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Archive | Wheels

First Look – AEKO – ZIRCULUM 90 Wheelset

AEKO is an Italian Bicycle company founded by Paolo Azzolini. They make some pretty incredible bikes and Paolo was an early adopter of fat bikes in Italy. The Zirculum carbon rims caught my attention several years back and every now and then, Paolo and I would trade emails about how things were going. We talked […]

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Reserve Fillmore Valve Field Test

I’ve been running some new Fillmore tubeless valves since Sea Otter and today’s post is about sharing a report on how these valves deliver on their claimed benefits. The video at the top of the page from Reserve wheels does a nice job of explaining the new valve design and has all sorts of nice […]

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UP Field Trip – Bearclaw Bikes TŌWMAK

The second leg of my recent trip to the Upper Penninsula of Michigan took me to the east side and the tiny hamlet of Moran, home of Bearclaw Bikes. Moran is near the gateway to the Eastern UP not too far from Mackinac Island Ferry but far enough away to fly completely under the radar […]

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Spring Bike Safari – Made U.P. Lake Ehfect

I’ve had a plan to get up to the UP to ride for at least a couple of years. Ever since Jason at Bearclaw Bikes announced their drop-bar fatty called the TOWMAK I dreamt about returning to the vast Huron National Forest and its hundreds of miles of rustic roads, trails, and beaches. So when […]

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2022 Sea Otter Classic Bike Expo (Part 1)

The 2022 Life Time Sea Otter Classic presented by Continental was last week. Racers, fans, and our favorite brands gathered at the Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey California! I walked the aisles of the expo to bring you the latest and greatest products coming to the US market from all of the best companies. It […]

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HED Made in MN Wheelset – Dirt Report

About ninety days ago, I took the HED Made in Minnesota wheels out of the box and shared a video that promised a full report about how they performed out in the field. I’ve spent the summer working as a bicicleta gaucho and while executing the regular business of daily bike life, I imagine that […]

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Fatback Big Su Carbon Wheel Review

A quality Carbon Fiber Wheelset can significantly improve the ride feel of a fat-bike. Reducing rotational mass on a fat-bike is more important than say on a road bike because of the size (and weight) of fat-bike tires. Lightweight wheels provide a similar feeling that you get when you go tubeless but, by my estimation, […]

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(bikenerd) 29+ Wheelset – RaceFace AC 35 Rims, DT Comp Spokes & White Industries M16 Hubs

If you follow the site, you may have seen Bikenerd’s Plus Bike Editorial that we published at the end of 2019 and maybe you’ve been following some of the podcast discussions that we’ve had with Adam Blake about plus bike rim width. After digesting all of that information, I decided to have Adam build a […]

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Fatback Big Su 27.5 Wheelset

We’re field testing a pair of solid, lightweight Big Su 27.5 wheels from our amigos at Fatback Bikes up in Alaska. We tested and reviewed the 26″ version of Fatback’s Big Su Wheels back in 2018. You can read how they performed here. The twenty-six inch set of big su’s received high scores so when […]

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45NRTH Wrathlorde Update

I wanted to post an update about these 45NRTH Wrathlorde 26 x 4.2 studded tires. We initially mounted these bad boys on a set of 100mm rims and published a report here. We read some of your interesting comments about the Wrathlordes on our social media feed. One cat said we had created a very […]

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Cantu Rumble 27.5” Fat Bike Wheels Initial Review – by Adam Blake

 “Its totally a thing.”… generally that is my response when people approach me about carbon rims on a fat-bike and their viability.  A lot of people immediately focus on weight savings in carbon vs aluminum rims, but with companies removing material from aluminum rims, and utilizing single wall designs, the weight savings from a reasonable […]

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Fatback Big Su Review

  Back in September, we spotlighted the Fatback Big Su Wheelset and after a couple months of gnome roping, we’re back with a full review. I’ve been running the Big Su’s on my ‘murdered out’ Fatback Corvus FLT – [code name: ten beers] with a set of Schwalbe 26×4.0 Jumbo Jims (tubeless). I took a […]

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Borealis Carbondale 27.5 x 50mm – Maxxis FBR/FBF (Plus/Fat) Wheel Review

“What my fat-bike did on summer vacation” Back in April, we published a comparison of 4 sets of wheels (Two 26″ & Two 27.5″ options) with the goal of demystifying how 27.5″ rims and tires compare with their 26″ counterparts. I was especially interested in learning how tall each of the four wheelsets measured along […]

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Blackjack Bikes Fate Review

Back in July, I began testing my Amigo Jack’s new Blackjack Fate. We published a first look about the Fate in August – https://fat-bike.com/2016/08/first-look-fate-from-blackjack-bikes/. I pursued this review to see if an open mold, carbon fat-bike could hold a candle to the performance of two proprietary, high end, carbon fat-bikes that I spent time testing last […]

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Otis Turns Two – Fatback Review – The extended club version

 Otis’s Story Timeline 12/25/2013 – Otis’s Introduction and Naming – http://fat-bike.com/2013/12/fatback-190-product-test-episode-1/ 12/25/2014 – Otis Turns One – http://fat-bike.com/2014/12/otis-turns-one-%E2%99%A6-fatback-long-term-review/ 2/5/2015 – Otis Gets Pimped – http://fat-bike.com/2015/02/otis-gets-pimped-part-one-otisgetspimped/ 6/18/2015 – Otis’s Pimped Parts Review – http://fat-bike.com/2015/06/hed-rims-onyx-racing-hubs-paul-skewers-6-month-review/ That brings us to today and a story that could be called Otis Gets Pimped, Part Two! I had planned all along to apply some sort […]

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