Shortly after launching the #fattestdayride celebration, I started to think about what I should do to celebrate the Solstice. I thought that a pagan weekend of bike chicanery at Levis sounded like a good plan for what mi amigo, Erv Spanks reminded me is the third fat-bike holiday on the calendar. I somehow managed to […]
Video Interviews with Charlie Hobbs, Jeff Price, John Climber, and the Coast Kid, Bruce Mathieson about the UK Fat-Bike Scene, Packrafting, and more.
Fat-Tribe Friday is back with a coast to coast – North, East, South & West – all across the US representation of fun on bikes! Bob Bernoth is a fan of our Podcasts from New Hampshire. Dudley also hails from the Granite State and he sent us some pretty hilarious stuff along with this shot […]
Wyatt Maverick Full Review I have had the privilege of riding the new Wyatt Maverick for the majority of the winter. This is the second iteration of their Maverick Fat-bike that is meant for all-around getting rowdy. I was able to ride the first generation of this fat-bike for a couple of races last year, […]
With my mission of relocating to the Front Range of Colorado complete, I was the logical (and all too willing) choice when the call came out to test the fresh from the Front Range, newly redesigned 2020 REEB Donkadonk (from here on out just Donk). If you don’t know, REEB is the bike brand started […]
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 […]
I am delighted to bring to you the new and improved Wyatt Maverick. They have completely redesigned the rear end of the bike with a cnc’d seatstay yoke to match their chainstay yoke. This is all matched to rectangular stays and machined dropouts. This is all beautifully manufactured from blocks and tubes in their new […]
Our Fatbassador to Alaska and the Yukon Territories shares his thoughts on the Defiance Frameworks AK Bike Project # 4 in a long term Bike Review – ala choy
This past November we introduced you to the new Kona Woo Fat Bike. The version we received came with the 12-speed NX Eagle kit. Here is the link to the first review article for all the specs and initial thoughts. https://fat-bike.com/2019/11/first-look-2020-kona-woo-by-jp-syverud. I decided to test this bike out on every style of trail condition. Someday I […]
This article originally appeared on the Everyday Cycles (where John purchased his RSD Sergeant with his own hard-earned money) website and is used with permission. The Sergeant has been in RSD’s line up since 2016, occupying the niche that’s known to us as a mountain bike, the regular trail ripper for regular riders to have […]
The fine folks from Kona bikes sent the Fat-Bike Test Labs a 2020 Kona Woo fat bike for some testing. This is the overlooked middle child between their Wo and the Wozo in their fat bike line. This model is spec’d out with SX Eagle and has a rigid carbon fork with three-pack cage mounts […]
One day after work, before dinner was on the table, I check my email to see that Tio Gomez sent a call out to the Bike Black Ribbon Test Squad asking if anyone wanted the opportunity to test out the Giant Yukon, why, and what size. Knowing that the Yukon rolls on 27.5 wheels is […]
Editor’s Note – we should probably try to set some parameters for what we’re referring to when we talk about a ‘legacy fat-bike’. Legacy fat-bikes usually have a drive train with more than one front chainring. They generally have quick-release skewers instead of thru-axles. They might have a fork with front axle spacing that is […]
Building on the Original Whiteout Carbon The following is a news release from 9:Zero:7 Bikes… Anchorage, AK. October 30, 2020 At 9:ZERO:7, we take fatbikes very seriously. In 2013, our Carbon Whiteout led the industry in high performance racing fat bikes and we wanted to make sure that our new Lynx was an improvement on […]
Custom Quadrangle Fat! made in Kalispell Montana.
Our amigos at Otso just announced four new colors for the (plus+fat) Voytek with new graphics and new drive train options that feature Shimano and Sram 12-speed propulsion systems. The Voytek hasn’t changed from the bike that we loved both times that we published reviews in 2017 and 2018. We’ve tested the Voytek with both […]
It’s not often that hand-built custom fat bikes arrive in the test hopper at Fat-Bike.com. I got a message from Daniel Countiss, owner of Defiance Frameworks, that he would like to have one of his titanium bikes reviewed last spring. I jumped right on it and contacted Gomez, we’re all in. Defiance Frameworks is based […]
Alice & the Borealis Tejon It’s been a busy summer. Parts of the family spent time in Central America, others spent time in northern Ontario, and some did the premiere midwest mountain bike road trip. Between all the coming and going, we still made time to hit our local trails and what’s left of our […]
It’s been a while since the Black Bike Ribbon Test Pilot – Youth Division was put to work but with the recent release from Borealis Fat Bikes, Uncle Gomez hired Alice to test out their 24in kid’s fat bike….The Tejon. Kids get older and grow faster than a good night’s sleep so this’ll probably be […]
PUTTING SOME TIME ON THE BOREALIS TELLURIDE In early March, I received this Colorado designed beast of a fat bike from the gnome master himself, Gomez, to put through the paces for a couple months. You can find his initial impressions and unpacked review here. My duties were to feel the bike out in two […]
On this episode of the DGP we ‘Ask Adam’ a question from Eric Owsley. Eric hails from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. After that, we focus in on the subject of Ski Area Bike Access with the General Manager of Alpine Valley Resort, Jamison Stachel. We close the show with band and cult leader, […]
For the past two months, I’ve been riding the newest version of the RSD Mayor Aluminum fat bike, appropriately named V4 (version 4). If my local riding crew is any indicator of how much I enjoyed riding and testing this fat bike, I’d bet they’d all agree that I was thoroughly stoked during the time […]
Editor’s Note: There are so many builders of exquisite bicycles located all over the US that can’t take the time or expense to hit NAHBS every year. Other shows like the one in Philly draw regional builders. The great lakes or the mid-west area doesn’t have a regional handbuilt show and it’s been a while […]
