fat-bikes

Our friends from up north, Rocky Mountain, recently let us know they’ve added a new fat bike weapon to the company’s arsenal. The Suzi Q, as it’s called, is a fat bike with…as the name hints…a narrower Q-factor and other notable features in an effort to deliver a more comfortable and efficient fat bike than ...

photos by the author and 45NRTH It is December. In some parts of the U.S. that means a relief from the heat. In other parts, such as Crosby, Minnesota, it can be dangerously cold. That doesn’t stop a lot of us from riding, and 45NRTH is working to make everyone more comfortable when out in ...

Let me tell you, few things make quite an impression as seeing one of these in person. The Carbonara fat bike fork is the second major product release from Lauf, after the Trail Racer mountain bike fork, first for 29ers and then for 27.5. Hailing from Iceland, Lauf is a small company dedicated to bringing ...

Just so we are clear, this story is about Crested Butte Fat Bike World Championships, as in SSCXWC and SSWC and #fatbikeshit. The acronyms UCI and USAC had nothing to do with the super-fat-tire race that went down last weekend high in the Colorado mountains. Crested Butte, Colorado, claims itself as the birthplace of mountain ...

It’s taken most of the summer but we’ve finished gathering parts for our 27plus project bike. We started this process earlier this year when rumors of a fat 27.5 production bike were just a whisper and no one was really sure what to make of Trek and SRAM’s “Boost” hub spacing. Then came Sea Otter and ...

My how things have changed. When the Surly Pugsley rolled onto the scene nearly 10 years ago no one could have predicted (well, some probably did) that fat bikes would be as common as they are today. Riders are using them not just for Arctic exploration, but also for straight up mountain biking, which has ...

One of the original trendsetters in the fat bike market was Fatback out of Anchorage. Pioneers of the wider hub spacing that made 4-inch tires possible in the first place, the company’s latest products continue to push the envelope of fat bike mountain biking. Both are suspension corrected for the RockShox Bluto fork and presumably ...

Fyxation might not be the most familiar brand to mountain bike riders, having started life focusing on the urban riding scene. Which is why this carbon fat bike came as a surprise from a company whose bike line is otherwise a fully steel affair. I asked Ben Ginster, Fyxation’s marketing guy, about the decision to ...

Ponyrustler Spotted as a prototype at Sea Otter, the new 27plus full suspension bike from Salsa made its official debut today with two carbon fiber models and an aluminum model built around the excellent Split Pivot suspension. If you’re ridden the Horsethief 29er and enjoyed it, you’re likely to feel right at home on the ...

We had our first introduction with Advocate Cycles earlier this year when the new brand brought its Hayduke model to the Sea Otter Classic. This week the company announced its second model, the steel Watchman fat bike frame. Just like the Hayduke, the new Watchman is built from Reynolds 725 steel with an original Portage ...

As the fat bike market matures it is inevitably diversifying into specific product categories. Just as mountain bikes now have categories for downhill, cross country or trail riding, fat bike riders are realizing one size does not fit all. The Farley model has been hugely popular for Trek, but it was being pulled in two ...

I have to admit, when fat bikes first came around, I didn’t like them either. They looked cumbersome and slow. Not my idea of a good time. But once I started riding a few, I started to see the light. Are they a niche product that could only be someone’s “other” bike? Or are they a ...

The Double Double is Felt’s all-conditions fat tire bike with 80mm drilled out rims and 26 x 4” tires.  The responsive aluminum frame with a custom hydroform fork, plus Shimano’s 20-speed XT shifters and Deore disc brakes, makes the bike capable of rolling over anything. From powdery snow, to loose sand, to loamy dirt, the ...

Being around the industry as long as I have I know a lot of people, many of whom congregate once a year in a different location to look at the fashionshow we call The North American Handmade Bicycle Show. Where artisan framebuilders show off their latest and greatest creations, which are judged and given giant ...

