So last year the good folks at 45NRTH decided that they wanted to improve one of our favorite fat bike tires, the Hüsker Dü. I have to admit that the luddite portion of my brain kept on telling me that this was pure madness. I thought Hüskers were one of the best all around […]
The Smokestone Henderson fat bike is the brainchild of Graham Foot from Slam69 Cycles in Gloucester in the UK. I was invited to spend the weekend with Graham and find out about the history of the bike and to spend some time in the saddle. Graham’s history in the bike industry goes way back to […]
Vee Tire is one of the only fat bike tire makers to offer two different rubber compounds; one black like normal, the other an off-white color. I always wondered if this was just a gimmick or if there was anything to the white compound. Vee lists the white compound as having “better ice performance, is […]
Howdy fat-bike friends! Our friend from out Ogden way, Mr. Mark Peterson, put together this review of Paul Component Engineering’s 2017 Klamper brake and their Canti-Lever. Form NAHBS to the trails, Mark has the scoop! 2017 Klampers and the Canti-Lever Review – By Mark Peterson I have been a longtime fan of Paul Component’s. I have […]
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 […]
People that follow the history of fat-bikes, know that Fatback has written many of the chapters, in the book of fat-bike innovation. Fatback is still currently one of the most innovative fat-bike brands. To add to the long list of products that Fatback makes available to the fat-bike word, today they offer their carbon […]
Maxxis recently held their annual “Summit” in the mountains of Northern Georgia at the Mulberry Gap Mountain Bike Resort. Maxxis had some exciting news to announce on the fat bike tire front so my podcasting partner Andy and I got to head down and get the skinny on their fat. There will be a following […]
First look at the 4.8″ Snow Avalanche We recently got hooked up with Vee Tire’s Snow Avalanche studded 4.8″ tires. Vee Tire Co is the only fat-bike tires manufacturer to offer a true 4.8″ studded tire in two different rubber compounds. The Silicone Compound – SC (black) and the Pure Silicone Compound – PSC (white). We’ll […]
This winter my “skinny fat” setup (a.k.a. 4″ tires) has predominantly been the studded 4″ Vee Tire Snow Avalanche in the white Pure Silica Compound (PSC). I’ve bounced around to a couple other 4″ tires but keep coming back to the Snow Avalanche because it is such a versatile tire. If you are interested in […]
This has been one of those winters where I have been pretty darned stoked to be testing studded tires. It seems like every other weekend has been “studded tire only” conditions due to a big melt and freeze cycle. During this time the 4.6″ studded Terrene Wazia tires have become my best friend because they […]
I’m a convert. They’re worth the money. The kids might not have the warmest boots and the wife might not have the biggest diamond, but doggone it, I will have a carbon wheelset for my fat-bike. And this set won’t break the bank so the fam will still have food on the table. […]
I sit here and write this while psyching myself up for another 3-4 hour ride of breaking trail on the Cannolis. It has been a good winter here on the west coast of the northern lower peninsula of Michigan and we have already gotten over 5′ of snowfall. We got the okay from the National […]
It’s not very often, that we need to borrow a fat-bike to test a fat-bike tire, but it’s happened before with super fat sized tires and the litany of new wheel/hub and tire choices has created a similar situation at times. This time it was Trek’s new 27,5 fat wheel size that created the need […]
I think these tires are Rad. Not in a “I am going to ride these on every ride!” kind of Rad. Rather “these things are really good at a few things and are really fun to play around on but I don’t want to ride them all the time” kind of Rad. Allow me to […]
Thanks to Dave Lunz for his report on the iSSi Trail Off-road Clipless Pedals you can read all about below! When the fine folks at iSSi pedals sent Sven unt Uncle Gomez a set of lime green Trail Off-road trail pedals to test, my name popped up right away for some reason! The first reason being […]
