Schwalbe Tires started manufacturing the Al Mighty a couple of years ago as an OE exclusive for MAXX bikes in Germany according to www.fat-bike.de. And then last week, I saw that Graham Foot of Smokestone Bikes was riding a set and had them for sale at his shop Slam69 in the UK Here’s Graham Foot’s […]
Archive | Tires
Spring Bike Safari – Made U.P. Lake Ehfect
I’ve had a plan to get up to the UP to ride for at least a couple of years. Ever since Jason at Bearclaw Bikes announced their drop-bar fatty called the TOWMAK I dreamt about returning to the vast Huron National Forest and its hundreds of miles of rustic roads, trails, and beaches. So when […]
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 […]
45NRTH Wrathlorde 26×4.2 Studded Tire (long term) Review
I’ve ridden my share of studded fat bike tires over the years. Back before fat bikes, we used to run Nokian Extreme studded tires on our 26″ mountain bikes to extend the riding season, and since the invention of the fat bike, I’ve ridden a broad variety of studded tire brands, tread patterns, and sizes. […]
What to get your Fat-Bike for Valentines’ Day ♥
Want to show your fat bike some love this winter? Here are our top-ten ideas for what you should get your Fat Bike for Valentines’ Day. Click the photo to see more! If your fat bike is anything like my fat bike, Ten Beers, it could use a spa day. My bike is usually pretty […]
Billy Flamingos Stud Nuggets by Scott Peterson
Fatbike tires in general already offer outstanding traction and ride quality in a wide variety of conditions. For sandy beach riding or snow of any depth, fat tires are a necessity. Why would any fat bike rider need studs? Ice. As much as most of us love snow, ice is always some factor in […]
Terrene Tire 27.5 x 4.3 Yipee Ki Yay mid-term review
Terrene Tire collaborated with Corvus Cycles to develop a new 27.5 tire specifically targeted on the sweet spot between 4.0 and 4.5. The Yipee Ki Yay’s 4.3″ width differentiates it from every other 27.5″ fat bike tire available today. The size of this tire follows the ‘Goldilocks Principle’ where a rider that rides a 4.0 […]
Terrene Tires – Yipee Ki Yay (motherf*cker)
Just in time for the holidays, Terrene Tires Announces the 27.5×4.3 Yipee Ki Yay Fat Tire. We got word that the YKY was coming out and look forward to putting a pair through their paces as soon as they’re available. Here’s the news release from the Krueger Bros. Flathead Valley, MT — November 24, 2021 […]
CABDA Midwest Report
It’s been a long time since I’ve walked the floors of a convention center filled with the latest and greatest products from the bicycle industry, but earlier this week, I laced up a pair of comfortable shoes and drove down to Schaumburg, Illinois to explore the aisles of the CABDA show. CABDA isn’t open to […]
Factory Studs vs. Aftermarket Bike Studs
Have you ever wondered if hand-studded tires are as good as factory-studded ones? I spent last winter on a pair of 45NRTH Dillinger 27.5 x 4 – 120 tpi tubeless ready tires. One of them came to me as a new factory studded tire and the other one was ridden for a season of dirt […]
First Look – Fatback Big Su Carbon 27.5 Wheels
I’ve been riding a set of Fatback’s Big Su 27.5 Carbon Wheels for the last month on my Fatback Corvus FLT. March is a great time to experience virtually, all four seasons in America’s Dairyland. I just mounted my third different set of tires on our test wheels to keep up with the rapid transition […]
First Look – Revo Loop Tubes
I know that like many of you boys and girls out there in bikeland there’s a fat-bike in my care that still uses inner tubes. I run tubeless in most of my bikes but I still carry a tube with me on every ride (just in case). Today we’re going to take a look at […]
Danger Gnome Podcast Made in MN Holiday Special
The Danger Gnome Podcast – January 2021

New Whisky Parts No. 9 Wheels – Show & Tell
We take a new set of Whisky Parts No. 9 carbon fiber wheels out of the box for a bit of show and tell.
