[Closed] Would you buy a (new) fatbike for ~£1k?

Err, it will be just fine. No need to pay niche tax these days.

They'll be fine at the price.

Having said that, wheel weight is highest on cheaper bikes generallya dn more so on fatties (obvs) and switching to lighter hubs, rims and tyres on my Puffin made a massive difference to how it rode and fatigue over longer rides.

Kinda depends what you want it for. If you just want a fun n+1 bike for occasional use then a £1k would be more than enough to spend on one. If you want to use it as your main bike I'd spend more, personally I'd look at something like the Canyon Dude - surprised me how light they are when I lifted one up the other day.

Yeah it would be for rolling around on nothing too serious

Just bought an On One Fatty with carbon fork and dropper for around that price, it's a great bike with confident handling and surprisingly goes up hill really well (honestly). The only thing I've had issues with is the poor b tension adjuster design on the X5 mech but that was easily fixed.

It's not a light bike though but that just means I have to pedal a little harder which is no bad thing. I could have spent thousands on some superlight fat bike or upgrade the engine for free!

Is the 1K pricetag a barrier to getting a fatbike will do everything you ask it to and put a big stupid grin on your face? Absolutely not. Would a more expensive bike do the same? In all likelihood, yes.

Yes and no. I spent a 1k and then ended up buying some new wheels and a dropper, new chain and cassette so more like 1.8k! From my experience get something with good wheels. I bought a Felt because it was good spec and had 197x12 rear hub and 150x15 front which is quickly becoming the standard. This means bluto and 5inch tyre compatibility. The wheels were own brand and my free wheel quickly disintegrated. Of course being own brand it was a nightmare to sort as I didn't know who made the hub and felt wouldn't tell me so I had to wait for them to sort it which took about 4-5 weeks! I bought a set of dtswiss fat wheels in the meantime. I already waited 6 months on a pre order to get it. They did replace the freehub with a steel one so now I just have to flog them on. Probably be fine now with steel freehub.

Other than that small issue, love the felt, couldn't be more pleased with it, fair bit lighter than the on ones as well.

I'm waiting for the halfords one to come back into stock, £500 it was. The way I see it is, yes it'll be heavier than a carbon-everything moonlander, but if I wanted lightweight I'd ride my 21lb 29er.

Check out the Calibre Dune from go outdoors. There is one in my local store in Exeter and it looks really nice in the flesh. Good alternative to the the Voodoo, I think it was about 600 quid.

Ooooh. OOOOOOOH! That ticks all the boxes- eye burning colour, even less cool brand...

Double-fat tyres too: "Seated on these rims are two pairs of the Schwalbe Jumbo Jim Evo LiteSkin 4" tyre"

I don't think I'd pay £1 for one, let alone a thousand.

Down to £522 (Code ALLDEP10) if you order it before tomorrow night.

That looks like a stunning bargain - especially if that weight (13.2Kg) can be believed.

That Calibre looks grim

Not sure I believe the weight... Just emailed them to try and get geometry as unless I'm blind, it's a one-size-fits-nobody but everything else looks grand.

Cheers johnnyboy, this is a Development.

It did feel surprisingly light when I picked it up the other day. Looked like it had plenty of tyre clearance as well. If it's really that weight then massive scope for a pretty light build considering all the transmission stuff is going be fairly weighty.

Just seen that's it's even got 197x12 and 150x15 axles. Very impressive at that price. The frame looks really nice, i think it looks ripe for upgrading.

I have an 18" On One Fatty for sale for £600 if interested.

Not sure I believe the weight... Just emailed them to try and get geometry as unless I'm blind, it's a one-size-fits-nobody but everything else looks grand.

Cheers johnnyboy, this is a Development.

One size fits all won't fit me. Unless the one size is orangutan.

Northwind - Member
Not sure I believe the weight... Just emailed them to try and get geometry as unless I'm blind, it's a one-size-fits-nobody but everything else looks grand.

Any reply yet NW? Must say I'm fat bike curious and that looks a laugh for little outlay.

Johnnyboy 666 I killed the freehub on my felt fatty and had the same problem I managed to find a 5 point free hub that fitted and its been fine since although I think better wheels will be fitted in due course

Plenty of used O-O Fattys for £500-600 and spend the rest on a lighter fork, decent wheels and tyres

Where are these 2nd hand fatties, of which you speak...?

Well there's one just 5 posts up from yours on this very thread...

