Carbon fat bikes, carbon fat bike rims and electric fat bikes
This Felt electric fat bike prototype, dubbed "Fat-E", features a 250-watt Bosch motor. The Fat-E is still in the early stages of development; the company expects it will be available in late 2014 or early 2015
This Felt electric fat bike prototype, dubbed "Fat-E", features a 250-watt Bosch motor. The Fat-E is still in the early stages of development; the company expects it will be available in late 2014 or early 2015 - Josh Patterson/Future Publishing
Felt claims the Bosch battery has an approximate run time of 2.5-3 hours - Josh Patterson/Future Publishing
The Bosch pedal assist system adds approximately 6lb (2.7kg) to a bike. The claimed weight for Felt's Fat-E prototype is 45lb (20.4kg) - Josh Patterson/Future Publishing
The Bosch head unit displays battery life as well as the functions one expects from a cycling computer such as max and average speed, total trip distance. It also has a USB port that allows it to act at a charger for external devices such as smartphones and lights - Josh Patterson/Future Publishing
The Fat-E has internal cable routing through a port on the side of the head tube - Josh Patterson/Future Publishing
While Felt's fat bike prototype has front and rear quick-release axles, the production version will likely sport thru-axles - Josh Patterson/Future Publishing
The Borealis Yampa shown here tips the scales at 21lb (9.5kg). The Yampa will be available with a SRAM XO/X9 build kit for US$3,599 and with a SRAM XX1 kit for US$5,449. The Yampa frame with carbon fork will retail for US$2,249 (UK pricing TBD) - Josh Patterson/Future Publishing
The Borealis Yampa has internal cable routing through the down tube - Josh Patterson/Future Publishing
The Yampa has a 100mm wide bottom bracket shell - Josh Patterson/Future Publishing
Race Face is one of the few companies making high-end cranks with extra long, fat bike-friendly spindles. - Josh Patterson / Our Media
The Yampa fork as a claimed weight for 575g. The fork features a 135mm spacing and a 15mm thru-axle - Josh Patterson/Future Publishing
The Yampa frame has a 190mm rear spacing and uses a standard quick-release for the rear axle - Josh Patterson/Future Publishing
The Yampa frame has rear rack mounts - Josh Patterson/Future Publishing
The Yampa has slender seat stays to provide a bit of vertical flex, in case you needed more comfort than a 26x4.8in tire can provide - Josh Patterson/Future Publishing
The Yampa frame can accomodate 4.8in tires on 100mm-wide rims - Josh Patterson/Future Publishing
Borealis is one of the first companies to bring carbon fat bike rims to market, the rims feature a double-walled construction and have a claimed weight of 590g. A pair of these carbon rims retails for US$1,599, with complete wheelsets starting at US$1,999 (UK pricing TBD) - Josh Patterson/Future Publishing
The Borealis carbon rims have an internal width of 85mm and can be set up tubeless by sealing off the spoke holes - Josh Patterson/Future Publishing
Boo Bicycles line of value-oriented aluminum and bamboo bikes includes this Aluboo fat bike - Josh Patterson/Future Publishing
The bamboo main tubes are bonded to the aluminum front end - Josh Patterson/Future Publishing
The seat tube is also bamboo - Josh Patterson/Future Publishing
Fatback's Corvus carbon frame and fork will be available later this year for US$1,850 (UK pricing TBD) - Josh Patterson/Future Publishing
The Fatback Corvus frame on display was a 3D mockup of the production version, which will use a direct-mount front derailleur and a threaded, 100mm-wide bottom bracket shell - Josh Patterson/Future Publishing
The Fatback Corvus frame will use post-mount disc brake mounts and use a 190x12mm thru axle - Josh Patterson/Future Publishing
The Corvus has a slender top tube that bows downward for additional standover clearance - Josh Patterson/Future Publishing
The Fatback Corvus has a tapered head tube - Josh Patterson/Future Publishing
Vee Rubber had a number of fat bike tires on dislay - Josh Patterson/Future Publishing
Some beach cruisers even got the fat bike treatment - Josh Patterson/Future Publishing
The Surly Pugsley was one of the first widely available fat bikes - Josh Patterson/Future Publishing
Surly has also spearheaded the development of 29 bikes such as the Surly Krampus, which was introduced at Interbike last year - Josh Patterson/Future Publishing
Surly has built upon the 29 platform with the ECR, a Krampus designed with bike packing in mind - Josh Patterson/Future Publishing
