fatboy cycling

No, it a Performance Bike house brand. I'm a road biker and didn't want to invest a ton of money in a fat bike. Idea is to use it to keep in shape during the winter. Hoping it grows on me and makes me want to ride it year round.

fatboy cycling

Performance Bike house brand: Access Chinook Bravo

intransit1217

Boy I sure wish Performance did a better job of listing parts. What brakes are on that Bravo?

intransit1217

IMBA Releases Fat-Bike Best Practices (First Version) | FAT-BIKE.COM

Jseis 

Here's a typical ride.

SHOFINE

Got some new fenders just in time for a 15 mile ride in St. Joseph Bay Buffer Preserve.

intransit1217

How are those vees in the sand? Does that mud shovel work?

SHOFINE

I've had the Vee 8s for a year now and they are have been great esp. for sand. My Floaters that came with the bike are about 100gs per lighter but with them big knobs are like velcro on wet sand! The Black Floyds I got a few months ago knocked 2 1/2 lbs off the Vee 8s but I started having flats. They were fine on sand and I'll try em again in the spring when I ride mostly my beaches. Been waiting 6 weeks on some 4.8" Jumbo Jim liteskins at 1190gs per.

The front mud shovel work great! I couldn't find a rear...everywhere I looked had em backordered. So I got a Topeak Defender RX for the rear. It's not quite as wide as the tire but my back was clean after that swampy ride.

fatboy cycling

Tektro Novela CS

intransit1217

Well, I'm no longer impressed with my BB5s. They felt like I had already run them down to the backing today.

intransit1217

For those who have a bunch of fatbike experience, can you brief me on wheel width and how it affects tire performance? Thank you.

Hypno Toad

You can get better prices, the 45NRTH Dillinger has a lot of variations. The $250 version is the top of the line. Available in 120tpi studded, 27tpi studded, and 120tpi stud-less versions. The Dillinger 4 27 tpi is $175. Or get the stud-less version and add your own studs; $135 plus you but studs and installation tool. Most work and most cost-effective.

Also consider only one studded tire for the front wheel. This cuts the cost in half and honestly, the front is where you need the extra grip for steering and braking. The rear is only really helpful when you are pedaling hard enough to spin out (hard to do with a fatbike). I've done this with my Marin Nail Trail (winter-commuter); with thousands of winter miles, I can say that this is a very nice compromise.

I went through a lot of research over the last couple weeks, looking to set my wife's Pugsley up with studs. After all the research, she decided she's happy with the Surly Nate tires (non-studded). On hardpack trails, the Nate tires are solid. I have 200 miles on my Pugsley since Santa dropped it off; and not had any issues with grip on hardpack. Ice, that's a different story; if you expect to ride on ice, go for studs!

intransit1217

Ok that's mega helpful, HT. Thanks. Yesterdays ride on singletrack was rutted ice! It sucked and was really squirrely. I probably coulda gone down 3 more psi. But there were big enough obstacles I din't want to hurt my wheels. Found out the stock tires are not great in these conditions. Tread blocks too far apart. Fine for hardpack, slush, hard slush. But The guy I was with was on a Yampa rolling 4" Husker du's. I think he had more control. Steep learning curve !

Hypno Toad

+1! I feel like learning about fatbike wheels/tires is like starting all over. Just throw out everything you know about bike tires, start all over!

intransit1217

I may just save my bucks and upgrade the bike later.

bruised

@@@@ Just a general comment about Fat Bikes @@@@

I hear and read a lot from different people about fat tire bikes and how they don't ride well in certain types of snow and sand and how a regular MTB with a 2.3 outperforms fat bikes on certain types of snow and ice etc etc etc.

And all of that is true.

But if you're throwing the bike in the back of the truck and headed off to some remote destination in the middle of January, and you're not really sure what the weather's gonna do or what to expect from the trail conditions when you arrive.....which bike are you gonna take with you, the MTB or the Fattie?

Jseis 

The beach I ride on is no place for a MTB unless you stuck to a narrow band of hard sand only available at low tide. The route to the beach across turf, single track, is fine for a MTB but once I crest the dune and head to the beach, it's all fat.

Hypno Toad

I hear the concern about salt spray... I know my bike is getting a lot of salt and grime on commutes, so it gets a regular wash and wax. My LBS hit both with frame-saver when assembling them, too.

I really like this rack option, this was it's first and only trip so far. The KUAT rack requires extension straps for the fatbike tires. The front tire does not fit inside the track, but the curved/cupped design holds the bikes securely. I expect the roof rack will see a lot less use.

bicyclelove

I do really like that kind of rack, its so easy to put the bikes on and off. And you are right about salt anytime I ride. It's hard to keep clean! I've been bringing it in the basement and washing it by the drain in our laundry room. I'm still loving it, I want to ride it even when there is no snow despite the fact it's much slower than my "salt bike".

Hypno Toad

SO TRUE! Today is warm and melting, there was no need for 4" tires... But I took Sir Pugsley to work. (I did go out of my way to ride an uncut trail, so that counts for a 'reason' to ride the fatbike, right? )

bicyclelove

Totally justified! I ride a service road next to the railroad and it's all that rocky bed like they use under the tracks, and that's almost 1/2 mile, so it's "necessary" for me too!

Jseis 

Sand bike reflections.

Well, I've been riding my sand bike for a couple of weeks. Out the garage, down the trail, onto the beach. What a workout. Averaging 6 mph and always pedaling as there's no coasting (unless I hit the paved trail or street). In an hours time I'm probably blowing through 750+ calories and I come home sweat drenched. I ride low tide line, high tide line, pass/stop and talk to beachcombers, clammers, stoners, tourists, dog walkers. They all wave and smile.

Legs burn as it's different than roadie spinning. More grinding. Usually in the lowest 3 gears on the 2x10. Subtle grade changes noticeable even on the beach but sand soft v. hard is really noticeable. Hit some quicksand, took a low speed header. Wandering in the drift line means a sharp lookout for boards with nails and I can roll over most any driftwood up to 4"-5" diameter.

Maintenance means an quick and easy freshwater wash of disc brakes, rims, frame, derailleurs, cogs and followed by a light blow dry. I do this after every ride. I'll be switching to paraffin lube chain in a week, then swap a re-lubed chain every 2-3 weeks. Gotta be careful with lube as sand sticks. I'll add fenders too but sand just gets up on the drivetrain and I put up some grinding.

Aside from great cardio & exercise I get to explore 20+ miles of beach with few cars, few people, few dogs, and wide open spaces. No way could an MTB go unless a sub 90 pounder was riding it. I roll on 4.2 tread at 4/5 psi. Best thing? No cars are passing me at 60 a yard away. At low tide I've 200-300 yard wide "track" to mess around on and state parks at both ends plus a few cool paved trails. I'm in heaven.

And I just turned 60 years young.

All I can say is WOW.

bruised

Awesome!

It's good when people 'get it'. The whole Fat bike thing that is. I regularly average as low as 3mph in the snow and people ask 'why bother'? And I've asked myself the same question a few times while I've been out there, slogging along in minus 20F and dripping wet with sweat. But then there are those moments where everything comes into perspective. Riding along the Lake MI shoreline, or seeing a red sunset over the Bay of Green Bay. One of the things I love to do when I'm riding through the snow in the deep woods is to just stop and listen......the sound of complete silence, no cars, no people, no nothing....just me, the bike and the snow.

stevemtbr

Looks like Long Beach. Love that area. If my plans go well I will have a new fat bike next year and plan to ride in that area.

Jseis 

Sure enough! North Head in the background.