Yendor72

I've been reading as much as posisble and it looks like tires on a Framed would be the limiting factor, but fat tires are super expensive. We are going to The-House on Saturday to check things out. Based on the addresses The-House is the location of Framed HQ. So we may be able to wheel and deal on some different tires. Worth a shot.

Nick Bain

I hope you can find something, I checked CL for you and there is plenty in your price range but only one with winterish tires. You might have to up your price limit or wait for something to pop up on CL. Amazing how many of these bikes are sold/used for non winter riding. I've seen many a framed rider having a rough go of it on the trails. It is also worth noting that I dropped more money in a shorter period of time on fatbiking than any other form of biking, boots/studded tires/pogies

Also see here: Fat bikes - Mtbr.com

Yendor72

Yeah, that's my worry, although I have a lot invested in my road bike too. I have had to buy a wheel set and since I ride with my wife we bought wireless headsets as well. This is not a cheap hobby at all and that is understood, but I am a cheap person so trying to save as much as possible.

KantoBoy

Guys, can someone clear this up for me:

Why are some fat bike frames shaped like these?

https://www.norco.com/bikes/mountain.../sasquatch-62/

Save up to 60% off new Fat Bikes and Mountain Bikes - MTB - Motobecane Boris X5 SRAM

I'm seeing a bend near the top tube/seat tube junction which makes the bike look funky.



Does it serve anything?

Nick Bain

I am cheap too but if I don't have the funds I will wait until I do instead of buying something sup-par and having to upgrade it later. That's just me though, when you make limits you box yourself in and decrease potential. That being said I am still a little shocked you can't find something for 1k yet.

Yendor72

Yes, with the fat tires your stand over height is real tricky. Now imagine being in snow and needing to stop and stand, you sink a bit into the snow and your jewels take one for the team. Not me.

Yendor72

Well, we went to the LBS and they had a black and purple Framed Wolftrax with the SRAM X5 2x10 and my wife fell in love immediatley. She rode it around and was grinning ear to ear. I rode it as well and found it quite tossable. I think the tires will be able to handle the snow and we should be able to convert them to tubeless. It comes with 4" tires, but I believe the frame can handle 5" if we decide to go that route. We wont have them for a few days, but I am excited to give it a shake down ride before the snowballs fly. We also got the fatbike tire trays for our Saris bike rack. Mine will be black and yellow to match my Camaro.

I am short so stand over height was an issue, I have a longer torso so my road bike is a little on the big side for my legs, but my reach is dang near perfect. On the fat bike the 17" was fine in the reach for me, but the stand over was non existent, I ordered a 15" one for me. My wife has longer legs and is taller than me so she went with the 17". We'll probably end up swapping stems because she looked a little stretched out.

KantoBoy

makes sense. thank you.

now to front suspension or not? me thinks I should just go for it knowing on how I have upgraditis as soon as I get a stock bike.

Nick Bain

both are wolftrax? IDK of the wolftrax but with a name like that sounds like it'll handle the snow. More importantly how much!?

DackRider

Hello Fat Folks,

I am about to join your ranks. I have a very lightly used Pug Ops headed my way. I thought it was too good of a deal to pass up. I wanted one of these a few years back. But I let myself get talked into a cross bike. Nobody's fault but mine. In fact I was doing most of the talking. Rode it a few times and quickly lost interest.


I wanted a somewhat comfy relaxed bike to ride on the trails and roads that start at the end of my driveway. Two hundred yards of pavement then dirt and trails for miles. I registered here a while back and did some research. The fatties seemed perfect for what I wanted to do. But I got it in my head the Cross Bike was a better option.

I joined here around two years ago as a clyde. Weighing in around 250. Just couldn't get motivated on the Crosser. Higher gears than my overweight and out of shape self could pedal. So I just hung it in the garage.

Fast forward to this July. A physical says I have high Blood pressure. Doc says I should take meds. I let him prescribe them. Then I went home and read the side effects. No thanks! They remain untouched in my med cabinet. When I need inspiration to get my butt out to walk. I just go stare at the bottles, and off I go.

