[Closed] First fat bike

I love taking my Fatty Trail to trail centres. It's is slower on the climbs; awesome grip on the downs (and the rocky / roots climbs). Not the same as a full sus but it's great fun; I have no regrets about buying mine but personally I don't think it can be your only bike - especially if you regularly ride with mates not on fat bikes.

If I was you I'd swallow the brand snobbery and if you're going to get one, you've got 4 hours.
Similar to you, fatty will be my only bike, sold the FS and the HT, done everything I want to do on a full sus and normal HT, gone stale.
Today and just until midnight they are doing 20% off everything, which meant you can get the fatty trail for just over a grand, utter bargain, ordered mine today, can't wait.

With the right tyres they are more than capable of being your only bike, depending on what you ride that is.

as long as you are not too into strava

get a surly

wednesday would be ace

Ive got a ICT, and it overkill for most, but I don't care, its not about speed to me, and the 4.8's on 100mm rims are pretty much as big as they come

you can upgrade parts as you go

I think if i was buying something as an all rounder I would look at the fat bike on alp kits website

sell all your other bikes, you won't ride them anymore

Head over to Alpkit.

Have a look at their Vir Fortis Carbon fat bike.

Very good spec, very light, I ride mine regularly at Afan Argoed, typical trail centre .

Wednesday is great. I love them. The spec is in the rims, hubs and frameset.

I would definitely have an (extended) test ride if you don't know what they handle like.

I recently bought a Nutrail and very hapy with mine. I would say the Dude is an awesome looking bike. I would have bought it if I hadn't got a massive Black Friday discount on the Nutrail. I would say you want one with a Bluto fork. Makes enough of a difference on the harder terrain to be worthwhile. You still get some hardtail-type shock through the rear although it's much, much less. To counter the ideas about climbing, I am significantly quicker on steeper stuff than my Blur LTC and that is no slouch of a bike. I find on the downs I can't quite throw it like I can the Blur but as it's a 150mm all mountain bike that's actually reassuring.

steve_b77 - Member
With the right tyres they are more than capable of being your only bike, depending on what you ride that is.

This. Only gonna be mincing around the Cannock trails from now on, which means I will be needing to be out on the cheekies all year round too to stop the boredom - the Fatty Trail, at that price especially, was the clear winner.
Designed for trails, 67.5 slack head angle, 120mm Bluto's. Could have been made for Cannock and as long as I keep the fitness up, places like Degla too.

Agree on the Canyon and the Nutrail - like you, without today's massive saving from On One, I was probably leaning towards the Dude with the rigid carbon fork.
A mate of mine whose been riding fat bikes for a while, HT and rigid - told me to go for a Bluto equipped bike - still needed on the rougher stuff and much better to control - worth the weight penalty, he said.

I have an ICT, it's amazing. Like Charlie said, the value in the Surly's is in the wheels, tyres and frame. Brakes and gears are consumables and can be replaced fairly cheap and easy. Fatbike wheels are not cheap.
Get the Wednesday, if I didn't already have an ICT, I'd buy one.

Big fat tyres don't replace suspension, they are more of an alternative to suspension. With HUGE amounts of grip.

The on one website is still showing full price!

I love the look of the Salsa Beargrease NX1, but you can't get em over here yet and I didn't want to wait any longer.

Tofu - when you get to checkout - you have to type into the voucher code bit..PLANETXMAS16...it's on the Planet X site side, for some reason and not On One.

Fatties are perfect for trail centres just don't take them on natural rocky stuff!

whoops forgot the 😉

Fatties are perfect for trail centres just don't take them on natural rocky stuff!

Oh! That's not good! Why?

If you are using it for trail centre stuff and not for a beach/snow etc than a 27.5+ or 29+ bike is a better tool for the job in my experience. 3" tyre is plenty unless you are on soft sand etc

Got a dude, rigid, it's great, light and fast .I've had a few Canyons and the after sales service has been very good, a couple of warranty issues have been sorted out swiftly. I always look around before a new bike purchase but find it hard to look beyond a canyon in terms of bang for buck.

Again, why limit yourself? It's not the bike but the rider, 99% of the time. My mate rides the Peaks and Lakes all the time on his On One Fatty (rigid fork!) now obviously, he's exceptional and also fit as **** - but still.

If you are using it for trail centre stuff and not for a beach/snow etc than a 27.5+ or 29+ bike is a better tool for the job in my experience. 3" tyre is plenty unless you are on soft sand etc

Agree, up to a point. Cannock gets a right mudfest over winter though and I want something that I can ride then too, without having more than one bike.

