Are Fat Bikes Good Mountain Bikes?

I love my fat bike all year long and I've had way more fun on it than any other bike I've ever owned or ridden ❤

My only bike is a full suspension carbon fatbike and I love taking it on the trails in the summer. So much fun!

I was always turned from fat bikes because people say they’re heavy… BUT… when I actually got mine in the mail and realized how light it actually was, compared to the old mountain bikes I used to ride- I laughed a little. I was relieved. Everyone makes them sound like they’re super heavy.

I have raced MTB for years now I'm full fat bike.

I had a 27.5+ trail bike and never rode it so I sold it. I even decided I was just flat out done with mountain biking. Ever since getting my Surly Wednesday with 29+ WTB Rangers, I often will reach for that bike over my gravel bike as it just rolls so well on the stuff I have around here and is crazy comfortable. I enjoy riding it so much I started taking it on singletrack and love the simplicity of a fully rigid monster truck. I credit you for deciding on 29+ over 26 fat for my year round wheel size. I did get 26 fat wheels this winter and have studded Dillinger 4s, but alas Chicago has yet to get enough snow. Cheers and happy holidays.

I raced XC this past season on my fat bike (in the fat bike category) and it was so much fun! It's really can go just about everywhere. Yes, my trail bike is faster, but my fat bike feels more fun.

Great vid. I love the moustache handlebar, gonna get one.

They are, they go anywhere, any time of the year, on any terrain! Boom

Great video! I’m a huge fan of all tire sizes and agree with your conclusion. I race enduro (Ibis Ripmo) and I like to race XC on my rigid 29+ (Trek Stache) but I love riding my fatbike during summer (EVO OMW) the “cons” aren’t as bad as they seem, I love all bikes, if I had to choose 1 bike I would definitely go for wider tires, I have snow so I would go fat, luckily I don’t have to choose

I am looking to make my Giant Yukon a year round bike with a suspension fork. Your videos are helpful in making those decisions.

I’m in the Fatbike camp for quite some time now. While it was quite fun in the beginning, the party starts once you get foam for your rims. I guess that’s the game changer for that kind of bike

Fat bikes for the win. So much fun on singletrack. Unlimited, they are like jeeps of the bike world.

Great video, I am 10 years on a fatbike. I choose Salsa Beargrease back then and it is still my nr.1 bike up to now. I shared some videos on my non-commercial yt channel, take a look, fatbike is a real adventure for me, I still ride my Beargrease 2015 year model bought on November 2014.

Great vid! Living in western Canada I own both a Norco bigfoot and a full squish Trek Powerfly, and sometimes I just want to rip some flowy trail and riding the fat bike is a blast, plus you have the flexibility of throwing some 29ers+ on it and almost rides like a XC bike

I think what people often miss is how much a dropper and a suspension fork improves the fat bike off-of-snow experience. The boing of the fat tires is great but its even better with a little dampened suspension action up front. If people are used to a dropper and their fat bike doesn't have it, it's never going to be feel as shreddable. I absolutely love my Otso with the Mastadon and 200 mm dropper all year round, especially when the trails are soft in spring or winter (when there's no snow).

ditto on the fat bike leading into me picking up mountain biking again. When I heard you say that I screamed out. To me it is what ever gets you out and biking.

No snow around here, but just rode my Ice Cream Truck around some of our famous Santa Cruz trails (black diamond-ish), and then rode right down to the edge of the surf on the sand and around the cliff trails. I actually bought it to ride the Rubicon near Tahoe which was pretty wild (on 5.5psi). I also ride a lot of mountain fire roads. Doesn't get much more all-around than that! I am looking forward to building a 29+ wheelset for it and adding a suspension fork.

Ab~Soooo~Lutle..... love mine all year round. Running a Borealis Crestone and Manitou Shock for almost 3 years. I had been saying though.....it wouldn't really replace my Yeti 29er for traditional mountain biking conditions. But man is it an awesome desert bike. On many of my long wander-a-bout trips if I was using my truck & camper, I'd stuff both bikes on board. With my Jeeps it was becoming a hard decision which to grab. So in that vision to only pack one do-all bike, I -- just -- got a set of 29 plus wheels/tires. And of course snow season hit for my local trails and I haven't yet got to test them on a good single track ride. But I am confident they will be the game changer for picking the one do-all bike when I travel. I have ridden all conditions with the fattie. You will never 'not' be able to ride, but there is that compromise running only the 4.8 - 5 inch wide tire on some trails. I'm pretty confident now it will be a great jack of all trades with a fast wheel set/tire change when its called for.

My fattie is mostly winter but I’ve used it a fair bit in other seasons too. Good for shoulder seasons with variable conditions due to all the grip. But I don’t have any suspension on it and a fork that also works in winter is a very expensive one. I find riding without one in summer sucked. Both me and the bike were getting beat up. So if you need your fattie for all seasons get one that’s properly equipped right out of the box. Don’t forget the dropper either as mentioned below.

I totally agree!!! I can go over ,on, and through anything my skills let me do on a Fatty. I ride year-round in the AZ desert. I have two fatties, one set up as an Ss and one geared. I also have a 29er+ .