Fat bikes are no longer the hot button topic that they were back in 2014, but as the discussion and controversy has died down to a low simmer, only revived by articles like my recent Over a Beer column,  fat bikes have quietly cemented a position in the lineups of almost every major bike brand.

This summer we surveyed you, the readers of Singletracks.com, to learn about your favorite bikes and products of 2016. According to your votes, here are the top 10 fat bikes for 2016.

For my analysis of this list, be sure to click to the final page of this report.

10. Rocky Mountain Blizzard

With the introduction of the Blizzard, Rocky Mountain focused on bringing trail bike geometry and handling to the fat bike market, and if the high praise this bike receives is any indication, they’ve succeeded! Rocky Mountain has definitely played on their freeride heritage with the marketing of the Blizzard, with films such as “2 Fat and 2 Furious.” However, they’ve expanded their fat bike line for 2017 with the addition of the race-oriented Suzi Q 27.5″x4″ fat bikes.

In addition to the trail bike geometry, you can find a RockShox Bluto suspension fork on the top-tier Blizzard, along with a 1×10 drivetrain and an alloy frame. More affordable versions of this bike come with a rigid alumnium fork up front.

Key Specs:

• Travel: 120mm or 0mm front / 0mm rear
• Tire Size: 26″x4.8″
• Headtube Angle: 67.6 degrees
• Chainstay Length: 455mm
• Frame Material: Aluminum
• Pricing: $1,099-$2,599

9. Surly Moonlander

When it comes to the history of the fat bike, if you need to know one name, it’s Surly. Surly is the godfather of the first mass-produced fat bike, the Pugsley (more on that bike below). The Moonlander was one of Surly’s next bikes and eventually, the Moonlander was one of the very first 5-inch-tire fat bikes on the market. For most fat bikes that aren’t race-oriented, the 5-inch tire is now the gold standard, thanks to maximum traction and flotation.

Not much has changed about the Moonlander over the years, and it retains the same classic geometry, big tires, rigid steel frame, and singlespeed-compatible sliding dropouts. As with all Surly bikes, expect to find plenty of bosses for racks and accessory mounts.

Key Specs:

• Travel: 0mm front / 0mm rear
• Tire Size: 26″x4.8″
• Headtube Angle: 70.5″
• Chainstay Length: 450mm
• Frame Material: Steel
• Pricing: $2,350

7. Salsa Mukluk

Tied for 7th place is yet another one of the earliest fat bike models: the Salsa Mukluk. Surly and Salsa are now both owned by QBP, yet these individual fat bikes and brands both still live on individually and have loyal followings.

While Surly clings tightly to their steel-framed roots, the Mukluk model has seen much more transformation over the years, and is now offered in either aluminum or carbon rigid models.

Key Specs:

• Travel: 0mm front / 0mm rear
• Tire Size: 26″x4.33″, but can accommodate up to 4.8″
• Headtube Angle: 69 degrees
• Chainstay Length: 432-449mm
• Frame Material: Aluminum and Carbon
• Pricing: $1,799-$4,499

7. Pivot LES Fat

The name of the game is “versatility” when it comes to the Pivot LES Fat. This fat bike is specifically designed to be compatible with every single plus-size or fat-tire wheel+tire size on the market, thanks to the “patented Swinger II dropout system.” This dropout system “[enables] you to run almost any available plus or fat bike wheelsize, easily switch between singlespeed and geared drivetrains, and choose your chainstay length based on conditions and desired handling characteristics,” according to Pivot.

As for suspension, the LES Fat is available with both rigid and suspension fork options.

Key Specs:

• Travel: 100mm or 0mm front / 0mm rear
• Tire Size: All plus or fat tire sizes, up to 26″x4.8″
• Headtube Angle: 69-69.75 degrees, depending on tire size.
• Chainstay Length: 437mm-451mm, depending on tire size.
• Frame Material: Carbon
• Pricing: $3,499-$5,499

6. Surly Ice Cream Truck

Surly’s Ice Cream Truck brings modern trail bike geometry to the 5-inch fat bike portion of their lineup, with a 68-degree headtube angle. You could consider the Ice Cream Truck a revamped Moonlander. While the steel frame and fork are held over from the Moonlander, the handling is radically different thanks to the updated geo. The Ice Cream Truck also offers the latest 197mm rear hub spacing.

