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Product Spotlight – 2019 Framed Alaskan – by JP Syverud
Product Spotlight- Framed Alaskan Carbon By JP Syverud The story of how I became the test pilot that gets to field test the new Framed Alaskan Carbon goes ...
First Look – Fatback Big Su 26″ Wheels
Back in the springtime at Sea Otter, muh man Fuzzy showed me Fatback’s new Big Su Aluminum Tubeless Ready Rim. The new rim weighs in at an ultra-svelte 640g. I’m not talking about ‘light for an alloy set of wheels’. I’m talking lighter than a bunch of the double wall carbon wheels on the market. Last April […]
Interbike 2018
Interbike 2018 moves from Vegas to a brand new venue at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center. We scoured the show in search for items that would interest our readers. Let’s take a stroll around the Interbike show floor and have a look! Burley’s new Coho XC trailer won a Eurobike Award and we’ll be testing one […]
Interbike Outdoor Demo 2018
The once grand and all-encompassing Outdoor Demo at Interbike has been reduced to a very small E-Bike dominated abbreviation of what we saw five years ago. The venue that the demo switched to is better than Bootleg Canyon, but I’m reminded of way back to 1988 when west coast influence took over the reins of mountain bike […]
Product Spotlight – Terrene Johnny 5 (26×5.0) Tires
For some time now, Terrene Tire’s Tim Krueger has been talking about a true five inch wide, aggressive new tire that he’s been developing to give ‘the Surly’ Bud & Lou a run for their money as far as holding the title as the biggest and most aggressive fat-bike tires available (in the WORLD!) This new […]
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 […]
Foto Gordo ♦ Costa Rica Beaches
Will Muecke sent us this photo of Playa Esterillos Oeste on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. September is their rainy season, so this was just after the late-day thunderstorms rolled through and left the sky boiling with heavy clouds. Dusk — just around 530/6PM. Beautiful, briny warm air filled with that post-sunset in Blue […]
News – 45NRTH Launches 27.5 Vans and Dills
A couple of days ago, our amigos up there in Bloomington (45NRTH) announced that they’ll be offering two of their popular fat-bike tread patterns in 27.5. The Non-studded Dillinger 4 and the Van Helga are available now. The Studded Dillinger 4’s will be in stores sometime in October according to the Q-Mothership. The two new […]
First Look – Backcountry Stitch Works – Aww Snap Custom Frame Bag
I spied one of the prototypes for the Backcountry Stitch Works (BSW) Aww Snap (strapless) frame bags on Will Ross’ Hawt Pank Langxx last year just around the time of the Fat Nationals in Michigan. I quizzed Will about his fuchsia bike purse and he told me that the bag was pretty sweet. So I tried to get […]
Wallpaper Wednesday ♦ Sentiers du Moulin
This week’s Wallpaper Wednesday is from Philippe Deshaies. He sent us this beautiful portrait of his whip surrounded by the arboreal splendor of Sentiers du Moulin in Quebec. This is what Philippe shared about his Wallpaper Wednesday contribution. This is my Norco Ithaqua today at the Sentiers du Moulin, a mountain bike destination 20 minutes North of […]
Bivvy a Month Challenge #8
Bivvy a Month #8 – Take Two!! Well, when I set out to do the Bivvy a Month Challenge I knew they’d be challenges. Despite a so far successful year with my rides and the weather, my luck seemed to run out towards the end of August. I had my route planned so I […]
RSD Middle Child Review – by Dustin Carlson
The Middle Child (MC) is a brand new addition to the RSD line-up. RSD, out of Toronto, specializes in hard tail fat and plus bikes and the MC is a great addition. It’s a hardtail, enduro, plus bike. Essentially the opposite of a mullet; party in the FRONT, business in the BACK. For $2799 […]
First Look – Columbia Bugaboot Plus IV XTM Omni-Heat Winter Boot
I always wanted to do a parody of Jeff Foxworthy’s “You might be a Redneck” stand-up comedy on the Dose of Fat. I even went as far as writing some of it down. Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to open Mic night at the Capybara Improv Theater. First up we have three hipsters that call themselves […]
Wallpaper Wednesday ♦ Klausnitzer
Michael Klausnitzer answered the call for Fat & Plus Bike pixels with this romantic lakeside composition. This is what he had to say about his contribution. Hope you’ll like some pics from my own favourite fatties… I’ve read your call for pics in one of the last articles – Fat Video Tuesday ♦ #BAMfatbike2018 ♦ By Tom Ice. fat-bike.com is […]
