This week fat-bike.com brings you Fat Camp #12, the latest podcast from Ken and Andy. In this episode the dynamic duo covers plus bike topics from converting your fat-bike to a run down on Plus Bike rims and tires. Give it a listen!
Greg Smith, known to many site visitors as Sven Hammer, founded Fat-bike.com in 2011 and the site quickly became the #1 online community for all things Fat. You can currently find Greg outfitting Everyday Cycles; a Milwaukee, WI retailer of gear for fatbikers, adventure cyclists and urban assault riders.
I recently converted my Trek Farley Fatbike with Bluto fork to a 29er Plusbike. I used WTB Asym 35mm inner-width rims and 29 x 3.0in Vee Trax Fatty tires. This produced a fairly light (for a Plusbike) tire-rim combo that was also fairly inexpensive with rims and tire each costing ~$80. When mounted to this rim, the tire has a 2.8in casing width and stands 30in tall. This bike rips!!! It is easily the best hardtail I have ever ridden. It is as fast and handles better than my aluminum 2010 Specialized Epic. The only thing it doesn’t do better is provide rear suspension which I prefer because it reduces body fatigue.
I absolutely agree with you that 45mm inner-width rims mounted to 3.0in tires pumped to 12psi does not necessarily make the best Plusbike. I am thinking that a 30mm inner-width rim mounted to 2.7-2.8in wide tires pumped to 15psi might be the Plusbike sweet spot. You get less weight, less rolling resistance, and less wallow/jiggle/auto-steer while still getting 99% of the traction and flotation benefits of the wider tire. The weight differences can be huge. A 29mm Stans Flow rim mounted to a Panracer Fat-B-Nimble 29x3in tire set up tubeless is ~2lbs lighter than a 50mm Stans Hugo rim mounted to a 27tpi wire bead Surly Knard 29x3in tire with tube. That’s ~4lbs change in the weight of the bike; all of it outer wheel weight. That much weight change would be like riding a totally different bike.
I think your next show should be about all the Plusbike tires; about how much they weigh and how height and width change when they are mounted to different width rims. (I calculate that an 8mm rim change produces a 0.1in tire width change which produces a 0.2in tire height change. Therefore, an 29×3.0in wide 30.4in tall tire on a 45mm rim would become an 29×2.8in wide 30.0in tall tire when mounted on a 29mm rim.) You might also explain how to select the right Plusbike rim-tire combo when converting your Fatbike. Such as, that a 27.5×2.8in tire 30mm rim combo might make your bottom to low or that some 29×3.0-3.2 tire 45-50mm rim combos might not fit your Bluto fork.
I kid you not! The day after I listened to this program while I was out riding, I ran into a biker riding a full-suspension Trek Farley Fatbike test mule mounted up with 29×3.0in Chupacabra tires. I had some serious bike envy. Talk about coveting thy neighbors bike!!! Anyhow, great program!
You should post this program on plusbikes.com
I’m looking into building a set of 27.5 plus wheels for my Surly Wednesday. I was shocked to learn that the rear hub costs $235! It seem like the wheel set with tires is going to cost $900-$1000. Is there something I’m missing? I was hoping to spend more like $500-$600 and then get a boost 110 suspension fork to complete the transition.
Another great show, Ken! Keep ’em coming. Oh, and great sidekicking Andy! 😉
Another great show guys!
Here’s another great 29+ (and 26+) rim people should look at too.
http://schlickcycles.com/collections/available-wheels
Love the show. The only readon why I subscribe. 🙂
What about leftys?
More “plus” content, please!!
I recently converted my Trek Farley Fatbike with Bluto fork to a 29er Plusbike. I used WTB Asym 35mm inner-width rims and 29 x 3.0in Vee Trax Fatty tires. This produced a fairly light (for a Plusbike) tire-rim combo that was also fairly inexpensive with rims and tire each costing ~$80. When mounted to this rim, the tire has a 2.8in casing width and stands 30in tall. This bike rips!!! It is easily the best hardtail I have ever ridden. It is as fast and handles better than my aluminum 2010 Specialized Epic. The only thing it doesn’t do better is provide rear suspension which I prefer because it reduces body fatigue.
I absolutely agree with you that 45mm inner-width rims mounted to 3.0in tires pumped to 12psi does not necessarily make the best Plusbike. I am thinking that a 30mm inner-width rim mounted to 2.7-2.8in wide tires pumped to 15psi might be the Plusbike sweet spot. You get less weight, less rolling resistance, and less wallow/jiggle/auto-steer while still getting 99% of the traction and flotation benefits of the wider tire. The weight differences can be huge. A 29mm Stans Flow rim mounted to a Panracer Fat-B-Nimble 29x3in tire set up tubeless is ~2lbs lighter than a 50mm Stans Hugo rim mounted to a 27tpi wire bead Surly Knard 29x3in tire with tube. That’s ~4lbs change in the weight of the bike; all of it outer wheel weight. That much weight change would be like riding a totally different bike.
I think your next show should be about all the Plusbike tires; about how much they weigh and how height and width change when they are mounted to different width rims. (I calculate that an 8mm rim change produces a 0.1in tire width change which produces a 0.2in tire height change. Therefore, an 29×3.0in wide 30.4in tall tire on a 45mm rim would become an 29×2.8in wide 30.0in tall tire when mounted on a 29mm rim.) You might also explain how to select the right Plusbike rim-tire combo when converting your Fatbike. Such as, that a 27.5×2.8in tire 30mm rim combo might make your bottom to low or that some 29×3.0-3.2 tire 45-50mm rim combos might not fit your Bluto fork.
I kid you not! The day after I listened to this program while I was out riding, I ran into a biker riding a full-suspension Trek Farley Fatbike test mule mounted up with 29×3.0in Chupacabra tires. I had some serious bike envy. Talk about coveting thy neighbors bike!!! Anyhow, great program!
You should post this program on plusbikes.com
I’m looking into building a set of 27.5 plus wheels for my Surly Wednesday. I was shocked to learn that the rear hub costs $235! It seem like the wheel set with tires is going to cost $900-$1000. Is there something I’m missing? I was hoping to spend more like $500-$600 and then get a boost 110 suspension fork to complete the transition.