Dude rigids look great - they did have 300 quid off as well until today then all I could see was the new range - otherwise the green one they had - the 8 CF? - was a proper contender.

I rode my Fatty all summer and come the winter I returned to commuting on my full guarded suspension bike.
Didn't like it one bit and built up a rigid full guard bike to commute on.
I love the no bobbing when climbing out of the saddle and the directness of power delivery.
There's no rocks around my way so suspension is not really missed.

What Wiggles says

🙄
[url= https://c6.staticflickr.com/6/5790/31303509421_32ca6554df_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://c6.staticflickr.com/6/5790/31303509421_32ca6554df_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/PGbEKF ]Untitled[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/nzrich/ ]Richard Munro[/url], on Flickr

I'm very tempted with the on one and with 20% off is a bargain. I am not 100% so I am going to be sensible and leave my card in the pocket.... I may regret this but £1500 is a lot of cash to get it wrong.

The Wednesday with my Hope Tech3 and XT 1x11 in the garage could be a cool option. Are the formula hubs any good?

Understandable - I've just gone for it and hoped for the best, mostly. Haven't ridden one but have heard enough peeps say they are good (perfect for what I want to be doing).
Budget was one big thing though - with a budget of 1400 quid, the Fatty Trail was just too good to ignore.

No idea on the Formula hubs but I know the brakes are top notch - had em on two bikes now. I believe Charlie the Bikemonger has a couple of Wednesdays at a discount?

Good man,. let us know how you get on with it.

I'm still very tempted...

I was dithering between the Nutrail or Dude, then saw the Charge Cooker Maxi 2 and got that reduced from Evans. It's ace, climbs over anything, fun at trail centres, superb on rocky natural stuff. Spec is good and with a dropper fitted it could be my only MTB (if it fitted on uplift trailers, so my FS still has a job).

please remember

A fatty is for life - not just for Christmas

My dude has been amazing. I would get another.

i just got a Wednesday so all is good in the world 🙂 and an O-One is a great bike to whet yer fatty feet on 8) Just do it!

Has anyone seen a Large Wednesday demo bike are their travels?

Decent wheels and tyres is what makes a good fatbike, particularly tubeless - this is the big let-down on the O-O as you could probably end up spending another £500 on decent wheel and tyres. If your budget is limited, then used might be better value than buying new?

Fair point - I'll have to see. Thing is, I love the frame of the Fatty Trail, I like the sound of it being so slack and on 120mm Bluto's too - so the rims will do for now. If I get on with the bike, then yes, wheels and hubs are always upgrade-able.
Tyres are sorted - upgraded to Jumbo Jims, which I have been assured are a BIG improvement on the On One own brands on offer.

Have to agree with dovebiker.

I bought the Sonder Vir Fortis as stock.

Since owning it the made some big upgrades , DT Swiss wheels tubeless tyres, flip between the Lauf Carbonara and Bluto fork.

Wheels and fork make such a difference , but are spendy items.

Good thing about the Lauf , is fit and forget.

Whatever you get, enjoy and ride.

How do the Surly wheels compare to the likes of DT?

I can't say I would totally agree with the plus bike option for trail centre riding though.

I had one of the first Trek Stache 9 's, and just didn't gel with it I suppose.

The fat bike is better for me and more fun, but there's not much mud to be seen at Afan.

Main attraction for me is the comfort of the fat bike, plus I have always wanted one, now I have two.

One is an ebike, the other is the conventional have to provide all the energy.

Just off out now to burn some turkey off.

tofu21

I haven't owned the Surly wheels, but did fit a tubeless set up for my friend on his Pugsley.

World of difference in my opinion.

The Surly wheels / rims are a tad heavy, and a little workmanlike in their construction. Much like most of the Surly stuff, no bad thing in itself, but a shade heavy.

DT wheels are light and really well made.

Reducing weight and rotational mass here is a very good thing, as with any bike really. Good wheels, have stood up to everything I have thrown at them.

If you want light, reliable wheels, the DTs are the one. If you want your wheels to survive the apocalypse in one piece and aren't bothered about a little extra heft, the Surly's have you covered.
I've got surly clown shoes on the ICT, but I'm thinking about selling a bike to get some of the DTs as a "summer" set.
And that's the thing, I'm going to have to sell another bike to buy some wheels.

Fat bikes are like crack.

To save hours of Google how much lighter are dt wheels compared to stock on one?

DT rim is 675g

Depends on which Surly rim you go for , the Rolling Darryl is 860 g

Tubeless is the way to go though,

then there are light tyres and heavy tyres.

again the surly tyres are on the portly side.

