Reasons not to buy a fat bike. I recently took a test ride on a popular brand of fat tire ebike and I was surprisingly disappointed. I’ve been riding “regular” ebikes for over 8 years so thought I knew what to expect. I was wrong. 1. If you are accustomed to riding an acoustic bike, or even a regular commuter-style ebike, I’m pretty sure you will be surprised at how heavy fat bikes can be. My current ebike weighs less than 60 lbs. and is fairly easy to load it into a truck or lift over an obstacle in the road. Most fat bikes average around 70-80 lbs., a BIG difference. 2. Rideability: Fat bikes are not known for being nimble, they’re more like an SUV compared to a MINI Cooper. Steering a heavier bike with those big tires require some muscle. Quick pothole avoidance becomes difficult if not impossible. 3. The fat bike was much louder than my current ebike, a 750 watt rear geared-hub bike with 7.5 x 2.4 street tires. I understand that fat tires make more noise than regular tires, so this was not a surprise, but the tire noise combined with motor whine was loud enough that pedestrians 30 feet in front of me would turn their heads when I approached. That’s too loud for me. 4. Efficiency: Fat bikes usually come with slightly larger (and louder) motors. Add the extra power-drain to the rolling resistance of fat tires, plus the heavier weight of the bike, and you will find you have less range than you get with a lighter bike. Ebikes are hard to pedal without the motor. Fat bikes are impossible. 5. These are just my personal opinions and I understand that fat bikes are the only way to go if you have to ride in sand or snow. All that said, if you buy an ebike that fits your lifestyle, you will wake up with a smile every morning.
I am not arguing with your thesis. It has very valid points. The fatbike electrics coming out today combat some of these limits with higher capacity batteries and more powerful motors. I just ordered a bike which has front and rear 1kw motors (you can disable the front motor with a push of a button when you don't need to cruise at 35MPH) and can "settle" for 31MPH. This gives it around a 30 mile no-peddling range (when single motor is selected). From my Motorcycle days I equate the differences in the following fashion: Fatbikes are like the Honda Goldwing, or Harley "cruising bikes". Narrow-wheel bikes are like the Japanese sport bikes, which are (comparatively) nimble and light. For people using them as commuter bikes, fatbikes offer a smoother ride, at the expense of being less nimble. Fatbikes can be bought cheaply with a lot of nice features (Hydraulic brakes, good total milage per charge, good top speeds, very good acceleration, curb-climbing friendly, Cruise-Control, full front and rear suspension). I used to bicycle road race 25 to 50 mile courses. It was on a super-light short geometry frame on 700c rims. No e-bike matches the nimbleness of that bike. It has set the bar so high, that even the best-reputed e-bikes need to "stay on the porch" if nimbleness is the ultimate criteria. Now I am much older, and a smooth ride into work (and not arriving sweaty at the office), gets the greatest consideration.
Great video but I think it’s funny how he says that it’s super easy to ride no handed but then he almost falls over but plays it off like nothing happens
Just a few comments on the video that I felt I should mention, riding with no hands on a normal skinny tire isn't hard at all and I can literally ride for miles with no hands, even make turns, so it speaks wildly to your experience and skill as a rider overall. I've always rode on 2.1 inch mountain bike tires, both road tires as well as schwalbe ice spiker pros which are reminiscent of a dirt bike tire with big knobs and have never had an issue riding with no hands. However recently I got my first fat tire bike (Emmo eWild x) and I've been finding it hard to ride without holding the handlebar, even for short bursts, this is probably because of my lack of experience riding on fat tires or because the weight of a front hub motor is throwing off its balance or a combination of both. That being said both have their pro's and con's like how skinny tires have less rolling resistance that fat tires for obvious reasons, but also because of how much higher the PSI of a skinny tire is over the average fat tires PSI it often feels like your riding on flat tires compared to skinny tires. On slopes in my experience skinny tires have less of a want to drag you down angled slopes than fat tires as well as skinny tires are often quieter to ride than fat tires.
