Freeriding On a Fat Bike?


Mountain biking has experienced its fair share of technical maelstroms over the past few years. Nothing sets the internet alight like a change in wheel size (650b anyone?), or a new mounting standard that renders old equipment useless. But while this has been happening, another new movement is steadily turning into a full-fledged craze – the fat bike.

Essentially a standard mountain bike built to take very wide tyres, fat bikes can be potentially ridden almost anywhere. This is particularly suited for locations with soft terrain, such as deserts or places that receive a lot of snowfall.

However, these bikes continue to polarise the mountain biking world. They are practical for a very specific purpose and some of them look unwieldy as a result, but they are just a new evolution in the bicycle’s ultimate goal – getting people anywhere. If the technology allows for it, the only remaining hurdle is public opinion.

new-meaning-to-the-term-ride-don-t-slide

For the fat bike to be seen as more than just a trend, there needs to be greater proof that they can be ridden hard. Geoff Gulevich, Wade Simmons and Brett Tippie set out to do just that, taking the new Rocky Mountain Blizzard into Canada’s snowy coastal mountains in British Columbia. The resulting video, Fat Free, is an eye-opening perspective of what bikers can now do in domain previously reserved for skiiers and snowboarders.

Don’t just take our word for it, though, watch the video above and it might just change the way you look at winter.

It appears you're using an old version of Internet Explorer which is no longer supported, for safer and optimum browsing experience please upgrade your browser.