Key Specs:

• Travel: 0mm front / 0mm rear
• Tire Size: 26″x4.8″
• Headtube Angle: 68 degrees
• Chainstay Length: 450mm
• Frame Material: Steel
• Pricing: $2,400-$2,700

5. Surly Pugsley

The Surly Pugsley is the OG fat bike. According to the film “10 Years of Fat,” the Pugsley was “the world’s first mass-produced fat bike.” While very little has changed on the Pugsley over the years, this 4-inch fat bike model is still going strong and has a very loyal following, as the #5 ranking on this list shows.

However, the classic geometry found on this fat bike leaves much to be desired. More recent fat bikes, such as the Ice Cream Truck, that have adopted trail bike-inspired geometry offer a much improved ride quality out on the trail.

Key Specs:

• Travel: 0mm front / 0mm rear
• Tire Size: 26″x3.8″
• Headtube Angle: 70 degrees
• Chainstay Length: 448mm
• Frame Material: Steel
• Pricing: $1,700

4. Salsa Bucksaw

The Salsa Bucksaw is notable as the first widely-distributed full suspension fat bike on the market, and then subsequently the first carbon full suspension fat bike. It’s been widely-acclaimed for its incredible versatility. As I concluded my own test ride review of the Bucksaw: “If you want to ride all year round, in every condition imaginable, and you truly are looking for the one-quiver bike, there is no more capable mountain bike than the Bucksaw and its full-suspension fat bike brethren.”

The Bucksaw was voted the #1 fat bike in our 2015 survey.

Key Specs:

• Travel: 100mm front / 100mm rear
• Tire Size: 26″x4″
• Headtube Angle: 67.7 degrees
• Chainstay Length: 444mm
• Frame Material: Carbon and Aluminum
• Pricing: $3,499-$5,999

3. Salsa Beargrease

One of the first models to challenge the paradigm of fat bikes as heavy and cumbersome, the Beargrease was one of the first (if not the first) carbon fat bike with a racey geo. While the Mukluk might be longer-running than the Beargrease, and the Bucksaw has squish both front and back, thanks to the ultra-low weights achievable on the Beargrease and the proven geometry, it’s obviously a fan favorite in the fat bike world, netting the #3 spot on our list. It was also voted the #1 fat bike in our 2014 survey.

Key Specs:

• Travel: 0mm front / 0mm rear
• Tire Size: 26″x4.0″
• Headtube Angle: 68.5 degrees
• Chainstay Length: 440mm
• Frame Material: Aluminum and Carbon
• Pricing: $1,399-$3,999

2. Trek Farley

Trek pioneered a new tire size with the introduction of their race-oriented Farley fat bike: 27.5″x4″. Since then, the 27.5″x4″ tire size has been adopted by other brands, primarily for use on other race-oriented fatties. However, some models of the Farley are also compatible with wider 5-inch tires on 26″ rims, and all of the latest Farley models come with 27.5″x4.5″ tires.

In addition to the standard Farley, Trek has recently released the Farley EX full suspension fat bike, sporting 120mm of travel front and back. Due to the way results were tallied in our survey and the closeness of these model names, it wasn’t clear exactly which model of the Trek Farley readers were choosing to vote for, so all models of the Farley were tallied together, and both bikes are discussed here.

The Farley EX is the second widely-distributed full suspension fat bike after the Salsa Bucksaw, and has become an instant hit.

