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Interesting take on snow biking in this article. The author doesn’t seem impressed.
http://www.wired.com/playbook/2013/02/snowbikes/A few choice quotes:
the bikes have more in common with beach cruisers than proper mountain bikestrudging along at less than 10 mph wears thin after 45 minutes. Snow biking feels like a sport that hasn’t figured out what it wants to do yet
The bikes are clumsy and, at about 35 pounds, heavy. Trigger shifters are endlessly frustrating when you’re wearing gloves. And riding an 8-inch single track on a 5-inch tire requires exceptional concentration and balance. Bobble your line and you’re off the trail, half-buried in powder. So you bounce along at little more than walking speed, trying to be smooth and find a flow. It’s best to settle in and enjoy the ride. With so much resistance working against your forward momentum, it’s quite an effort to get anywhere.
I’ve ridden a few fat bikes but never on snow so I don’t know how accurate this is, though I think the author brings up interesting points. The article claims about 10,000 fat bikes have been sold so far and that ski resorts in Idaho (and perhaps other places) are considering buying fleets of fat bikes to rent to vacationers.
Anyone try fat biking on snow and come away bored? I get the speed complaint but I suppose for a lot of people it’s better than the alternative (staying indoors). This also makes me think we won’t see any (serious) fat bike races or performance rigs but who knows…
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Interesting take. While I haven’t ridden a fat bike in snow either, I have to at least try to refute some of the points you quoted from the article:
Re: speeds less than 10 MPH: On singletrack rides, my average speed over the course of the ride is usually about 8 MPH… 10 if I’m not riding for really long, am really pushing it, and there’s some gravel road thrown in. Yes, 10 MPH downhill would be slow, but for an overall pace it wouldn’t be bad.
Re: 35 pound fat bike weight: you can buy regular mountain bikes that weigh 35 pounds… and you can buy fatbikes that weighs sub-25 pounds WITH pedals. Don’t blame the bike… blame whoever only ponied up for a 35 pound monster. Source: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid= … =1&theater
Re: trigger shifters are frustrating with gloves: I think trigger shifters are frustrating WITHOUT gloves. This is why I use SRAM thumb shifters. Also, this is why numerous fat bike riders install grip shifters instead of a more traditional option. Again, don’t blame the gear, blame whoever bought the gear.
Sorry, I don’t mean to be a negative nancy, but when someone pens an article and gives reasons that just don’t qualify as good evidence, I feel like I have to point it out. 😀
Re: ski resorts buying rental fleets of fat bikes: that’s fascinating! TBH, that thought never in crossed my mind!
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Well alrighty then, I guess he doesn’t enjoy the Fat. I only rode a fat for a short bit and man I want one soooo bad. I love the way they ride. Can’t get enough of it. Different strokes for different folks I guess.
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Not sure as to riding a fat bike in snow, but they are becoming a favorite down in sunny FL. You see them quite often, even in the many Hash Rides they have down there. If anyone has done a real FL Hash Ride, then you know what I mean. That is real damned tough. See them on the dirt trails more and more as well. Excellent bike for the beaches though, and not really slow and clumsy as so noted above, though not in sugar sand or beach sand, nor any FL terrain I have seen them conquer… 😆
They are far from being a slow bike as well, they are very fast cruisers. I do think they have a clumsy turn ratio though. Damn near of crash a few times on one in tight and sharper turns on dirt or pavement.
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"jeff" wrote
This also makes me think we won’t see any (serious) fat bike races or performance rigs but who knows…
The serious fatbike races make the rest of us look like bunch of wimpy 11yr old girls.
The Arrowhead 135 http://www.arrowheadultra.com/index.php/home/about-us
135 miles Deep Winter across Northern Minnesota on rugged, scenic Arrowhead State Snowmobile Trail from Frostbite I-Falls to Tower, MN Fortune Bay Casino. Pick mode of transport at start: bicycle, ski or foot. This is our 9th year, beginning with 10 entrants in 2005 to ~135 starters 2012, featuring some of the best winter ultra-athletes in the world.And the Big One, the Iditarod http://www.alaskaultrasport.com/alaska_ … _page.html
Alaska Ultra Sport’s Iditarod Trail Invitational is the world’s longest human powered winter ultra-marathon. The race begins in Knik, Alaska and follows the Iditarod Trail to McGrath, Alaska for the finish of the three hundred fifty mile "short race". Racers competing in the eleven hundred mile version will continue up the trail to Nome, Alaska.😮 😮
That sounds pretty serious to me!!!
