fat tire bikes, benefit?

[Number_35]

Originally Posted by honeeagle
Originally Posted by BISCUT
Originally Posted by zzyzzx
Less flat tires.


Just utter BS.


no its not
in my experience flats went from 2 a summer to zero.
Plus more of a work out ,I didn't want a efficient bike.
This is my experience as well - my wife and I have been riding fat bikes for the past four winters, and have only had one flat between us. (Mine, when I ran over a big spike. No tire, including a car tire, would have avoided going flat.) In contrast, we've had a number of flats in our 3-season mountain bikes over that same period of time.

And, honeeagle's quite right - the fat bikes are a great workout.

Fat bikes are slower than conventional bikes, granted, but my fat bike was the fastest way for me to commute during the winter - faster than walking, running, bus, or driving (during rush hour). I would regularly pass a coworker stuck in traffic (while I was cycling on a parallel trail) and get to work well before he did.

If I could only keep one bike (I also have a hybrid and a couple of mountain bikes), it would be my Surly Pugsley fat bike.

NYEngineer is absolutely right - there is no need for a suspension fork.

 

[cjcride]

It would sure do away with pinch flats.

 

[4WD]

Saw this overseas

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted by 1978elcamino
wow, a lot more information than I thought, thanks. So, my garage sale bike is falling apart, not worth putting money in to. My son, (9) we like to ride bikes together. We have local paved bike paths, the occasional camping trips with dirt roads, beaches but mostly short family bike riding, not hobby sport riding. I thought the fat tire bike would be a good all around bike and would "look cool" too. One of my requirements is that I want it to be comfortable since Im tall (6'4") and suspension would be nice as we like to play around jumping curbs and fool around. I grew up racing BMX, my son has my old Cook Bros. racing bikes from the early 80's. Thinking around the holidays I may pull the trigger on a bike. However, I really dont know anything about them.

I just went for a ride with a guy with a 29" wheel hardtail bike with 3" tires. The trail was pretty dry, rocky, and slippery and those tires worked very well. The other guy had to use his fat bike as his trail bike was down, and it was real work for him to keep up. He could roll over some pretty big rock piles but the climbs killed him.
Anyways I'd recommend trying a plus tire hard tail for just a all-round fun bike. You can still do some bmx type stuff but it will also float down the road and its simple with no rear suspension issues.

 

[NYEngineer]

I've actually ridden quite a bit with a fat wheel up front and a 29x3 in the back. It's awesome. Bike is faster and more fun.

 

[honeeagle]

Originally Posted by cjcride
It would sure do away with pinch flats.

Exactly (is that's what they are called ? haha)
I could also loose 30 # but ...............

 

[Dave9]

I sort of split the difference, have 2.4" BMX-ish tires, Maxxis Holy Rollers on a non-fat bike, though they discontinued the 2.4" and now 2.2" is the widest they offer which is still pretty wide. The 2.4" might still be available from merchants with new old stock.

They're still heavy compared to road tires (but not wide enough to need an extra heavy rim too), more work getting up hills especially, but I've never had a flat with them and they're pretty good in mud/snow/gravel.

I measured my clearance ahead of time, 2.4" may not fit all bikes, especially if you cable/caliper (rim friction) brakes.

 

[HangFire]

Fat bikes solve problems I don't have. We do mostly rail trails. We pass fat tires all the time with our old single tracks running rain tires. Would rather get a good workout going further and faster than harder.

But run whatever makes you happy. I never [censored] on someone else's ride, but my true respect goes to the old farts that leave me in the dust on bikes even older than mine.

 

[supton]

I'm actually after a slow bike, for winter riding. I get wind burn pretty easily, let alone the fact that going fast means lots of cooling--you can bundle up but then it's a balancing act of how much and then stopping (often) to rebalance layering. I'd like to keep biking this winter, maybe down to say 20F or so. Have to see... getting tired of riding my old Raleigh 3 speed, that has the weight and poor gearing required but it lacks decent tires and brakes, and has taken quite a beating over the years from the salt.

 

[Number_35]

One more thought on fat bikes - one of our favourite rides is the Falcon Lake - West Hawk Lake spur of the TransCanada Trail. It's about 15 km each way, and includes lots of different types of terrain including some short steep hills. The trail is regularly resurfaced with loose gravel. We rode the trail with fat bikes two years ago - no problem. A couple of days ago, we rode it with our mountain bikes. The mountain bikes were faster, but the descents on the loose gravel were scary. On two of the uphills, we spun out and had to dismount and push. With the fat bikes, we were able to grind up both hills in low gear.

Next time we ride this trail, it will definitely be back to the fat bikes.