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Weekly Dose of Fat - Thursday, October 22, 2026
This week: year-round fat-bike riding, Terrene tires back on the shelf, new cargo hardware, Salsa Heyday! CUES deals, and a winter calendar that’s filling in.
There aren't any major new fat-bike launches this week, but there is plenty that's actually useful. We've got a good discussion about whether a fat-bike needs snow to justify its place in your quiver, better availability on some familiar tires, an interesting TPU tube option, and more winter events getting their details sorted out.
Let's get into it.
The Big Stuff
Do You Really Need Snow or Sand to Own a Fat-Bike?
A discussion over on Reddit caught my attention this week. Someone is considering buying the new State 6061 Trail+ v2 but doesn't live somewhere with much snow or sand, so the question was pretty straightforward: Does owning a fat-bike still make sense?
The responses were about what you'd expect from a group of fat-bike enthusiasts, but they were interesting nonetheless. Riders talked about using their bikes on ordinary singletrack, gravel, rocky trails, neighborhood streets and casual group rides. Some acknowledged that a conventional mountain bike would probably be faster or more efficient in many of those places, but that wasn't necessarily why they were riding the fat-bike.
As a year ‘round fat-biker, snow and sand were the obvious answers, but they were never the only answers.
If you had to give up every bicycle except one, could your fat-bike be that bike? That's a discussion I'd like to continue over in the Fat-bike Lab.
Terrene Has Fat-Bike Tires on the Shelf
This isn't a new-product announcement, but tire availability is news when you're dealing with a category where your local shop probably doesn't have a wall full of 4 and 5-inch rubber.
Terrene currently has most of its core fat-bike lineup available, including several sizes of Cake Eater, the 27.5 x 4.3 Yippee Ki Yay, the 26 x 5.0 Johnny 5 and the studded 26 x 4.6 Wazia. There are both studded and studdable options across much of the range, and Terrene says all of its current tires are tubeless compatible.
There are still a few holes. The 26 x 4.0 Cake Eater Light Studded, for example, is currently sold out. But compared with some periods when finding the particular fat-bike tire you wanted became an exercise in internet archaeology, the selection looks pretty healthy.
If your tires were already looking tired when you hung the bike up last spring, now is probably a better time to figure that out than the night before the first decent snow.
Also of note to those of you running tubeless, check that fluid!
Old Man Mountain Updates Its Axle Pack
Old Man Mountain has introduced the second generation of its Axle Pack, designed to add cargo mounting points to forks that don't already have them.
The new version weighs 59 grams per side, about 20 percent less than the original, and attaches through a compatible thru-axle fit kit rather than clamping around the fork legs. A pair costs $60 before the required axle hardware and carries up to 22 pounds between the two sides.
This could be useful for fat-bike touring, particularly on bikes with suspension forks or limited accessory mounts. The big question for us is compatibility with common 150mm fat-bike front axles, and that's something I'd want to confirm before calling it a solution for every fat-bike fork.
More Fall Fat-Bike Racing in Michigan
Michigan continues to provide evidence that fat-bike racing isn't exclusively a winter activity.
This Sunday, October 25, Shelden's BIG Bang takes place at Stony Creek Metropark in Shelby Township, with dedicated men's and women's open fat-bike categories. The fat-bike race covers roughly 17 miles on a combination of singletrack and two-track.
We've now found enough fall races maintaining fat-bike classes that I'm starting to wonder how many people are actively choosing the big tires for regular racing rather than simply keeping the fat-bike in rotation until the snow arrives.
If that's you, I'd be interested in hearing why.
The Fat Bike Loppet Returns With Three Distances
The 2027 Fat Bike Loppet is scheduled for February 7 in Minneapolis, with 30K, 20K and 10K options.
What makes this one particularly interesting is access. Riders get onto groomed ski trails that normally aren't open to bicycles, and the shorter 10K Tour gives people a way to experience that terrain without committing to a full race.
Events like this are a good reminder that successful winter fat-biking depends on more than bikes and tires. Grooming, trail access and cooperation between user groups are every bit as important.
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Gear & Bikes
Clik Has a TPU Tube Specifically for Fat-Bikes
Clik now offers its AeroBlue TPU tube in a 26 x 4.0–4.5-inch fat-bike size for $28. It uses a 48mm stem with Clik's removable valve core and is specifically designed around the very low pressures and large air volume of a fat-bike tire.
TPU tubes are interesting for fat-bikes even if you're running tubeless. A conventional spare tube for a 4-plus-inch tire takes up a ridiculous amount of space in a bag, while the big attraction of TPU is how compactly it packs.
Clik is also emphasizing air retention and minimizing the little pressure loss that happens when disconnecting a pump, which starts to matter more when you're adjusting pressures down in the single digits.
I'm interested in trying one of these as a packable emergency tube and possibly as my go to instead of tubeless. I reached out to see if we can get a pair or 3 for testing.
There Are Deals on the Salsa Heyday! CUES
The arrival of the new Beargrease doesn't make Salsa's more traditional Heyday! CUES any less useful.
The aluminum Heyday! runs 26 x 4.6-inch 45NRTH Dillinger 5 tires on 80mm Mulefüt rims, with a Shimano CUES 1x10 drivetrain, hydraulic brakes and Salsa's adjustable Alternator dropouts. It also has the mounting options that made the Mukluk/Heyday platform such a useful fat-bikepacking bike in the first place.
Salsa’s site currently lists the 2025 Heyday! CUES at $1,699 with some sizes at $1,359, and discounted inventory is starting to show up through dealers, with at least some bikes being advertised around $1,299. Availability and pricing will vary by size and dealer, so this is one where it's worth shopping around.