Bikepacking Glencoe to Loch Etive Scotland By Illya Rudkin
This bikepacking adventure was born out of looking at the map and seeing what looks remote yet kind of flat for the bikes. It was also to tick off visiting another part of Scotland we had not been to before. A small further motivation to visit Loch Etive was to find the location of the […]
Monarch Crest Trail with South Fooses Creek Descent – By Nancy & Scott Anderson
Scott and I first rode the Crest back in 2009 and have ridden it several times since. Though any version of riding Monarch Crest is typically a shuttle adventure, we have always ridden out-&-back from Monarch Pass for an all-high-elevation ride that we call “The Best of the Crest”. However, after hiking the South Fooses […]
Global Fat-Bike Day 2018
December 1st is the date of this year’s – GLOBAL FAT-BIKE DAY! Some of you are probably wondering… why are we telling you about an event so far in advance? Well, it’s because you are all part of the planning process! It takes time to get all of your ducks in a row, and gather your […]
Green Guru Tubular Insulated Can Sleeve and Sixer 6-pack Insulated Top Tube Holder Review
I’ve been using Green Guru Gear for a few years now and believe in their Made in Colorado (USA), upcycle/recycle philosophy. Before Davidson, the head honcho at Green Guru, contacted me about checking out their Tubular Insulated Can Sleeve and Sixer 6-pack Insulated Top Tube Holder, I had plenty of experience with the various pouches […]
Wallpaper Wednesday – Aussie Series #8 – By Eckart Altenkamp
This is our August installment of our Aussie Wallpaper Series by our amigo Eckart Altenkamp. Eckart took this shot while out riding on a salt lake in Southern Austrailia. Got your own Wallpaper Worthy Photo? We love to feature your fat-bike photos from around the world! If you’ve got a fat-bike related image that you feel […]
Fat (video) Tuesday ♦ New Mexico is Calling
According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, we’re looking at another El Niño influenced winter. They produced a map that should give everyone something to complain about. However, on the map above, southern Nevada and New Mexico have two words that we happen to like very much….Cold & Snowy! I usually ignore long range forecasts and stick […]
RaceFace Atlas Platform Pedal – We can Rebuild them
Back in the spring of 2014, we began testing a set of RaceFace Atlas Platform Pedals. In the Product Spotlight of the RaceFace Atlas platform pedals, I wrote “I have a new bike as of last winter and I’ve been lusting after these RaceFace pedals. My new Fatback 190, Otis, is built up with a heavy dose […]
The Dose of Fat Podcast – Show #137 – US MTB Nationals – Ore 2 Shore – Beargrease – SSUSA – Full Moon Beach Ride
The Dose of Fat A-Team re-united for show number 137 recorded at the Midwest Family Marketing Studios in Madison, Wisconsin. Spinner and Leia are the show hosts and I play the role of color commentator. We’ve been talking about the format of the show and we’ve made a real effort to develop natural conversations with interesting […]
Wallpaper Wednesday – Pugs in the Mist
Simon aka: Super Domestique supplied this week’s Wallpaper Wednesday from across the pond. Here’s what he had to say about his photo. Given the callout for wallpaper worthy pics, I’m hoping my Pugs in the mist might be good enough to fit the bill! It’s not the most up to date pic as the Pugs […]
Drop Bars Not Bombs By JP & Seth Bell
Editor’s Note: We solicited ideas from the ranks of the bike black ribbon test pilots and we’ve posted quite a few of their suggested topics here over the last couple of months. We actually had two of our testers step up to the plate to explain how to set your regular normal fat-bike up with […]
The Weekly Dose of Fat 8/10/2018
I was talking to Steve Meurette the last time I was up at Levis and since he’s been the trail steward there since I met him somewhere back in the 90’s our conversation naturally turned to trail building. He mentioned that the Levis crew recently started benching and de-berming singletrack with a small (2 tine) gas-powered […]
First Look – Otso Voytek – Plus/Fat – By Seth Bell
Otso Cycles hails from Burnsville, MN., which is a long ways from where the brand’s identity is rooted. In Finnish mythology, Otso is the Spirit of the Bear; the noble king of the forest, a spirit of strength and courage, and also a relative with whom we share our adventures in and out of the […]
Wallpaper Wednesday ♦ Fat Vegas Baby!
