I've been riding a Farley 9.6 in Minnesota for the past 4 years. I'd say for anything besides breaking fresh trail in loose powder, the 27.5" is a superior setup. Faster rolling, and since you're typically running at very low air pressure, having a shorter sidewall than a 26" setup results in less 'self-steering' as the tire rolls side to side under the rim. Also, the 27.5" doesn't feel like you're riding on basketballs when the pressure is a little higher. With the Farley I run a 3.8" Hodag in the summer on dirt and around town but I'm about to swap over to studded 4.5" Gnarwhals. I swear you can climb up a tree with those things! I haven't ridden a FB but compared to the Beargrease, Trek has the geometry dialed in better for my tastes: groomed singletrack trail rides, racing, general shenanigans.
What’s hilarious is guys like @ekraft84 are using these for hardcore trail riding, and my silly ass uses it to pull my dogs around
I know of lots of people that have whittled down their fleet to just a fatbike as a do-it-all bike. I couldn't do that but if you can only have one...
I have a roadbike but tbh I'm afraid to ride it on the road. We've had both a pedestrian and a bicyclist killed here in town in just the past few weeks, and several others hit locally in the past year. Fucking cell phones man
Perfect, thanks. Exactly the feedback I was looking for. I have two Trek's now, so keeping the barn consistent by brand wouldn't be all bad. And like you mentioned, I could easily see getting two sets of wheels for the varying seasons.
That's cute. No, really. You probably get an added workout tugging that thing along. And stop riding on the roads and go gravel. So much better, with less traffic.
I’ve all but given up on actual road riding. I used to do a lot of racing back in high school, but that was before smartphones became widespread. I stick to the bike paths these days. There are a couple practice races in my area on closed courses that I’d like to take a shot at next year, too. But the open roads are just too dangerous out here for it to be worth the risk.
So I found a '19 Fatboy Comp Carbon for an I-can't-pass-this-up-deal price. It has 26x4 Ground Controls, but I want to put some 45NRTH studded tires on it for snow/ice riding. There's some groomed tight single trail stuff around here, where I think the 26's could actually be advantageous. To go along with it, I'm thinking of getting a second set of wheels - 27.5's with the 3.8" Hodag's on it, for non-snow/summer weather riding. I think the frame geometry will be fine with the bigger wheels and will maximize 4-season riding. Whatcha think?
How bad is the Katy Trail, these days? I’ve been told it’s beat to shit, especially between STL and you.
It took a pretty good thumping from the flood but DNR has done a decent job cleaning it up. I went shortly after the water receded and it was a mess, lots of mud and some really rough patches. I went a few weeks ago and it's mostly smoothed out.