This morning a friend of mine asked me how I was enjoying the new fat bike. We were the middle of building a new section of trail on our beloved Hydrocut trail system; normally I don’t like to stop working to chat because we only have a few hours to get the job done and building new trail is very important work don’t you know. This was a very important question to this ole bike rider so I stopped to reflect on how much I have enjoyed riding my fatty. My answer went something like this.” I love that thing; I rode my cross country bike this week and I was all over the trail on that light bike. The skinny tires just don’t hold a line on wet leaves and roots. I got kind of spoiled with how well the fat bike handles fall riding conditions” I finished up by saying “I can’t wait to see what it does in the snow”.
The fat bike is clearly the right choice when riding in the fall but I also found that there isn’t anything that those fat tires can’t roll over with ease whatever the trail conditions. It also can hit jumps and features as well as any cross country bike. So reason number one to own a fat bike is; it is unstoppable no matter what the trail conditions are. I have yet to ride the fat bike in the winter so I can only go by what friends are telling me about riding in snow. I have been told that I am going to find it will blast through snow with low tire pressure and I will find it kind of floats; now that sounds like fun. Winter is long and riding opportunities in the dark months are few and far between but the fat bike promises to extend my riding season to 12 months a year. Fat bike riding is becoming a completely new type of riding and it is attacking more and more riders each riding season, so much so that local bike trail systems are now open year round with fat bike trails groomed just for the purpose of riding fat bikes. So reason number two is; the fat bike turns snow into winter riding fun and extends the riding season. Of course there is always the cool factor which as we know cyclist look cool right, well maybe not so much in spandex and brightly coloured jerseys; relax I’m just kidding, well maybe a little. Fat bikes just look cool which by default makes the rider look cool. The ride to the trails from my house is short but the route takes me through a busy traffic circle via a crosswalk. The attention the bike gets is obvious as drivers whip their head around to see what the heck that was that just rode past. No question, fat bikes turn heads. Looking cool is important which is reason number three; fat bikes are cool. Then there is the “N” factor. The N factor equation is usually quoted when a rider is asked how many bikes they need. The answer is N plus one; or the number of bikes you already have plus one more. The N factor rewards the rider with a new toy which keeps riding interest growing in the individual. So reason number four is; you can never have too many bikes. There is something about fat bikes that levels the playing field. Riders tend to take the riding experience less seriously than they would if they were riding a lightweight cross country bike. Even the fastest riders will for some reason adopt a cool mind set and ride slower when on a fatty, they seem to be more content to ride at a pace that is suited to anyone on the ride. This dimensioning of the need for speed increases social interaction on the ride. Riders of all levels are happy to ride together and just socialize. So reason number five is; fat bike rides are more sociable. Well there are five good reasons to get out this fall and winter on a fat bike, I know I will be. Hope to see on the trails at The Hydrocut this winter.
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AuthorRon Head Archives
January 2024
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