If the past decade is any indication, there may soon be as many tire sizes as there are gears in a cassette (though that is also growing year after year). 26 is too small. 29 is too big. 3.7 isn’t fat enough. 4.8 is too fat. Where will it end? Perhaps it never will, but Dirt ...

45NRTH is committed to pushing cold-weather cycling technology, and its latest two tires continue that trend, following closely behind the launch of the brand’s Ride Groomed website. The Flowbeist and Dunderbeist are front and rear specific, respectively, and measure out at 4.6 inches, a good middle ground that should fit a wide variety of fat ...

Courtesy of the Chequamegon Area Mountain Bike Association. Photos by Kelly Randolph. Through the efforts of a dedicated group of volunteers and enthusiasts, winter fat biking has really begun to take off in the Chequamegon area of northern Wisconsin. The most visible evidence is the Fat Bike Birkie, put on by the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation ...

Specialized’s enduro racer Mitch Ropelato is the latest to show the world what he can do with a fat bike, in this case Specialized’s Fatboy. Looks like it’s right at home just about anywhere.

In a few weeks Surly will join its parent company, Quality Bicycle Products, at its annual product show dubbed Frostbike. Well, they couldn’t keep the cat in the bag, so today it announced a few new goodies we’ll be “officially” seeing for the first time at the show: First up is the Moonlander Special Ops, ...

Editor’s note: Here at Bicycle Times we are as mindful of price as you are. So we gathered together a group of six very diverse bikes to showcase what you can find right now at the $1,000 price point. See our introduction here. I’m pretty stoked to be testing the Minnesota 2.0 fat bike from ...

While Pivot is perhaps best known for its high-performance suspension bikes like the new Mach 429SL, it is expanding its lineup into the fat tire realm with the launch of the new LES Fat model. Because the full-carbon frame uses an arching dropout system like to the one found on the LES hardtail, the LES Fat ...

It’s not often we feature video submissions from readers, but Bjørn Olson is no ordinary cyclist. He is a fearless and dedicated Alaskan explorer, and often uses his adventures to highlight the perilous balance between man and nature in the forty-ninth state. This trailer is for an upcoming film about a week-long expedition dubbed “reEvolution.” ...

By Adam Newman RockShox deserves a lot of the credit for driving the latest wheel-size trends in mountain biking these days. As the first major manufacturer to offer 27.5 forks, it created the watershed moment for that wheelsize to quickly dominate the industry. I predict the Bluto will do the same for the fat-bike scene. ...

Tale of the scale Fat bikes are it right now. While generally heavy—usually near or above 30-pounds—I do know some savvy riders who have gotten theirs down in the 23-pound range. Still, even with a healthy dose of carbon fiber, a top-shelf drivetrain, tubeless technology and a wad of cash to make it all happen ...

Attendees of the Fat Bike Summit and Festival who register at the $35 level will have a chance to win some juicy fat bike product from SRAM and Race Face. SRAM will also be offering a technical clinic on its Guide brakes and Bluto forks as part of the festival on Saturday. The festival is ...

The new year draws near, and for the first issue of 2015, we’ve rounded up six bike in the $1,000 range as a representative sample at this popular price point. We’ve found it to be common dollar amount for a first “good” bike, or adding a second bike (or third or fourth, etcetera) to the ...

“Oh Shit!” That’s all I heard as I rolled past the young walker on the gravel towpath aboard my Borealis Echo fat bike tester. I was riding said path as part of a pre-run for the 125-mile D&L Fat Bike Epic in Pennsylvania—an event I’m most surely not going to do. The 50-mile ride served as ...

For the fourth time, fat bike riders and advocates will meet to discuss land access issues, best practices for the emerging market, and ride some bikes at the Global Fat Bike Summit. QBP, along with Fitzgerald’s Bicycles, Hoback Sports, Wyoming Pathways, and Mountain Bike the Tetons/IMBA are hosting the event January 23-25 at the Snow ...

There’s not much more to say, trials and freestyle just look like even more fun when you throw big tires into the mix. Check out Rick Koekoek showing us how it’s done.

