It’s bloody hot and sweaty outside (for North Vancouver). And, so it makes perfect sense to me that I’ve had a few folks e-mail me about Fat Bike geometry in the past week. The thing is, as much as I love riding in the snow, for local conditions my 2.8″ Plus tires are usually just fine for how much of the white stuff we get and how quickly the trails are packed down by folks hiking them.

I know of plenty of riders who min-max their Fats by having a big set of 26″ or 27″ tires & hoops for winter and then swapping over to an aggressive 29 or 29+ setup in the summer. Hub standards can be a bit of a wild west sideshow and one has to get used to the larger Q-Factor but there are some sweet builds out there. If I lived somewhere with a proper winter, versus our almost year-round trail access, I’d own one for certain. 

But the simple fact is that with my limited experience I don’t have much personal experience to offer when it comes to going full Fat. I mean, I know that the best tires for your progressive snow riding are the 45NRTH Wrathchild and Surly Bud/Lou but that’s only because I asked Cam at The Inside Line where they actually ride this stuff. And I’m pretty certain ‘The Reg‘ is the raddest full-fat rig out there right now, but that’s only because I read Corey ‘Kruch’ Kruchkowski’s blog (you’ll probably enjoy it too).

A lot of stuff when it comes to bike geometry or spec comes down to personal preference, local riding conditions and terrain, and experience. That is to say, even the most educated opinion is still an opinion. I’m always happy to share what I know to be true about bicycles and back it up with how I came to my conclusions. But when it comes to riding Fat Bikes my minimal amount of experience simply doesn’t match my enthusiasm for the people building and riding cool stuff. So I hope you don’t feel brushed off if you ask me about them and I don’t say much more than “do you know who Cam and Corey are?”