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The Iditarod is pure insanity. Straight up. I can [i:389ogtoi]sort of[/i:389ogtoi] wrap my mind around riding the Tour Divide, but 1100 miles in Alaska in the dead of winter? No thank you.
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When I think snowbiking:
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"jtorlando25" wrote
When I think snowbiking:
😄Hahaha -pretty cool for downhills. 😆 Fred Flintstone up hill I guess.
Saw a buddy out on a fat bike on Mill Mountain the other night. He seemed to be having fun.
I don’t see them really taking off here in the middle of the Appalachians. If I lived at the beach or north country I would have one. IMO, we just don’t get enough snow here to justify the investment.
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"mtbgreg1" wrote
Interesting take. While I haven’t ridden a fat bike in snow either, I have to at least try to refute some of the points you quoted from the article:
Re: speeds less than 10 MPH: On singletrack rides, my average speed over the course of the ride is usually about 8 MPH… 10 if I’m not riding for really long, am really pushing it, and there’s some gravel road thrown in. Yes, 10 MPH downhill would be slow, but for an overall pace it wouldn’t be bad.
Re: 35 pound fat bike weight: you can buy regular mountain bikes that weigh 35 pounds… and you can buy fatbikes that weighs sub-25 pounds WITH pedals. Don’t blame the bike… blame whoever only ponied up for a 35 pound monster. Source: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid= … =1&theater
Re: trigger shifters are frustrating with gloves: I think trigger shifters are frustrating WITHOUT gloves. This is why I use SRAM thumb shifters. Also, this is why numerous fat bike riders install grip shifters instead of a more traditional option. Again, don’t blame the gear, blame whoever bought the gear.
Sorry, I don’t mean to be a negative nancy, but when someone pens an article and gives reasons that just don’t qualify as good evidence, I feel like I have to point it out. 😀
Re: ski resorts buying rental fleets of fat bikes: that’s fascinating! TBH, that thought never in crossed my mind!
Good observations. I had some similar thoughts as I read the article.
As CCR pointed out, I am not sure our area (Midatlantic) is the primary market for these rigs, however, there is at least one guy I know of riding a Pugsly fat bike on the local trails as his regular ride. Another guy has a custom build with a fatbike front tire. As usual, I guess it boils down to personal preference. I wouldn’t mind adding one to the quiver…
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If I lived back in NH I would have one. Period. Rode plenty of miles on snowmobile tails and would see where a fat bike would be a big plus. Where I live now in GA….not to sure. It is father down on my list of bikes I wold have in the stable.
When it comes down to it, as long as you are having fun, does it really matter if you have a fat bike, 5k carbon squishy, low tech ss, a road bike, or a Wally world special?
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The only thing I’m skeptical about is the speed thing. I ride mountain bikes because I like to go fast and I’m just not sure the speeds I could muster on a fat bike would do it for me. I’m sure it would be fun at first but I doubt it would be the kind of thing I’d daydream about at work. 😀
Perhaps a decent comparison would be night riding.
– Neither is anyone’s first MTB choice
– Both offer a way to extend the season
– Both involve slowing things down
– Both get riders onto trails that are underutilized at the time
– Both involve riding in cooler temperaturesSo to me it seems the biggest difference between night riding and fat biking is the cost; a decent light will run about $100, a fat bike, $1000+. 😀
[Says the guy from Georgia–ha!]
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Fatback Bikes has finally caught up on inventory (they are having record sales this year) and they are sending me a fat bike for testing, yes on snow. (it weigh considerably less than 35 lbs and has grip shifters for cold weather/glove/mitten use)
Stay tuned for the full review.
As for the turning radius, that is largely dependent on tires. The Surly Endomorphs that were popular on the early models are determined to go in a straight line no matter what. Newer Surly and 45NRTH tires handle more like a regular MTB tire .. just fatter.
Like mtbgreg, I’m hard pressed to find a ride where my average speed is higher than 10mph. Out here in the Rockies most of us ride up to ride down, only the freeride kids in their saggy plaid manpris do the shuttle thing. 😼
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I totally agree with Jeff’s comparison to night riding. There is no practicality in riding a fat bike on normal trail conditions but they are perfect if you live somewhere plagued by lots of snow or sand. I see guys all the time in northern VA on fat bikes in the middle of summer on blue groove trail and I just can’t understand why they would want to hinder their ride like that…guess they just want to be different like everyone else.
"maddslacker" wroteonly the freeride kids in their saggy plaid manpris do the shuttle thing. 😼
😆 hahaha
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