TForan
Well-Known Member
Nah, more like a Ford Raptor. Big, heavy and quick.
What's it like to ride a fat bike?
- Thread starter The duke
- Start date
Nah, more like a Ford Raptor. Big, heavy and quick.
I own a fat bike, a Juiced RCS since January of this year and also live in SoCal. I’ve put about 600 miles and absolutely love it. I’ve ridden this bike all over Los Angeles County. I prefer riding on bike paths but in order to get there I need to ride the streets of L.A. When I refer to bike paths I’m talking about the Rio Hondo, San Gabriel River, the LA River and the Arroyo Seco. I’ve also ridden the bike all along the shore of the Pacific from Palos Verdes to Pacific Palisades. I had done research for a year before my purchase and was in line to buy an ebike with 2” width tires, Stromer, Vintage Electric’s Cafe and even the Juiced CCX. I’m extremely please I went with a fat tire (mainly because a friend who purchased at the same time lives In Redondo Beach and he was going for fat due to the sand) for the riding I do. It provides great comfort, stability, and versatility. The streets of LA are actually decent in terms of debris, but there are a lot of potholes in some areas that the fat tire accommodates in terms of comfort and stability. The versatility is great for the minor “off-road” I may encounter in LA.
Chopperbill
Active Member
I’ve been riding 300 to 800 lb motorcycles for 60 years. My RadRover seems light as a feather and handles like a sports car to me.
3"? Is that still even a fat bike? I'd imagine that would feel a whole lot more like just a regular mountain bike....a lot less cushy.
Mike Burns
New Member
Hi Duke,,
Depends on the fatbike. I decided to get one (not an ebike) because my Winter employer (Utah ski area with LOTS of snow) started requiring us to take the bus to and from work to free up parking for customers. Driving - 11 minutes, bus - over 2 hours, bike, around 30 minutes. The first one I bought on Craigslist from someone who won it in a contest was new in the box but horrible for my use - 21 speeds and still not geared low enough for the snow and hills, clumsy, handlebars too narrow, and poor brakes. Sold it for what I paid for it after assembling and adjusting. New owner seems quite happy with it riding around town. Current fat bike is amazing. Climbs anything and I haven't had any handling issues. Try to ride the ones you are considering on your local terrain. Differences in geometry seems to make a huge difference on fat bikes.
I have been riding it on the road and some trails this Spring because the roads are all potholes and the shoulders washed out/nonexistent and have been enjoying it. Most of my trips have been 8-10 miles. Haven't even had any of my other bikes out yet. I have an employee that has put over 4000 miles on his Voltbike Yukon 750 and loves it. The ebike is his only transportation and he also rides it for fun on mostly fire road trails and easier singletrack.
As others have said, it is a different beast from a GOOD full-suspension mountain bike. Cheap full-suspension rigs suck. The higher-end full-suspension bikes are great, but at the lower price points, I would go fat or front-suspension only.
Depends on the fatbike. I decided to get one (not an ebike) because my Winter employer (Utah ski area with LOTS of snow) started requiring us to take the bus to and from work to free up parking for customers. Driving - 11 minutes, bus - over 2 hours, bike, around 30 minutes. The first one I bought on Craigslist from someone who won it in a contest was new in the box but horrible for my use - 21 speeds and still not geared low enough for the snow and hills, clumsy, handlebars too narrow, and poor brakes. Sold it for what I paid for it after assembling and adjusting. New owner seems quite happy with it riding around town. Current fat bike is amazing. Climbs anything and I haven't had any handling issues. Try to ride the ones you are considering on your local terrain. Differences in geometry seems to make a huge difference on fat bikes.
I have been riding it on the road and some trails this Spring because the roads are all potholes and the shoulders washed out/nonexistent and have been enjoying it. Most of my trips have been 8-10 miles. Haven't even had any of my other bikes out yet. I have an employee that has put over 4000 miles on his Voltbike Yukon 750 and loves it. The ebike is his only transportation and he also rides it for fun on mostly fire road trails and easier singletrack.
As others have said, it is a different beast from a GOOD full-suspension mountain bike. Cheap full-suspension rigs suck. The higher-end full-suspension bikes are great, but at the lower price points, I would go fat or front-suspension only.
baxterblack
Member
I have a Haibike Full Fat six 7 - ( Yamaha ) - Nothing better on the rail trail and fire roads. Urban riding is perfect for potholes / jumping up and down curbs ect... Love it for single track trails also - I can enjoy almost anything the ride up is afun as the cautious decent. If the bike is not nimble enough, the trail isn't my speed - I'm near the beach and love it for sand, and yes when the snow hits I dress for it and love it
Attachments
I chickened out on buying a fatbike. Too many people told me I'd hate it. Too mushy feeling. Too much drag. Too much self steer. Only good for sand and snow. The fat tires are no substitute for suspension. I ended up buying a plus bike with 2.8"x27.5" tires. I don't notice any negatives...run them at about 15psi and they stick like crazy and feel really smooth. Thinking of going up to 3.2" tires....that's in the fatbike vicinity. Maybe I'll get the best of both worlds?
Sounds like you made the right decision Duke. I bought an M2S Ultramax HT with 4.5" rubber and have over 200 miles on it this month. Amazing and fun in the snow up here but didn't take me very long to realize that it wasn't as much fun on hard trails and was pretty bad on pavement. Fortunately, M2S sells a 27.5" wheelset for mine which can go down to about 2.35" tires although they come with 3". Still waiting for one wheel to arrive and anxious to try them.