No response Normal Man, but I'll pass it on if I get one. I'm going to pop into the shop tomorrow and check it out.

Went into the lbs on the way home last night and they wouldn't sell me a fat bike 😕

^^^^^^

Any particular reason?

To be diplomatic about it they couldn't think of any advantages

The word 'handicap' came up a lot

That Calibre Dune looks outstanding value. Hoping NW comes through with sizing that makes it entirely unsuitable for normal human sized person.

Where are these 2nd hand fatties, of which you speak...?

Facebook page. There seems to be quite a trend of people selling OOFs and the like as they upgrade. (Wonder what they're buying?)

To be diplomatic about it they couldn't think of any advantages

The word 'handicap' came up a lot

Perhaps that's bikeshopese for "the brands we sell don't make any yet".

I rode my buddy's fatty on 4" tyres, it was great fun, and I reckon it'll be brilliant when the 10 million leaves we have here fall off the trees and all goes sloppy and mulchy. I'll be getting one. (Yes I have a fast bike too).

Perhaps that's bikeshopese for "the brands we sell don't make any yet

I think they were just being honest

Fair dos.

I heard the Nutrail wasn't available for a few weeks yet so that's good news.

I paid almost a G for my fattie ( rose Tusker )....... Worth every penny IMO
At the end of the day you get what you pay for....

It depends how and where you ride.

Being local Swinley is my 'get out of jail free' trail when either I've not got the time or imagination to plan something, or the trails are muddy.

I can get through the downhills (well, the five that really count as down) as quick as I could on a 150mm travel bike, and quicker than on an XC bike. OK I'm always getting faster and pushing, trying new lines etc but it's not a 'handicap' anymore than a 140mm+ travel bike ruins an all day ride involving pedaling.

It even opens up a few more trails which were previously devoid of 'flow' for one reason or another.

The only downside is acceleration, it may be rigid but getting going is like riding a 150mm travel bike, you need a degree of sprinting fitness to REALLY mash the pedals out of some corners, if the front wheel is5nt lifting on the way out your not going at it hard enough. Without that mentality they do feel slow and pondorous.

Someone the other day said a fat bike was to mountainbikes whaf a 110 defender was to an impreza WRX. It's more like the fat bike is the Impreza and the MTB is ford Focus. Both good cars, but regardless of which chassis you pick, it's the 300bhp turbo engine (i.e. your legs) that makes them fun and the impreza will have more grip.

You lost me on the motoring analogies there.

@Normal Man and Alex, and anyone else who cares... Go Outdoors didn't respond to my email, so I've secured rough numbers by buying the thing and measuring it.

These are not too precise but will be a reasonable ballpark.

Headline! Weight! No, it's not 13.2kg, it is a hair under 15kg, with pedals, reflectors etc. I suspect they weighed it without pedals but it'll still come in over 14kg. Still, this isn't awful.

Wheelbase 1140- 46.5 rear, 67.5 front.
ETT 560
Reach- something like 420, eyeballed this so treat with caution
Head angle I made about 68, seat tube about 72.

I'm going to measure the reach again as I'm not sure about that, and the seat tube and weight without pedals and bell and such bollocks. But that 10% runs out tonight so I figured someone might want to see it quick! 1 year frame warranty, not brilliant, everything else is manufacturer's warranty but it's mostly branded parts so that's not so bad.

The frame's pretty damn compact, overall I'm calling it a medium but at 5'10 I'll need a 400mm seatpost.

Comment on Go Outdoors... It's quite Halfordsy. It had been assembled with the fork back to front, apparently they come out of the box that way so they've just been assembling them that way, so 3 people have gone off with backwards bikes. But! The dude took a little convincing but once we established it, he was making plans to contact the buyers and fix it, that's pretty good I think. Silly mistake but I like that they'll fix it.

It's all very nicely set up and assembled now that the fork is right way round, perfect gearing and brakes and that, some spacers on the steerer. Tons of room for more tyre, it comes with schwalbe 4 inchers which are too big for me to measure with my calipers but if they're a true 4 then it'll definitely take a 5 in the frame. Finish is lovely, though feels like it might chip easily, logos are all in teh paint not stickers and nicely done imo, tidy welding etc. I love the attention to detail with the yellow striped saddle but they've gone with green rim tape which is odd. Tyres are pretty slack on the rims.

