Words by Tony Berger, Photos Tony and Greg Smith Were you a fan of “That Seventies Show” like I was? Do you remember the episode where Hyde made the pot brownies to sell at the bake sale and Eric’s parents accidentally ate them and Red ended up selling the Vista Cruiser? “It’s a Vista Cruiser, […]
Today’s product spotlight takes us on a journey to Island Park Idaho to talk about a relatively new bag company called FBJ Creations. Some of you may be familiar with them because FBJ Creations is run by none other than Bryon Vordermann, Fat Bike Jesus his own bad self (as mi amigo Russel T. Jobs […]
Last winter I bought a pair of (my favorite color – ORANGE!) Tifosisunglasses from Chris at Zion Cyclery after a big group beach ride. They were only $25 and really nice. So when Gomez asked me if I wanted to review a pair of Tifosi’s Swank SL sunglasses, I was like…Sure! I’ve been wearing a […]
We’ve reviewed and used a variety of Fork Bags over the years and this year both Revelate Designs and Apidura introduced new fork bag models that we’re lucky enough to get a chance to test this summer. We’ll be testing the bags mounted to both Salsa Anything Cages and the King Many Things Cage. Let’s […]
Hydro Flask was started ten years ago in Bend, Oregon. They are well known for insulated water bottles that keep water cold, coffee mugs that keep coffee hot, and beer growlers that keep beer delicious. The Journey Series is their introduction into the hydration pack market. The selling point for this line of packs is […]
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. […]
The Bikeiowa Pogie Lite – A Pogie for all seasons Bar Mitts, Pogies, hand covers… whatever you want to call them, Pogies (true term) have become go-to accessories for fat-bikers, gravel riders, and commuters. Providing water and wind resistance a good set of pogies can mitigate cold hands. I also always tout that while wearing […]
News Release from our friends at Revelate Designs Anchorage, Alaska, January 23, 2019 – Constantly innovating and improving, Revelate Designs pushes forward with the release of the Polecat, a unique drybag built for use in large volume cargo cages, and the Terrapin System 14L, a full redesign of their flagship seat bag. “Cargo cages have […]
Who’s Henty? That was my first question too. Founded in Tasmania, Australia, (yeah, that’s a real place) Henty started out making suit and garment bags for business clothes. They’ve been adding different versions of these bags and have a line of bags and packs specifically designed for active commuting. The Enduro was launched […]
Late last summer Burley Design released the Coho XC cargo trailer. We highlighted the specifications for this innovative single-wheel trailer here on fat-bike.com, at the end of October. Since then we’ve had the chance to test it out in the wild. We took this trailer up to the Big Holes, to get an idea about how […]
We’ve done a few of these holiday gift guides over the years. In the past, we’ve had our testers chime in with what they wanted as gifts and we’ve done the ‘what’s the hottest new bike’ thing, so this year you get what a grumpy old gomez thinks the fat-biker on your gift list […]
People like to geek out on gear lists. I am one of those people. I always get ideas by seeing how other people roll. To give back to the bike packing community, here is my addition to the gear list cannon. This is what I used for 18 days and around 800 miles of riding […]
Burley Design celebrated it’s 40th anniversary this year. The company has grown and changed over the years since, Alan Scholz, co-owner of Burley Bike Bags designed the first Burley trailer to transport his hand-made bags (30 miles) to a market where he sold them each week. Along with the bags, Alan also carried his daughter and […]
QuietKat is not a company I was familiar with until recently. This is mostly because they specialize in e-fat bikes which are not exactly my jam. Based on the QuietKat site it looks like a big part of their clientele are hunters so they offer a single wheel fat bike trailer to haul hunting […]
Our family spent 3 weeks biking 900 miles in Alaska. This is the second part of three parts describing our journey. Click here to read Part One. Our adventures of fat biking through Alaska began in the city of Anchorage. Anchorage is a typical metropolitan area. There are tall buildings, lots of traffic, and plenty of […]