August 1st, I started walking. Slowly working my way up to 5-8 miles a day, 5-6 days a week. Fast forward to today, I am 225lbs (down 25lbs from my peak) But more importantly my BP is consistantly in the 120/80 range. Most times slightly lower.

Worried that I would lose the ground I gained over the winter. I started to look at winter exercise options. I have and use snowshoes. But I wanted something a little more exiciting. I may try a pair of Altai Skis. But the fat bikes came back onto my radar. Recently this Pugsley Ops showed up on another forum I visit. A Bushcraft forum no less. It is a 2014 in pristine condition. Bone stock.

And here I am. Anxiously awaiting the arrival of my new toy. At 56 years of age, I don't need to be a hero anymore. I just want to ride somewhat comfortably, and get my bike legs back. I am a competitive SOB, but I know where I am at, and I know where I want to be. My main goals at the moment are just to keep expanding my workouts and to not injure myself.

I am very excited about this bike. It is my newly established goal to be sub-clyde sometime over this winter. Between walking, snowshoeing, and now biking. I firmly believe it is within my grasp to go sub-clyde by March 1st.

I am stoked!

I just spent a wet snowy afternoon reading this thread page for page. And it just reinforces in me that I made the right bike decision.

Thanks to all who post here for the inspiration.


If I could pick one post from this thread that pretty much says it all for me this would be it! Plus it comes with an outstanding winter photograph

Quote:

Originally Posted by bruised

Good feedback / tips on sand riding ^

Here's something I tussle with a bit -

The reason for me getting a fat bike was so I could continue riding through the winter, for fitness.

Fitness in my case means avoiding fatness. I used to be very fat and unfit, now I'm less fat and somewhat fit - the fat bike is a tool to help keep it that way through the winter.

Therefore I need to avoid falling into the trap of looking for ways to make riding easier. I read all of the stuff about tubeless, carbon parts and other ways to shed weight and improve efficiency and I get drawn in. Then I remember - that's not why I'm here. Hard is good. Hard means I'm burning more calories for less time in the saddle.

Do I like riding through the snow in sub-zero when my muscles feel like they're about to explode, my hands and feet are frozen solid and my beard is carrying 3 pounds of ice? ....HELL NO. I'm doing it for the exercise and hard is good.

That's not to say that there aren't some pleasurable moments. There are. Many. Like being out later than planned and encountering an amazing sunset, or riding through the woods and stopping to listen to the sound of absolute silence. Or just the satisfaction you feel after a ride on a particularly cold day when you're defrosting with a hot cup of Joe....

bruised

DackRider - congrats on the Pug Ops! A great choice.

Just to add a little to my story, since it has evolved quite a bit over the past riding season. I sold the bike in the photo above, a Charge Maxi, as I should have bought an XL frame and it was a touch on the small side. Also the Geo wasn't right for me, I was a leaning over a bit too much and it bothered my lower back. So I got a great deal on a used Salsa Beargrease in early March and absolutely love the bike!

In Spring I started thinking about buying something for the upcoming summer riding season and I added a Salsa Warbird gravel bike to the stable. But guess what - I found myself using the fat bike way more than the cross bike, even on asphalt!

I've put a ton of miles on the Beargrease this summer, many on asphalt, but a lot on gravel trails and single-track. Yeah it's slower and harder and it sounds like an old Army Jeep barreling down the highway, but it's just so much fun to ride. I've taken it on some longer rides too, covering 160 miles on a 2 day bikepacking expedition which was predominantly asphalt, and a 4 day trip to the Chequamegon trails in Northern WI. I've ridden the sandy shores of Lake Michigan many times over the summer, exploring secluded areas of Newport State Park on the most northerly tip of the Door Peninsula, all the way down to Two Rivers and Manitowoc WI. It's great being able to set out from home not really knowing where I'm headed and where I'm going to end up, but not having to worry about being on a bike that can't handle it if the going gets rough.

So a few weeks back I decided to cut my losses on the gravel bike and I off-loaded it on Craigslist. (I'd had a little friction with the bike shop who sold me the Warbird, so that didn't help with my enthusiasm for the bike either). Now I ride the Beargrease everywhere and I don't miss the gravel bike at all.