Also wondering what electric pump you can carry in your back pack? It takes me like 10 minutes to fill up my husbands inflatable SUP and we have a kiddo now so I want to make our trips easier lol
I've had many more flats with fat-tired bikes. Could just be bad luck, but some flats were due to the increased frequency of inner tube pinches internally which can't just be bad luck...more likely due to the increased tube surface area increasing the risk. Also, I have had far less success patching fat tires, whereas I NEVER had any issue patching smaller gauge tires. They are also easier to over inflate, with devastating consequences. Is there something wrong with the rubber of the larger inner tubes? Consequently, when riding on a fat-tired bike, one needs to carry whole spare tubes in case patching doesn't work...and fat-tired tubes take up a lot more space in one's pannier and are heavier to carry, (as well as the higher expense mentioned in the video). I have not seen quick release hubs on fat-tired bikes, do they exist? More flats, more difficult to repair ... almost nothing recommends fat tired bikes IMO unless you are touring exclusively on sand or snow. Unfortunately, I didn't know better prior to my last E-bike purchase, and I bought fat tire bikes for my wife and myself, purchases which I continually regret. I strongly advise anyone looking for a bike or e-bike to never ever to get a fat-tired bike. 2 in tires are probably the most anyone would ever need even for carrying a 35 lb 60 Ah battery. Frankly, I think it could be done on a 1 inch tire.
My friend I have a fat tire ebike it so easy to fit a puncher so easy no1 it is quick release wheels 2. I had one puncher in 20 months 3, the tyres are easy easy to take offf no tight tyres round the rim so easy to handle peace of cake fat tyres alllll the way
@@Brandon_Neil Yes but RANGE and SPEED changes with smoother road tyres. Example. I have a FIIDO M1 PRO. When I got it. It had those big nobbly off road tyres..and I was getting a top speed of 26mph and 21 miles range. Over a set route I was testing on a fully charged battery. Because I dont do any off roading. I changed them out for vee speedster honeycomb tyres. Straight away the game changed. I was now getting a top speed of 29 to 30 MPH. And over 24 miles range over the same testing route pure throttle. So the tyres you use do MATTER. Whether you are free pedalling or using an ebikes motor or both. The acceleration was now faster too on the M1 pro. And it already had good torque and zippy take off from a standstill. But now it was even better. Once the rolling resistance had been greatly reduced You have a faster more efficient bike.
@@jamesbucsis6296 your right, I feel as tho the fat tire bike is like turning 8 thin tires at the same time because of the width vs just 2 tires on thin tire bike.
Fat tires you can go faster then skinny tires! That why drag cars have 12" tires. Fat tires need a lot of air similar to that of a SUV tire. Best get large wheels like 27"+
you prolly dont give a shit but if you guys are stoned like me atm you can stream pretty much all the latest series on InstaFlixxer. Have been binge watching with my girlfriend these days :)
100% disagree! I own. a fat tire ebike, way slower than a skinny tire bike. A 750 Watt motor may hide this fact. Try a non-bike, both fat and skinny, then report back the results.
Fat tire on Ebike or any bike are dumb and wasteful, energy are being wasted just to carry those extra weight, if you replace fat with a skinny tire, you will get better performance as far as addition range.
Reasons not to buy a fat bike.
I recently took a test ride on a popular brand of fat tire ebike and I was surprisingly disappointed. I’ve been riding “regular” ebikes for over 8 years so thought I knew what to expect. I was wrong.
1. If you are accustomed to riding an acoustic bike, or even a regular commuter-style ebike, I’m pretty sure you will be surprised at how heavy fat bikes can be. My current ebike weighs less than 60 lbs. and is fairly easy to load it into a truck or lift over an obstacle in the road. Most fat bikes average around 70-80 lbs., a BIG difference.
2. Rideability: Fat bikes are not known for being nimble, they’re more like an SUV compared to a MINI Cooper. Steering a heavier bike with those big tires require some muscle. Quick pothole avoidance becomes difficult if not impossible.
3. The fat bike was much louder than my current ebike, a 750 watt rear geared-hub bike with 7.5 x 2.4 street tires. I understand that fat tires make more noise than regular tires, so this was not a surprise, but the tire noise combined with motor whine was loud enough that pedestrians 30 feet in front of me would turn their heads when I approached. That’s too loud for me.
4. Efficiency: Fat bikes usually come with slightly larger (and louder) motors. Add the extra power-drain to the rolling resistance of fat tires, plus the heavier weight of the bike, and you will find you have less range than you get with a lighter bike. Ebikes are hard to pedal without the motor. Fat bikes are impossible.
