[Closed] Fat bikes : any recommendations ? Scott Big Jon experiences ?

What is your budget? Have you tried / hired one?

Personally I'm to Surly biased so will just recommend the Wednesday or ICT.

Pop along to the UK fat bike club on facebook. Every conceivable fat bike on there & very knowledgeable riders

I've a Singular Puffin, my wife's a Surly Wednesday. Both are fine, might feel heavy but don't ride that way if you get what I mean. Wouldn't be my only bike but the odd trip here and there is great fun.

There's a big thread on here about the Calibre Dune, the title's something like "Fat bike for under a grand", worth checking out.

Since Oct 2015
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Advantages:
* very fast
* very fast
* not that heavy (32 lbs)
* very fast
* very fast

Disadvantages:
erm
erm
Not that good in mud with the JJs

[url= http://forums.mtbr.com/fat-bikes/new-scott-fat-bike-big-jon-987169.html ]mtbr Big Jon thread[/url]

A friend has a Scott. It's very nice.

Another friend has a Wednesday. It's also very nice, though very different.

I have a 9ZERO7. Would buy again.

Like all other wheel sizes, there are differences in frame geometry and feel so it's worth trying a few out if you can.

The Calibre seems to be excellent vfm

I don't keep in the fatbike loop, but I would keep my eye on the Canyon site for a rigid forked Dude deal. A full carbon frame and fork, plus decent weight fat wheels (~2300g vs the ~3800g on the Wazoo) makes for a spritely ~13Kg in full-fat mode.

The Dune has been a great bike for £550.

A few things needed changing -

Cable brakes - upgrade to hydros, I used some old avids.
Bars - Thick, narrow and harsh, get some cheap trail bars for it.
Seat post is very short - Get a cheap 400mm one.
Tyres - Kenda's are good for summer, but get some minions for proper wet grip.

That lot will add about £150 to £200, but it's still a pretty light and good bike for £750. If you cant live with 2x8, its a frame/fork/wheel combo that's well worth upgrading to 1x11.

I bought a second hand Puffin in the spring - it surprised me with just how much fun it is, and how capable it is over various disciplines. It was single speed - brilliant. 32lbs. It now has some retro gears - think I prefer it SS. About 35lbs. What amazed me the most was just how good it was on the trails at speed - the front wheel comes up at will and it grips like a limpet. I wish it was lighter, but I like steel, so that is my choice.

A note on sizing. The one that came up was an XL, which everyone said would be way too big for me at 6'1". I put a 45mm stem on, Stooge Moto bars and it is all-day comfortable. If I bought new I would probably have bought a large - they look better - but I'm happy with the XL, although standover isn't great!!!! Feels absolutely indestructible.

Ride one, wth an open mind, see what you think. They're not for everyone, but it really is a fun way to spend time on two wheels.

Can anyone compare the Puffin to a Surly Wednesday? I'm curious about the latter.

I imported a Chinese frameset with the aim to build something a bit lighter and cheaper than a Dude.

My 19" CS-197 has very similar geometry to Salsa Beargrease and for £1350 and 12.5kgs it has Hope Fatsno hubs on i45s, tubeless Jim snakeskin 4.0, 1x10 XT, RF Aeffect cinch cranks w/28t oval.

KS 150 dropper I already had and suits it well as internal dropper routing looks tricky and external would look gash.

I love it. Just sold my racy carbon HT so am seriously thinking about a suspension fork now. I quite like rigid though, it's a lot more forgiving than my narrow tyred 29er SS for sure.

If you like searching and building stuff I can highly recommend this route.
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I've got a cs-197 as well (21"), with carbon wheels from the same manufacturer. Frame and wheels where 1300 quid-ish. Came in at 25lbs with a dropper.

My other fat bike is a Felt. That's 33lb with a dropper. Pretty similar to the Scott but a bit higher at the front from what I remember when I was pouring over specs (the cs-197 is taller again).

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Can anyone compare the Puffin to a Surly Wednesday? I'm curious about the latter.

Like I posted earlier, I've a Puffin and my wife has a Wednesday. A bit awkward for either of us to compare them as they are at opposite ends of the size ranges! I might as well be on a kid's bike when I get on hers.

The Dune has been a great bike for £550.
A few things needed changing -
Cable brakes - upgrade to hydros, I used some old avids.
Bars - Thick, narrow and harsh, get some cheap trail bars for it.
Seat post is very short - Get a cheap 400mm one.
Tyres - Kenda's are good for summer, but get some minions for proper wet grip.

Don't forget that they crack & the warranty is only 12 months......