This week’s Wallpaper Wednesday comes to us from Monte McAnulty. Monte named his Ti Motobecane Night Train ‘Fat Elvis’. He shared this beautiful shot of Elvis after a nice rain up in Cottonwood Canyon, Nevada. Got your own Wallpaper Worthy Photo? We love to feature your fat-bike photos from around the world! If you’ve got […]
Fat Video Tuesday ♦ #BAMfatbike2018 ♦ By Tom Ice
This is the second Tuesday in a row that our Fat Tuesday Video carries the #BAMfatbike2018 banner. Last week, the Commissioner of the Bivvy a Month Challenge, Jeff Price posted from the UK and this week…Tom Ice gives us a look at BAM No. 7 from Colorado. I’m gonna go by the sign (with all of the stickers) […]
Tepui Ayer 2-Person Rooftop Tent – Long Term Review
The first time that I ever saw a rooftop tent was at Sea Otter a few years back. Tepui had one set up on a silver Toyota (like the one I drive) so it caught my attention. I thought “cool idea..and asked how much?”. They said somewhere in the low two-thousands (I don’t remember […]
Foto Gordo ♦ El Gordo es Guapo
Welcome to the dog days kats and kitties. Augustus Maximus in the house and it’s the fucking weekend! So here’s a shot of a three-year-old Ti Motobecane Nighttrain (just a toddler) near Lake Mead in Nevada. Last time I checked, it doesn’t snow in Vegas but it’s surrounded by some of the best snow impersonators in the game. […]
Framed LTD Bruh! by DosRenshos
I had just hooked my daughter up with a brand new 29er, and was feeling some serious bike envy, when I received a timely phone call from a certain Mr. Gomez. My pleading instruction for my next bike to test was “gimme somethin baller” so I could stop feeling so left out of the cool […]
2019 Salsa Beargrease Carbon XO1 Eagle First Ride Impressions
We got our hands on Salsa’s ‘top of the line’ Beargrease a couple of weeks ago. The idea was to assign a test pilot with race credentials and experience with riding the previous model of Salsa’s proven (fat bike category) race whip. So we sent the Beargrease to Leia Schneeberger. Leia: aka – the […]
Salsa’s 2019 Fat-Bikes Released
The new Salsa Fat-Bikes have arrived! Today we’re here to share what will likely be, a hot ticket come this holiday shopping season….the 2019 Salsa Fat-Bikes. BEARGREASE – completely redesigned for 2019 The Geometry of the 2019 Beargrease gets a subtle tweak with the goal of not turning off any of the folks that already know […]
Bivvy a Month Challenge #7
With the UK still in the midst of a heatwave it made planning this month’s bivvy trip a little easier than normal. Its great to know that you’ve got a good dry spell ahead of you as you don’t need to take much in the way of kit. So for this one as it was […]
Product Spotlight Why Cycles Big Iron
The Big Iron, is the newest addition to the fleet over at Why Cycles. Named after a Marty Robbins ballad, this titanium bike has our stoke levels off the charts. Last Monday, a pair of Big Irons’ showed up at our doorstep. A size medium, for Becky to test, and a size XL for […]
Moons Over My Chamois – July
We premiered the Moons Over My Chamois series last month and we’re back with episode deux. We asked our crew of twenty-some bike black ribbon test pilots two questions. This way, when you read a review written by one of these rugged individualists, you’ll know a little bit more about what makes them tick. So […]
PDW Fatty Object Review
A few months back I started a review of the Portland design works Fatty Object thing and did a bench test to see if the 38 g CO2 cartridges would fill a 4-inch fat bike tire. You can see that report here. Over the last few months, I’ve done some testing out in the field with […]
Wallpaper Wednesday ♦ 7/25/18
Betsy Williford shared this week’s Wallpaper with us from Colorado and here’s a little bit about this week’s photo. Freshly into bikepacking I loaded up my fatty to test out my setup on what planned to be a daytrip only. I set out from Frisco, Colorado and rode the Ten Mile Creek bike pathway […]
Fourmile Travel Management Area – Colorado – By Scott & Nancy Anderson
Fourmile Travel Management Area: 100,000 acres of “spaghetti-western” scenery plus over 100 miles of dirt roads and trail equals fat biking paradise! Words: Nancy Anderson Photos: Scott Anderson Fourmile is located east of the Arkansas River and stretches north of Buena Vista, south of Johnson Village and up to the Buffalo Peaks Wilderness, smack […]
Black Ribbon Radio Hour – SSUSA – Dejay Birtch
Two-time SSUSA Champion, Spinner Ryerson interviews two-time SSUSA champion and recreation director of the SSUSA in Port Jervis New York this year, Mr, Dejay Birtch. It doesn’t get more seedy underbelly of cycling counter-culture than SSUSA. The event is steeped in tradition and the black arts, so to capture all of that grittiness we went down […]
The Dose of Fat Podcast – Show #136 – Gary Meyer & Roy Kranz
Fat-Bike Radio presents the Dose of Fat Podcast coming to you from behind the cheese curtain in a little place some people like to call “the big whiskey”. In show #136 we interview Gary Meyer, the winter trail guru at the Central Oregon Trail Alliance. We’talk about winter trails in the Deschutes National Forest near Bend […]
Event Spotlight – 53N Adventure Festival – Ireland
Our amigos at Fat Bike Adventures in Ireland shared an event that encompasses more than cycling. 53 Degree North presents Adventurefest! Here’s a little info from 53N. At 53 Degrees North, we know that everybody has an inner-adventurer. An inner explorer. A hunger for the outdoors. And a need to share their experiences with […]
Wallpaper Wednesday ♦ Tom Ice ♦ #BAMfatbike2018
Last December we announced the Bivvy a Month Challenge and our amigo, Tom Ice, has stepped up to the plate and is over half way to earning the Bivvy a Month Challenge merit badge. Our challenge will take you on a journey to discover just how much fun, you can tolerate. Are you up to the […]
Fat (video) Tuesday ♦ Glen Feshie by Illya Rudkin
Like many of my bikepacking or MTB videos before you may have gathered that we like to ride or explore the Cairngorms highland range in Scotland. This film is no different. It is a beautiful area and Glen Feshie is one of a few areas where the estate owners are actively promoting and restoring the […]
First Look – RSD Middle Child – By Dustin Carlson
What comes to mind when someone is described as a middle child? For me, I think this person is going to be wild, impulsive, and up for anything, as long as it doesn’t involve going to work! So, with the “Middle Child” moniker on the new RSD model, I’m really hoping that it lives […]