Fat Bikes intended use?

[markz]

I always thought when I first questioned the LBS that it was for just snow and sand, this is what Norco says
"Norco Fat Bikes are designed to carry adventurous riders out into wild places not normally accessible to bicycles. Fat tires help the bike float through sand, snow, mud and other variable terrain, opening the door to epic beach rides and mid-winter expeditions."

I have tried to ride through playground gravel on a regular mtb, not fun! Fat bikes would help, so this scenerio would be placed to sandy beaches, rather then hardpacked beaches. Or even like pebble or rock beaches. Like Brightons beach south of London.

I have ridden in the winter, in back alleys where the vehicles have packed the snow to hard packed snow/ice, but you would have the areas where you would have an inch or more snow piled up high, with varying amounts of width. The thinner mtb tire splices through, no issues. Snow covered field would be a different issue, depending on thickness of snow and how hard it is. I have done it before on a regular bike, just depended upon style of snow and how high it was. If its ice conditions, then studded fat tire totally help.

Wouldnt a 2"-3" regular mountain bike tire work just as good as a fat bike tire.
As stated http://fat-bike.com/2013/03/fat-bike-101-tires/
"Fat-bike tires are typically marked as 26 x 4.0 though most are really more like 26 x 3.7 or 3.8. "
"So, fat-bikes use big tires. But why? Well, it is for all that air volume and the gigantic footprint that let you go in comfort and control where other bikes, and even people, have feared to tread. Don’t worry though, it doesn’t take and extreme adventure to really appreciate the extra grip, shock absorbing quality and added comfort of fat-tires, just a desire to expand your boundaries."

My conclusions for myself are,
If I have an ebike that I would like to pedal sometimes/most of the time, then for what I ride, fat bikes are not for me.
However, if I want to pedal little/never, maybe a fat bike is in my future.

 

[dogman dan]

FWIW, I find with a decent powered hubmotor, say 2000w at least, a 2.5" tire is fat enough for me to ride some pretty loose, sandy conditions.

It wouldn't do for deep powder snow, but rides fine in snow as deep as I ever see, about 6 inches.

This works for me on a regular mtb rim, provided the frame itself allows such a big tire.

 

[Ypedal]

I love my bigfoot ... for a non suspension frame they ride like a dream..

It's hard to explain but you feel like a kid riding a big huge bike.

Rolling on large rock gravel next to the train tracks is easy where 2" or less tires make it nearly impossible .. in snow i drop the pressure to 10 psi and i can steer without washing out ( most of the time.. grey polished ice still require studs )

and they look cool,.

 

[gogo]

Knobby will always have more rolling resistance than smooth tread. What's surprising is that wide has less rolling resistance than skinny because there's less fore/aft deformation of the tire carcass. Air resistance is a serious deterrence for commuters needing speed, however. Fat tires can be dandy for slow rolling over soft ground, plus they are a cushy ride without a suspension.

 

[JimAtLaw]

I find my Pugsley to be intrinsically more fun to ride than most other diamond frame bikes - yes it's a tad slower, but it's just a nice feeling. Maybe it's the bump absorption, maybe it's the gyroscopic stability of all the rotating mass in those tires, maybe it's something else, but whatever it is, fat bikes are fun IMHO. I ride mine on road, trail, beach, and everything in between, and love it to death.

 

[wesnewell]

As stated http://fat-bike.com/2013/03/fat-bike-101-tires/
"Fat-bike tires are typically marked as 26 x 4.0 though most are really more like 26 x 3.7 or 3.8. "

I don't know what tires this guy was measuring, but I can assure you that the 26 x 4.0 ires that came on my fat bike are ~4.5" wide mounted on 4" rims at 30 psi. Also my 2.4" Cyclops tires are ~2.5" mounted on 39mm rims. On narrower rims they were closer to 2.4", But they handle so much better on wider rims.

 

[Ypedal]

I'm running 4.5 Vee Snowshoes right now.. and christmas lights.

 

[Dauntless]

As stated http://fat-bike.com/2013/03/fat-bike-101-tires/
"Fat-bike tires are typically marked as 26 x 4.0 though most are really more like 26 x 3.7 or 3.8. "

I don't know what tires this guy was measuring, but I can assure you that the 26 x 4.0 ires that came on my fat bike are ~4.5" wide mounted on 4" rims at 30 psi.

There is the issue of the 'Friction Patch.' How wide is the area actually hitting the road? If you measure the widest point of the sidewall then it'll be plenty wide, but the friction patch will be less.

 

[parajared]

fat tires feel more "normal" at high speeds where as skinny tires get pretty squirrley.

 

[Ade]

I'm running 4.5 Vee Snowshoes right now.. and christmas lights.

Lol

I'm swapping out my snowshoes for some studded Dillinger 4.0 after a major side slide onto tarmac today - I like the snowshoes and I think they do very well but on really slippery ice seems that you need studs.

And I agree with everyone else; fat bikes are awesome fun - add a motor and they are twice as grin worthy.

 

[John in CR]

Markz,

It's because fat tire bikes look cool more than offering significant benefit. Soft snow would need to have just the right consistency or much fatter like the Hanebrink bikes would be better. I can see them being an advantage in soft sand, but I've had no real issue getting across the soft stuff to the hardpack where the riding is ideal regardless of tire size. Why ride in soft sand? No, it's how they look that's the real attraction.