But did love mine for the short time that it lasted, with cheap bikes you get cheap warranties too. Lesson learned

Had a Puffin and a Wednesday. Prefer the Puffin. But they are so close its very subjective. The Surly is their "long and low" geo, so the Puffin suited me better as well.

Puffin rode better, 55mm offset forks help. Slightly lighter springy frame.

Wednesday a bit more "traily". Slacker head angle. More dropper post friendly (30.9 seat tube, stealth routing). Bit of a stiffer feeling frame to Puffin.

Wednesday possibly a better bikepacking/touring bike due having all the barnicles possible on the frame, but if you are using soft luggage thats not an issue.

I've got a Cube Nutrail which I like a lot. It's the only fat bike I've ridden but it's an absolute blast. Easily the most fun bike I've ever ridden and in lots of places it's the quickest.

Getting them setup tubeless is in my opinion essential, as are decent brakes to slow down the extra mass.

Yes easy tubeless and light weight at sensible cost is fairly hard work.

Fatty strippers make tubeless cheap and easy. Well, easy-ish.

A timely thread. I’ve just lost my fat bike virginity this week. We’re out in Fuertoventura and have been [url= https://flic.kr/p/ZjMewj ]Playing silly buggers on them[/url], and I now obviously really really want one!

So any advice on what to go for, gratefully received. We had decently specced Fuji’s (XT kit, 2x10, Salsa wheels) and they were bloody brilliant!

Thinking of going the cheaper bike, then upgrade, as like most people on here, i’ve Got god knows how much half decent kit sat in the shed, gathering dust. I’ve got a full 2x10 drive chain with FSA carbon cranks, and a set of XT brakes just sat there doing nowt. How bloody stupid is that?! I feel a winter project coming on 🙂

I bought a second-hand Fatty Trail from here. It’s insanely good for what I paid. I added lighter wheels and tyres for summer, which was worth it but not essential. It’s great fun and extremely versatile. They go cheap on FB.

Tubeless setup on my fat bike couldn't have been easier. Mulefut 80SL rims, some wide gorilla tape and a valve = job done. They haven't lost any air in 18 months. Easiest tubeless conversion I've ever done!

Grenosteve - liking the look of the Dune. And i’ve Got everything here to do the upgrades you’ve suggested. Just reading the glowing reviews. Looks like that may be the way to go. Cheers! 🙂

The Dune frames appear to have a habit of cracking just behind the bottom bracket on the R/H chainstay & the warranty ain't worth jack. Mine was just out of warranty(12 months) & they didn't want to know.....

I raced a Scott Big John for my LBS. This was under duress at first (as I didn't make the cut for the main team but they needed a clown to ride their demo clown bike) but I ended up loving it. It was hilariously good fun on the downhills. The race was really muddy and the tyres and double chainset just kept me spinning up the climbs where other riders were off and walking .

And (ahem) I, er, won (ahem) the fatbike class on it. My only solo win...so maybe that colours my opinion somewhat! I have no other fatbike experience by which to offer an objective opinion.... Seemed a solid bike though.

I'd look for a Fatty trail frame and build that up - stay clear of the dune because of the frame issues.

Cranks and hub sizing are related, need a bit of researching and are the only bits that won't fit from your parts bin really. Also, 26" fat wheels are the easiest to self build too so get stuck in! Alpkit have some reasonable off the shelf though.

Ze Germans for tyres

Fatty Dude
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Not so fat
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Use it as my everyday bike, highly recommend a dude..got mine from the canyon outlet store for £1380 in the sale...bargain.
Have obviously made a few changes to it..
Easton carbon bars
XT M800 rear derailleur, cassette, shifter.
Single ring on the front.
2nd set of wheels

My Dune is still working but my mate cracked two.
The first one had suffered chainsuck, I wonder how many have cracked because of this.

Puffin here. Got it rolling early Spring this year. I’d been running a SIR.9 with a b+/29+ combo but wanted to try full fat. It’s the 2nd gen so will run 29+. Not tried it 29+ yet, just fat. Build is pretty basic, On-One Fatty wheels, ghetto Jumbo Jim tubeless. It’s single speed because...I just like single speed.
It took a while to get into it, I had it FS on here for a while. I’m glad it didn’t sell because a few mods, better brakes (XT for BB7) it’s grown on me. It’s a great bike, it doesn’t ride like you’d expect. On the trail it’s so well balanced, & has so much grip. I built my lad an On-One Fatty, but the Puffin is in a different league. The On-One takes a lot of man handling to get it to change direction, jump etc. The Puffin is like a regular HT. It’s a natural progression from the Niner. I’d not get rid of the Puffin now. It’s beem my only ride all year bar a few trips on the rather dusty Five.
I’ve picked up some spare wheels, just for the hubs, so hoping to try proper 29+ in the new year.

