Anyone Ride Fat Bikes?

Ya, that's me and my training partner - we are both competing in the 1000 mile Iditarod Trail Invitational in Alaska in February. We use the Elfin Lakes trail up past Red Heather for "push" training as a part of our race will involving pushing as well as riding. Without gear on the bike its super fast and fun to ride down, with all of our heavy gear its fine from the hut down.

My blog about it:
www.monologblog.com

Just tripped over this old news story on CBC's site about you and the race:

Iditabike 1,600-km snow race draws 2 Vancouver cyclists
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/iditabike-1-600-km-snow-race-draws-2-vancouver-cyclists-1.2472385

My wife's blog post on what we've learned renting fat bikes for a couple of weekends of snow riding near Pemberton:

http://www.themountainbikelife.com/2014/02/indulging-in-fat.html

My wife's blog post on what we've learned renting fat bikes for a couple of weekends of snow riding near Pemberton:

http://www.themountainbikelife.com/2014/02/indulging-in-fat.html

Thanks for posting that!
Could you talk more about the types of trails you were riding? I've heard reports that fat bikes aren't quite a go-anywhere as one might believe. That they require trails that have been groomed, etc. How about ice?

Thanks for posting that!
Could you talk more about the types of trails you were riding? I've heard reports that fat bikes aren't quite a go-anywhere as one might believe. That they require trails that have been groomed, etc. How about ice?

I've been riding one extensively the past two winters…. my quick synopsis of fat bike capabilities is that they are not plow bikes that can barge through heavy snow without a track or trail being set. They flat out suck on ice unless you have studded tires. However, they excel on snow covered singletrack where the ground is firm under the snow and not too deep. Their rollover is superior due to the tire size and traction is amazing at low pressures.

speaking of fat tire bikes did anyone catch REDBULL CRASHED ICE from St Paul Minnesota last week ??. they had 4 guys race bikes down the course , 1 on a BMX , 1 on a regular MTB and 2 on fat tire bikes all had studded tires. the dude on the BMX won , but in watching the fat tire bikes the one thing i noticed is the tires are too round in profile so they offer little contact too the ground when compared a tire such as the Maxxis High Roller .

I've been riding one extensively the past two winters…. my quick synopsis of fat bike capabilities is that they are not plow bikes that can barge through heavy snow without a track or trail being set. They flat out suck on ice unless you have studded tires. However, they excel on snow covered singletrack where the ground is firm under the snow and not too deep. Their rollover is superior due to the tire size and traction is amazing at low pressures.

Is there a downside to using studded tires or could you just run them all winter and be able to handle anything?

So XC ski or snowshoe trails then?

Is there a downside to using studded tires or could you just run them all winter and be able to handle anything?

So XC ski or snowshoe trails then?

You can probably run studded tires all year as long as you don't have too many pavement sections on your rides. I do, so I don't run studs. XC or snowshoe trails are the best for sure, but what I find is that even in the interior that depending on trail location and tree cover that a lot of single track can be ridden if you have some perseverance. Getting TO the single track is the challenge as most roads are pretty snowed in, but this is where establishing and maintaining a track is necessary all winter long. You have to put in a lot of work to get the benefit is what I have found.

^ roll up to the coffee shop for your lowfat caramel machiato looking ready for ANYTHING

Two buddies that are on Fat bikes this year. They've been riding them quit a bit in the interior. The Mountain doesn't have an official policy yet on Fat bikes and trail use, but all their interactions with other trail users and mountain officials has been very positive.

I'm trying to convince my wife that we have room in our shed for one more bike. It will most likely be the Fatboy. Specialize's availability was very limited this year. Based on that, hopefully next year they will have a full carbon Fatboy out.

At last years Interbike, I was obsessed with all the fat bike porn.

Thanks for posting that!
Could you talk more about the types of trails you were riding? I've heard reports that fat bikes aren't quite a go-anywhere as one might believe. That they require trails that have been groomed, etc. How about ice?

We rode trails around 1 mile lake, Joffre Lake [HTML_REMOVED] Cayoosh over 2 different weekends about a month apart.

1 mile lake was snow and compacted ice, the traction was a LOT better than I expected, I could ride places that I couldn't walk with my winter boots.

As for snow, it depends on how packed it is, how much fresh there is, how much you weigh, how much flotation the tires give you.

On the fresh snow day, I broke through the side of the snowmobile track a couple of times, I need more flotation than my wife. She was fine with the stock tire on the Pugsley Ops (3.8" I think), I need more.

Edit: Here is her blog post about our first fat bike ride on the 1 mile lake trails back in early Jan. http://inabits.blogspot.ca/2014/01/spikes-and-fat-bikes.html

speaking of fat tire bikes did anyone catch REDBULL CRASHED ICE from St Paul Minnesota last week ??. they had 4 guys race bikes down the course , 1 on a BMX , 1 on a regular MTB and 2 on fat tire bikes all had studded tires. the dude on the BMX won , but in watching the fat tire bikes the one thing i noticed is the tires are too round in profile so they offer little contact too the ground when compared a tire such as the Maxxis High Roller .

That was Rowdy the Clown , he was running handmade studded tires, but was taken out by a guy on a regular mtn bike. I'll post a link when I find it in a few min.

Edit, forward to 1:42 and watch from there: http://live.redbull.tv/events/325/red-bull-crashed-ice-2014-saint-paul-usa/

Their practice run is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fquocWXf_yM[HTML_REMOVED]feature=youtu.be

I'm trying to convince my wife that we have room in our shed for one more bike. It will most likely be the Fatboy. Specialize's availability was very limited this year. Based on that, hopefully next year they will have a full carbon Fatboy out.

Word is that Specialized underestimated the demand for their fatbike by 10 times.