The bike industry, like any other, has repeated fads that are designed to separate us consumers from our money.  The latest fad is fat bikes – bikes with tires greater than 4″ wide tires.  The original idea was a bike that you could ride on snow.  I guess it was invented by crazy cyclists in Alaska or something.   The hype though goes far beyond riding in the snow – people kept telling me how amazing the big tires are on dry land as well.

This winter after too long of not being able to get out onto a bike, I joined the club.  My goal for having a fat bike was purely riding in the snow – getting out in the winter when nothing else was ride-able.  I had a good few very nice rides on snow around Boulder and up at Brainard Lake and really enjoyed riding it.  You can’t get on a fat bike and not smile, it is just so much fun.  I really thought that I would be putting it away for the year though as the snow is melting.

I decided to take the fat bike on a trail in the high country that was almost entirely snow free.  There were a few places in the trees that had some deep snow, so I figured a regular mountain bike would do it, but mostly the trail was nice flowing single track.  Long story short, it is super fun.  I didn’t miss having a suspension at all on my rigid fat bike – 5 inches of tire is plenty of suspension I guess.  I guess the bike industry has done a fantastic job of separating me from my wallet.  It seems like my lovely wife will be needing one next winter.