So far I have genuinely 3 criticisms- it comes with a 350mm seatpost which is going to limit the sizing considering the overall dimensions, the thru axles aren't very nice, oh, I think it's drilled for schrader which is a bummer if I'm right. I don't know what the hubs are but the front feels like it's cartridge bearing, no great surprise with 15mm axles but there's a limit to how badly you can do a cartridge bearing hub I reckon. No real comment on the brakes and gears, they're coming off anyway.

I rode it round the shop, it has loads of grip on carpet. I know ****-all about fat bikes so I've no opinion on this, I was checking for size not ride quality!

Next- tear it to bits.

It is such a shame they can't be arsed to employ anyone with even the slightest hint of common sense not to notice the forks.

It didn't feel as bad as that tbh. The chap was a decent "fitter" if you like but they'd just made a daft call based on how the bikes come from the factory, they'd actually put some thought into it and were convinced it was actually right, rather than carelessly doing it wrong. Black mark but I feel quite unjudgemental about it for some reason.

OK, 14.6kg without pedals and all the reflectors etc binned (still got cassette ring thing on) Let's say 430 reach. Forgot to measure seatpost, but it's got to be 17 or thereabouts. I'm IIRC 32 inch inside leg and I'm absolutely on the limit of a 400mm post so be careful there. And yep, schrader valves. And seems to be a genuine tapered steerer rather than that straight-steerer-in-tapered-tube bollocks, so I'm just going to assume that means blutoable for now. Rims are about 82mm external.

Also, full drop available on the seatpost as it only has downtube bosses, do like, just took it out for a wee blast round the local steps and the seat slammed and it really adds to the bmxeyness.

Still know * all about fatbikes but it feels fun. Might need less air in tyres. Corners better than I thought. GW's going to take the piss something rotten.

Tomorrow I'm going to weightweenie the * out. There's going to be spreadsheets.

Please keep us posted on this as that's still a good weight considering some of the basic parts. Loads of potential so save a good few pounds on that thing. I can confirm that a jumbo jim on an 80mm rim is bang on 4". Once you go over that sizes start to get exaggerated. Surly buds and lous which are amongst the biggest come up closer to 4.5 than 5 from what I have read. Nice future flexibility in tyre choices for the Dune then.

Will do. Oh, meant to say, on closer look the frame is pretty spacious but the chainline, not so much, so that might be the limiting factor on width... but maybe doable with single ring. I'm just robbing my scandal for parts, I think I'll be adding a little weight with some parts (if nothing else, with my gravity dropper) but you never know, with OE kit, stuff can be randomly light or heavy. And who knows what's going on with tubes,etc.

Loving it tbh, building my big enduro bike was pretty much a boring step into the known, I knew exactly what I wanted and what was going where, this thing is just a big fat wtf 😆

Thank you NW. Congrats on the new bike.

I only picked up your thread this morning so missed the discount code. Sounds like it'll be a tad small for me anyway. But still mighty tempting for the price. No stores anywhere near me sadly.

I am distracted by the OO Fatty (basic steel fork version) as it just looks so cool. It would mean swallowing my pride and buying from OO though 😉

I have no need of a fat bike (especially given the 4 or 5 mile road ride to my trails) BUT I want one 🙂

That Go Outdoors options looks very interesting, and sounds like it would even fit me! 🙂

Has anyone tried the OO 24" fatty? Wondering how rideable it would be be for a 12yr old, 15kg and draggy tires might be too much? They do seem to push it as kid friendly though...

My daughter is 12 and can happily ride my full size Fatty*.

Edit: Stop s****ing at the back. You know what I mean!

I rode it round the shop, it has loads of grip on carpet.

Carpet grip always a major concern for my bikes. 😆

Don't really know what to make of this contraption..
[img] [/img]
http://riderungu.com/juggernaut/

Tempted to order one of these Dunes on a "what's the worst that could happen" basis. It'll do for a shopping bike if it doesn't work out.

Interested to read this thread as an ardent fatbiker. If the Dune frame can stand up to 'proper' use (I getting hammered all over the place) then thats a good thing.

I'd be more concerned about ALL the components though. The key thing with fatbikes is they encourage you to ride places you'd never even dream of before. These often involve beaches and mud. If your parts arent well sealed, they wont last long in that environment.

Then you'll be quickly upgrading / replacing and will have spent the equivalent of an On-One / Specialized Fatboy / Felt / Cooker Maxi etc anyway.

Good luck with it though!

