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Now Available – Origin-8 Crawler

crawler-fat-bike

Now arriving at bike shops around the country is Origin-8 Crawler fat-bike. The Crawler uses a hydroformed aluminum frame coupled to a NuVinci N360 continuously variable rear hub to give you a shift free 360% range of gearing. The venerable Avid BB7 Disc brakes provide stopping power. Tires are Origin-8 Devit-8-ers on Origin-8 80mm AT-PRo rims marking the first time a non-Q brand tire/wheel combo has been used on a production fat-bike. (Yes, I know, you built your custom fat-bike with non-mainstream fat parts but we are not talking one-offs here we are talking available nationwide at you local shop type bikes.) The majority of the other components on the Crawler are Origin-8 pieces with an FSA ISIS bottom bracket representing that brand.

At a retail price point well under $1500 the Crawler will undoubtedly turn a few more heads in the direction of fat and the NuVinci hub is an interesting choice especially for those wanting a maintenance free drivetrain. We’ve ridden the NuVinci on a few other fat-bikes and like the combo.

With the initial run of Crawlers already spoken for by the aforementioned bike shops we will either have to wait for the next shipment or cajole our local shop into some test riding!

You can see more complete details about the specs of the Origin8 Crawler here.

We think the Crawler marks an interesting point in the evolution of the fat-bike market. First we had the innovators, small shops, custom builders and individuals who wanted to expand their opportunities and abilities to ride terrain that no other bike had ridden and went to great lengths to engineer, cobble and beat existing hardware into submission, then we had a committed distributor with a couple of brands that showed what could be done with production fat-bikes as well as being a supplier to a growing custom builder market and now, with the Crawler, another major parts distributor is getting into the fray marking the inevitable expansion of the fat-bike market beyond the early adopters.

What’s next? We’ve already seen the early drawings of a Kona fat-bike and there have been plenty of other rumors floating around, fueled in a part by the introduction of OE-friendly SRAM components,

Is all this good or bad? Probably a bit of both. Here is what all this rambling means to me, this is an exciting time to be a fat-bike enthusiast! There will be more choices than ever, your mind may explode with the possibilities, but there has never been a better time to be a fat-bike fan and never a better time to let fat-bike.com help you navigate the choices. Keep you eyes peeled.

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10 Responses to Now Available – Origin-8 Crawler

  1. Quinn March 21, 2013 at 10:13 am #

    42 lbs?? I Really like Origin 8 and fatbikes but Damn, I know it is the Nuvinci hub that is the heavy part and I really have to wonder if the 360% is enough to deal with the weight, wouldn’t be my first choice for sure

    • Steve-O March 22, 2013 at 6:54 am #

      maybe drill out the rims and change out the tires to save some weight? but I agree, pretty heavy. Price vs. weight…

    • PJ June 22, 2013 at 7:14 pm #

      Test rode one at a local nike shop and thought the ride was great! Although heavier, I like it a little better than my salsa fatty because of the drive train.

  2. Tommy March 21, 2013 at 8:14 pm #

    @ the walmart fatbike *blood curdling scream* “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!”

    • John March 23, 2013 at 6:12 pm #

      I would really have to ride one,looks fun

  3. Greg March 26, 2013 at 12:40 pm #

    Test rode because of bait and switch yesterday, I was not impressed it was extremely heavy. The low was not range was not low enough, and with a single chain ring, the bike basically sucked!

    • Arapahoe Cyclery March 28, 2013 at 10:54 am #

      We got them in, and while heavy, the price point is right. The crawler rides a touch slower than my 31 lb Pug, but with “light” tires and tubless, we were figuring we could take away 4 lbs of rotating weight!

  4. Jeff June 10, 2013 at 11:20 am #

    Ok, I’ve held off on commenting until I had enough ride time to review.
    Bought the bike from KLM in Birmingham, Mi.
    I love the bike overall except the Nuvincci 360 HUB.
    I’ve had it 6 weeks it’s been back in the shop 3 times.
    if you get any mud,dirt, water, or sand (normal MTB riding right ?) on the cable mech on the HUB the shifting is toast. Shifting becomes next to impossible. And KLM techs have little knowlege with Nuvincci hubs to make matters worse. With that said, the Frame is excellent and brakes are very good. Everything else is ok. So far KLM has been just OK with handling this. I will repost after I get my bike back in a week ( sigh ) !!!!

  5. Mark July 14, 2013 at 3:19 pm #

    Is that an offset aluminum frame?

  6. Dan Boostrom December 3, 2013 at 10:29 am #

    Been riding the piss out of my crawler since mid- july. while it is heavier than other fat bikes i have lightened it up with surly nate tires, added hydraulic disc brakes and a dropper post. climbs well but I have upped the gearing to a 20 tooth rear from the 18 tooth and may go up to a 22 tooth to handle climbs in the snow better. i have had no issues with the NuVinci hub although it seems it wasnt set correctly from the factory (limited gear range) but that was easily adjust by the guys at Missoula Bike Source. Might drill the rims out later this season if the weight is an issue in the snow. Ridden it on long downhills around Durango, Colorado and with the right tire pressure I had more fun than my buddies on their FS bikes. Plenty of single track rides around missoula and cruising around town. really fun taking it over boulders and large obstacles and not worrying about trashing chain rings. Really loving the NuVinci hub, havent had any issues or needed any maintenance since first setup and it has been really nice not having a derailleur hanging out back; I would have ripped it off a couple times already blazing through narrow spaces and brush off trail. loving my crawler!

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