Anyone Ride Fat Bikes?

It'll be another few weeks until I'm home again, but I'll be happy to take a few measurements then.

ahem

ahem

Being stuck in the interior during the winter will sway you over to fatbikedom… worked for me.

yeah, still can't say I'm sold.

(I was going to a link to pics of the bikes from our first ride but the links are broken for some reason, will have to fix that.)

Pic links are fixed now:
http://bb.nsmb.com/showpost.php?p=2853292[HTML_REMOVED]postcount=3

specialized weighs in on america's childhood obesity epidemic with 20" wheeled fat bike

ahem

Nice. Makes me want a fat bike even more, but I still don't know which one :dizzy:

so winter is (inevitably) around the corner and I'm pretty sure I'm going to blow some cash on a fatbike this year. Whats new in the fatbike world?

with the CAD dollar being so low, suddenly the Chromag Nice Dreams looks pretty sick and is almost comparable with the Surly Ice Cream Truck as a frame only price

Has the new breed of super fat 5" tires made frames that can only fit 4" rubber obsolete?

On the other hand the Pugsley is a pretty good value for frame-only but are 4" tires wide enough? Is the 70 degree head angle going to kill me if I try to actually ride it down a trail?

So many questions, so little knowledge of all things fat :(

so winter is (inevitably) around the corner and I'm pretty sure I'm going to blow some cash on a fatbike this year. Whats new in the fatbike world?

with the CAD dollar being so low, suddenly the Chromag Nice Dreams looks pretty sick and is almost comparable with the Surly Ice Cream Truck as a frame only price

Has the new breed of super fat 5" tires made frames that can only fit 4" rubber obsolete?

On the other hand the Pugsley is a pretty good value for frame-only but are 4" tires wide enough? Is the 70 degree head angle going to kill me if I try to actually ride it down a trail?

So many questions, so little knowledge of all things fat :(

Here is Surly's latest fatty: http://surlybikes.com/blog/post/wednesday_new_bike_same_old_hump_day

- 170mm symetrical rear
- 150mm symetrical front
- 44mm HT takes a 100mm fork
- ICT-esque geo
- takes 4.6mm tires so not the biggest current rubber
- 100mm threaded BB

A lot of people don't need 5" fat tires. Some do. Where you ride, when you ride, how you ride and how much you weigh will all factor in.

I had a Pugs for 5-6yrs. Great bike. The geo is dated, but works just fine for general trail riding. As things get more rowdy the slacker geo on the ICT/Wed is better. Not everyone gets all that rowdy on their fatty. You'll have to decided where you fit in.

If I was buying a new fatty I'd get an ICT or Wed because I've got very little to no snow to ride in Victoria and lots of steep rocky trails to huck off. Plus they can be fit with modern forks.

Photos are all of a Pugs doing its thing. It can handle some trail riding and tech no problem. It's got a geo we've all used on our MTBs if we've been shaving for more than 10yrs. ;)

I know nothing about the Chromag fatty other than they build sweet bikes. :heart:

i want to love the wednesday. the price, suspension fork compatibility, short back end, threaded bb and tire size are all appealing. but it's a step backwards geometry-wise form the ict, with less bb drop and a steeper hta. even if surly's ringers can make it look good for the camera, the bike will likely feel weird with more than 100mm of travel up front, and i don't think that will cut it on the shore

i want to love the wednesday. the price, suspension fork compatibility, short back end, threaded bb and tire size are all appealing. but it's a step backwards geometry-wise form the ict, with less bb drop and a steeper hta. even if surly's ringers can make it look good for the camera, the bike will likely feel weird with more than 100mm of travel up front, and i don't think that will cut it on the shore

The Wed HTA is the same as the ICT with a 100mm fork. The difference in BB drop is 5mm I can't get excited about that given that the Wed is designed to run on smaller tires than the ICT so the actual BB heights aren't going to be that much different.

They are both designed for 100mm suspension forks.

I agree I wouldn't choose either of these bikes as my main ride for the shore.

That Wednesday has enough braze ons to mount a toaster! I may rent one this winter in Whistler if we have one. I'm intrigued to see how it rides on the packed roads and trails near my house for getting the dog out.

The Wed HTA is the same as the ICT with a 100mm fork. The difference in BB drop is 5mm I can't get excited about that given that the Wed is designed to run on smaller tires than the ICT so the actual BB heights aren't going to be that much different.

They are both designed for 100mm suspension forks.

you need to look a bit more closely at the numbers. the given hta and bb drop for the wednesday are based on a fork 20mm shorter than the one on the ict. running a 100mm fork, the hta will slacken but the bb drop number will be even smaller, so the bb will be higher. and tire size doesn't factor into bb drop - it's relative to the wheel axles, not the ground.

you need to look a bit more closely at the numbers. the given hta and bb drop for the wednesday are based on a fork 20mm shorter than the one on the ict. running a 100mm fork, the hta will slacken but the bb drop number will be even smaller, so the bb will be higher. and tire size doesn't factor into bb drop - it's relative to the axle, not the ground.

The BB drop is only important relative to the ground because it determines where the BB ends up. You can run 3.8" or 4.6" on a Wed the BB drop is the same, but the BB height is different and the height is what matters.

Looking at the BB drop and not considering the tire size is meaningless when the tires are not the same.

I'd also consider the Surly folks have played around with lots of fatbike designs. If they decided that this BB drop was a good thing for the Wed considering the tires it was going to run and testing it would with a 100mm fork it may be worth actually waiting for some ride reports to come out before panning the bike. You are not going to ride a geo chart.