TBH I'd choose this over the on one fatty. Well, I did! (coincidentally, it has the same rims as their emmenthal wheelset) Haven't seen the others in the flesh to compare though. The basic "fatbike specific" stuff all feels sound, and there's some really nice touches like a proper FSA sealed bearing headset instead of the OE pish I was expecting, and maxxis fatty tubes- nice to find quality kit hidden away. (I might swap these out, ironically, as I have some unused specialized dh tubes of the type fattists seem to like, because obviously randomly changing parts untried is the way forward)

The drivetrain and brakes are obviously bargain basement but that works better for me, I'd sooner have the money go into the core components. It's getting XT/Saint 1x10 and formula the one brakes off my Scandal 😆 I'm treating it like a rolling chassis really. You could bring all this stuff up to spec and still have it be cheaper than most of the competition though.

40mpg is right. In the end it will probably be similar to a more expensive fatbike if you bought new stuff for it but if you already have some parts to put on it then you are on to a bargain. Compared to a fatboy you have 900 quid to play with. My felt is 1250 and I got it for a bargain at 1000 on a pre order. I then spent 470 on the wheels, 60 on new chain and cassette as despite being shimano they lasted all of 5 seconds. 155 on a dropper and 75 on pedals. If I put those on a dune I would be 500 quid better off and a few bits from a donor bike I already owned then I'd have a similar spec bike.

Also if you don't get on with it then you have only spent 550 quid.

Northwind, if you dig the fat experience I would definitely recommend the DTSwiss BR2250 wheelset. They are an excellent weight and seem plenty tough enough. Much lighter than the hope/mulefut alternative and a bit cheaper from ze Germans. Combined with the jumbo jim you have a wheelset that is probably on a par weight wise with a set of dh wheels and dual ply tyres. Tubeless is easy and Daves more weight again. They cost me 470 but make a massive difference to how the whole bike feels.

Thanks for the measurements NW. Going to be a bit small for me. Phew 🙂

@johnnyboy do you have a buy link for the BR2250? I can't find. Thx.

I ordered mine from bike 24 but they were also in stock at bike discount. I've just had a look and they are listed as out ot stock everywhere. Bummer.

ta. betcha Canyon have bought them all up for the new Dude.

Thanks for the measurements NW. Going to be a bit small for me. Phew

Thank you for getting in touch with us regarding this enquiry.

I can confirm that we only do one size in this bike.

I am sorry if this has caused any disappointment.

If we can help with anything further then please dont hesitate to get in touch.

Kind regards

Oliver Heald
Go Outdoors
Store Support

reckon it's an overrun of someone else's frame, resprayed?

Northwind - get it built, get down the beach, and get some pics up on here! I like the 'treat it as a rolling chassis' approach, recycling bits from spare.

I'd also recommend linking up with other local fatbikers, they'll show you some interesting places to explore, and its always more fun with like-minded others 😀

If you're on the south coast, happy to do this!

The frame is stamped FATBIKE so I reckon it's maybe a generic that they've just ordered in. I couldn't find anything identical out there though- it's obviously a pretty new design, with the 197 hub and that so it's not just someone else's outgoing model, some pretty distinctive parts like the hollow dropouts. It's cambodian made so maybe not showing up in the usual suspect catalogue outlets?

Having said all that, some of the other Calibre bikes are bloody impressive looking, they had a Bossnut on display and it's just ridiculous for a grand.

I'm in Edinburgh so I think I'm legally obliged to take a photo of it beside some mini submarines. I'm not really planning to go mad on buying bits for it, you never know though, I kind of hope to like it for its fatness rather than trying to make it super light. First stop is going to be my pentlands test track then probably glentress, for the lolz, then the beach

There's a yellow one in the Inverness branch

(I will totally fit titanium brake rotor bolts though, just because that's who I am.)

Northwind- look up Forth Fat on FB.
Busy scene, including a springtime fat festival at North Berwick.

The frame is stamped FATBIKE so I reckon it's maybe a generic that they've just ordered in. I couldn't find anything identical out there though- it's obviously a pretty new design, with the 197 hub and that so it's not just someone else's outgoing model, some pretty distinctive parts like the hollow dropouts. It's cambodian made so maybe not showing up in the usual suspect catalogue outlets?

Could it be one of these?

[img] [/img]

Or the one in theft proof colours which seems to be all that's available in the UK:

[img] [/img]

Answered my own question:

[img] [/img]

It's different.

The turned up chain stays are quite distinctive, found no obvious matches on an image search.

Looks a bit like one of these to me.

[img] [/img]

Close, though with a different fork and the Dune's top tube is same diameter along whole length. Best match so far though.

