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Fat tires, again?

Sandwich

Sandwich

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I know on this board this might be sacrilege (2.5 3c minions 4 lyfe), but has anybody thought about the possibility of integrating fat tires back into DH frames? I know 3.0 gazzis are dead and gone, but folks everywhere are experimenting with fat tires with some degree of success. I've picked up a krampus (29x3.0) and the traction is incredible, I can climb up anything. With thin tires the spin-up penalty isn't that bad. I wonder if the pendulum will swing back toward fat tires with low pressure to get traction in spades.
 
T

trib

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Fat tires on rigid bikes is fun, takes the sting off trails and adds traction. fat tires on a bike which already has 8" of travel makes a slow turd of a bike.
 
jackalope

jackalope

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I think for bumbling dopes like me, a bigger tire would be helpful for ragged, rocky sections. But I know a fair number of pinners who have absolutely no interest in adding any rotational weight (unless maybe its for 100% puncture resistance) and I've found bigger tires wallow badly in muddyish conditions.

I need to bag a sport class podium spot so I can get a 2.7 Kenda and see what's up
 
Jm_

Jm_

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Welcome to 2001, when I discovered Michelin super-tacky tires to replace the 2.7" tires I ran F and R. Got minons next, stuck to rocks like glue, never looked back. Felt sorry for my buddy running the Gazzis with 7psi.
 
Jm_

Jm_

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trib said:
Fat tires on rigid bikes is fun, takes the sting off trails and adds traction. fat tires on a bike which already has 8" of travel makes a slow turd of a bike.
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If I ride my fat bike in the summer with enough pressure to keep the tire from squirming/collapsing in the turns and also keep it from feeling like crazy mush when trying to pedal out of the saddle, it rides just like a rigid bike (because it is). It's not like riding it in the winter when you lower the pressure and it gives you the traction and doesn't have these weird handling issues. And in the winter, the snow compaction + low pressure makes it ride like something other than a rigid bike, no comparison, although it's very dependent on setting up the right PSI, which is usually done on the trail by letting out air until you reach the "right" pressure, which you'll know based on how it rides.
 
Gary

Gary

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There's a really big fatbike scene round here due to an abundance middle aged men with lots of money and a huge network of dull sand/shale surfaced coastal walking trails. All the fatbike riders I know rave on and on about the unelievable gains in traction their huge tyres give and yet none of them ever actually lean their bike properly into turns while riding.. I'm yet to meet a single fatbike rider who even understands the importance of edge knobs on a tyre.
Fatbike wheels/tyres are also horrible to accelerate so are only ever going to give any advantage on a trail with no hard braking or tight turns
 
demo 9

demo 9

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Fatbikes suck in the off camber, especially on rock faces. I cant imagine it could work on a dh bike and be even close to decent.
 
Sandwich

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demo 9 said:
Fatbikes suck in the off camber, especially on rock faces. I cant imagine it could work on a dh bike and be even close to decent.
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That hasn't been my experience on rock faces. What tires did you try?

They certainly do steer weird when you get low in pressure, but you wouldn't go that low if you were going fast. With the advances in rim tech, you might be able to get a comparable weight.
 
Jm_

Jm_

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Gary said:
There's a really big fatbike scene round here due to an abundance middle aged men with lots of money and a huge network of dull sand/shale surfaced coastal walking trails. All the fatbike riders I know rave on and on about the unelievable gains in traction their huge tyres give and yet none of them ever actually lean their bike properly into turns while riding.. I'm yet to meet a single fatbike rider who even understands the importance of edge knobs on a tyre.
Fatbike wheels/tyres are also horrible to accelerate so are only ever going to give any advantage on a trail with no hard braking or tight turns
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Few people have ever gone downhill REALLY fast on a fatbike. I noticed doing this that the gyroscopic motion is just off the scale, as in can not pull the wheel over for the turn, as in may miss the turn and shoot off the cliff. I also tend to think the ones who rave about how much traction have never ridden an FS bike uphill in rough terrain before, because there's no comparison, the FS bike wins every day and sunday at that.
 
Gary

Gary

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99% of fatbikers are 40+with little to no skill and no balls.. Most of them think holding a wheelie for more than 2 seconds is the holy grail in biking prowess..
 
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SuboptimusPrime

SuboptimusPrime

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Gary said:
99% of fatbikers are 40+with little to no skill and no balls.. Most of them think holding a wheelie for more than 2 seconds is the holy grail in biking prowess..
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:thumb: QFT. Same where I live. The only upshot is that it provides endless entertainment during post-ride beer time.
 
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richardbigman

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Sandwich

Sandwich

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SLOPE said:
I thought the orginal intent of the thread was a discussion of 3.0 tires, not the 4.0 tires that everyone is going on about??
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it was supposed to be about higher volume tires, not specifically 5" fatbike tires nor 3.0s in particular...just the addition of more volume being a potential for higher levels of grip without increasing rolling resistance nor weight...in my experience, the rather terrible tires that I have show tons of accelerative grip, and in a ton of different conditions/angles/situations, despite them being really mediocre by design. There are of course no DH fatbike tires, and nobody makes a fatbike frame for DH, but I can't help but wonder if there's room for more despite the norm being the 2.3" DHF.

but ya dood, fatbykes are for dentists yo 26 for lyfe until I have to buy another bike which will be 275 because THE INDUSTRY
 
jonKranked

jonKranked

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Sandwich said:
it was supposed to be about higher volume tires, not specifically 5" fatbike tires nor 3.0s in particular...just the addition of more volume being a potential for higher levels of grip without increasing rolling resistance nor weight...in my experience, the rather terrible tires that I have show tons of accelerative grip, and in a ton of different conditions/angles/situations, despite them being really mediocre by design. There are of course no DH fatbike tires, and nobody makes a fatbike frame for DH, but I can't help but wonder if there's room for more despite the norm being the 2.3" DHF.

but ya dood, fatbykes are for dentists yo 26 for lyfe until I have to buy another bike which will be 275 because THE INDUSTRY
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it's posts like these that have driven me to support euthanasia
 
Samoto

Samoto

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Sandwich said:
it was supposed to be about higher volume tires, not specifically 5" fatbike tires nor 3.0s in particular...just the addition of more volume being a potential for higher levels of grip without increasing rolling resistance nor weight...in my experience, the rather terrible tires that I have show tons of accelerative grip, and in a ton of different conditions/angles/situations, despite them being really mediocre by design. There are of course no DH fatbike tires, and nobody makes a fatbike frame for DH, but I can't help but wonder if there's room for more despite the norm being the 2.3" DHF.

but ya dood, fatbykes are for dentists yo 26 for lyfe until I have to buy another bike which will be 275 because THE INDUSTRY
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Don't you think those tires are gonna to weigh a lot since you add loads of rubber. If sidewalls got thinner then you get less precise steering, most wobbly feeling. I tried freeride version of Schwalbe Muddy Mary 2.5 (similar to 2.7 maxxis in size) and current Michelin 2.35 adv reinforced. I prefer the latter one because it offered me more precise steering thanks to stiffer sidewall.

Large volume tires might be useful for rigid frame/fork but 29" is bad idea, and running 27.5" tires already gives many flats as it happened on Mont St Anne DH track.
 
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Bikael Molton

Bikael Molton

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pretty sure those wide tires that "float over mud" may also float over loose over hard, as well as squirm like crazy while cornering, especially with proper DH-spec side knobs.

Also, don't see a need to increase rolling resistance any more than a DHR. Hell, I prefer a DHF front and rear for MCBP for maintaining momentum.

Not feelin' it.
 
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