I think many people underestimate the real potential of fat bikes. They're not just snow or sand bikes, they handle very well on dirt and single-track. Sure, they may not be up to competition standards when it comes to speed and lap times, but for older blokes like me they do more than enough.

Anyway, good luck with your weight-loss targets, enjoy the Pugs and don't forget to post pictures!

Bruised

Yendor72

Here is the Framed Wolftrax, it is new this year and is only available at independent bike shops. I got the alloy fork 2X10 SRAM X5 version. Between both bikes we spent $2600 after taxes, the LBS we purchased from has a 5% discount if you purchase 2 bikes.
Wolftrax Alloy SRAM w/ alloy fork | Framed Bikes

Nick Bain

sweet brah looks like a good deal. tires look a good all rounder kind of like specialized ground control.

SHOFINE

Got me some Surly 3" Knards for riding in the local forest and other trails when not on the beaches.



[URL=https://s216.photobucket.com/user/cpt888/media/20151023_165713_zpsxgfphhpz.jpg.html][/URL

Jseis 

Put ~1100 miles on the fat since January. All.Beach.Miles. Been through 2 chains, 2 rear d pulleys, swapped in a new GXP crank & BB after destroying the cartridge bearing. Also slowing trashing the pedals. All in all though, incredible exercise, cardio, and all off road.

Running 1 x 10 with 22 low up front 11-34 outback. Eventually settled on 15 psi to power through wheel ruts left by 4WD vehicles though it takes some serious cardio to walk 15 psi through soft stuff. I occasionally drop to 5 psi summer months (dry soft sand).

Duct tape keeps sand off chain & chainwheel. I don't splash through water 'cause salt 'n sand. One thing about tire size...I weigh 195 and beach riding is tough. My H-Billies at 4.6 wide have 4" effective width. Going to 4.8" (max on the Min 3.0) wouldn't make any noticeable difference. Me dropping 40 would LOL.

SHOFINE

Having a blast on my Fatty!

Dirtyhip

Last year's commuter bike. I should take pics of the new one.

jackwinnipeg

hey Shofine, what make is that gorgeous pale green bike?

SHOFINE

616 Muenzie frame made in MI.

automa1971

Hello fatbikers.

I am also about to join the ranks. After much research and pondering I puiled the trigger on a Felt DD70. I managed to make a deal with the seller to have him replace the drivetrain with a 1x11 Shimano XT M8000 derailleur, shifter and cassette and replacing the 3 chainrings on the RaceFace crank with a Shimano 32t ring at little extra cost. The bike was cheaper than usual retail prices anyway and it's still cheaper than a DD30 even with the upgrades. I am really excited about it. I will be picking up the bike in two weeks and will post a few pictures as soon as I have. I have really obsessed about which one to get and in the end I was down to 4 favourites: Felt DD70 or DD10, Specialized Fatboy, KTM Fat Rat. Price was an issue but not the ultimate reason why I picked this particular Felt DD70. Even though it's not the best equipped it leaves me headroom to customize to my liking. I found that the more expensive fatbikes don't have the components I would find justify the increased price. Also I actually much preferred the looks on the Felt. Specialized Fatboy SE looks even better but I didn't want to spend 300€ more and actually 'only' get a SRAM X5 drivetrain. I am eager to find out if I saved some weight by reducing to 1x11 and also plan on doing the tubeless conversion...

stevemtbr

Should have this guy out of layaway in late Feb.

Hypno Toad

[h=1]Fat Bike Ski Area: Lift-Access For Winter Riders [/h]
Interesting, very interesting!

Jseis 

My badass beach bomber.

SHOFINE

I've had the 4.8" Jumbo Jims Lite Skins on order for my Fatty for over a year from Bike 24 in Germany. I just found out a couple weeks ago they were available in the states. I put a order thru my LBS and they ordered the 4.0s Lite Skins by mistake. I said what the hell and I threw them on the Muenzie and love them! They weigh around 1050g and puts the bike at 29.5 lbs.

Hypno Toad

The Garmin is getting my Pugsley all excited!