I guess if you are going to casually ride trails and bike paths the fat tires may be fine, just not ideal. I like the analogy of putting swamper tires on a lifted truck to drive primarily on the highway...
I guess if you are going to casually ride trails and bike paths the fat tires may be fine, just not ideal. I like the analogy of putting swamper tires on a lifted truck to drive primarily on the highway...
Mike TowpathTraveler
Well-Known Member
My two fatbikes, a Specialized Fatboy with 4.6 inch wide tires and the Haibike Full FatSix with the 4.0's do not self steer....... unless I take out more air in the front tire that is necessary for the conditions at hand (sand....deep sugar sand). On the roads, where 95% plus of my riding occurs, I run at around 25 psi. No self steering. I can't imagine a point where I would want to air out my tires to the point where the front becomes self steering!
You take out just enough air to float over sugar sand road conditions and no more.
Looking over the recent posts; this I know that these folks don't: I'm squeezing about the same amount of power and mileage out of my Yamaha battery as the folks are with their skinnier-rock ride feeling tires.
In addition to having a ride that is literally go-anywhere-anytime, guess who's having the most comfortable ride out on the asphalt? I am.
You take out just enough air to float over sugar sand road conditions and no more.
Looking over the recent posts; this I know that these folks don't: I'm squeezing about the same amount of power and mileage out of my Yamaha battery as the folks are with their skinnier-rock ride feeling tires.
In addition to having a ride that is literally go-anywhere-anytime, guess who's having the most comfortable ride out on the asphalt? I am.
LimboJim
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
For me, self-steering is more a function of the tire than the bike. I had a cheap Vee fat tire that self-steered badly on my old Felt LEBOWSKe as well as my iZip Sumo (most noticeably at lower pressure and only on pavement), but Schwalbe Jungle Jims had no discernible self-steer on either bike, at pretty much any pressure on any surface.
My experience is similar. My 4.5" tires feel a bit "squirmy" at 4 psi and don't like to change directions on pavement. I never noticed that on soft ground. At 12 psi it goes away completely.
Plenty of people are running fat bikes on the road today and not complaining at all. Just depends on what you want or expect for performance. If you are cruising the beach and bike paths at 10-15 mph and don't mind the loud sound on pavement, no problem with soft fat tires. If you are riding the road at 20 mph for a couple hours a day, there are much better options. My analogy to swamper tires on a lifted truck is pretty reasonable... another is running studded snow tires on your Porche coupe in Florida. You may have great reasons to do that but it isn't ideal. There's no wrong answer, it's your personal choice and you are seeing the experiences and opinions of people who want to help.
Plenty of people are running fat bikes on the road today and not complaining at all. Just depends on what you want or expect for performance. If you are cruising the beach and bike paths at 10-15 mph and don't mind the loud sound on pavement, no problem with soft fat tires. If you are riding the road at 20 mph for a couple hours a day, there are much better options. My analogy to swamper tires on a lifted truck is pretty reasonable... another is running studded snow tires on your Porche coupe in Florida. You may have great reasons to do that but it isn't ideal. There's no wrong answer, it's your personal choice and you are seeing the experiences and opinions of people who want to help.
TomD
Well-Known Member
Did you purchase a crosstour? Don't like it?
smorgasbord
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
It was test riding a friend's 26" x 4" Bafang Ultra/Rohloff/FS bike that made me decide to look at 27.5+" alternatives. Even with carbon rims, the gyroscope effect of steering on the front wheel was too much for me, although the owner said once you get used to it it's not a problem. I'm happy with the 27.5" x 3" tires I have now - and I have the option of going down in width without changing rims should I want just more "normal" widths like 2.5" or even 2.25"
JRA
Well-Known Member
As far as the ability for narrow tires to go through snow and sand I find that it's fine as long as you have a front hub effectively creating two wheel drive...
My gears got clogged with snow which was the stopping factor, not the traction....
And to those that don't think DD hubs can climb....
STIL
Gotta get some new video footage on there, these are all 3yrs old...
And to those that don't think DD hubs can climb....
STIL
Gotta get some new video footage on there, these are all 3yrs old...
tomjasz
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Minnesnowta
Not addressing the Crosstour. I bought a budget, $700, fatbike to mount a BBSHD on. Crosstour has a far better geometry.
In reference to fat tire bikes, I'm trying to decide between a couple different e-bikes, one which is a fat tire bike. One has Schwalbe Super-Moto X 27.5” x 2.4” tires and the other has Kenda K-Shield Puncture Resistance 26" x 4" tires. I ride mostly on country asphalt roads, but it never fails that at some point during the summer, they will dump gravel on some roads or sections of roads that I ride on, and they are pure hell to ride on with my Trek hybrid's 35c tires until the following summer when the gravel gets packed down and smoothed out somewhat. Also, some of the roads I ride on are cracked/chipped and not very pleasurable on the 35c tires as well. The gravel is the worst, though. Does this sounds like a situation where a fat bike would be preferred, or should 2.4" tires be sufficient? I know there are some bikes with options around 3", but they were crossed off my list for other reasons. I often see references to riding on trails, snow, and sand with fat tire bikes, but that would not apply to my riding. It's those stretches of freshly poured gravel that I'm concerned about.
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