The ECR fork bristles with braze-ons for rack, fender and water bottle mounts - Josh Patterson/Future Publishing
There's no shortage of mounts on the rear of the ECR - Josh Patterson/Future Publishing
Fatback worked with Vee Rubber to design the Sterling tire - Josh Patterson/Future Publishing
The Sterling has a tubeless bead and a 120tpi casing. Claimed weight for this 26x4.25in tire is 1300g - Josh Patterson/Future Publishing
9:ZERO:7 will be offering the carbon Whiteout as a frame and fork. The frame has a claimed weight of 2.8lb (1.27kg) and the fork has a claimed weight of 650g - Josh Patterson/Future Publishing
The Whiteout has a 135mm front spacing and uses a 15mm thru-axle - Josh Patterson/Future Publishing
The cables are routed through the Whiteout's top tube - Josh Patterson/Future Publishing
The rear derailleur cable exits the top tube just in front of the seat tube before entering the seatstay - Josh Patterson/Future Publishing
The Whiteout has a dropped top tube to improve standover clearance, which is particularly important when riding in snow - Josh Patterson/Future Publishing
The Whiteout's rear end uses a thru axle and takes a 190mm-wide rear hub - Josh Patterson/Future Publishing
The 9:ZERO:7 Whiteout can accomodate up the a 26x4.8in tire on a 100mm-wide rim - Josh Patterson/Future Publishing
The Whiteout frameset will be available in November. It will retail for US$2,299 - Josh Patterson/Future Publishing
Fat bikes are fertile ground for terrible puns: “a growing trend,” “fat bikes gaining traction,” “the inflated fat bike market.” We could go on, but we won’t.
It’s clear that 2013 has been a breakout year for fat bikes. Salsa gave us a preview of its carbon Beargrease prototype and we’ve seen large players such as Specialized, Trek and Norco jump on the big tire bandwagon as well. At Interbike, this year's Outdoor Demo was filled with bikes shod in massive tires rumbling though the Nevada desert.
Felt took attendees by surprise with its “Fat-E” electric-assist fat bike prototype. A trend we saw from this year’s Eurobike tradeshow was the incorporation of pedal assist technology into off-road capable models. Lapierre’s Overvolt and Cube’s Stereo Hybrid are two such bikes. Like these companies, Felt is incorporating electric assist technology from Bosch into several of its 2014 models, including the Fat-E prototype shown here. The bike has yet to be officially named and is slated for release in late 2014 or early.
This felt electric fat bike prototype, dubbed - Josh Patterson/Future Publishing
Felt's Fat-E prototype stopped attendees in their tracks
Fatback, 9:ZERO:7 and Borealis all had new carbon fat bike frames on display in various stages of development. Borealis is venturing into new territory by developing double-walled carbon fat bike rims that, when set up tubeless, can shave as much as two pounds of rotating weight off the wheels — though there’s a significant sting to one’s wallet.
It appears that frame standards within the fat bike market are beginning to take hold: front axle spacing on many of the new models is set at 135mm, bottom bracket width is generally 100mm, and rear axle spacing appears to be settling on 190mm. Thru-axles are becoming more common, as are tapered forks. Several fat bike manufactures mentioned that they expect RockShox and X-Fusion to bring fat bike suspension forks to market in the near future, though neither company would comment on the possibility.
Click through the gallery at above right for a detailed look at these new fat bikes and components.
Josh Patterson is a BikeRadar contributor and former technical editor. He has spent most of his career working in the cycling industry as an athlete, mechanic and journalist. He holds a master's degree in journalism and has more than 20 years of experience as a cyclist and 12 years of experience riding and writing for BikeRadar, Cyclingnews, Cycling Weekly, Dirt Rag, RoadBikeReview and Outside Magazine. A native of the Flint Hills of Kansas, Josh was a pioneer in the gravel cycling movement, having raced the first Unbound 200 and many other gravel events around the globe. He considers himself a cycling generalist and enjoys road, gravel and mountain biking in equal measure. When not traveling for work, he can be found exploring the singletrack and lonely gravel roads that surround his home in Fort Collins, Colorado. In addition to his love of cycling, Josh is an enthusiastic supporter of brunch, voting rights and the right to repair movement.
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