Originally Posted by
baldilocks
I've been riding on icy surfaces with the 26er. The reason I thought the fat bike would help was the icy foot prints create a very uneven and slippery surface. I thought a lg tire under inflated would absorb the uneven terrain while giving better traction. I was also hoping someone would say a plus bike would be fat enough, so I could ride the local trails as well in the summer. Or if someone said they ride over stuff like that all the time with a full fat bike, maybe that's the route. I worked almost 30 years at a outdoor ice rink. Now that the rink is gone, I'm ready to find a new excuse to be outside besides shoveling and snow blowing. I'm also hoping to walk the bike as little as possible.
You are the only one who saw and experienced how uneven and slippery it is. if the patches are what I imagine, the unevenness can be dealt with MTB or plus tire. The slipperiness depends on if the ice is coarse (snow compacted) or black ice (snow melted and re-frozen). If coars, a tire could have enough traction. If smooth, studs required.
also depends on size of the patch, what, 1" or 10'?
you really have to decide for yourself how far you want to go and how extreme the situation is. Is it easier to walk that one bridge, but ride easily the rest of your ride? Because a fat bike will be harder to ride the rest of the ride.
/thread