[Closed] Race fat bike

Judging by the Sworks Fatboy I raced against last weekend they're not slow.

^^ this

And it's certainly not the frame that'll make it quick anyway.

Chinese frame and rims, lightest tyres you can find, tubeless.

bit like a normal bike really.

Particularly interested in whats out there for lightweight wheels.

I'm pretty sure all frames will take lightweight wheels .

id go sarma carbon frame and their carbon wheels

or a salsa beargrease frame in the sale

A second hand fat boy pro?

Alloy frame, but nice kit bolted to it (racey geo, 80mm fork, carbon stuff)

[\stealthad]

I'm looking to build a set of DT BR710's onto something like hope hubs as they're pretty much the lightest fat rims out there on a pound for pound basis.

I'm doing a couple of races on mine next year as the frame is pretty light, 80mm fork and nice light X9 10 speed. It's the wheels that weigh in at boat anchor levels, but it certainly shifts.

/\ that's what my fat boy has (rebadged as spec fatboy sl's) and xo1

What sort of race? I've used my Dune for a local (easy) enduro and half thinking about using it in next year's Vallelujah and other things, but also solo'd the Glentress Seven on it. It is completely inappropriate and stupid for all of these. Iditarod? Different 😆

You could build a lighter fatbike than mine, for sure- carbon frames, carbon 65mm rims, lose the dropper, some lighter drivetrain... but none of it would be gamechanging, some of it would be very expensive, and some of it would make it ride less well.

For the Seven I ended up running a 4.8 Jumbo Jim instead of a 4.0 on the front, just because I didn't want to be without the bounce- 7 hours was hard enough tbh. The increase in drag isn't huge imo but the differnece in fatigue could be- tired = slow.

Don't go with the lightest tyres- that's Juggernaut Pros and they're draggier than Jumbo Jims. There's faster than JJs out there but mostly heavier. I used what I had and it worked well.

Canyon Dude FTW

"Racing in temperatures near freezing is typically thought of as uncomfortable and undesirable. Racing in temperatures of -33c to -20c is borderline crazy! Team Topeak-Ergon US rider, Jeff Kerkove, did just that this past weekend at the Fat Pursuit 60k near Yellowstone National Park on a Canyon Dude and he won the race. Chapeau & Congrats!"

Chinese carbon frame, forks and 65mm carbon rims, pair of 4" JJs with drivetrain and finishing kit to suit your pocket. Will probably weigh 25lb-ish and cost less than £1500 if you shop wisely. Hubs from Novatec or Chosen are fine - reliable and same weight as Hope or DT. I now have 2 pairs of carbon fatbike wheels and tempted to do the same as my current bike is really set up for expeditions / touring. 2 local guys I know have the same set up and regulary podium in local races.

You dont need to buy an expensive bike, its just mostly the wheels/tyres that need to be light.
I built up a OO Fatty Trail on a tight budget, and it came in at just over 12kg, and that was with the standard (self drilled) V1 OO wheels and Floaters with light tubes.
Its 1x10 with cheap carbon bars/stem & saddle from ebay (China).
I could probably get it around 10kg with carbon wheels and JJ's.

Gee was reading a fat bike in NPS races. Pivot, I think?

I've raced my on one fatty at quite a few of the gorrick events and at mayhem, it's my legs rather than the bike that fail.

I'd say any half decent fat bike, with a pair of dtswiss br2250 wheels and JJs tubeless will feel pretty good. 1x drive train saves a bit as well. I have a rigid Felt DD30 with ks drop zone, 1x11 GX and BR2250s with JJ 4.0s tubeless and it's 29lb with pedals (dmr vaults) so probably 28lb by non pedals manufacturer standards. I have some fatty stripper to replace the seveal wraps of gorilla tape so may drop half a pound there. The wheels totally transform the bike and were worth every penny. A carbon fork would see me save around 1.5lbs for not much outlay.

I'm sorry lightman, but I'm calling BS on that one. 26.4lb OO trail fatty that is running stock tyres and not tubeless on original (granted they are drilled but still) wheels. Something seriously wrong with your scales.

John

first rule is - never believe ANY quoted weights unless you are stood next to bike hanging on scales

I've got a cannonade caad fat 1
alu frame, lefty, but with HED carbon rims, carbon renthals, tune rear hub, although its got buds on it now instead of lighter JJ 4"

weighed it with pedals - any guesses?