Vee Tire released several new tires at Eurobike/Interbike this year. One of which is the Snow Avalanche which comes in 26 x 4″ and 26 x 4.8″. They come in several different variations with both the 4″ and the 4.8″ versions coming in with a regular black rubber compound, the Pure Silica Compound (PSC) and […]
Fat bikes are still, somewhat of a niche right now. A byproduct of this is a lack of choices for fat bike specific components. Case in point, air suspension forks. It seems like there are a lot of choices (on paper) with Olaf, RST, Bluto & The fork of many names, but there can […]
Terrene is a new name on the fat bike block but is a company that brings some street cred to the neighborhood. Terrene is managed by Tim Krueger who previously worked as a brand manager for Salsa Cycles and is the founder of Advocate Cycles. Terrene recently came out with three tires: the Wazia which […]
Here’s a new fork with a familiar face and a name to remember. The Wren Sports Inverted Suspension fork is decidedly NOT the fork of many names that preceded this version of the fork that we’re currently testing. The Wren Sports Team brings a ton of Industry Experience to their suspension fork. If you’d like […]
Grips and Saddles. Ask any cyclist and they’ll tell you about their ‘go to’ brand and model. The answers that you collect will probably be all over the map. I’m a Brooks Swift Saddle and Ergon GP1 – Size Large for grippage. Most cyclists are very loyal to the touch point components (Seat/Grips/Pedals) that they […]
Carbon fibers according to Google are a material consisting of thin, strong crystalline filaments of carbon, used as a strengthening material, especially in resins and ceramics. Google says nothing about being a kick ass rim material for fat bikes. I’ve been riding aluminum rims for years and jumped at the chance to test […]
Back in July, I began testing my Amigo Jack’s new Blackjack Fate. We published a first look about the Fate in August – https://fat-bike.com/2016/08/first-look-fate-from-blackjack-bikes/. I pursued this review to see if an open mold, carbon fat-bike could hold a candle to the performance of two proprietary, high end, carbon fat-bikes that I spent time testing last […]
From the moment that I got my first glimpse of the Apache Fatty Slick from Vee Tire, it grabbed my attention as something that might work well for beach riding. Some of my Pac/West amigos have been experimenting with tire shaving on everything from Endomorphs to Snowshow 2XL’s to create the ultimate tire for beach […]
Uncle Gomez and the folks from Vittoria Tire recently helped Christmas come a bit early and sent me a pair of Vittoria Cannoli 26 x 4.8″ tires to test out. This is a tire I am pretty darned stoked about. The Surly Bud and Lou’s have been the king of the hill for all around […]
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, […]
We’re back with another thrilling episode of Gnome-Proof Gear. I’m your host, Gomez Alejandro Santana de Lago, and on this episode of GPG, thee Spinner Ryerson shares a hydration system for our amigos, of the four legged variety, His Honor, the Mayor of GnomeFest 13, Steve Meurett, nominates the Ibex Shaq for GPG status and […]
Ed – Greg Green took a “First Look” at the RST Renegade Fat-bike Fork several weeks back and now he comes at us with this long-term review after over 8 weeks of riding and tells us what he’s learned! Is the RST Renegade a contender or a pretender? Let’s find out! Hard to believe, […]
Our amigos from Vee Tire Co shared their 2017 catalog with us and they have 3 new fat-bike tires and a slew of Plus bike tires that will join their lineup for the upcoming season. These new varieties are not available quite, yet, but when they do become available, we’ll be putting them through our […]
The winter only fatbike realm has long since been left behind-thank goodness. This is not news-most of us who ride fatties, do so year round because they just work…are fun…go anywhere…handle well…go fast? Well, of course, if properly outfitted. Within a short period of time, manufacturers have evolved the stock fatbike into a do […]
Today we have a new tester to introduce! Greg Green lives on the Big Island of Hawaii and will be putting the RST Renegade fat-bike fork we got in for testing throughs it’s paces. Here we have a “First Impression” of the fork, installation and an initial ride or two. Look at the end of […]