Gravel Tire Trio Panaracer/Maxxis/Bontrager
It’s been a summer to remember, that’s for certain. I’ve been lucky enough to log over thirty-five hundred miles so far this year and a bunch of those miles have been riding a trio of gravel bike tires on a trio of gravel bikes. Here’s a bit of feedback about the Panaracer Gravel King SS, […]
Teravail Rutland Review – By Andy Amstutz
I suppose I could have decided to go about writing this review in a Scooby-Doo type style, which would have been the road our favorite website curator may have gone. It would have started with something like, “Rut-Row Raggy…these Teravail Rutland tires are rad rad rad”, but that wouldn’t be my style and I wouldn’t […]
Teravail Coronado 29×2.80 Tanwall Tire Review
About eighteen months ago we took possession of a set of 29×2.80 Teravail Coronado tires. You might say that this was the set of tires that started the thought process that gave birth to the new set of Bike Nerd inspired 35mm (id) wheels. This is what I closed our first article about the tires […]
First Look Bontrager XR5 Team Issue TLR 29 x 2.60 MTB Tires
It’s been one hell of a good spring for hitting the dirt and a new set of wheels that Adam Blake built up provides the right width rim to delve into the ‘don’t call me plus-sized’ 29 x 2.6 category. I peeled off the set of Teravail 2.8″ Coronados (full review is in the works) […]
(bikenerd) 29+ Wheelset – RaceFace AC 35 Rims, DT Comp Spokes & White Industries M16 Hubs
If you follow the site, you may have seen Bikenerd’s Plus Bike Editorial that we published at the end of 2019 and maybe you’ve been following some of the podcast discussions that we’ve had with Adam Blake about plus bike rim width. After digesting all of that information, I decided to have Adam build a […]
45NRTH Tan Helga 27.5 x 4.0 Review
Back at the very end of 2019, I started riding a set of 45NRTH Van Helga 27.5 x 4.0 tires on a pair of Fatback Big Su wheels. We shared ‘first looks’ about the Tan Helgas and the Big Su Wheelset HERE & HERE. This story will be a review of the Van Helga tires […]

Niche Bike News – The Moment – Sram AXS – Terevail Tires – Surly Home Delivery – Global (online) Bike Festival – CONTEST!
Red Bull created a documentary film about the origins of Freeride MTB with interviews with Wade Simmons, Richie Schley, and Brett Tippe. The trailer is above and a link to the full-length film is below. I went down this rabbit hole and I was glad that I did! https://www.redbull.com/gb-en/films/the-moment?fbclid=IwAR3enabBhb4kqfBnqfhiZT-MCR6kym4raUY98RNW0jWa8afERzoZPwl_rgE Sram AXS SRAM’s AXS Web Ride […]
CABDA MidWest SitRep
I made a trip to what I like to call the belly of the beast, Schaumburg, Illinois, yesterday to browse groovy cycling wares at the CABDA Midwest Expo. CABDA has been around for a long, long time. Way back in the last century, the shop that I worked at (ABC Cyclery) used to prep and […]
Terrene Tires Johnny 5 Review
The True Detective Dime Novel Johhny 5 Tire Review
First Look – 45NRTH Van Helga 27.5 x 4.0 (Tan Helga)
Otis w/VanHelga in 2014 It’s been a number of years since I’ve ridden a pair of 45NRTH Van Helga Tires. The best that I can tell, it was back in 2014. We’ve published two reviews by a couple of different product testers and the results are all pretty positive. Ken Blakey-Shell wrote, “I think the […]
45NRTH Wrathlorde Update
I wanted to post an update about these 45NRTH Wrathlorde 26 x 4.2 studded tires. We initially mounted these bad boys on a set of 100mm rims and published a report here. We read some of your interesting comments about the Wrathlordes on our social media feed. One cat said we had created a very […]
The 2019 Fat Bike Holiday Gift Guide
The 2019 Fat-Bike Holiday Gift Guide
First Look – 45NRTH Wrathlorde 26×4.2 Tire
Last week, just as I was leaving to go to the Funduro down in Illinois, our set of 45NRTH Wrathlordes was delivered. This is the most exciting new set of tires that I’ve laid eyes on since say…the Johnny Fives last winter. The Wrathlordes sport 300 concave studs per tire with an aggressive tread pattern […]
New 45NRTH Wrathlorde & Vanhelga Tires
45NRTH has introduced two new fat bike tires for winter riding the Wrathlorde and the Vanhelga. Here’s the full rundown from 45NRTH! Wrathlorde 26 Wrathlorde is our all-new fat bike tire for hitting the sketchiest trails you can find this winter. Wrathlorde’s 300 studs—more than any other tire in the 45NRTH lineup—deliver unparalleled grip on […]
Product Spotlight – 45NRTH Hüsker Dü 26 x 4.8 Tires
Some time ago, 45NRTH released their tried & true Hüsker Dü in a 4.8″ width. Mi amigo Adam Blake had a pair and told me that they were the cat’s pajamas and hell man, Jay Petervary rode a set on his Salsa Blackborow a thousand miles to Nome in the ITI. I’ve never tried to […]
