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Home / Mountain Bikes and Gear / News

15 Fat Bikes Bringing Traction to the Masses

Salsa Blackborow The Blackborow is a new 5″ fat bike from Salsa and this bike is really meant to be a winter workhorse (though the 5″ tires should glide over sand just as easily). Salsa designed the Blackborow with short chainstays but with their “Alternator dropouts” that allow the chainstays to be lengthened up to …

By Greg Heil
September 19, 2014 Last Updated: August 8, 2024

14 comments

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Salsa Blackborow

The Blackborow is a new 5″ fat bike from Salsa and this bike is really meant to be a winter workhorse (though the 5″ tires should glide over sand just as easily). Salsa designed the Blackborow with short chainstays but with their “Alternator dropouts” that allow the chainstays to be lengthened up to 457mm to accommodate various racks. MSRP: $2,299. -Jeff

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Greg Heil

Greg has been mountain biking since 2005. His passion for exploring new trails has taken him around the world several times — he's ridden over 8,000 different trails and visited 21 countries (and counting). Greg's career in mountain bike media began in 2010, and being the first employee Singletracks ever hired might be his most notable accomplishment. He currently serves in the Managing Editor role.

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14 Comments

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sdm268 2012
Sep 19, 2014

I'm still a little hazy on the benefits of a Fat Bike over a conventional mountain bike. Anyone?

0 reply

AUTHOR

Greg Heil Colorado // 2008
Sep 19, 2014

Hey man, check out this article, it might help answer some of your questions: http://www.singletracks.com/blog/uncategorized/fat-biking-101-10-things-you-need-to-know-before-biking-in-the-snow/

0 reply

Jared13 California // 2011
Sep 20, 2014

It's awesome to see the fatbike market gaining traction. (pun intended :lol: )

A few of the shops back home (NE Iowa) have been in love with them for 3+ years now. One of them (Decorah Bicycles) has started a fatbike rental fleet they love them so much! I moved away right before they got it up and running, but if I go back to visit, I'm tempted to try one out for the day, even if I bring my bike. They currently have Trek, Surly, and Specialized fatbikes available.

The Salsa Bucksaw has definitely caught my attention!

0 reply

Jeff Barber Georgia // 1998
Sep 19, 2014

It's interesting to see that many (though not all) of the established MTB brands with fat bikes in their lines seem to be shooting for the sub-$2000 range while upstarts and smaller brands like Salsa are really pushing the tech with more expensive carbon bikes, suspension, etc.

I guess some of the bigger companies are thinking fat bikes are just going to be a second or third bike for consumers. But after riding high-end fat bikes (like the Bucksaw), I beg to differ! Fat bikes will be primary rigs for many riders so it's time to really put some thought into these designs rather than just rolling out rigid bike with fat tires slapped on them to meet a reasonable price point.

0 reply

Jeff Barber Georgia // 1998
Sep 19, 2014

I think part of what we're seeing too is that the fat bike market is already splintering into winter fat bikes and year-round fatties. Winter fat bikes (rigid, 5" tires) will be more of a niche and will be a second or third bike for folks while the year-round fat bikes will rock 3-4" tires plus suspension. The latter is a larger potential market but will take longer to develop.

0 reply

AUTHOR

Greg Heil Colorado // 2008
Sep 19, 2014

I'm personally enjoying seeing bikes like the Rocky Mountain Blizzard and the Big Ed which are rocking nice components and a suspension fork, but they're not outrageously expensive. $2,700 for the Blizzard with a Bluto and an XT build kit seems like a pretty awesome deal!

0 reply

AUTHOR

Greg Heil Colorado // 2008
Sep 19, 2014

Possibly, but it seems like with all the 29+ conversions on display of bikes that were originally pitched as "winter" fat bikes that some of these fat bike companies are really trying to say, "hey, maybe you first bought this bike to ride on snow, but you can easily make it a great-riding bike for the entire year."

Still, I'm inclined to agree with you... it'll be interesting to see how this shakes out, and if some companies will try to do BOTH all-year and winter-specific.

0 reply

Jim Hodgson Georgia // 2012
Sep 19, 2014

That Bluto fork is indispensable, I say. It makes already fun bikes real much more funner.

I gotta get on that bucksaw!

0 reply

AUTHOR

Greg Heil Colorado // 2008
Sep 19, 2014

Dang, y'all are making me discontent with my new fat bike! Less than 200 miles and I already want a new one ;)

0 reply

AUTHOR

Greg Heil Colorado // 2008
Sep 19, 2014

PS wouldn't it make sense for RockShox to offer the Bluto with a straight steerer options, due to all the straight headtube steel bikes with rigid forks, like mine, running around?

0 reply

vandamage New York // 2011
Sep 19, 2014

What, no Fat Boy ?

0 reply

AUTHOR

Greg Heil Colorado // 2008
Sep 19, 2014

Maybe Specialized and Trek should come down off of Mount Olympus and join the rest of us mere mortals at the expo.

0 reply

AUTHOR

Greg Heil Colorado // 2008
Sep 19, 2014

PS Specialized WAS at Outdoor Demo, just not at the indoor expo. But Trek is just fine with doing their own "Trek World" expo...

0 reply

r1Gel 2013
Feb 19, 2016

You 'muricans must be getting really rich. You're marketing 6k carbon fat bikes to the "masses."

0 reply

Tagged: fat bike, fat bikes, felt, gear, interbike, interbike 2014, new, news, gear, fat biking

First published September 19, 2014 @ 7:05:35