Youz guys probably aren't going to like what I have to say but! I love my fat bike. I wanted a bike for riding in snow, loose sand and over just about anything. Above all I wanted it to be loads of fun. I'm old, I don't have tons of stamina and I started mountain biking at age 57. I held off getting one because I had tried them and found them far too exhausting to have fun. In the end, practicality and engineering won out and I decided to build one.
I started with a titanium bike from Bikes Direct that came with 2X11 gears, Bluto front fork, Sun Ringle MuleFut wheels and Maxxis Minion 26 X 4.8 tires. I added an older KS 900i dropper post I had, replaced the saddle with Sprecialized Henge Pro, went with a tubeless set up, changed to wider bars and shorter stem. I then installed a 52volt crank drive electric system with 700 watt hour lithium manganese battery, eliminated the front derailleur and installed a 42 tooth narrow/wide aluminum chain ring, hall sensors for brakes and gear shifting, decent full light readable computer. Bike is 51 lbs.
I spent considerable time programing and getting the systems to integrate well and work smoothly and stay well within legal limits. One thing I eliminated. My bike does not have a throttle control. I found a throttle control to be dangerous with no real effective way of eliminating that danger. Special attention to programing pedal response eliminated the need to even consider a throttle so my bike is strictly pedal assist. I have programed assist response to let me do as much of the work as I can and the electrics make up what I can't. On a paved bike path I don't get much of any assist at all but you throw in 8-10" of snow or round grain loose sand, mud or big climbs and I get a fair amount of assist.
I have ordered new tires for the bike as the Maxxis Minions are not that great for the type of riding that I mostly do. The Minions are high rolling resistance, loud and fantastic in mud or wet soil, neither of which I care to ride. They are as loud as running off the edge of the road and hitting the rumble strips on hard surface no matter what the pressure is and they don't work well with loose glacial gravels like we have in my area. I'm going to try the Vee Rubber Mission 26 X 4.8's.
I have put some extra's on it that I definitely would not put on a bike without assist. I added lights, mud fenders, a rear rack, a damned bell, a mirror and a cell phone holder. The cell phone integrates with the computer and is charged by the main battery.
My experience so far is certainly more positive than negative. I have gotten in better shape with this bike than my other bikes, I feel better after rides, I can ride much further. With my other bikes I was riding about 70 miles a week; 60mi MPT/road and 10 single track. I am now riding about 120-160 miles a week depending on weather. I ride three days a week with a group of old roadies on MPT/roads and take at least one longer trip by myself. I am riding 10-30 miles a week single track. I will expand more into sand, snow and fire roads as time goes on. I have in 650 miles since the third week in March. I am also looking as some muti-day trips with hundred mile days.
My riding experience is different than what I was expecting. One major difference is that there is no problem getting back up to speed after a slowdown, no problem getting started again on a hill and no need for momentum to make a climb. The result is you slow way down for pedestrians, pull over sooner to let faster riders go by, obey traffic rules more closely and I don't tend to get a run at a climb. That is considerably different than the more speed I was expecting to utilize. I don't get myself hyped over need for momentum, my mental stress level is lower. The more I ride this bike the less I feel like I am cheating. Its amazing what 10 cents worth of electricity in a battery can do to increase the experience.
