make a complete set.

 

[vincent]

Lol only my pocketbook would disagree with you, I think you can’t have too many bikes but.... I don’t have enough room to store all days and I travel all the time so four really needs to be my limit

cannot haul more than that in the van LOL

 

[vincent]

I am so pleased with the softail wattwagon, really love that bike

 

[Jermaine468]

I am so pleased with the softail wattwagon, really love that bike

Can you share a photo of your soft tail watt wagon? Would love to see this.

 

[vincent]

very happy with this bike :)

finally got in some more rides this weekend bike did great, today did a 35 mile ride with 1/3 pavement and some crappy dirt roads with 6-7 miles of a road that turned out to be basically a sand wash, have no idea how anyone gets through stuff like on an analog bike especially with all the...

electricbikereview.com

This thread is about my bike and has pictures in it

 

[FlatSix911]

I am exploring some fat tire bike options for trail riding. What is your ideal wheel width for fat tire trail bikes?
Please vote!

Examples or pictures welcome.

Here is how I would break it down... there are really just two tire categories, EMTB and Fat.

I ride an Enduro/All mountain 2.8" Tire E-mountain bike and would not want to go wider.

• 2.8 - 3.0" Mountain Bike tire range
• 4.0 - 4.9" Fat Tire Bike range

 

[reed scott]

I was initially enamored with the idea of fat bikes. They do look cool. I soon came to the view that 'looks' was where it ended. 2.8 is just fine. Just as functional and actually display greater utility.

 

[vincent]

That’s not really true, no 2.8 goes over deep sand and I don’t ride in snow but I’m sure it’s the same case there

Fat Bikes have a purpose just like any other bike

 

[reed scott]

That’s not really true, no 2.8 goes over deep sand and I don’t ride in snow but I’m sure it’s the same case there

Fat Bikes have a purpose just like any other bike

Like you have mentioned, deep sand is for the young and skilled. I used to ride a 450 thumper dirt bike and a big KTM Adventure bike and I HATE sand more than 2 inches deep. Don't grasp why people want to ride in that stuff.

 

[TomD]

Yeah suspect most folks buying fat tire bikes don't really need them. I personally find them annoying on paved shared use trails as the tires are loud. Kind of a buzzkill.

 

[Leon S. Kennedy]

The largest tire I would consider using would be 3.0"

 

[vincent]

I am fine with using fat bikes and I may buy a 2.6 tire in the next couple of months but definitely my next bike will be 4 inches or up, I have plenty of sand to deal with here and cannot stand bogging down, does not bother me at all about the noise

I like that people hear me coming up behind them

but you guys are probably riding pavement a lot more than I am, at least once a month I consider having Pushkar ship me the same frame but wide enough to take 4 inch tires, it’s really the only thing I would change on my bike