Mammoth Empire – Spartacus – The Fatter Fat Bike from the Philippines

If the fat bike in your life is not rotund enough for your flotation needs and you’ve been looking for a bike with the widest profile rims on the planet, you’re in for a treat. Adding to the rich fat bike tradition of bike brands like Bearclaw, Corvus ,and 9:Zero:7, which were founded by bicycle shops comes the fattest of the fat. Mammoth Empire and Whatta Bike Shop in the Philippines have created a fat bike called the Spartacus with huge clearance for wheels that rock Megawide 135mm rims. Let’s have a look at ‘Spartacus ‘!

Fatboyph sent me some photos of his Spartacus and the first thing that I noticed were the huge wide profile wheels. The Megawide rims are twenty-six-inch, 135mm wide alloy hoops. I asked him to give us the low-down on the wheels and this was his reply.

Okay, so first, let’s talk about the rims. It is a megawide rim for fat bike. It’s called Megawide because of its size which is 135mm. It’s wider than the usual fat bike rims which is 70-100/105mm which is also why it’s called megawide. It’s available here in the Philippines and is exclusive to a local fat bike shop called Whatta Bike Shop, whom I am partnered with. 

So the megawide rim is also just like your any other fat bike rim. The only difference is it’s wider.
It’s a single wall alloy rim, 36 holes, and has round cut rim holes. Currently, the only size available is 26.
The weight of one single rim is 1.7kg but if we’re talking about a wheelset, including the hubs, nipples & spokes, rotors, and cogs, the weight of one single rimset is around 2.4kg. But it still depends because we use different hubs, nipples & spokes, etc. Is it heavier now that I’m using 135mm megawide rims compared to my stock rims which are 105mm? Well, if you’re going to carry the bike instead of riding it then yes, it’s heavy but it’s not that heavy wherein when you lift it, you’re gonna have a hard time. 

The first thing that I immediately noticed upon using the megawide rims is that the ride feels better! It rolls much better. The contact and traction of the tires to the ground are also better. It also feels better on light trails compared to my stock rims which are 105mm. Just remove some tire pressure, you’re good for light trails! 

Now for the people that keep on saying that the tires will suffer faster because of the rim size, if you’re gonna use plus tires or narrower fat bike tires like 4.0-4.5, then yes, what you’re saying is true. Maybe they’re just not aware that there are fat bike tires that are 4.8 inches up to 5.02 inches. For the sake of those who don’t know and are wondering what fat bike tires are 5.02 inches wide, it’s Vee Tire XXL. 
So basically, if you’re gonna use this 135mm megawide rim, it’s also best to use wide chunky fat bike tires which are 4.8 and above. Trust me, you won’t experience problems regarding your tire/s. But if you’re gonna use plus tires and narrower fat bike tires like 4.0 to 4.5, your tire/s won’t last long.
No offense, but basically it’s just common sense. If you’re gonna use a wider rim then use a wider tire. The same thing also applies for cars and motorcycles. 

How much is it? It’s Php 12,000 or roughly around 230 USD.
Basically, that’s all there is to know about the megawide rims. Just like what I said earlier, it’s also just like your usual mtb/fatbike rim. The only difference is it’s 135mm wide. 

FatboyPH

The tires on the Spartacus are 26×4.9 Innova Tan Wall tires. When mounted to the Megawide rims they measure 130mm wide at the casing. The tires are sold only at the Whatta Bike Shop. Mammoth Empire designed the limited edition Mammoth Gladiator Series: Spartacus fat bike to be their model that is specifically built for the megawide rim. The Mammoth Spartacus has the widest fork clearance and seat/chainstay clearance to handle these huge megawide wheels.

The Build Specs from Fatboyph

Frame – Alloy – Frame size – Medium 
Frame rear hub spacing – 190mm
Fork hub spacing – 150mm
Bottom bracket shell – 120mm
Fork – Chromoly Steel
Shifter – 9-speed microshift (1x set-up)
Rear Derailleur – 9 speed microshift
Crankset – Kratos Fat Bike Hollowtech (1x set-up) with 32 teeth chain ring
Brakeset – Stock Zoom Special Edition dual-piston Mechanical Brakes
Cogs – Stock 9 speed Shimano HG, 11-32 teeth (Now I’m using a Sagmit 11-42 teeth, still 9 speed. I changed my cogs/cassette cause I always ride on uphill roads)
Handlebars – Stock alloy low rise mammoth handlebars (I switched to cornerbar because I’m going after a monster cross look)
Stem – Stock 400mm alloy mammoth seatpost (I switched to an alloy Truvativ Stylo 400mm)
Stem – Stock 60mm alloy mammoth stem (I switched to an alloy Truvativ Stylo 90mm +- 5 deg.)
Hubs – Quanta Fat Bike Hubs, 3 pawls – Sealed Bearing, Cassette Type
Rotors – Still using the stock non-series rotors, 203mm front and 160mm rear
Rims – Stock rims are Mammoth Alloy 105mm – 36 holes, Pizza cut rims (Now im using the 135mm Alloy – 36 holes, round cut megawide rims)

Whatta Bike Shop

Whatta Bike Shop is where all of this fat bikes on steroids business happens

Mammoth is their own local brand in the Philippines. They’ve been around since 2014/2015. 
Mammoth Fat Bikes range in price from Php 28,000 to Php 55,000. (530 USD to 1,046 USD).

For more information about all of Mammoth Empires Fat Bikes visit – https://mammothempireph.com/

Follow our new amigo Fatboyph on Youtube – https://www.youtube.com/c/FatBoyPH

Check out Whatta Bike Shop – https://whattabikeshop.com/