Back in February, we received a Borealis Telluride demo to ride and review. We took the bike down into the shop and built it up just in time for our product tester (Ronsta) to be headed out of town on vacation. Since the bike was the size I ride, I decided upon a short term […]
(Editor’s Note) – The following is from our old friend Will Ross! Will recently made a career move to the Trek Store of Anchorage and that means that he’s riding a new bike! We asked Will if he could write a story about his new whip and the rather fantastic results are below. I have […]
Giant Bicycles has finally joined just about everyone else and is offering a fat-bike called the Yukon. It will come in two models the Yukon 1 and the Yukon 2. The two new models are both aluminum with 27.5 wheels. MSRP is $1630 for the Yukon 2 and $2100 for the Yukon 1. Yukon 1 […]
I like being medium. Medium is good. Vertically…I’m medium. I’m about halfway between two extremes of height. In other words, I’m average. Doors open up for those above me and those below but recently, one opened up for me in the form of a fat bike to test and review. Medium has its benefits […]
Last time that I was up to visit Scott & Christina Quiring we talked a lot about 27.5 fat-bike wheels and Scott told me that he was working on a bike specifically designed to run the new sized wheels with the new gargantuan Terrene Tires 4.5″ Cake Eaters…(Project Abominable) We left an asset in place […]
Just before the Holidays hit (with a thud), I day tripped out to where the cheese curtain meets the mighty Mississippi River to visit the Wyatt Bicycle Company in LaCrosse. Back in the day, LaCrosse hosted mtb races out at a private campground called Blueberry Springs. Way back in like nineteen 89? a bunch of us […]
JP gets REEB’ed by JP Syverud Well, it finally happened. My dream has finally come true. I got REEB’d! I have always wanted to have a custom fat bike built just for me. I sold a few bikes and other things lying around the house just to gather enough acorns to get this thing built. Be warned, this isn’t for the faint of heart. It took some sacrifice, but in the […]
The final stop of my December trip to visit three Michigan bicycle companies landed me in Traverse City, Michigan. I made arrangements to meet at Einstein Cycles with both Keith Conway, who manages the shop and Jason Lowetz who owns both Einstein Cycles and the Bearclaw Bicycle Company. Einstein Cycles (Jason) launched the Bearclaw Bicycle Co. […]
The last time that I’d visited Scott and Christina Quiring at their shop in Free Soil Michigan was back in the spring of 2012. Free Soil sits between hundreds of thousands of acres of National Forest and one of the best Lake Michigan beaches that I’ve ever ridden. It’s a veritable Fat-Bike Paradise. I’ve been fortunate to […]
Earlier in December, I visited three Michigan bicycle companies on a short press junket and this is the first story that I’ll write from those travels. My first stop on the trip was to RAD Bicycle Company which is run by Matt Craig and Mark Major in Pinckney Michigan. RAD is focused on making handmade steel plus […]
A year has passed since I first rode my Fatback Corvus FLT for the first time. I swear that time just goes by faster and faster when you’re having fun. The road that set me on the path to riding a Fatback Corvus FLT goes back even further than that, but you probably started reading […]
Sometimes I’m not sure of who I am. A father, a husband, a surveyor, or just Kato’s roadie who drinks for free (even if it means stealing L7’s beer, but that’s a story for another time). We all have different parts to play throughout our lives, sometimes balancing out multiple facets of ourselves within […]
This is the second report from a Road Trip to points west of the Mississippi last month. After spending a rainy weekend in Fruita, to visit some friends, I made my way to Carbondale Colorado to get a peek behind the Titanium Curtain at Why Cycles. It poured rain all the way there and my […]
It’s been a long and sometimes strange journey that’s led to my review of the new Salsa Beargrease. Back in March of 2017, I had just won the Fat Bike Birkie and right after I rolled over the finish line was when I first met Gomez. He was standing there, staring at me with […]
First things first. Fat bikes and skate parks do not mix. (with my skill-set) Well…more to the point, super knobby fat bike tires (look’n at you Terrene Wazias!) and skate parts do not mix; for the general reason of causing me to scrub too much speed up the transition, further causing me to stall out before […]
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 […]
So, there I was, in the middle of a serious negotiation for a new camper. The wife and I were working the salesman over, trying to better our trade-in when I happened to look at my phone and see a message from everyone’s favorite uncle, Tio Gomez! “Any interest in testing out the new ICT?” […]
You may ask yourself who is Why? Why Cycles is a fairly new company, being about 2 years old. Their focus is making high-performance, titanium bicycles, with their newest release being the Big Iron fat bike. Why may be fairly new, but the company is made up a number of individuals that have extensive […]
Product Spotlight- Framed Alaskan Carbon By JP Syverud The story of how I became the test pilot that gets to field test the new Framed Alaskan Carbon goes back to last winter. Tio Gomez and I were sitting at the bar at the Sawmill Saloon up in Seely, Wisconsin. It was the day […]
Otso Cycles hails from Burnsville, MN., which is a long ways from where the brand’s identity is rooted. In Finnish mythology, Otso is the Spirit of the Bear; the noble king of the forest, a spirit of strength and courage, and also a relative with whom we share our adventures in and out of the […]
I had just hooked my daughter up with a brand new 29er, and was feeling some serious bike envy, when I received a timely phone call from a certain Mr. Gomez. My pleading instruction for my next bike to test was “gimme somethin baller” so I could stop feeling so left out of the cool […]