31lbs - thought it would be lighter, but i guess if i made it tubeless, put the JJ back on, took pedals, crud guard, and bottle cage off

and if i lied a bit I could get it down to 25lbs

Gee was reading a fat bike in NPS races. Pivot, I think?

Nah, that was his Beargrease. First ever fatbike in a UCI race.

[img] [/img]

Bang for buck, Chinese frame and rims. Although split Tube and ghetto can make rims full of holes, tubeless, go carbon. It makes sense as loads of weight is in the wheels so using a split tube is putting weight back in.

Chinese carbon rims are well made, tubeless is a breeze and they are pretty robust.

2016 Canyon Dude from their factory outlet. If there's another 'black Friday' style extra 10% off (boxing day maybe?) It'll push a Chinese import for value for money and be far better VFM than even a heavily reduced Beargrease (such as those in the Polaris flash sale).

Oh and thanks for the On One weight claim, proper LOLed at that one.

John, crashtestmonkey, let me know if I've missed anything:

Frame - 2000
Fork -600
Bars - 109
Stem - 147
Seat Post Pump - 475*
Saddle - 100
Brakes - 400 (200x2)
Rotors- 135 (66/69)
Crankset - 586
28T ring - 46
BB - 110
Cassette - 335
Mech - 330*
Chain - 260
Tyres - 2800* (1400x2)
Tubes - 370 (185x2)
Wheels - <3000* (I didn't weigh them at the time, but new 80mm drilled fatty wheels are under 2950, old wheels are 70mm)

11803 - without pedals, maybe another 100-150 or so for anything I've missed?!

*Places where I could easily save more weight.

Different tyres, but similar weight and road sized chainring.
[img] [/img]

Cables, seat post clamp, spacers, bolts, grips, if we're being picky, cable ties.
100g saddle, not exactly budget?

Yep, that will all fall in the "100-150 that I missed".

Its 1x10 with cheap carbon bars/stem & saddle from ebay (China).

Saddle was about a tenner, I have the same type on most of my bikes.

I've raced my felt DD 30 at around 28lbs. But that's with a carbon rigid fork, rubbish (but light) jumbo Jims, 1x10, and no dropper post. I've recently just ignored the weight and just raced for fun.

It's currently around 31lbs with a dropper post. But as soon as I stick a kilo of water on and another kilo pack with tube and tools weight becomes a bit irrelevant.

Lightman - a list of the numbers will not give an accurate idea of bike weight, manufacturers always give the lightest numbers they can across every part. When I'm planning a bike a always add a kilo or 2-3lbs for realisum (so I'm not disappointed when I actually come to weigh the bike).

I've got to get me a set of Internet scales this year

monkeyboyjc, I know, that's why most of the weights are mine.

It was 12.7kg as pictured above, that's with the heavier double chainring adaptor for the 42T.

Its my race bike, so I made it as light as I could at the time.

monkeyboyjc, I know, that's why most of the weights are mine.

Yeah, I totally get what you're saying.
I only weighed the parts so I knew where the extra weight was coming from and where I could upgrade latter.

Frame - 2000
Fork -600
Bars - 109
Stem - 147
Seat Post Pump - 475*
Saddle - 100
Brakes - 400 (200x2)
Rotors- 135 (66/69)
Crankset - 586
28T ring - 46
BB - 110
Cassette - 335
Mech - 330*
Chain - 260
Tyres - 2800* (1400x2)
Tubes - 370 (185x2)
Wheels - <3000* (I didn't weigh them at the time, but new 80mm drilled fatty wheels are under 2950, old wheels are 70mm)

11803 - without pedals, maybe another 100-150 or so for anything I've missed?!

There's some seriously light kit there. Would be interesting to know what it is..?
The 109gm bars frexample?

I know a lot of people will scoff, but its pretty much some of the cheapest carbon on ebay.
[url= http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CHOOSE-Bicycle-Road-MTB-Carbon-Handlebar-Mountain-Bike-Stem-Cycling-Seatpost-/301831841655?var=&hash=item4646946777 ]Bars (620)and stem (120).[/url]
[url= http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/J-L-Superlight-HYDRAULIC-Disc-brake-Lever-Caliper-204g-2pcs-Fit-Sram-Shimano-/301853617643?var=&hash=item4647e0adeb:m:mkd7To5Yp5E2h46R1VXiijw ]Lightweight brakes, that have never let me down and do everything I ask of them.[/url]
Plus Ashima Rotors.

