Bike packing a fatty

[pvbower]

Would like a thread to collect some fatty bike packing info. Especially beach riding. I am interested in how the fatty compares to a regular bike in terms of speed and which types of sand the different wheel option will handle. Also would love to see a video or hear first hand experience comparing the ride of fatties and regular size tires.

Peter

[Grizzattack]

Your thread subject could be interpreted in a couple of funny ways, btw. Sorry, I have nothing useful to add. Good luck.

[eastman115]

Thanks for the laugh, Grizzattack!

[pvbower]

Pun intended! My wife is a beast :-)

Your thread subject could be interpreted in a couple of funny ways, btw. Sorry, I have nothing useful to add. Good luck.

[vikb]

I've got road touring bikes, a Big Dummy I tour with, a Pugsley I've toured with and a 29er hardtail I've toured with.

There is no easy answer to comparing all the permutations and combinations of terrain and gear and tires/rims that would determine how they are performed relative to one another.

Bottom line you can tour on a fat bike. I've done up to a 70km paved day on a fatty with dirt at both ends. It wouldn't be my first choice for that, but it worked fine.

I've done a 140km+ day up and over a mountain pass on dirt with camping gear. I'm not a super fit rider so the Pugsley didn't hold me back.

No normal bike is going to work in beach sand of any significance. That and deeper snow is fat bike terrain 100%. If you want to specialize in the really soft stuff get a Moonlander with 5" tires & 100mm rims. If you want a more versatile fat bike get something like a Pugsley with 4" tires and 65mm/82mm rims. The Pugs can run up to 5" tires on 82mm rims.

I just came back from 7 weeks in Baja riding 4" tires and 65mm rims on the beach. It works fine, but if I was going to carry a bunch of gear I'd bump the tires up to 5" and rims to 82mm to get the most floatation my frame can handle.

For dirt tours a fat bike would work fine. The softer conditions and the rougher the terrain the more it would make sense. If things were pretty smooth a 29er MTB would probably be faster.

I'm taking my GF on her first bikepacking trip this spring [her first bike camping trip of any type] we'll be riding Pugsleys because that's the only MTB she has besides a 6"+ FS rig. She'll do fine and probably appreciate some of passive suspension she gets from the tires.

If you are interested in using a fat bike for bikepacking it will work no problems.

Surly Pugsley - a set on Flickr

[EndoRando]

Would like a thread to collect some fatty bike packing info. Especially beach riding...... Also would love to see a video or hear first hand experience comparing the ride of fatties and regular size tires.

Peter, my beach riding experience proved that the fatbike was the perfect choice if you wanted to cycle sand. Four of us did a recreational beach ride a couple of summers ago here in Alaska, not full on bike packing for any length of time as it only lasted two days. But here's a video of our trip.

Clam Gulch to Homer, Alaska on fatbikes on the beach - YouTube

Enjoy, and get out there.

[owtdorz]

Video: Mexicellent Adventure - Pinkbike
Adventure Cycling Association: A Fatbiking Micro-Adventure in New Mexico