My wife has a Surly Wednesday, just weighed it - a tad (about 20g) under 17Kg! The front wheel is 3.75Kg on its own. She says it rides nicely, a bit slower on the uphills as you'd expect when compared with a 12Kg HT but nothing like you'd expect a bike of that weight to ride. The rims are lighter than the Mulefuts on my Puffin but my wheels as a whole are lighter by 750g or so.

Really not sure why Surly spec the 27tpi Nates though, the 120tpi versions are 350g lighter per tyre.

My fat bike's name is "The Money Pit" 😆

upgraded to Jumbo Jims, which I have been assured are a BIG improvement on the On One own brands on offer.

Not sure I would upgrade to JJ liteskins for £100, I'd take the free pink Floaters and consider buying JJ snakeskins.

I often think the PX "upgrade" system for bike build components makes little sense, it many cases it's worth taking a "free" option and buying the better component separately. You then either have a spare, or sell the one you decide not to keep and more likely than not reduce the overall bike cost.

Decent wheels and tyres is what makes a good fatbike, particularly tubeless - this is the big let-down on the O-O as you could probably end up spending another £500 on decent wheel and tyres.

The OO Emmental wheels and Floater tyres may not be bling, but they are just fine for trail riding. With a bit of googling you can get them setup tubeless. Definitely not a requirement to upgrade from day 1.

After having a play on an ice cream truck today, I hit "Go" on a Wednesday with DT rims and Hope hubs. With a bit of luck it will be ready for collection in a couple of weeks.

The ICT was great but was more bike than I needed and the Wednesday has cool things like internal dropper routing and a slightly more aggressive setup.

Unsurprisingly I find my farely new to me Rocky Mountain Blizzard a right laugh and as my only bike have no regrets. Yes it's heavier, yes you can't get all the bits you want instantly in LBS but I can't help but grin every ride and it has amazed me the people constantly want to ask about the bike everywhere I go.

The Nutrails are a great option but many ships that advertised good deals on 2016 modems simply didn't have them, OO and Canyon are always good value for money. As others have said watch for wheel spec as upgrades aren't cheap but also look at tire clearance if that suit if thing worries you.

Whatever you get you'll have a right laugh.

James

I've just got myself an Ice Cream Truck, I wanted a 'trail bike' but didn't want to buy a full sus. It's a lot of fun to ride and seems to be able to handle anything I can dish out. Ultimately I will get a pair of Blutos for it, but I'm skint now!

It is a bit of a lump to get uphill, but it's not too bad and bizarrely on my last ride I got a couple of PRs on climbs for some reason. The true fun happens when you turn round and head back down though, it's way more maneuverable and nimble than it has any right to be!

[url= https://c3.staticflickr.com/1/445/31820517402_81fbed4abb_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://c3.staticflickr.com/1/445/31820517402_81fbed4abb_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url]

[url= https://flic.kr/p/QtStdo ]Surly Ice Cream Truck[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/jimbosussexmtb/ ]Jim Barrow[/url], on Flickr

[url= https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/659/31128373224_85fd0e127c_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/659/31128373224_85fd0e127c_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url]

[url= https://flic.kr/p/PqH3S5 ]Surly Ice Cream Truck[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/jimbosussexmtb/ ]Jim Barrow[/url], on Flickr

awesome, first one in yellow I've seen, they have only just arrived in the UK I think

such a shame they now have 80 mm rims rather than the 100's they were designed around

but a great colour

motozulu - Member

Tyres are sorted - upgraded to Jumbo Jims, which I have been assured are a BIG improvement on the On One own brands on offer.

They are but they're basically summer tyres- the fatbike equivalent of a racing ralph. More than most bikes fatbikes live and die by their tyres. Tubeless is a gamechanger (fatbike flats suck balls) and in mud, all that girth becomes a problem and you need a good, toothy tyre to keep things working well.

But almost no complete bikes come with this sort of tyres, OE tends to mean light and fast, so it's a good idea to budget for an upgrade. Minions or Bud/Lou for me, others are available. Bud/Lou might actually be the better set but for a trailbike the liveliness and feedback of the Minions is a big deal for me so I made the swap.

YMMV but I'd be looking for something that takes a 5 inch tyre. There's no real drawback to having the capability, but for me being able to run a wide tyre is what makes a fat trailbike work, basically. More volume means you can run lower pressures without flatting- on 4.0s I had to run high pressure to keep the air in the tyres when riding harder, and that really meant the bike wasn't working, hard fatbike tyres kind of defeat the purpose.

