Wow, look at
those tires!
By Kyle
Killough
As the title suggests, this is the
statement I hear when someone lays eyes on my “fatbike” for the first time. The
bicycle nickname comes from the tires that are twice as wide as regular
mountainbike tires. Most everyone already knows that a mountainbike is intended
for bicycle riding on trails traversing rugged terrain as found in our
wonderful Arkansas state parks. But what happens when you are riding and you
come to a sandy/gravely creek crossing, a big Ozark rock or it start to rain or
snow? You get off and push your bike unless you have a fatbike! Fatbikes are
almost unstoppable. The wide and squishy
tires get traction and absorb bumps that make difficult obstacles easy to
maneuver and turn a beginning rider into an expert rider immediately. The big
tires also give a smooth ride because the tire pressure is set very low at
around 5 psi providing the sensation of riding on a big pair of balloons. Another bonus is that fatbikes are very
durable. There are no fancy shock
absorbers to break or need maintenance because they are not required due to the
puffy tires absorbing the bumps.
Extra wide tires don’t get flats as often
because the weight is spread out more putting less pressure in one spot, averting
a puncture. You get a flat on a normal
tire because a sharp rock or a thorn hits a high pressure low surface area tire. And here’s one final advantage; the balance
provided by the wide tires makes the bike resistant to toppling over. This
balance trait is useful when going up a steep hill or over rocks and logs.
Are there any drawbacks to fatbikes? The
only one that I have found and it will not be a deal breaker for most riders is
that they are slower than regular mountain bikes especially on smooth terrain
or on pavement. This condition could be alleviated by putting more air in the
tires but fatbikes are not really intended for smooth trails or pavement
anyway. If a persons desired to win a
competitive mountainbike race on moderately difficult trails choose a regular
mountainbike. But if the race is held on
sand dunes, 6” of snow, sloppy mud, a rock garden or an obstacle laden trail
choose the fatbike.
The price range for fatbikes is just a
little more than regular mountainbikes. Quality fatbikes start at $500 and go up to
$3,000 but the lower end price range will be just fine for most riders. The big
tire bikes are not yet common in the local bike shops but that will soon change. It is possible to order a fatbike online but this
would require some minor at home assembly.
Is there anything else I can say about
fatbikes? Yes, and that something is I love’m. I’m sure you have noticed my
enthusiasm for them by now and if these bikes had caught on in the formative
years of mountainbiking back in the
1980’s I would not have spent four times as much money on a fancy
dual-suspension racing mountainbike that
now hangs in the garage mostly unridden. Say what you will about marketing
genius but the fat tire concept is not new but was undeveloped for 25 years as
money and effort was spent on lightweight materials and suspension gadgets all
in the name of speed. But the light has now been shown and modest amounts of
money can be spent in the name of fun and that’s what these bikes should really
be called: FUNBIKES.