At $1,299 to $1,699, it also makes an interesting comparison with the new $1,199 State 6061 Trail+ v2. They're very different takes on an aluminum fat-bike at the affordable end of the market.
Fat-Bikes in the Wild
Maine Has Plenty of Places to Ride Them
If you're already thinking about a winter road trip, Down East Magazine's guide to fat-biking in Maine is worth putting in the bookmarks.
Maine has developed into one of those places where winter cycling isn't dependent on a single destination. Between trail centers, Nordic areas and other groomed networks, there's enough going on to build a trip around riding rather than hoping one local trail happens to be good.
Around Fat-bike.com
The State 6061 Trail+ v2 Conversation Continues
Last week we covered the launch of State Bicycle Co.'s substantially redesigned 6061 Trail+ v2. The $1,199.99 complete bike gets updated geometry, thru-axles, hydraulic brakes and 26 x 4.5-inch tires.
Now we're seeing riders discuss the bike as a possible year-round mountain bike rather than something they'd only use in winter. That makes me even more interested in getting one out on the trails.
State has offered us a review bike, so we'll find out.
The Events Calendar Is Growing
I've been going through the Fat-bike.com Events Calendar and comparing the listings with current information from race organizers.
We've found several additional 2027 events along with a few existing listings that need updating. The goal is to make the page genuinely useful when you're deciding where to ride, race or spend a winter weekend.
If you're organizing something we don't have listed, send the information our way. [email protected]
Quick Hits
BESPOKED heads to Osaka. The handmade bicycle show runs October 23–25 at the GLION Museum with more than 70 independent makers and brands. I'm always interested in seeing what small builders come up with when they aren't designing around the largest possible market.
Norpine is shaping up as a full weekend. The January 8–10 Fat Bike Classic includes Saturday racing, a Friday evening Dark Sky Tour and a Sunday group ride. It's a good excuse to spend a winter weekend along Minnesota's North Shore.
St. Croix 40 registration is open. The January 9–10 winter ultra near Hinckley combines roughly 40 miles of winter travel with required survival gear and equipment demonstrations. Forty miles as the introductory winter ultra says something about the people who do these things.
Cuyuna is preparing for Global Fat-Bike Day. The December 5 Intergalactic Fat Bike Day ride starts at Red Raven Bikes in Crosby, Minnesota. It's a free social ride, with rentals available and hot drinks afterward.
Tuscobia enters a new chapter. Kari Gibbons and Erik Raivo are taking over organization of the Wisconsin winter ultra. The 2027 event runs January 1–3, continuing one of the events that helped define winter endurance riding in the Midwest.
Fat Bike Worlds heads to Canada. The 2027 championships are scheduled for February 26–28 in Kimberley, British Columbia, bringing the event to a community with an extensive groomed winter trail network.
On the Calendar
Shelden's BIG Bang - October 25, 2026
Shelby Township, Michigan
Men's and women's open fat-bike categories on roughly 17 miles of Stony Creek Metropark singletrack and two-track.
Global Fat-Bike Day - December 5, 2026
Worldwide
Local rides will be happening all over the place, including Cuyuna Lakes' Intergalactic Fat Bike Day in Crosby, Minnesota, and CAMBA's celebration in the Hayward, Wisconsin area.
Fat Pursuit - January 8–10, 2027
Island Park, Idaho
30K, 60K and 200K winter events in the Greater Yellowstone region.
Norpine Fat Bike Classic - January 8–10, 2027
Lutsen, Minnesota
A weekend of groomed-trail riding, Saturday racing and other activities along Lake Superior.
St. Croix 40 Winter Ultra - January 9–10, 2027
Hinckley, Minnesota
Approximately 40 miles of winter travel by fat-bike, ski or foot, with required survival gear and equipment demonstrations.
Fat Bike Loppet - February 7, 2027
Minneapolis, Minnesota
30K, 20K and 10K events on groomed winter trails, including routes normally reserved for skiing.
Partner Store
The Terrene inventory, Clik TPU tube and Heyday! deals are all good reminders that this is the time of year to figure out what the bike needs before the first real winter ride.
If you need tires, bags, lights, pumps or other fat-bike gear, check the Fat-bike.com Partner Store. It collects links to companies and retailers we work with, and purchases through those links help support Fat-bike.com without changing what you pay.
One More Thing - Not a Fat-bike But Really Cool!
Bikepacking With a Film Camera, Paper Map and Espresso Maker
Most bikepacking equipment seems to be developed around making things lighter, faster and smaller.
Tailfin gave its prototyping team a different assignment: build a luggage system around slowing down.
The resulting Singular Peregrine carries waxed-canvas bags designed around a film camera, paper maps, picnic supplies, a compact espresso maker and other things that rarely survive an ultralight packing spreadsheet.
It's an experimental project rather than a confirmed production line, but I appreciate the thinking behind it. Not every bicycle trip has to become an efficiency contest.
Sometimes carrying the coffee maker is the correct answer.
That's the Dose
No giant product launch this week but tires are showing up in stock, events are filling the calendar, people are checking over their bikes, and we've been discussing whether you actually need snow to justify owning a fat-bike.
My answer to that last one probably isn't particularly difficult to guess!
If you've found a piece of gear we should know about, an event that's missing from the calendar or you've got thoughts on riding a fat-bike year-round, bring it over to the Fat-bike Lab.
Join the Fat-bike Lab - free, no algorithm, just riders helping riders.
See you next week.
Greg
Fat Dash Bike Dot Com
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