The blue ones were sold out ages ago Cozz, I ended up waiting for the new one to come into stock. It's so much fun to ride, I'm sure I won't miss 20mm of rim width.

Nutrail, Lou and Nate. Simply brilliant. Hope you find one as good!

I liked my original OOF and love the Trail I replaced it with. I built mine up rather than buying a 'build' but would have been as well with the old X01 build (which was around 1500 full price) pricewise - but I prefer my choices.

Basically: X1400 crank, GX RD and cassette, X1 shifter, Lev, Guide RS's, 180mm rotors, Bluto 120 RCT3, JRA Snowpigs (Mulefuts in s handbuild) and Nates (tubeless) RF Aeffect finishing kit.

The bike rocks. It's not particularly slow to climb and it's a riot to descend on or muck about in woods / trail centres etc.

The Surlys are built tough and with options. The Wednesday is s bike I've considered more than once. As Charlie says, you're getting better frames, wheels and tyres rather than drivetrains and stuff for your money with them than you would other cheaper fatbikes. Fatty wheels and tyres are ruinously expensive coming from mainstream mountain biking and an obvious corner to cut for a cheap manufacturer.

Whether you want an ICT is up to you - everyone I know who's bought one loves it, but a 5" Fatty is a different bike than a 4". Maybe look at a Beargrease or something ?

Personally out of the cheap options I'd go with the OnOne over the Voodoo, Dune etc - but expect to rebuild it. QC ain't great and it's more comfortable spannering im your kitchen than trailside...

@ hummerlicious

That ICT looks great. I loved the blue of the old one. But thst looks really good too.

Thanks @NormalMan

I've owned a Dune for a couple of months, its mostly upgraded but standard wheels and forks. On a recent ride I did a bike swap for Cotic Soul for a bit and it was horrible, bloody thing felt like a boneshaking bag of spanners. Needless to say my winter hardtail is up for sale and my mate is shopping for a fat bike!!

Apart from proper drop offs (they seem like a daft idea with rigid forks and tyres that will burp) it is capable of anything my full suss can do, although really rocky stuff hurts if I try and ride fast, a Bluto might fix that?

Tubeless Floaters here with 7psi, the rear shows signs of sealant after most good rides but holds air just fine. Before I went tubeless I ran them at 12psi and they were pingy and scary. I can't compare them to other tyres but I've no complaints so far.

If anybody wants a Juggernaut for next summer give me a shout.

And if anybody has spotted a bargain Aeffect 170 please let me know.

Whilst fatbike tyres can be expensive, I get 2-3 years from a pair which is a whole lot more than I get from regular MTB tyres, so I don't mind paying extra for something decent as they can literally be the difference between riding and walking

Mugboo - Member

And if anybody has spotted a bargain Aeffect 170 please let me know.

I've got a set of 197 rear aeffect 170s to sell- but for a Dune you probably want the 170/177 version (that's what I've got on my medium)

i have a On One Fatty and a Fatty Trail and a Specialized Fatboy all great bikes and all very capable i run with a group 140mm to 160mm trail bikes and its anything they can do i wont be back to skinny tyres

Thanks Northwind but too wide.

Canyon Dudes, what are people riding in terms of sizes to height? I've spoken to Canyon twice now and one has said medium / one has said large. Their online calc isn't working but I'm 6ft 32 inch inside leg and 61 cm reach. I'd say I'm an average 6ft guy based on other 6fters.

bizarrely on my last ride I got a couple of PRs on climbs for some reason

Same! More grip, you don't skip out on ripples, roots and kipple, you don't got hung up on little bumps, tyre deforms round them, you keep pedalling.

I'll be trying the Puffin on some long rides soon. If it's quicker/more efficient on 9, 10 minute climbs than a 29er, it's probably good for SDW in a day, South Lakes 100.

It can't be that straightforward, or Ian Leitch would have done his record double ride on a fatty. We'll see! Maybe he'd have been quicker if he had. A ha ha ha. 😀

@nedrapier - I'm finding that the increased traction works against you when you're on smoother ground particularly if you've an aggressive tyre. I notice the difference between 45Nrth Husker Dus and Vanhelgas for example with the latter feeling very draggy.

I notice this on B+ vs 29er tyres as well - with 29er tyres on fire roads or tarmac I'm having to brake occasionally to let my wife catch up whereas with the B+ tyres I'm having to pedal like mad to keep up with her!