I spied one of the prototypes for the Backcountry Stitch Works (BSW) Aww Snap (strapless) frame bags on Will Ross’ Hawt Pank Langxx last year just around the time of the Fat Nationals in Michigan. I quizzed Will about his fuchsia bike purse and he told me that the bag was pretty sweet. So I tried to get […]
I’ve been using Green Guru Gear for a few years now and believe in their Made in Colorado (USA), upcycle/recycle philosophy. Before Davidson, the head honcho at Green Guru, contacted me about checking out their Tubular Insulated Can Sleeve and Sixer 6-pack Insulated Top Tube Holder, I had plenty of experience with the various pouches […]
The first time that I ever saw a rooftop tent was at Sea Otter a few years back. Tepui had one set up on a silver Toyota (like the one I drive) so it caught my attention. I thought “cool idea..and asked how much?”. They said somewhere in the low two-thousands (I don’t remember […]
A few months back I started a review of the Portland design works Fatty Object thing and did a bench test to see if the 38 g CO2 cartridges would fill a 4-inch fat bike tire. You can see that report here. Over the last few months, I’ve done some testing out in the field with […]
I first came across the unique verticle Northshore hitch-style rack out in Long Beach, Washington back in the autumn of 2015. I rented a Salsa Mukluk from Northwest Bicycle Improvement out of Roslyn Washington and they had one of these kick-ass racks on the back of the shop van. (photo below) Since then we’ve tested and highlighted […]
The Ottolock is a unique bike lock that resembles a reusable Ziptie in operation but is A LOT more secure. Ottolock says it is a “Lightweight, compact cinch lock that is stronger than a cable lock and lighter than a U-Lock. Made with steel and Kevlar® bands. Ideal for cycling and outdoor gear to […]
A couple weeks ago the folks at up.bike contacted us and asked if we’d be interested in testing out their new stainless steel rack system. I sent them a photo of the corner of the garage where we keep the bikes that we regularly ride. Like many of you out there, we own a pile […]
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 […]
Apidura Backcountry Bags With virtually the full set of Apidura’s Backcountry series of bikepacking bags landing on my doorstep you could say I was a little excited to try them out, and with my Bivvy a Month #2 just around the corner you could say it was great timing! As stated on the Apidura website […]
It turns out that my old set of 5-year-old Salsa Anything Cages that have been rattling around the shop have a couple of cracks in them. Those cages were on a fat bike up in Tosa, when our tester Jamie discovered the cracks. He’s going to try to repair that set of cages, but […]
Spring is in the air, but for the last few weeks, the Dose of Fat Crew have been visiting Winter on the weekends at events like the Sweaty Yeti – the Hugh Jass @ Trek HQ and the Fat Bike Birkie. We gathered up north in a flurry of activity that culminates this winter’s fat-bike […]
Well, it’s getting towards spring and that means we’ve all made it through yet another winter of fat-bike funskies. This spring we’re going to share some Spring Cleaning and maintenance tips to help everyone celebrate rad adventure and promote safe passage through the warmer months. Today’s spread will feature a few of our test pilot’s […]
Last January we introduced you to the SkiPulk FatBike Pulk Kit. The version we received in the test lab came with the original orange Paris pulk, a black Paris duffle bag, a mountable seat post hitch, and 2 fiberglass poles. Here is the link to the product spotlight for all the specs and initial […]
We’ve been enjoying a set of Bootlegger Fork Bags from our old friends from Oveja Negra. The Bootlegger has a two-liter capacity and is a perfect fit for a Nalgene water bottle inside of a Bar Mitts Winter Bot neoprene sleeve for insulation. They mount directly to the triple cage bosses that come on some […]
We have lots of forks around our house. Dinner forks, salad forks, pickle forks, dessert forks and even forks in the road. We also have 100mm forks, 135mm forks, 150mm forks and even 110mm boost forks❄. We have quick release forks and thru axle forks. Bottom line, there is a lot of flatware ‘round […]