Can’t say we didn’t see this coming. With the stratospheric boom in popularity of fat bikes and the positive reaction to the aluminum version of the Bucksaw, Salsa has just let loose that a carbon fiber version will be joining it on the trails in the near future. Still built around 100mm of travel through the ...

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We had seen it coming. There were spy shots and rumors tossed around about a full-suspension fat bike. In fact, the Bucksaw isn’t even the first one—several smaller brands have built bikes that qualified as “full-suspension”, but this one is different. This is a major brand making a big commitment to a new product segment, ...

For almost as long as fat bikes have been a thing, trying to set them up tubeless has also been a thing. We even wrote a blog about it. 45North is the first company to release a tubeless ready tire, the Vanhelga, a four inch wide tire with what looks to be a trail bike ...

Last year we saw a prototype fat bike rim from Stan’s NoTubes, and while we figured a 26-inch wheel was in the works, today we saw the finished product: the Hugo is a 50mm-wide, tubeless rim with a unique cross section and options in all three wheel sizes. We also got the details and a ...

As fat bikes get more and more popular, riders are looking for ever more performance from big wheels and tires. Fatback is one of the original fat bike brands, hailing from the Fat Bike Capital of the World: Anchorage, Alaska. Its latest project is the full-carbon Corvus frame and fork, which has been built into ...

Fat bikes and internally-geared hubs go together like peanut butter and chocolate, but as of now, options are limited. Currently the only option is to build an offset (or even non-offset) wheel with a standard 135mm hub and use a corresponding frame like Surly’s Pugsley. But as tires get every wider and hub spacing follows ...

It was something we all somehow knew was coming, but no one quite believed: a full-suspension fat bike. Now it’s a reality.

Rocky Mountain joins the ranks of the fat bike crowd with its own trademark style.

It’s two big announcements in one: First up, Borealis, the Colorado-based company that blew everyone away with a 21-pound fat bike last year, is set to release its new model, the Echo this weekend at Sea Otter. And as Steve Jobs would say, “there’s one more thing”—it will be available with the brand new RockShox ...

In the varied and ever-changing garden of bicycles, it seems that the fat bike corner is the latest area of flourishing growth, producing new ideas and iterations at a rapid pace. Two longtime mountain bike innovators—Aaron Joppe, former owner of Slingshot, and John Muenzenmeyer, former owner of Nukeproof—have been drawn into this bloom and are ...

45NRTH’s Dillinger tires have been a big hit with anyone looking for more traction than what the big rubber can give on its own. Now available in a 5-inch size, the new Dillinger 5 has a 120dpi bead and 45NRTH‘s new two-piece concave stud design that actually sharpens as it wears. The tread pattern is ...

News today from Frostbike and our friends over at Fat-bike.com: Surly is introducing a new fat bike dubbed the Ice Cream Truck. The steel frame (‘natch) is built around a symmetric 190mm rear hub spacing to clear the largest of tires. The rear dropout is the same convertible unit seen on the Instigator 2.0 that ...

Borealis is making waves with its super light carbon fiber fat bikes. I’m guessing this video is going to make some waves too.

Spotted on the Origin 8 Facebook page.

The Arrowhead Ultra 135, the coldest bike race in the Lower 48, begins one week from today in International Falls, Minnesota. Traversing the 135-mile Arrowhead Trail, it promises promises near-Arctic conditions and nearly always delivers. To finish, let alone win, is a triumph of man and machine over nature. Salsa Cycles‘ Mike “Kid” Riemer has ...

Think you’re tough for riding through the winter? Check out this documentary about the 2001 Iditasport adventure race along the Iditarod Trail on foot, ski or bike. Covering up to 1,100 miles across Alaska in the winter could be life-changing or deadly, depending on how it goes. Watch for endurance race legend Mike Curiak on ...

I have gotten fat this winter, and I couldn’t be happier. Just before Christmas this neon dream of American-made aluminum showed up from the Khaki Santa (aka the delivery guy) and made my riding bright. Fatback was built exclusively around fat bikes, and it has kept this decidedly American sport homegrown by partnering with Zen ...