5. These are just my personal opinions and I understand that fat bikes are the only way to go if you have to ride in sand or snow. All that said, if you buy an ebike that fits your lifestyle, you will wake up with a smile every morning.
I am not arguing with your thesis. It has very valid points. The fatbike electrics coming out today combat some of these limits with higher capacity batteries and more powerful motors. I just ordered a bike which has front and rear 1kw motors (you can disable the front motor with a push of a button when you don't need to cruise at 35MPH) and can "settle" for 31MPH. This gives it around a 30 mile no-peddling range (when single motor is selected).
From my Motorcycle days I equate the differences in the following fashion:
Fatbikes are like the Honda Goldwing, or Harley "cruising bikes".
Narrow-wheel bikes are like the Japanese sport bikes, which are (comparatively) nimble and light.
For people using them as commuter bikes, fatbikes offer a smoother ride, at the expense of being less nimble.
Fatbikes can be bought cheaply with a lot of nice features (Hydraulic brakes, good total milage per charge, good top speeds, very good acceleration, curb-climbing friendly, Cruise-Control, full front and rear suspension).
I used to bicycle road race 25 to 50 mile courses. It was on a super-light short geometry frame on 700c rims. No e-bike matches the nimbleness of that bike. It has set the bar so high, that even the best-reputed e-bikes need to "stay on the porch" if nimbleness is the ultimate criteria.
Now I am much older, and a smooth ride into work (and not arriving sweaty at the office), gets the greatest consideration.
Great video but I think it’s funny how he says that it’s super easy to ride no handed but then he almost falls over but plays it off like nothing happens
He is something. That’s for sure. 👍
Not only that but no hands on my skinny tire mountain bike is ridiculously easy and I can go for miles with no hands.
I love riding no hands, so that just sold me on the fat tire! The reason why I always hated mountain bikes is because they are so unstable
I love the fat tires too. Easy riding!
Just a few comments on the video that I felt I should mention, riding with no hands on a normal skinny tire isn't hard at all and I can literally ride for miles with no hands, even make turns, so it speaks wildly to your experience and skill as a rider overall.
I've always rode on 2.1 inch mountain bike tires, both road tires as well as schwalbe ice spiker pros which are reminiscent of a dirt bike tire with big knobs and have never had an issue riding with no hands. However recently I got my first fat tire bike (Emmo eWild x) and I've been finding it hard to ride without holding the handlebar, even for short bursts, this is probably because of my lack of experience riding on fat tires or because the weight of a front hub motor is throwing off its balance or a combination of both.
That being said both have their pro's and con's like how skinny tires have less rolling resistance that fat tires for obvious reasons, but also because of how much higher the PSI of a skinny tire is over the average fat tires PSI it often feels like your riding on flat tires compared to skinny tires. On slopes in my experience skinny tires have less of a want to drag you down angled slopes than fat tires as well as skinny tires are often quieter to ride than fat tires.
All good points 🤜🤙
Same. But I also close my eyes going through intersections. It makes me invisible.
Also wondering what electric pump you can carry in your back pack? It takes me like 10 minutes to fill up my husbands inflatable SUP and we have a kiddo now so I want to make our trips easier lol
Also want to know the details on your phone system set up. I need a good spot to put my phone so I can track routes and such
And see it in my view to see how far I’ve gone and stuff
I've had many more flats with fat-tired bikes. Could just be bad luck, but some flats were due to the increased frequency of inner tube pinches internally which can't just be bad luck...more likely due to the increased tube surface area increasing the risk. Also, I have had far less success patching fat tires, whereas I NEVER had any issue patching smaller gauge tires. They are also easier to over inflate, with devastating consequences. Is there something wrong with the rubber of the larger inner tubes? Consequently, when riding on a fat-tired bike, one needs to carry whole spare tubes in case patching doesn't work...and fat-tired tubes take up a lot more space in one's pannier and are heavier to carry, (as well as the higher expense mentioned in the video). I have not seen quick release hubs on fat-tired bikes, do they exist? More flats, more difficult to repair ... almost nothing recommends fat tired bikes IMO unless you are touring exclusively on sand or snow. Unfortunately, I didn't know better prior to my last E-bike purchase, and I bought fat tire bikes for my wife and myself, purchases which I continually regret. I strongly advise anyone looking for a bike or e-bike to never ever to get a fat-tired bike. 2 in tires are probably the most anyone would ever need even for carrying a 35 lb 60 Ah battery. Frankly, I think it could be done on a 1 inch tire.