Our friends at SkiPulk sent us their new Fatbike Pulk kit to review and put through its paces. The owner of SkiPulk, Grant, was insistent that the fat-bike pulk get tested by someone that would take it winter camping and that requirement fits in nicely with the Bivvy a Month Challenge that I’ve decided […]
For the last few years, I have been searching for the ultimate bike-packing setup. There are definitely no shortages of bag options out there. My preferred bags have been the snack bags that mount on your handlebars. They’re super easy to access and grab something quick without having to stop and they fit multiple […]
Our favorite sub-arctic set of pogies, the Revelate Designs Williwaw, received an upgrade recently and just in time for Winter, we have a set here to test. The folks at Revelate never stop innovating their product line. The new Williwaws feature a zippered vent, for when your hands get too warm and a new bar […]
This year we polled the folks that write the reviews and produce the podcasts, that we publish here at fat dash bike dot com. It stands to reason, that they’re all experienced fat-bikers and our group has a wide variety of riding styles and habits, so I think what they may want….could be what you […]
So I’ve been riding around with one of the New PDW Fatty Object CO2 inflator strapped to the seatpost of the bike I’m on, but up until now, hadn’t tested it out, because I only had one full CO2 canister and I didn’t want to waste it on a test. So I started to […]
We’ve been enjoying an impressive string of warm dry autumn days, that are tailor made for riding in the dirt. I took a sub 24 hour bivy, this week on our Salsa Blackborow out at Kettle and rode Levis and Silver Lake on the Specialized Fatboy Expert. Those bikes are both currently keeping me busy […]
New products are always moving through the shop and this month, we’ve got a bumper crop of new accessories, do-dads and sundries, to share with you all. Let’s start out with a pair of new products from our amigos at Portland Design Works! PDW Fatty Object I predict that you’ll see a lot of these […]
We purchased a set of rider cockpit bags from Revelate Designs a couple of months ago to use on the test bikes that come through the shop. For obvious reasons, I seldom ride without a camera and I own ‘gas tank’ style bags from several other bag makers, where I carry my trusty Lumix DMC-LX5 […]
We’ve gone digital in the shop and out on the trail with a couple of new gadgets from our amigo, Dillon at Lezyne and the fine individuals at Prestaflator. I’m referring to the digital gauges on our favorite tire inflation devices, of course. Let’s launch this new (to us) product smorgasbord with Lezynes intergrated digital […]
Last year Surly released their full-size “Porteur House” rack bag, designed for their 24-Pack Rack and other platforms of similar ilk. A beast of a bag, you could easily pack a full litter of Schnauzers or four dozen tamales in the Porteur house. Of course, sometimes the picnic is of a more modest size, […]
Cuero Cycling Gloves – retro for the modern world. One could be forgiven for thinking the modern world is becoming more disposable, and even in cycling, bikes, clothing and componentry can feel like it’s made to be faster, lighter, cheaper but also less durable. Compared to the (weighty) steel path racers of our […]
Time to rethink trail side snacking. Munk Pack offers a mouth pleasing, easy to digest alternative to your typical jaw breaking and dry go-to energy bars. These oatmeal fruit squeeze pouches provide a fresh take on replacing energy stores while you’re out racing the continental divide, or when you decide to go for an extra […]
I guess that you never know that you need something till it is gone. At our old place in Westosha, the shop was in the garage, but about a year ago, we moved and now the shop is in the basement. So all of the tools are inside, while most of the bikes that […]
Back in March I shared my exploits in getting a Bob Trailer to work with a Fat-Bike. That article mainly focused on how to modify the yoke of the trailer to work with Robert Axle Project extended (Bob compatible) rear thru axles. You can read about that here – https://fat-bike.com/2017/03/how-to-make-a-bob-trailer-work-with-your-fat-bike/. After we posted the article, one […]