 

[Ypedal]

Looks do matter.. but it's also the feel in a big way.

At low pressure the tires really grab, you can ride sideways on an angle and not wash out nearly as much as a regular 2" tire at 40 psi.... when you stomp on the pedals you get a soft feel as the tire gives before you move forward, it's really fun...

edit : And not for high speeds ..

 

[liveforphysics]

Tire carcass makes a very low unsprung mass suspension component. It's unfortunately not damped very well though, but it seems to work well enough.

Rigid fat bikes ride upstairs better than anything full suspension I've taken up stairs. On single track, they feel extremely planted and confidence inspiring to go faster because they tend to be less effected by stuff like big tree roots and rocks and logs and things.

Trying to pedal them at speed on asphalt sucks due to aerodynamic losses on the tires, but for technical riding I've been impressed with how they handle.

 

[erik_m]

(post deleted)

 

[Chalo]

I don't know what tires this guy was measuring, but I can assure you that the 26 x 4.0 tires that came on my fat bike are ~4.5" wide mounted on 4" rims at 30 psi.

The original fatbike rims (Surly Large Marge) were 65mm wide. The original fatbike tires (Surly Endomorph) were labeled 26 x 3.7". That designation was probably about right at the time, on that rim. It was a big jump up from the fattest 26 x 3.0" downhill tires, and it made all the difference for snow and sand riding.

30psi in fatbike tires is missing the point, IMO. There are lots of cheaper, easier, and faster ways to get that hard a ride. I reckon if you're not riding them at lower than 20psi, they are just a fashion statement. Hard fatbike tires don't do anything better than regular MTB tires.

 

[melodious]

Folks are using fatties in multi Kw hubbie speed builds :? . Rooster tails FTW.

If your bicycle's terrain is making your front tire slice to a halt you need to either power the rear wheel to compensate to keep forward motion going or get a fatter tire. If your rear tire isn't getting enough traction via tire footprint you need to increase that footprint. You could just Epower through all this shit but where's the finesse in that :lol: .

 

[Lenk42602]

its 11 degrees here and about 3 inches fell on the streets a few days ago. I had to be at the shop by 9 am, and every road in bound to Pittsburgh was literally bumper to bumper for miles.

cars in the ditches, sliding, crashes, untreated road ways.

I bought my fat bike specifically for these types of scenarios. there is a railway that runs along side Allegheny river inbound. My intention was to ride the rail road track berms into work when the weather got nasty and the roads became sketchy with rush hour cagers.

All summer I have been riding the slag beds, hoping that some snowfall would smooth it out a bit. Gotta say the ride home last night was perfect. 7 psi, riding in about 3 inches of powdery snow, NOT on the road ways, glimmers of moonlight off the river.

Was actually able to breath a little easier just getting back and forth to work.

perfect machine for that specific application.

 

[melodious]

How about mini fatties anyone?

http://www.ratrodbikes.com/forum/index.php?threads/twin-fatties-whiskey-tango-foxtrot-gatto-nero.73316/

 

[Dauntless]

I just figured they intended fat guys like me to ride them.

 

[wesnewell]

There is the issue of the 'Friction Patch.' How wide is the area actually hitting the road? If you measure the widest point of the sidewall then it'll be plenty wide, but the friction patch will be less.

No kidding. Duh! The width of rubber on the road depends on the tire pressure and the load on it. It could be 1/2" or 5". I doubt theres more than 2" on my front tire on pavement when riding and less than an inch when not. Would you then call it a 1 inch tire.

 

[Chalo]

The width of rubber on the road depends on the tire pressure and the load on it.

Tire radius plays a part, too. The larger the wheel, the longer the contact patch (and therefore narrower at the same pressure). That's why 29ers get by with significantly less tire pressure than 26" MTBs.

Fatbikes are a win in both regards. Some of those "26 inch" wheels stand close to 29" tall if you measure them.

My only quibble with fatbikes is that tire development hasn't caught up with their popularity. First of all, there aren't enough street treads considering how many people ride them on pavement. Huge contact patches and really low pressures diminish the need for knobs on off-road surfaces, so a street tire is not necessarily just a street tire when it's for a fatbike.

Also, hard surface handling at low tire pressure is weird-- the bike wants to turn in but doesn't want to come back out of the turn. I've heard this from multiple riders about Surly Black Floyd and I've experienced it firsthand with Origin8 Captiv-8r 26 x 3.5" tires. I've recently fitted my ur-fatbike with a 29 x 2.35" wheel in the front to address this very issue. But I think the problem can be fixed with more application-specific casing construction.

 

[Lenk42602]

As an experiment, I laced up a second wheelset for my fatbike. I used a set of fat hubs, laced to a set of 29er rims - Halo Vapour.




Running a 29X2.3 tire, the diameter is only 3/8" shorter than its 26X 4.0 fat wheel/tire combo.

had it in my head I was going to use this second wheelset for longer distances and more pavemnent based applications, but if a nicer fast rolling tire assortment were available it would probably be a more prudent choice (vs a second wheelset) for the masses.

 

[speedmd]

The use of much wider rims allows the lower tire pressures to work well without the loss of control lower pressures normally induce in std 26 and 29 wheeled setups. This is a Big advantage of wide rimed wheels with wide tires IMO.