Yoh that thing moves as fast as most 125cc motorbikes and he's barely pushing, I had no idea bicycles could be so cool
How many mph difference on pavement fat vs thin? Also what is the difference in range then?
Only difference is when you pedal. Motors can overcome any additional drag. Pedaling a fat bike is significantly slower than a skinny tire bike.
What kind of cell phone holder do you have? That looks like the one I been looking for. Do you know the brand? TIA
I’ve been through a bunch. Don’t recall that one. Sorry. It’s been a while.
Where do you live that you have these nice trails to ride
Thousand Oaks ca
i really appreciate this video!
Glad it helped.
My friend I have a fat tire ebike it so easy to fit a puncher so easy no1 it is quick release wheels 2. I had one puncher in 20 months 3, the tyres are easy easy to take offf no tight tyres round the rim so easy to handle peace of cake fat tyres alllll the way
Did you forget the rolling resistance of knobby tires vs road tread tires? Great video, thanks for sharing.
Yes I did. Good call. 👍
When you have 750 watts or more of power plus your legs, rolling resistance starts to matter less and less.
True that
@@TheFrickinShredder You can get fat road tyres
@@Brandon_Neil
Yes but RANGE and SPEED changes with smoother road tyres. Example. I have a FIIDO M1 PRO. When I got it. It had those big nobbly off road tyres..and I was getting a top speed of 26mph and 21 miles range. Over a set route I was testing on a fully charged battery. Because I dont do any off roading. I changed them out for vee speedster honeycomb tyres. Straight away the game changed.
I was now getting a top speed of 29 to 30 MPH. And over 24 miles range over the same testing route pure throttle. So the tyres you use do MATTER. Whether you are free pedalling or using an ebikes motor or both. The acceleration was now faster too on the M1 pro. And it already had good torque and zippy take off from a standstill.
But now it was even better. Once the rolling resistance had been greatly reduced You have a faster more efficient bike.
why does it seem...this is all e-bike and no pedal...thats the impression i got. sorry if im misunderstanding based on what im seeing
Definitely a pedal assist worthy eBIKE
This looks like the trails in Las Vegas
It's like a unicycle but cooler
Does fat tires use up more battery power faster ?
Not noticeable
Yes , quite a bit actually
@@jamesbucsis6296 your right, I feel as tho the fat tire bike is like turning 8 thin tires at the same time because of the width vs just 2 tires on thin tire bike.
@@TheFrickinShredder yes they do dude lol
if you run them soft then yes.. if you pump up to max then just a tiny bit
Fat tires you can go faster then skinny tires! That why drag cars have 12" tires. Fat tires need a lot of air similar to that of a SUV tire. Best get large wheels like 27"+
you prolly dont give a shit but if you guys are stoned like me atm you can stream pretty much all the latest series on InstaFlixxer. Have been binge watching with my girlfriend these days :)
@Elias Mathias definitely, been using instaflixxer for since december myself :D
@Elias Mathias Definitely, been using InstaFlixxer for since november myself =)
100% disagree! I own. a fat tire ebike, way slower than a skinny tire bike. A 750 Watt motor may hide this fact. Try a non-bike, both fat and skinny, then report back the results.
Fat tire on Ebike or any bike are dumb and wasteful, energy are being wasted just to carry those extra weight, if you replace fat with a skinny tire, you will get better performance as far as addition range.
Your comment be dumb and wasteful or was that ur birth 🧐
you don't ride off road..........
But at least he said its like riding on a cloud with no hands
No hands on a Fat Tire Bike is all I talk about in my videos 🤣
Those Fat Bikes can move
If it's like women fat is better
please don't ride again a bike with no hands.
Probably a good idea. Safety first!
Amateur 😩
I just want to know the obvious..which is easier to peddle dammit!?
Skinny
@@TheFrickinShredder thank you!!!:)
@@TheFrickinShredder ok but do you get more bang for your buck peddling on a fat tyre i.e do you get more push on fat tyre