Originally Posted by
3speed
Have any of you done any touring(multiple days of 30+mi/day) on fat tires? I'm a big fan of fat tires because I mountain bike, but don't want to be pushing extra day after day on a tour if I decide to go with too big of tires for the type of riding I'm doing. I can't find anything on fat tire touring bikes, so I figured people just don't because of extra rolling resistance. Is that correct?
I just built up this bike over the winter; On 29x2 so far i've done an 120 mile overnight. (see the thread "ultralite Redux") Next on the list is a multiple day trip up into northern michigan to Copper Harbor, where i'll try to ride as much dirt in the 300-400 miles as possible.
My type of riding is short tours of a week or less duration. I worked a lot of my wanderlust out in my earlier years, i have less of a need to set out and explore the country on a cross country expedition. perhaps again in my old age and dotage. So, when i go touring, its short duration trips to explore the roads much less travelled in and around where i live (or a vacation destination) within a few hundred mile radius. I like to PrarieEaryth it, get to know the place i live. there's a world of wonder most places, if you look for it right.
My experiences will not mirror the typical cross country rider, if i was riding cross country i doubt i'd take 700x50 tires. But, i'm confident somewhere in between 700x35 (what i've toured tens of thousands of miles on) and 700x60, there's a larger happy medium for all surface riding. The tire volume calculations show a major difference in CC between 700x35 and 700x50. Between 700x35 and 700x50 the tire volume more than doubles. There is a sweet spot somewhere in there.
I ride out into the boonies a lot, trying to come up with alternate, non paved routes to places. For this type of touring, a bike with fatter tires than the usual touring bike has merit. If i were riding to Chicago or New York City, i doubt i'd take this bike. But the Great Divide mountain bike route, or the E/W cross country off road route, i'd be on fat tires in a second.
I think people do tour on fat(ter) tire bikes, but its few and far between and for specialized trips. off road bikepacking, however, is becoming less fringe. This bike is an attempt to make a bikepacking rig also suitable for ripping 150 miles of pavement to get to the trail network. For example, for a rider in Denver, this type of 'mountain/touring' bike would serve an ideal purpose, if a person was interested in self powered weekend trips from the front door to the rockies and back.