So I’ve got to start this review with an admission of guilt, I’ve held the Lauf Carbonara hostage for the last few months. I’ve found reason after reason to hold onto this Iclandic Native. Sure this started innocent enough, A product review of the Lauf in late winter conditions. Well, with a little help […]
Back in December, we received our set of Barbegazi tires from our amigos at Bontrager and I called dibs on them, because I prefer to run 4.8’s that are moderately knobbed and that accurately describes the Barbegazi (BBZ). I had lost one of my favorite 45NRTH Dillinger 5 tires to a finger sized hole, no doubt, […]
While getting to test the latest and greatest gear is one of the perks of being a Bike Black Ribbon test rider, all our riders have their own fat-bikes, some more than one, so let’s take a look at what a few of them ride on their personal rigs starting with where the rubber meets […]
We first got a look at Paul Component Engineering’s Klamper brake as a prototype a couple of years back at Interbike when Paul showed us the first versions of the brake at his booth. At the 2015 show I cajoled Paul a bit more as I really wanted to get them on my rig to […]
Sean “Burnsey” Burns from Oddity Cycles sent us out a set of Oddity Razorbar Plus handlebars to check out. Not your average 5d/8d aluminum or carbon bars but real, steel, custom goodness made from 4130 Chromoly. As an avid singlespeeder, Burnsey was looking for rise and sweep for comfort, hooks for climbing and cruising, additional […]
All the way back in November a fancy box of Kuroshiro Enso 685 wheels showed up at World of Bikes. The ever-growing fat-bike market is constantly evolving to fit the needs of all sorts of riders, and high end components are definitely being asked for. Fat-bikes are getting faster. The rise of fat-bike dedicated […]
Product Spotlight: Dirt Components Thumper Carbon Fat Wheel Set By Dave Krueger Carbon wheel set you say? I got an email from Sven just before I headed up to Cable, WI for the Birkie. There were certainly other words in the email, but all I remember seeing in the email was “carbon wheel set” and […]
The postman told me that I had a large package…at the airport post office. I promptly drove down and retrieved a rather large, yet feather light package. Uncle Gomez sent me up a Lauf Carbonara fork to test. I was expecting a used and somewhat tortured demo unit, but I found a brand new fork in the box. As […]
There is hardly anything as sexy as slipping some carbon fiber of some sort onto your fatbike ride. Sure, fatbikes in the early days were pretty “big boned” and maybe not the most performance orientated as they are evolving to today. In the past, why slap spendy light pieces and parts on a tug boat […]
Last year Maxxis announced they would be adding some more big rubber to the fat bike scene, a snow specific tire and a pair of front and rear specific trail tires. The Colossus, Minion FBF, and Minion FBR, all available in 26 x 4.80 with EXO protection available. A slimmer 26 x 4.0 Minion […]
Fat-bike.com friend, Sam D, was looking for a way to stud the fat-bike tires that he currently owns and likes rather than buying a new set of dedicated, studded fat-bike tires. Grip Studs offered the perfect solution. Let’s see how Sam likes them! Grip Studs are a versatile option for those who prefer using tire […]
The Chester is a new flat pedal offered by Race Face, but who is this Chester they speak of? “I heard Chester made fun of Enduro before it was cool” and “I can’t ride today” said Chester NEVER, are a couple of things I’ve seen on the interwebs. I was curious if this new line […]
While Mother Nature was a bit stingy in supplying us Michiganders with powder earlier this winter, she has started to make up for it with some great January conditions. Through the course of late fall and early winter I have been able to put the Vee Tire 2XLs through a wide variety of conditions and I […]
Otis’s Story Timeline 12/25/2013 – Otis’s Introduction and Naming – http://fat-bike.com/2013/12/fatback-190-product-test-episode-1/ 12/25/2014 – Otis Turns One – http://fat-bike.com/2014/12/otis-turns-one-%E2%99%A6-fatback-long-term-review/ 2/5/2015 – Otis Gets Pimped – http://fat-bike.com/2015/02/otis-gets-pimped-part-one-otisgetspimped/ 6/18/2015 – Otis’s Pimped Parts Review – http://fat-bike.com/2015/06/hed-rims-onyx-racing-hubs-paul-skewers-6-month-review/ That brings us to today and a story that could be called Otis Gets Pimped, Part Two! I had planned all along to apply some sort […]