Think my felt double 70 says made in Cambodia on sticker on the BB it may even have fatbike stamped on it cant get to it at the moment.Just looked properly my frame is different internal routing ect, that dune looks great buy though.

The Scott's similiar from the side but pretty different on other angles- square seatstay bridge, different headtube.

Could well be the Scott factory/jig but with cheaper generic tubing. See that boss or eyelet just at the top of the chainstays.

The dropouts on the Scott are a different shape too.

FWIW I like the Scott. I'm considering buying one in the new year.

Well it's a slightly disappointing 13.5kg rebuilt with my nice stuff- frame, forks, cranks, wheels, headset, tyres and rim strips are still original basically. Wee bit more still to come out of it but I'd kind of hoped for 13kg, ah well. I could do it with weenie parts but not with a build I want to ride, without spending money.

The frame and forks are 2025g and 872g respectively, nowt wrong with that, unless they break. The axles aren't light though, 94g rear and 118 front.

Wheels unsurprisingly, weigh a ton. 1739 rear, 1490 front, without rim strips. I don't often say BOOOOM, but on this occasion I will. BOOOM. And the cranks are a mighty 795g with dual rings, plus 420g for the ST BB, and I'm not expecting a lot from either but they're not obviously bendy or anything.

Did find a really nasty scratchy bit in the seat tube, not a problem since I've fitted a gravity dropper with a shim, but it's the biggest black mark I've come across. Absolutely gouged my sacrificial 400mm oe post, though, only when well dropped so probably most users wouldn't come across it. Still, it's a bit crap.

Rode it up and down some steps. Giggled a lot. Looked at it in the garage, smiled. These are important characteristics and helped me get over my weightweenie funk.

Rode it up and down some steps. Giggled a lot. Looked at it in the garage, smiled. These are important characteristics and helped me get over my weightweenie funk.

Absolutely. Enjoying your tale, keep us informed!

pretty much bang on the wieght of my OOF with Bluto's so not bad weight wise. That said I am runnign DT Swiss BR2250 with hope hubs, tubeless. Thats also the wieght without dropper!!!

I have a stack of weight to take out from finishing kit, groupset etc. But my wheels cost more than that bike so i think you have done well Northwind!

Fatties are fun, i get a bit fed up with the haters (more haters than lovers on the trails) but im really looking forward to giving mine a kicking this winter!

NW keep this up, I'm fatty curious and waiting for Halfords to get em back in, but this has also turned into a very entertaining blog.

First proper ride today... Well, took it for a testride yesterday and literally the first thing I ever did offroad with it was bang the rear mech on a wall and bend it 😆 Really enjoying it, pretty sure I still have too much air in the tyres though, my hands are quite beat up and they were pretty pingy.

It has a pretty low BB, I think, and obviously very wide stance so that's probably the single thing that I'm needing to think about most, had a couple of near misses there.

I hadn't realised just how bright yellow it was, til I got it out in the sun, it's too bright for my phone camera! You can't be shy and own these bikes, can you, the only other bike I have that generates so many conversations with passers by is my hybrid but those conversations all include swear words.

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Not a proper beach, this is threipmuir reservoir in the pentlands but it still counts! Had a nice time just boinging over rocks and paddling in the water, got my feet wet. But also, randomly, set a strava top 10 on some woodsy singletrack. Everywhere else it's just slower but I was surprised by how close it got on some rough bits.

There's a decision to make, Scandal or Pie Bike and I don't know how it'll shake out but this was a good first ride.

What might be the last useful observation for anyone else, for now, is that this is a 410mm seatpost and it's literally on the limit. I'm 5'10, so it's odd- the wheelbase is pretty medium and everything else about the geometry is comfortably mediumy, but the seattube isn't. So be careful about size.

Thanks for the update. Even knowing it'll be a tad small I still wish I had grabbed one when the extra 10% off was valid 👿

Low standover is pretty common in fatbike land - it's a bonus when you stop in soft snow and put your feet down 🙂

I'm also wishing I had splashed the cash on on of these, even though I have my 9zero7. It looks pretty well sorted and it wouldn't be too hard to shed a wee bit more weight.

If any more codes come along I'm in!

! You can't be shy and own these bikes, can you,

Your right there!!......I find it a bit annoying people asking me about it all the time and teenage kids asking how much and can they have a go and wheelie it.........no **** oof for some reason offends?? 😀

@northwind....what front mudguard is that...I likey!!