Key Specs, Standard Farley:

• Travel: 0mm front / 0mm rear
• Tire Size: 27.5″x4.5″, max of 26″x5.0″
• Headtube Angle: 69 degrees
• Chainstay Length: 440mm
• Frame Material: Aluminum and Carbon
• Pricing: $1,729-$7,499

Key Specs, Farley EX:

• Travel: 120mm front / 120mm rear
• Tire Size: 27.5″x4.0″
• Headtube Angle: 68.8 degrees
• Chainstay Length: 443mm
• Frame Material: Aluminum and Carbon
• Pricing: $3,499-$5,499

1. Specialized Fatboy

Specialized has officially cemented their position in the fat bike market with the Fatboy, claiming the coveted #1 spot in our annual survey! It’s come close before, with a #2 ranking in 2015 and a #3 ranking in 2014, but the Fatboy has officially secured a gold medal!

Interestingly, the Fatboy models currently listed on Specialized’s website have changed significantly from the Fatboy Pro I rode in 2015, which had full-fat 4.6″ tires and a RockShox Bluto fork. While you can get 4.6″ tires in the two most affordable Fat Boy builds for 2017, the three more expensive models feature 4″ tires. Interestingly, none of the Fatboy models offer suspension forks, perhaps because Specialized is optimizing for the fat bike race market.

Key Specs:

• Travel: 0mm front / 0mm rear
• Tire Size: 26″x4″ in most models; 26″x4.6″ in some models.
• Headtube Angle: 70.5 degrees
• Chainstay Length: 455mm
• Frame Material: Aluminum and Carbon
• Pricing: $1,400-$7,000

Analysis

Fat Biking Has Arrived

I found the fat bike results from our 2016 survey to offer valuable insights into the fat bike market today. Salsa took the vote for the #1 fat bike in both 2014 and 2015 with the Beargrease and the Bucksaw, respectively. The Fatboy was always in the running (#3 in 2014 and #2 in 2015), but overtook the rest of the field by a large margin for 2016.

Perhaps most interesting is the rapid rise of the Trek Farley, perhaps spurred on by the introduction of the full suspension Farley EX. Trek hasn’t ranked in the top 5 fat tire bikes since we began our surveys in 2014, yet for 2016 it rocketed up to the silver medal position–impressive!

Seeing two of the biggest bike brands in the world occupy the #1 and #2 spots on the list indicates to me that fat biking has officially arrived. While fat bikes will of course never displace standard mountain bikes, they’ve made a solid market for themselves that isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Naming conventions affect results?

While the trend of major mountain biking brands embracing fat biking is undeniable, differences in naming conventions from one brand to another could have skewed the survey results in favor of both Trek and Specialized. Essentially, for each of these brands, all of their fat bike models fall under the name of “Farley” or “Fatboy,” no matter how different those models are. For instance, under the “Farley” name you can find the full suspension Farley EX, and multiple tire and wheel size options for the rigid Farley. The Fatboy also offers different models with different tire sizes.

In contrast to the major brands, the smaller brands, which offer much more diversity overall in their fat bike lines, have broken different tire sizes and suspension amounts out into different model names. Specifically, Surly and Salsa each had three results on this top 10 list, but if they had used a similar naming convention to Trek and Specialized, all of those models would actually have been one single model.

Analysis by Brand

Due to the lack of standardization in fat bike naming conventions, I took the raw survey data and instead tallied the results by brand. If you group all of the votes by brand, removing erroneous votes for 27.5+ bikes which don’t qualify as fat bikes, here are the adjusted survey rankings:

1. Salsa
2. Surly
3. Specialized
4. Trek
5. Borealis
6. Pivot
7. Rocky Mountain

When ranked by brand, Salsa and Surly again run away with the wins by a significant margin. For comparison, Salsa received almost 2x the number of votes that Trek received. Also note that Borealis takes the #5 spot on the brand list, even though it couldn’t get a single model onto the ranked list of bikes.

After comparing the differences between the individual bike rankings and the brand rankings, it’s clear that while the big two brands may be breaking into the fat bike market in a big way, many niche brands have much deeper fat bike lineups. Even in 2016, the fat bike market is still controlled by the small brands that helped pioneer this remarkable revolution in mountain biking: Surly and Salsa.