Reading this thread has got the ol' "tires" spinning in my head.

I have found these Fatty bikes intriguing for almost a decade when I first spotted Sheldon Brown talking about one. At the time very few were out there and other than riding at the beach or on the bicycle version of the Ididirod in AK, there was not much written about them. Lately they have taken off and all of your positive comments have sealed the deal for me.

I think, however, I might go a different route. Frank the Welder is only about 30 miles away and as my retirement gift to me, I think this is the bike I'll have him build. This way, we can have complete control over how it is built!

Of course it will be pricey, but I have about 9 years to save for the frame and the components. Gives me plenty of time to dream and work with Frank to come up with an original design that has the features and capabilities I'd like, such as fenders and racks.

Who knows, maybe we can build a drop bar version of a fatty!

Thanks for the inspiration!