Old Man Mountain Racks is showing off two new prototypes at Eurobike that they say are almost ready for production. First is what they are calling the Axle Pack. The Axle Pack mounts to their Fit Kits to add 3-pack mounts to any fork. If you’ve tried the old zip-tie or clamp system on a […]
Archive | 27+
Ritchey Kyote Handlebar Test by BRaven
I started to develop wrist issues after getting hit by a car while riding my bike in the 1990s. I had double carpal tunnel surgery that helped for a while and rode happily until about a year ago. I started to notice that for a couple of days after a ride, my wrists would hurt […]
2022 Sea Otter Classic Bike Expo (Part 3)
We’re back with Part 3 of our coverage of the 2022 Life Time Sea Otter Classic presented by Continental. The bike industry came out of hiding and brought out all of the new toys for all of the girls and boys! #alicecooper Surly Bicycles wove themselves into a new taller tent during the pandemic. They […]
2022 Sea Otter Bike Expo (Part 2)
We’re back with part 2 of our coverage of the 2022 Life Time Sea Otter Classic presented by Continental. Let’s get right back to the parade of cool bike schwag. Our friends from Corvus Cycles made the trip down the coast to Sea Otter to show their wares. I got to ride the new Ti […]
2022 Sea Otter Classic Bike Expo (Part 1)
The 2022 Life Time Sea Otter Classic presented by Continental was last week. Racers, fans, and our favorite brands gathered at the Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey California! I walked the aisles of the expo to bring you the latest and greatest products coming to the US market from all of the best companies. It […]
Project Fox Shox – by Tim Mallard
Put yourself in the “way back machine”. Way back to 1997. You are 14 years old and on summer break. You ride to the bike shop every day to drool at the new Rock Shox Judy SL suspension forks. It was as if they were handed down from the mountain bike gods and will forever […]
Klunkedelic – REEB-a-palooza
With things getting back to normal(ish) as far as getting together with friends to ride, I hatched a plan to get together with our resident singlespeed expert, Spinner Ryerson and REEB super-fan JP Syverud so they could ride the Hopptie that we have on loan from Tim at REEB. These cats are both seasoned product […]
New Salsa Timberjack Aggressive Hardtail Announcement
Timberjack has been re-designed and features updated geometry, Alternator 2.0 dropouts, and top tube accessory mount. Complete bike models now include single speed offerings. 2021 TIMBERJACK Salsa Cycles announced new 2021 Timberjack models today. The TJ is their aggressive trail hardtail. This is how Salsa describes the Timerjack “designed around the trifecta of fast, fearless, […]
Plus Bike Editorial – by Bike Nerd
—-How the bike industry screwed up Plusbikes—- By Bike Nerd

Day Trip’n with an ELEMNT Roam
I recently embarked on a journey down the rabbit hole of GPS bicycle computer technology. I was born at the very tail end of what’s considered the baby boomer generation so I recently started to qualify for senior citizen discounts. I was curious to see if this old dog could learn to use one of […]
The Weekly Dose of Fat – Summer Solstice Special Edition
509 Jabit III 27.5+ at Hartmans Creek State Park (WI) Photo by Kurt Geiger Welcome to Summer 2019! We thought that it would be nice to celebrate the first day of Summer with an old school WDoF post like we used to do before we started the podcast with the same name. I’m headed to […]
2019 Sea Otter Classic SITREP
The 2019 Sea Otter Classic has become the best bike show in the US and they just announced expansion plans for Sea Otter Europe. The US version of the Sea Otter Classic is held at the Laguna Seca Race Track out near Monterrey, California about an hour drive from Silicon Valley. It’s quite beautiful there. […]
ENVE M685 Wheelset and Fat Fork Review – by Julio
Way back in December I wrote an introduction to a new wheelset and fork from the carbon fiber maestros over at ENVE. This was big news given that one of the biggest names in carbon fiber was (finally) getting into the fat game. You can read all about the M685 wheels and Fat Fork here […]
45NRTH Dillinger 27.5×4.0 Review
As I was loading up the super blingy Why Cycles Big Iron outfitted with Enve Fat Fork and M685 Wheels for testing (First Look here), Uncle Gomez says “Here – try these out while you’re at it and tell me what you think . . .” as he shoves two folded up 27.5×4.0 45NRTH Dillingers […]
Otso Voytek Plus/Fat Review By Seth Bell
Back in July, we received a beautiful Otso Voytek Plus-Fat rig for review. If you missed the introduction and specs, you can find that post here: https://fat-bike.com/2018/08/first-look-otso-voytek-plus-fat-rally-sport-by-seth-bell/ Now that Summer is officially in the rear-view and the crisp days of Autumn are here (my favorite!), we wanted to share with you what a few months of […]
