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Reader’s Ride(s) Six One Six Twenty Four Fat

Wilhelm Rumpf sent us some shots of his new custom Twenty Four inch steel fat bike. It’s an interesting build that’s worth a closer look. Here’s Red’s story told by its owner, Wilhelm Rumpf.

I wanted to share my new fat tire bike Red. Red is a custom build by John at 616 cycles in Grand Rapids Michigan. I’ve always wanted a fat tire bike after seeing one but have never liked the modern slack geometry that’s needed to make the taller wheels work. Over the years I’ve tried a lot of what the big guys were putting out there and could never get past the feel of the bikes or how the tires at speed always had their own gyroscopic tendencies. That was until I rode a “kids” bike on 24” fatties. The frame geometry was still meh but the wheel size felt right.

That “smaller diameter” fat tire lead me to contact the big guys to see if I could get a fat frame with those tires in an adult size. The answer was always no or why? With no luck and few custom builders doing fat tire bikes at the time, it took me 7yrs of randomly contacting builders I would explain my idea, only to be turned down. I’m not sure if the pandemic has opened ppl up to crazy ideas or if it was just the right thought at the right time with the right ppl but John eagerly took on my project 6 months ago and built me Red.

Michigan (wheels& frame) meets Portland (Lucky Cat Cages) amid a Singlespeed Belt-Drive Train

Red is built with 90’s geometry based on my old Mongoose Sycamore SX Mtn. Bike I raced pretty successfully back in the day. I even went as far as spec’ing high carbon tubing in smaller than moderne diameters for the frame and chose parts that kept the old-school vibe going. I really wanted the bike to look as if I had taken an old bike and just fitted the wheels.

Red rides as nimble and accelerates just like my Mongoose. The first trail ride was like putting on a familiar glove but with some extra grip and no f’s to be given through the sand traps.

The pics were taken at Deep Lake in Yankee Springs Michigan. This was my home trail for years and where I learned to Mtn. bike. If you’ve never ridden in the area, Barry county is very hilly and the soil ranges from deep beach sand to gravel. The trail works all of these in for a pretty challenging mix for riders of all skill levels. (Yankee Springs is da’bomb!) This was Red’s first ride in the dirt and she ate it up


Wilhelm Rumpf

Sticker it Forward

How do you like the new sticker and jersey design?

Send us your fat bike centerfold and…If you’d like some stickers for you…your ride buddies…or maybe the girl with the faraway eyes from that Stones song… send us a photo of your fat-bike with a nice shrubbery and an address so the gnomes down in the mailroom can jet them, babies, to the post office. My email is gomez@fat-bike.com. Put Shrubbery in the subject line and stay tuned for some sort of group jersey order like we did last year. ¡Las bicis Gordas, para ti!

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2 Responses to Reader’s Ride(s) Six One Six Twenty Four Fat

  1. Allroy August 17, 2022 at 7:17 am #

    Great looking bike! I wonder how a mullet 26/24 would work? With fat bikes there is endless possibilities.

  2. Jacob Croft August 19, 2022 at 11:34 am #

    I remember on Cannondale’s old SM600 with a 24/26 mullet, you can fell the gyroscopic forces at play on the front wheel. Just as Wilhelm discussed. It would almost steer itself.
    Great bike 616!

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