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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
The folks up in Waterloo sent us some of their new tires this week and we thought that we might just as well march them out and throw the old product spotlight on them for everyone to see. The Hodag is back in Bontrager’s Fat-Bike Tire round-up for two thousand and sixteen and is joined by […]
I read on the interwebz that the new Vee Tire Snowshoe 2XL tire will fit in a Salsa Blackborow with the rear drop outs adjusted wide open. I just got my hands on our first pair of production 2XL’s, so I emailed my contact at Salsa, Mike Riemer, up at the Q mother-ship and asked “Have […]
Preston from VeeTire Co gives us a look at the Snowshoe 2XL which is currently the largest fat-bike tire at 5.05″. For more info check out http://veetireco.com.
It’s Day 3 – Part Two of the Interbike rodeo championships at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas. We walked six miles yesterday and we’re looking to set a new strava, personal best, today at the ole trade show. (Can you strava a trade show floor?) Much of what we saw in the fat and plus bike […]
By : Steve Meurett It’s said first impressions are often correct, but not always correct. Mounting a new pair of tires on a fatbike and making a snap judgement on one or two rides isn’t fair – it requires rolling out on different soil conditions and with pressure adjustments to offer a well rounded opinion. The […]
Back in July, I was dispatched to Utah for a mission, to document and photograph, Surly’s new fat-bike. I was also headed there to attend the Quality Bicycle Products, western dealer round-up, called Saddle Drive. After I shot a slew of photos of the new Salsa’s, I met my contact, John Fleck (special ops edition) in the Needles […]
So you get a new fat bike as winter 2015 comes to a close and the thought is, “O well, that was nice, put it in the bike storage until next winter so I can ride it again.” Wrong homie. I took out Salsa Beargrease X01 on the red dirt bacon strip of Cuyuna […]
Vee Tire has quietly made a new fat bike tire available to the public and it is going to raise a lot of eyebrows in the fatty world. It is called the Snowshoe 2XL and the listed size is 26 x 5.05 inches. The crazy part is, it is even bigger than the listed size […]
Vee Tire Company has their new tires for 2016 ready to unveil at Euro & Interbike and they sent us a sneak peek to share with our readers! The really big news (literally) is the Snowshoe 2XL 26 x 5.05. The fattest of the fat has arrived! Vee will also be offering their tires in […]
Our friends at Vittoria Tire found us a set of Bomboloni 26 x 4’s’ah, to put through our tire testing regiment. Sven and I saw these bad boys, back at Sea Otter and we’ve been waiting to get our hands on them, ever since! Our test tire’s casing measured 96mm wide, when mounted to 65mm Marge […]
By : Chris Zito Knards When Surly first came out with the Pugsley I found myself one Christmas Eve riding the shores of Lake Michigan wondering, “Could cycling get any more fun?”. Well, it has. It’s called the Knard 26×4.8. Obviously, there has been a ton of evolution in the “fad” that is referred to […]
Being part of the Bike Black Ribbon crew has it´s benefits. Not only did I have the opportunity to ride an awesome fat bike from MAXX this winter. This bad girl was also equipped with a pair of, hard to find, Schwalbe Jumbo Jim 4.8” tires. These babies are as rare as a worm in a tequila […]
Our pair of test Dirt Wizards arrived at the Fat-Bike.com – Colonel Steve Austin Memorial Test Bunker and Proving Grounds late this afternoon and all plans for launching the fat-bike.com mobile command center got put on hold…..because this is the tire that we’ve all been waiting for! You know the first thing that we do, […]
Editor’s Note : We shot the video above at interbike back in September of 2014. In a strange twist of fate, Eric Sovern (from the planet Surly) shows us both a Dirt Wizard and Surly’s five inch Knard in the video. The Knards are in stores now, and Dirt Wizards just went live on QBP.com […]
Luckily for those of us with 29+ bikes, new tire offereings continue to trickle in. This year at FrostBike, Vittoria joined the 29+ club and unveiled a new 29×3.0 tire called the Bomboloni (Italian for filled doughnut). Vittoria? Mountain bike tires? Yep. Vittoria, the parent company of Geax, has decided to consolidate their MTB line under […]
Look what just came into the Colonel Steve Austin, Fat-Bike test labs nestled here in America’s Dairyland. The great and powerful Surly Knard, super-sized to a full 4.8 inches wide. This is a tire that spent considerable time in development, which makes their arrival to us all the more special! The photo above shows one […]
This is a short-term/initial thoughts review. I have only gotten about a month of time on these tires but luckily it was long enough to get in rides with a wide enough range of conditions from mid-winter to spring snow. This was more than enough time to get a good feel for them. If you […]
Having tested the Bontrager Hodag on Cuyuna‘s red dirt single track, I was excited to experience first-hand how these 3.8″ tires perform on our groomed single track. This follow-up story was delayed as central Minnesota didn’t receive snow until the end of February. We were instead blessed with months of iced single track. Ice so […]
Our amigos at 45nrth sent us a set of these beauties just in time for a big old fat snow storm that dumped a foot of snow on the gnome-lands about a month ago. I took them on a few rides from busting fresh powder during the storm to riding some grooming that I had done at […]
Let me just get to the point and write that these tires are da bomb. They are fairly light (for a 3” 29er tire), the tread design rolls well, grips like a slot car in most conditions, seems to have good durability and has awesome tubeless characteristics. If you are looking for 29er+ tires, I […]