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 […]
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 […]
The First 60 Days with a Surly Midnight Special – By Ron Stawicki
60 Days of a Midnight Special (Disclaimer: This is my personal bike I purchased from my local bike shop. Since it’s a “fat road” bike I offered to write up my take on it for fat-bike.com. I changed some of the parts to suit my needs but it’s not far off from original. Here are […]
26″ & 27.5″ Fat-Bike Wheel Comparison
We’re in the midst of testing 4 sets of wheels that range from 26 x 4.8 to 27.5 x 3.8. All 4 wheels are pictured below and labeled A-B-C & D for reference. Starting last November, I ran 27.5 x 50mm Wheelset C and wrote an article about how stoked that I was to be able to ride […]
2018 Sea Otter Classic – Special Report
In addition to hosting every denomination of bicycle racing, the 2018 Sea Otter Classic has become the best bicycle industry trade show in these United States. Even the corporate giants of the industry come out and show their wares and simultaneously support their race teams. Along with the big boys, the Sea Otter expo area features […]
CABDA – Fat & Plus Report
CABDA is a show held by the Chicago Area Bicycle Dealer Association where vendors and distributors show Independent Bicycle Dealers what they have available to offer their customers for the coming season. It’s a show that has a rich history and has changed quite a bit over the last few decades. This year’s […]
Fat Bike Tires on Plus Bike Rims
My amigo Thad Carson (taddyhogg) tipped me off that he’s been running the Maxxis 27.5 x 3.8 tires mounted to a set of HED 27.5 x 45mm Raptor rims on his Oddity Cycle Lime Greenis Maximus. He also shared some encouraging reports about how his set-up handled the rocky trails near KC. (KC has super […]
Terrene McFly Plus Tire Review by Smithhammer
Over the last couple months I’ve taken the Terrene “McFly” 29 x 2.8 tire on a variety of overnighter trips, singletrack rides and dirt roads. I’ve even commuted on it, which in my rural part of Idaho is a little different than the typical urban commute, and encouraged me to take a lot of detours […]
Guerrilla Gravity “Pedalhead” – Final Review – by Smithhammer
I’ve had a stupid amount of fun on the Guerrilla Gravity “Pedalhead” over the last month and a half. Imagine a XC rig mated to a downhill banshee cross-bred with a BMX bike that grew up in the mountains rather than the local skatepark and you start to get an idea. A bike that […]
Spotlight – Guerrilla Gravity ‘Pedalhead’ – by Smithhammer
It doesn’t take more than a glance at Guerilla Gravity’s “Pedalhead” to quickly see that it is one of the more unique plus hardtails on the market right now. Follow this up with a look at the geo numbers, including a 65.5º head tube angle, 74º seat tube angle and 419mm chainstays, and you’ll either […]
Framed Bikes – Marquette 27.5+ Bike Review – By Aristotle Peters
I’ve been very lucky to have spent the summer with this beautiful Framed Marquette Carbon. The bike came well packed and was easy to assemble from their Minnesota headquarters. I had frequent communication with the company about what was coming and when. I’ve come to expect no less, from this company, after working with them […]
RSD Seargant 27.5+ Review – By Andy Amstutz
Never before have I had so much fun on my local, typical midwestern, old school trails. It took me a ride or two on the RSD Sergeant Aluminum 27.5+ before I started to understand what this bike is intended to do. In case you missed the product preview from back in June, you can read […]
Jamis 27.5+ Dragonslayer Pro Review – By Smithhammer
For 2017 Jamis has significantly expanded its Dragonslayer line, from a single model last year to six different build levels, available in two different tire sizes – 26+ and 27.5+. The Dragonslayer Pro 27.5+ is Jamis’ “Adventure Series” flagship steed, taking last year’s Dragonslayer Plus to new heights. Let me just get my bias out […]
FBC’s Monday Night at the Movies – Fatbassador Travis & Al at Kinkaid
Just a couple of good ole boys ride’n bikes up in Alaska. This was shot at Kinkaid Park in Anchorage by our Fatbassador to Alaska Travis Hubbard and his amigo Al. Travis is riding his Fatback Skookum with a set of B+ Wheels. I’ve never seen so much skunk cabbage! Enjoy the ride boys! Share […]
Product Spotlight – Framed Marquette 27.5+/29 – By Aristotle Peters
I am lucky enough to be a test rider for the Framed Marquette Carbon 27.5+/29. Upon receiving this bike, I opened the box to find a neatly packed bike with two wheel sets. There was a 27.5+ wheel set that got the playful biker in be excited and a 29” wheel set that makes the […]
Product Spotlight – RSD Sergeant 27.5+ – By Andy Amstutz