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I'm gona cross the cracked frame bridge if/when it appears, but an ICT frame and fork would be the first idea.

But yea, that chainset is terrible for chainsuck until it wears a bit.

Yeah, the puffin really is a great bike. It just handles so well.

Another rwcommendation for a Calibre Dune. Great bike for the money!

I've got a Surly ICT and a Canyon Dude. I'll sell one when I can work out which one 😳

The Dude is lighter, stiffer, faster and (remarkably) cheaper than the ICT. Picking both up in the shed its obvious that the Dude is the one to go for. But I seem to have more fun riding the ICT. Not sure why although I've got a sneaking feeling that it might just be because I prefer the look of it.

Sorry, that's not much help. Buy the Scott, it's a great bike 🙂

Grenosteve there's an ICT in medium on FB for £350

Binners another thought on the Dune. I chose the Dune because lots of the parts off my HT fitted. 12 months later only the frame remains and despite buying mostly second hand or really good deals I've probably spent £1000 on balance which isn't that much less than my mate paid for his discounted Dude.

For my grand though it now has a Bluto (new) and DTSwiss/Hope wheels (2nd hand/like new).

Double post

No issues so far with my Dune. It's been fantastic and I've pinballed it down all sorts of stuff.

[url= https://farm1.staticflickr.com/351/32094109171_941f26f59d_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm1.staticflickr.com/351/32094109171_941f26f59d_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/QU3GvR ]IMG_20161230_102446921-01[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/79912681@N06/ ]Kayak23[/url], on Flickr

I've no regrets buying my Dune, it's got me into the wonderful world of fatbikes and I'll be riding it till it dies (hopefully not too soon).

I’ve got a full 2x10 drive chain with FSA carbon cranks

My dunes still going strong as well,14 months ish and still on all the original parts.

The Dune frames appear to have a habit of cracking just behind the bottom bracket on the R/H chainstay & the warranty ain't worth jack. Mine was just out of warranty(12 months) & they didn't want to know.....

You probably spoke with GoOutdoors rather than Calibre.

I had an out of warranty crack on the chainstay / BB area and got it replaced free of charge within no time. Only needed to provide a picture and the frame number.
Great service from Calibre Bikes.

Have a look at the Cube Nutrail, I've got one and so have a few people I ride with, brilliant bikes and the standard kit is also pretty good.

You probably spoke with GoOutdoors rather than Calibre.

I did contact Go Outdoors first, but have recently contacted Calibre....

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My Dune earlier today, still going strong...

Ive tried and owned a few and can recommend the trek Farley - even in aluminium form pretty sprightly nd the hodag wheels are really quite good

Got a Specialized Fatboy SE second hand with the brakes upgraded to cheap shimano hydros.
The std spec is pretty good with 90mm rims 4.6 tyres and 750mm bars. Some of the other bits are a on the cheap side like the hubs(QR!) and gears and you would need to upgrade the front hub to run a bluto!
It's not quite as comfy as I was expecting but it does float over a lot of the smaller bumps.
I think due to the head angle and massive tyre the steering has some interesting behavior, wandering about on slower stuff then really has to be manhandled on some faster corners. Other than that it's great, fast with huge grip and comfy ride.

Not my Pic,
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http://www.flickr.com/gp/154478564@N08/vgQ4xQ
Here is my Rose Tusker ...My fav bike, other than hydro dipping the forks, bars and seat post...it's got all I need without the need to upgrade

The nice thing about the Dune is, you can give fatbiking a taste for a relatively small price, but it's fantastically upgradable. And even if the worst happens and it breaks in 366 days and Calibre don't help, all the bits will fit directly to any other decent modern fatbike. (mine is one of the first so it's out of warranty, it's had the shit kicked out of it frankly and hasn't winced but if it does break tomorrow, I've had far more than my money's worth from it and I'll order a carbon frameset off ebay to replace it without any stress. I'd honestly say it's one of the best conceived budget bikes ever made.

But if you know you want to get right into it, it probably makes sense to spend more. Mine's worked out good value but only because I really worked at it. Alpkit Vir Fortis?

The Rose Tusker is on sale at the moment, about 30% off IIRC. I have a Cube Nutrail but did test a Tusker. In raw alu they look the danglies.

Fair play to Calibre on replacing my cracked Dune - Got in touch with them via FB & in just over a week I had a shiny new frame posted to me... 🙂

Result 8)

Jumbo Jims are indeed a bit sketchy in the gloop 😮

So got some Minions coming for the wet (FBFx2), and a Bluto sat here ready for the dry 8)