I've owned 5 different fat bikes over the last 10 years, and I love riding on snowy trails. In my opinion, you do not want long chainstays for that. Shorter chainstays make it easier to get traction and get up on top of the snow. Multiple time Iditabike winner, Mike Curiak, feels the same way <http://lacemine29.blogspot.com/2014/09/snowbike-geometry.html>, so I know I'm not alone in this opinion. If you want a four season fat bike, I'd recommend the Surly Wednesday. It rides great all year round, fits 4.6" tires for all but the deepest powder days, works great with 29x3" wheels, and doesn't have the super wide Q-factor of a full 5" tire fat bike. If you want max flotation, the Surly Ice Cream truck is a great choice with clearance for 5.05" Vee Snowshoe XL tires.
Another thing, if you're in between sizes, you can size down for a more nimble ride (shorter front-center and overall wheelbase) or up for a more stable ride. Chris On Thursday, December 15, 2022 at 2:21:16 PM UTC-5 Joe D. wrote: > Hello Rivendell aficionados! The short version: I’d like some advice on > picking a fat bike (4-5” wide tires) that shares similar ride > characteristics with the current crop of Rivendell long chainstay-long > wheelbase bikes (e.g. Clem, Atlantis, Platy, Gus/Susie). > > The long version: I’m in the market for a full-on fat bike, with true 4-5 > inch wide tires. I live in Montana and my previous winter riding with > studded 3 inch tires just wasn’t enough. We’re a one car family, so in > addition to riding on winter trails or snowy forest service roads for fun, > I’ll use the bike for groceries and errands as well. And as much as I’d > love an Atlantis or Platy for dirt roads, bike camping, and light trail > use, the more economical choice would be to get a set of 29 inch wheels for > a fat bike and run 2.8 or 3 inch tires in non-snow season for an all year > off-road bike. Hence the importance of making a good choice now. > > How I came to desire a Rivendell-esq fat bike: A friend in another state > got a 2019 Clem and raves about the comfy, stable ride with the long chain > stays/wheelbase. But the real kicker was when I got a Yuba Mundo Lux cargo > bike (https://yubabikes.com/cargobikestore/yuba-mundo-lux/) for hauling > my two kids around. The swept back bars get me sitting upright, and the > crazy long chainstay (753mm) and wheelbase (1410) make 150lb loads totally > manageable. It’s like a Cadillac. Since the Yuba, I’ve vowed that all my > bikes will be long and upright. Fortunately upright stems and swept back > bars can take care of the upright part for near any bike, so that leaves > chainstay/wheelbase length as the big question for a fat bike. > > For reference, scroll down here ( > https://bikeinsights.com/compare?geometries=5d1ae74763bde8001707cf36,5e1faf637f17da00170c6e28,) > > and you can see the chainstay/wheelbase lengths on the Clem and Atlantis, > both ~550mm for chainstays and ~1235mm for wheelbase. For fat bikes, > consider these two models ( > https://bikeinsights.com/compare?geometries=5ff009522655ff0017c6e96a,61c0a2add559210021256cf2,). > > The Wyatt can actually have a longer wheelbase than the Rivendells with its > sliding dropouts (1250 max wheelbase). But its chainstay is only 465, still > long-ish for mountain bikes but not near what a Riv or cargo bike is. It > achieves that with a slack head tube angle that pushes the front tire way > out front. > > Alternatively, the Giant fat bike in the link has a similar max chainstay > length as the Wyatt (460mm) but a shorter wheelbase (1170mm), leading to a > more centered position on the bike. I’m unable to find any fat bikes with > the combination of long chainstay/wheelbase that the Rivendell’s have. > > Any tips on which bike, and which geometry approach in general, would get > me closest to the Rivendell/cargo bike-like comfort and ride quality? Other > fat bikes? For simplicities sake, I guess don’t evaluate factors other than > geometry, like frame material. For what it’s worth, there are very few > chromoly fat bikes. > > (Sorry for the length! I appreciate anyone getting into such a bike-nerdy > discussion) > > - Joe > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/a2ba9f1b-aa0e-4441-b41b-fe40eeb742e0n%40googlegroups.com.