Ah, summer….finally. Time to kick back, relax, and enjoy the family. Time for reunions and trips to the beach. Time for some happy home owner projects and a good book. And of course, shred up some soil at the dirt church and roost some gnar in the woods. But for the next couple months it […]
Product Spotlight – Jamis Dragonslayer Pro 27.5+ – by Bruce Smithhammer
With the popularity of the Jamis Dragonslayer in 2016, the company decided to expand the offerings this year, resulting in four new 26+ models and two 27.5+ models for 2017. We recently got our grubby mitts on the flagship “Dragonslayer Pro 27.5+” with a cordial invitation to put it through the wringer, which we most […]
Yakima HighRoad Roof Rack Review – By Dave Krueger
I generally have a choice when I want to travel with one or more of my bikes: do we leave my bikes home and take the kids, or leave the kids to fend for themselves and bring whatever two-wheeled steed I favor? Of course the kids always win. Well, most of the time. Another issue […]
2017 Sea Otter Classic Report – Part 2
I think that they purposfully set up trade shows and expo’s in a maze to confuse and delight the folks that attend and Sea Otter is no exception. So I set out to cover all of the things that I might have missed in part one of this year’s Sea Otter coverage. You can view part […]
2017 Sea Otter Classic Report – Part 1
With the near death of Interbike, the Sea Otter Classic has become the pinnacle of the bicycle industry ‘show & tell’ in these United States of America. In addition to every kind of bike racing known to mankind, the Sea Otter presents an exposition area that features every cool bicycle company that you’ve ever […]
Maxxis Summit – Plus Tire News
Plus Stuff From the Second Annual Maxxis Summit at Mulberry Gap Maxxis jumped into plus tires in a big way in recent years and has developed what is arguably the most complete lineup of plus sized tires (at least for 27.5+) of any tire company. They have everything from the fast rolling Icon all […]
Fresh from the Show Floor – Interbike 2016
Direct from the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, we have all of the freshest fat and plus bike hotness for y’all! I was going to try to separate the plus from the fat, but there’s a lot of cross-over. I saw fat-bikes that were designed to run plus and even one plus-bike that can run, […]
Otso Cycles is Born!
The same crew that founded Wolf Tooth Components are launching Otso Cycles, which is a new bike company focused on bringing innovative bikes to the mountain bike and mixed surface road markets. They’re coming out with 2 bikes and the one that we’re going to focus upon is the Voytek. The Voytek is a carbon fiber hardtail mountain bike […]
Framed Marquette Review by Dustin Carlson is Live at Plus Bikes dot com
Back in late May Bike Black Ribbon Test Pilot, Dustin Carlson, took delivery of a Framed Marquette Carbon 27+ mountain bike for an extended testing period in and around Moab, Utah. We’ve just posted up his final review of the Framed Marquette over at our sister site, plusbikes.com (that’s where we cover our mid-fat friends!) so […]
HELLGA Does Decorah – by KitCat Montana
Hi there Fat-bike.com readers. I’ve recently been given the opportunity to test ride Specialized’s Hellga, their new women’s specific fat bike. Please read on to see what my initial thought and impressions are of this bike are as I relay to you a little story of a mis-adventurous weekend spent at a mid-west mountain biking […]
Carbon beauty meets a single-track beast — Get to know the Trek Farley 9.8
The long-term red dirt review Having reviewed the original baby blue Farley and now it’s cousin, the 9.8, I’d like to make the following suggestion. Let’s change the name. Farley, I get it, ok, sure. But, the direction Trek is moving this bike frame is anything but fat, slow, or a jiggly belly bouncing on […]
Industry 9 Introduces New Fat & Plusbike Wheels
Straight out of the heart of Western North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains, Industry Nine, is introducing new rim options for Mountain, Fat Bikes, and Plusbikes. Two new tubeless Fat Bike rim options join the well-received BigRig 825 Carbon, The new BigRig 975 Carbon and the alloy BigRig 845 are built on Industry Nine’s proven Torch FatBike […]
Product Spotlight: Farley 9.8 by Trek
Walking into my studio last week I noticed two ginormous boxes. Immediately I thought to myself, “now what did we buy and what is it?” I was relieved to see instead the shipping address coming from Waterloo, Wisconsin and the contents reading Trek Farley 9.8. That’s a good way to start a work day. Over […]

Video – David from Devinci introduces the 27-plus Hendrix at interbike 2015
We caught up with our man Chris Reichel from plusbikes.com at the Outdoor Demo during interbike 2015 and checked out the Devinci Hendrix full-suspension, 120mm travel, 27-plus bicycle.