Photos by Griff Wigley The Midwest Fat Bike Access & Grooming Workshop was held on January 9 and 10 in Cable, Wisconsin. This gathering brought together over 70 advocates from Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin devoted to improving off-road cycling and fat biking in winter. The event was sponsored by Quality Bicycle Products (QBP) and hosted by Minnesota ...

Chapter Five is the final chapter in the “Cold Rolled” series and showcases the fast and fun riding potential of a maintained snow singletrack trail. Marquette’s Noquemanon Trails Network has nearly perfected equipment and techniques used to launch its Snow Bike Route (SBR), a 15-mile winter singletrack developed for fat tire bikes. The fast narrow ...

The Beargrease, one of two fat bike platforms from Salsa, is billed as a soft conditions racing bike. It’s designed for maximum performance when floatation and stability are necessary. As spec’d, it’s ready to take on frosty winter races or weekend fun on pretty much any terrain. Made EV6 Xtrolite aluminum, the Beargrease has size-specific, double- ...

Cold Rolled is an action documentary from Clear & Cold Cinema, Salsa Cycles and TravelMarquetteMichigan.com that will explore the history and progression of winter cycling culture in the adventure-loving Lake Superior harbor town of Marquette, Michigan. Marquette’s Noquemanon Trails Network has nearly perfected equipment and techniques used to launch its Snow Bike Route, a 15-mile winter singletrack developed for fat ...

Cold Rolled is an action documentary from Clear & Cold Cinema, Salsa Cycles and TravelMarquetteMichigan.com that will explore the history and progression of winter cycling culture in the adventure-loving Lake Superior harbor town of Marquette, Michigan. Marquette’s Noquemanon Trails Network has nearly perfected equipment and techniques used to launch its Snow Bike Route, a 15-mile winter singletrack developed for fat ...

This is Chapter Two of the five-part short film “Cold Rolled: Marquette Michigan’s Snow Bike Route”, an action documentary from Clear & Cold Cinema, Salsa Cycles and TravelMarquetteMichigan.com that will explore the history and progression of winter cycling culture in the adventure-loving Lake Superior harbor town of Marquette, Michigan. Marquette’s Noquemanon Trails Network has nearly perfected equipment and techniques used to ...

Chapter One of the five-part short film “Cold Rolled: Marquette Michigan’s Snow Bike Route”, an action documentary from Clear & Cold Cinema, Salsa Cycles and TravelMarquetteMichigan.com that will explore the history and progression of winter cycling culture in the adventure-loving Lake Superior harbor town of Marquette, Michigan. Marquette’s Noquemanon Trails Network has nearly perfected equipment ...

I love winter. I know this goes against our basic feelings as mountain bikers, but it’s true. I love winter, but I should clarify, I love ‘real’ winter. The snowstorms followed by blue skies and crisp air can be and are just as magical as those long summer days. Winter’s here in Pittsburgh however can ...

Some people like to envision tropical scenes when they feel cold in the winter. Here at Dirt Rag HQ, I’m trying something different, something a bit closer to schadenfreude: watching a video of someone train for, then compete in, a fat bike race. The training for the race takes place in New Jersey, and the ...

We’ll just put it out there: Iceland is really affordable to fly to from the United States at the moment, especially from the East Coast. Maybe it’s time to abandon the idea of a warm getaway and go headfirst into the wintry wonderland. Though, we gotta say, from the looks of this video, it looks like ...

Global Fat Bike Day (GFBD) was started in 2012 as a grassroots movement in the UK. As fat bikes gained in popularity, a couple of dudes dreamed of getting a bunch of like-minded fat enthusiasts together for a big group ride. But said enthusiasts were scattered all over the globe, brought together by forums like ...

This Contest has ended congratulations to the winner Derek Sisson of San Francisco, CA! Framed Bikes has teamed up with us to give one lucky winner a FRAMED Minnesota 1.2 Fat Bike! Enter below to win!     If you are looking to bust into the Fat Bike scene, there is no better bike to do ...