I have similar stuff on my other OO Fatty that I have had for 2 years with 7500 miles on it, so cheap Chinese carbon isn't as bad as some people make out.

200g for brakes? I.e. calipers, levers, cables and outers?

Tubes at 185g? The Surly superlight fat bike inner tube's 325g for example.

You haven't listed shifter or brake levers or any cabling. Grips?

I was thinking some weights seem pretty dodgy - my 160mm KCNC rotors are light, but they're 87g for a 160.

Also what brakes? Hope Race X2 only just scrape under 200g with short hoses.

Extras need to include headset, top cap, spacers, grips, skewers, bottle cage, seatclamp, pedals, cables, brake adaptors. That'll definitely be over 150g!

Just pedals (if M540s) give away 350g.

Good spot on the shifter, its a Zee, so about 140-150g.
Click on the link above for the brakes, around 200 each end, all in.
The grips were foam ones at 11g a pair, but have now been changed for normal bar tape which comes in at 40g for both sides double wrapped.

They aren't fat bike tubes, they're Q tubes (2.1-3") which is the go to lightweight tube for fatties.

The 160mm Ashima Rotors were all coming in under 70g for the two pairs I bought.

As I said above, 12.7kg with pedals, so around 400g for them, means about 400-500g for the stuff I forgot including the shifter.

My steel framed Puffin (but with carbon forks) comes in at 14.2Kg including pedals.

I went for stuff I wanted to fit or had used before so trusted rather than the absolute lightest. I could swap the saddle and seatpost for much lighter versions but happened to have the saddle lying around and the seatpost came with the rolling chassis. I've fitted carbon Jones loop bars to the bike and they are fully taped along with ESI Chunky grips - the tape adds weight but I'm doing the Rovaniemi race up in Lapland so want things covered up to fight off the cold 😀

The biggest area for potential weight loss is on the wheels/tyres: my wife's Surly Wednesday comes with 27tpi Nates which weigh 1690g 😯 just swapping to the 120tpi version saves 380g.

I'll check out the Q tubes. For me they'll just be emergency backup as I run tubeless.

Half a kilo missing from that frame weight btw.

[img] [/img]
(including headset cups but no bearings)

Yep, my other do everything OO Fatty is around 20kg and built to run in any conditions, as its kitted out with full (diy carbon) mudguards and rear rack etc... Weight is not too much of an issue on that one any more now as I have the Trail which I can use for TT's & chaingangs.
My V1 Fatty was 15.4kg when it arrived, and swapping bars, tubes etc.. I got it down to 13.7kg before it started to get bloated with add-ons.

The Q-tubes are good and although both my fatties are tubeless now, I carry a Q-tube with both and they're not stupid big like fat bike tubes so can fit in a saddle bag 🙂

NW, that's the original Fatty, the Trail is 400g lighter 😉

This calls for a weigh off, with certified scales. A generic alloy framed fattie with some Chinese carbon is a mere 2kg lighter than this
[url= http://www.bikerumor.com/2016/07/02/xc-pro-bike-check-new-mens-u23-world-champion-sam-gazes-specialized-s-works-epic/ ]10.54kg world champion uber xc 29'er [/url] 😆

Ah, didn't notice it's a Trail! That makes more sense. First one was a lump.

Im happy with my bike weight on a small budget, but for a money no object bike, this is hard to beat 😮

[img] [/img]

Until I see the OO hanging on some proper scales I stick by my BS claim.

John

I've raced my Puffin a few times now.

It's 31lbs with a Bud and a Nate.

It's slightly lighter now with Husker Düs but it's still running tubes, BB7s, the original steel fork etc.

Scope to get under 30lbs but not a lot under.

If I were to go it again I would go Carbon or alloy as it would be easy weight lost. My Marge Lites on Hope Fatsno's may not be light but have allowed a 100kg rider to run single digit tyre pressures without receiving any dings.

My 65mm Carbon rim weighs about 500g - 2.5 years old and no issues. Combined with a 4.8" JJ transformed the bike