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 […]
Mid-Term Report: Terrene Cake Eater 27.5 x 4.5
I have been testing the 27.5 x 4.5 Terrene Cake Eaters since late fall and up until very recently Mother Nature has not been very giving with the snowfall in our area. Luckily we got about 4′ of snow in 10 days recently and it allowed me to get out and get a more well-rounded […]
Mid-Term Report: 27.5×4″ 45NRTH Van Helga
At the beginning of this winter I got a bunch of tires to test, mostly of the 27.5 fat variety. Of the tires I have available, I have been riding the 27.5×4 45NRTH Van Helgas far more than anything else. Part of this is because Mother Nature had been stingy with snow but even more […]
First Look – 45NRTH Van Helga – 27.5 x 4.0
The 27.5 fat tire selection continues to expand and this is the second tire that 45NRTH has offered in the 27.5 size (the other being the Dillinger 4). For those of you not familiar with the 45NRTH line of tires, the Van Helga is their more aggressive 4″ tire that is designed for “all-round mixed […]
Fatback Big Su Review
Back in September, we spotlighted the Fatback Big Su Wheelset and after a couple months of gnome roping, we’re back with a full review. I’ve been running the Big Su’s on my ‘murdered out’ Fatback Corvus FLT – [code name: ten beers] with a set of Schwalbe 26×4.0 Jumbo Jims (tubeless). I took a […]
First Look – Terrene 27.5×4.5 Cake Eaters
There are a lot of people excited about the Terrene Johnny 5 because it has been touted as a potential Bud/Lou challenger and I have to list myself as one of them. That said, I think I am actually even more excited about another Terrene tire; the 27.5×4.5″ Cake Eater. I didn’t realize this until […]
Teravail Coronado 29 x 2.8 Light & Supple Tan Wall Plus Tires
Just when you thought (or perhaps hoped) that 29 plus might be fading into history, QBP’s newest tire brand, Teravail has come out with the 29+ Coronado. Our pair of test tires is the Teravail Coronado 29 x 2.8 Light & Supple Tan Wall version. They also come in black sidewalls if you happen to have a […]
First Look – 45NRTH Dillinger – 27.5 x 4.0 – By Seth Bell
Fat-bikers of the world with that newfangled 27.5” wheel size rejoice, for more tires choices are here! Fat-bike.com HQ has received some of the new size offerings from 45NRTH for testing, and today we’ll take a first look at the 27.5×4.0” Dillinger 4. The 27.5” Dillinger uses the same tread pattern and stud placement […]
Teravail Coronado 26 x 4.0 final thoughts – By Seth Bell
Howdy campers. You may remember that back in May (holy smokes, how is it already almost October?!) we received a pair of Teravail’s Light and Supple Coronado tires for testing. If you missed the initial review, check the link here: https://fat-bike.com/2018/06/teravail-coronado-26-x-4-0-review-by-seth-bell/ After riding the Coronados over the Summer, we’re here with a final review and score. […]
First Look – Fatback Big Su 26″ Wheels
Back in the springtime at Sea Otter, muh man Fuzzy showed me Fatback’s new Big Su Aluminum Tubeless Ready Rim. The new rim weighs in at an ultra-svelte 640g. I’m not talking about ‘light for an alloy set of wheels’. I’m talking lighter than a bunch of the double wall carbon wheels on the market. Last April […]
Product Spotlight – Terrene Johnny 5 (26×5.0) Tires
For some time now, Terrene Tire’s Tim Krueger has been talking about a true five inch wide, aggressive new tire that he’s been developing to give ‘the Surly’ Bud & Lou a run for their money as far as holding the title as the biggest and most aggressive fat-bike tires available (in the WORLD!) This new […]
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 […]
News – 45NRTH Launches 27.5 Vans and Dills
A couple of days ago, our amigos up there in Bloomington (45NRTH) announced that they’ll be offering two of their popular fat-bike tread patterns in 27.5. The Non-studded Dillinger 4 and the Van Helga are available now. The Studded Dillinger 4’s will be in stores sometime in October according to the Q-Mothership. The two new […]
Comparison of Four 29×2.6″ Tires
If you follow bike media you will know that at one point not that long ago 2.8-3″ plus tires were the greatest thing ever. Now the talk is that they are too squishy and vague but 2.6″ tires are the goldilocks size, splitting the difference between traditional MTB tires and “full” plus tires. Personally, 2.6″ […]
Teravail Coronado 26 x 4.0 Mid-Term Review – By Seth Bell
Hello, lovelies. Coming atcha fresh from the Fat-bike.com testing grounds is our review of Teravail’s 26×4.0 “Light and Supple” Coronado tires. To give the Coronados the best test possible over the course of just a few weeks, I swapped them between three different bikes for a more well rounded review. Testing was done mostly […]