Fad or fabulous? Fat Bikes are the talk of the mountain biking community right now. Full Sus went on a fact finding mission and organised a Fat Bike Shoot Out and Test Day on the trails of Table Mountain – here’s what we found.
The Origin Story
Fat Bikes as you should all know are designed to chew up the kays on soft surfaces like snow and sand. The original fat bike was apparently ridden across a section of the Sahara desert in 1980, but it wasn’t until 1987 with the inception of the mental sounding Iditabikerace in Alaska. In order to complete the Iditabike riders searched for ways of making their wheels and tyres wider and initially made do with a thoroughly agricultural solution. Simon Rakower of All-Weather Sports, who offered technical support to the Iditabike, came up with the ingenious wide contact patch creating solution of welding two sets of bicycle rims together and trimming away the two now defunct inner walls of the joined rims. The tedious task of cutting and sewing two tyres together to fit the rims was left to the individual Iditabike entrants.
Thus the Snow Cat rim was born, but at 44mm wide they were more chubby bikes than today’s 80 – 100mm wide rimed fat bikes. So in 1999 Mark Gronewald abandoned the cannibalism of an existing bike and built his own true fat bike. Making use of an extra wide bottom bracket and an offset rear hub to keep the chain running straight, and producing his own frame from double-butted chromo steel to accommodate the fat 3.7-inch wide tyres. In 2004 Bill Fleming and Jamey Stull knocked valuable kilograms off the fat bike by producing the first aluminium fat bikes under the name that would become synonymous with fat bikes: 9:Zero:7 (Alaska’s dialling code).
Then in 2005 Surly made fat bikes commonly available with the release of their Pugsley. In the nine years since, fat bikes slowly gained in popularity until they reached massive mass media appeal culminating with virtually every bike manufacturer at Euro Bike displaying a fat bike option in 2014.
Full Sus Fatties
For the Full Sus Fat Bike Shoot Out we invited all the local importers of fat bikes to join us at Rhodes Memorial for a test day. With stock constraints (if you want a fat bike you could well have to order one now) being a major issue for most dealers the shoot-out was contested by the Specialized Fat Boy, it’s RockShox Bluto air sprung forked Fat Boy Pro sibling, the Trek Farley, the Mongoose Argus and Mannie Heymans’ ABSA Cape Epic finishing 9:Zero:7 Whiteout. Mannie also brought his new Whiteout along but given its stunning custom paint job and Mannie never leaving its side – we didn’t put it to the test on the trails.
Shoot Out Route
Rather than potter about on a Mother City beach we decided to push the fat bikes outside of their comfort zones and put them to the test on the trails around Rhodes Mem. The route featured a short steep technical climb, complete with lose rocks and slippery tufts of wild grass, a fun singletrack descent and a deceptively long singletrack climb along a dusty path where grip is an issue on a hard tail mountain bike.
Mongoose Argus
At 11.5K the Mongoose Argus was the cheapest bike in the shoot-out and as with virtually every other bicycle style around one of the first things a higher price brings is a lower weight. On a fat bike the weight penalty can be crucial or negligible – depending on where you want to ride it. For cruising on the beach the Argus won’t disappoint and as Chris Akrigg showed in his title pool bunny hopping video “The Shore Line” the Argus can take anything you throw at it. It was the least happy of the fat bikes we tested on the trail, due to its steep head angle which made it feel exceptionally twitchy especially at slow speeds, but then we wouldn’t suggest you buy a fat bike to ride trails anyway so it’s not a massive failing.
Specs: Fully rigid alloy frame and fork, 93mm rims, 26 x 4″ tyres, and 2 x 10 drivetrain.
Pricing: R11 495.
Website: www.mongoose.com
Test rider quote: “More tyre pressure for aggressive riding” – Bennet Nel
Trek Farley
The Farley offered a more controlled feeling platform than Argus on the trails and with its 2 by 10 gearing the climbing – though not easy – was manageable. The trick when cornering, apparently, is to really lean the bike down hard, like you would on a motorbike superbike. It takes some confidence in the ability of the tyres to hold their grip. But with aggressive knobblies extending a fair way down the sides of the tyres it’s just a matter of finding the correct tyre pressure and you’re sure to have all the grip you’ll ever need. The Farley may come standard with a rigid fork but if you’re keen on riding trails with it you should know that it’s designed with an upgrade in mind and its tapered head tube will work with a fat bike suspension fork like the RockShox Bluto.
Specs: Fully rigid aluminium frame and fork, 80mm rims, 26 x 3.8” tyres, and 2 x 10 drivetrain.
Pricing: R20 000
Website: www.trekbikes.com
Test rider quote: “Cornering was not too bad!” – Swen Lauer (we should explain that that’s almost as demonstrative as you’re going to get from Swen.)
Specialized Fat Boy Expert
The Fat Boy Expert was the less popular of the two Specialized fat bikes on offer for the day due to its rigid fork compared to the Pro’s RockShox Bluto. The initial perception of “suspension is better” aside the Expert and the Pro offered the opportunity for an interesting side by side test. The Expert out-climbed the Pro comfortably be it down to the lower weight or the 2 x 10 gearing. But on the descent the Expert provided the impression of tremendous speed as it bounced from rock to rock. When the trail levelled out you realised that you had actually not been travelling at light speed, but rather it was just the noise of bouncing around which provided the impression.
Specs: Rigid, fully butted M4 Premium Aluminium frame, rigid FACT carbon fork, 90mm rims, 26×4.6″ tyres, and 2 x 10 drivetrain.
Price: R24 999
Website: www.specialized.com
Test rider quote: “Much better on sandy climbs” – Gary Kroukamp
Specialized Fat Boy Pro
The Pro with its Bluto fork meanwhile provided a tough test on the climbs with the added front end weight making the already difficult task of precisely picking a route on the first technical climb even harder. But it came into its own on the descent. The front suspension created a bit more room for error when setting tyre pressure, meaning you could run it a bit harder – for less rolling resistance – but still be able to stay on the trail when descending rather than bouncing off like an astronaut on the moon. If you’ll be riding a fat bike on trails the Fat Boy Pro proved that suspension is a must. It would be interesting to ride a full suspension fat bike… tough climbing would be a nightmare.
Specs: Rigid, fully butted M4 Premium Aluminium frame, RockShox Bluto, 90mm rims, 26 x 4.6″ tyres, and 1 x 11 drivetrain.
Price: R49 999
Website: www.specialized.com
Test rider quote: “Felt the closest to riding a full suspension bike, I felt more confident to ride the trails” – Judy Scheepers
9:Zero:7 Whiteout
Mannie’s Epic finishing machine, complete with broken break lever, was a popular choice of ride on the day. A deceptively light bike (under 11kg) fitted with R18 000 HED Carbon rims it was the top climbing bike. The low weight also made it easier to flick, if flick is the correct word for it, through the corners. The Whiteout was also the only bike that had been converted to tubeless, as you’d expect for an Epic finishing bike, so snake bike punctures weren’t an issue and under Mannie’s watchful eye the tyre pressure was a little more dialled – though to be fair it still provided a bouncy ride. If you’re going to be covering significant distances, on any terrain, light is the way to go – so being the only carbon fat bike, currently locally available, the Whiteout is the bike to choose.
Specs: Mannie’s custom build for the Epic featuring a fully rigid carbon frame and fork, 85mm HED Carbon rims, 26 x 3.8 tyres, and 1 x 11 drivetrain.
Price: from R25 500 for aluminium model and R45 000 for the carbon model.
Website: www.mbm.com.na
Test rider quote: “Very light carbon frame, better climbing and more agile” – Robert Vogel.