I've not tried the fat bike on longer ITT type rides but I have run B+ on one and it was hard work. Someone did last year's Yorkshire Dales 300 on a fat bike - [url= http://fatbiking.eu/?p=7427 ]here's their report[/url].

agreed, it wouldn't be a first choice for road climbs, but I was surprised to find myself rolling down a road next to a mate at the same speed, no pedaling, no braking - me on 4in Jumbo Jims, him on all rounder 26in tyres. Dunno what they were, not fast, not mud, not DH.

@Ratter - I've just bought one, I'm a similar size to you. Bought a large and it's spot on. I was expecting it to be a bit too big and that I'd put on a 40mm stem to make it fit better but it's fine with the 60mm stem that it comes with. Awesome bike and awesome price on last years models at the moment!

Cheers Whitestone - that's my report 🙂

Fattys rule on everything 🙂

@boltonjohn - I did think you guys were mad when I saw you at the start! Impressed that you finished TBH, quite a few scratched.

@phy7tes scratched that fat itch. As of Monday I was going to buy a Cube Nutrail, as of now my budget has gone up 600 nicker but I'm getting a truly phenomenal deal through Canyon's factory outlet.

Gone for the only dude they had in a Large which meant the SL but should be future proof for a good few years without a noggin of upgrades required.

Now I have 14 days to transfer the money and come up with an excuse why my budget almost doubled to the missus. Mind you she's after a bike too so perhaps that would sweeten her up a bit.

Toughest thing i've ever done Whitestone - but certainly need to do some more events like that - couldn't get an entry for the HT500 - btu will do similar 🙂

Peak 200 (actually 230) and Cairngorm Loop come to mind as the most likely. Next up in difficulty would be the Lakeland 200 and the Cambrian Trail.

Nothing stopping you doing the HT550 as an ITT (or a pair/trio).

It is a bit of a lump to get uphill, but it's not too bad and bizarrely on my last ride I got a couple of PRs on climbs for some reason.

Love the bike (I think I prefer the yellow to my blue one), but if you are setting PRs on a Bud/Lou combo you can't have been trying that hard before 🙂

I found the ICT with JJs on to be a surprisingly good climber. Now I've put the Bud/Lou on for the winter I find that it can steamroller the descents, which is quite addictive, but boy do I pay for it on the climbs.

I had a similar experience with a B+ bike last year. I built it up in the summer with Trailblazer tyres and loved it. Then the winter came and the TBs started trying to kill me. So, I switched to Nobby Nics but found the extra drag ruined the fun. With the B+ the difference descending wasn't enough to be worth the extra drag, so I sold it. With the ICT the descending is proper laugh out loud bonkers, but I still find the extra drag of the Bud/Lou a pain.

...bizarrely on my last ride I got a couple of PRs on climbs for some reason

Following the hordes of thin bikes around my local loop (looking for a way past) the most obvious thing is the small but relentless amount of slip-grip going on with skinny rear tyres. It's happening all the time - every rock/pebble/root - and wastes the rider's efforts, whereas fat tyres adapt to the surface and make every single pedal stroke count, going forwards all the time.

Upshot of this is that I'm usually in the top 30-40 of segments with 1000s of attempts and also have a few top 10s OF ALL TIME WOHHHHHHHHHHHHHH on some very hotly contested segments.

I can put some good times in on the HT/FS but I can never beat the fatty

Yeah - considering the HT550 outside of the event but also quite scared of it!!! 🙁

Boltonjohn

That is a brilliant write up! You really do write well and made me laugh! Well done, sir!

Have you any more write ups you can point me to as I really enjoyed that one.

Cheers

Sanny

Another aspect of fatbikes is the bomb-proof stability - it's one of the few bikes I have every confidence of simply letting-it-go on descents and know that nothing will upset it on the way down - descending in the dark at 60kph is fun - my mates on regular MTBs never to be seen.

Who's got a canyon dude on here?
No thread is complete without pics..

Have been looking at the Farley 9 for £1500 but now there's a dude CF SL option for £1659

What's the warranties/customer service like with canyon?

Just looking at the weights of the dude and Farley 9, is it me or is the dude heavy for a carbon bike?
Dude CF 9 SL 13.10kg/28.82lbs
Trek Farley 9 13.98kg/30.82lbs

It's you. Carbon's not going to save much more than a pound over aluminium on a sturdy hardtail frame.

I love my Dude! It's a great bike, the spec is great for the money. A bonus is getting the DT Swiss wheels throughout the range - the best fat wheels bar none.

It really is a lot nicer to hikeabike than my steel Rohloff ftbike too..
I'm not too sure about weight Vs the Farley, but people pick it up the do some headscratching generallly 🙂
I love the stiffness under pedalling and steering yet it feels a lot less harsh then the OOF I had before.

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