Are fatties taking over

Matthews

Retrobike Rider
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Just nipped into my local Go Outdoors for some laces for my boots (and a quick nosey in sale rails) only to see Fat Bikes on sale !!!
 
This is(/was) my worry with fatties - cheap (or even half-cheap) ones will necessarily be anchors, putting off anyone who doesn't have 4-figure sums to spend and killing them before they really take off. That said, it doesn't seem to have happened as there's loads going on at the upper end of the market :)

It's continually changing 'standards' that would put me off at the moment*




*if I had money and space for one!
 
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The good ones will get cheaper, it just has to do with how many they are making. I don't see any reason why a fat bike should be much more expensive than a regular hardtail, other than development costs of parts and bikes as they are relatively new and that they are made in small numbers at the moment.

Thing is, the big boys are on this now (Specialized, Trek, Scott) and a ton of smaller companies. OK, none of them are producing many fat bikes but they are selling out, so demand is there. Rock Shox have done a fork - it's not very good but it's out there. SRAM do cranks - maybe OE only though? Schwalbe and Panaracer are making tyres. It is becoming less specialist and people on fat bikes are a more common sight than they were last year.

As for standards, that's bike industry. They never settle on anything for very long anymore.
 
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seen them in go outdoors cheap nasty things; thing with fat bikes i have noticed'
one comes out and everyone wants it, then another becomes flavour of the mth,
new moonlander ops is the biz 2k cant go wrong with surly :cool:
 
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I think that even if they were to reach similar sales as 'normal' bikes - whatever that means anymore :LOL: - then the entry price for a Fatty that's fun to ride would still be notably higher due to the higher quality of wheels and rubber required to reach an acceptable weight.

But that wasn't really my point - it's possible to build a basic bike for £200, that it's possible have a bunch of fun on. The same can't be said of a Fatty - cheap ones will be miserable to ride and hence put people off.
 
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