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Found: Fatback’s Sweet Fat Bikes from Alaska

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2013 Fatback chrome steel fat tire snow mountain bike from Alaska

Fatback Bikes is one of the big players in fat tired snow/mud/fat bikes…but you likely haven’t heard too much about them. They’re based in Anchorage, Alaska, and primarily sell their aluminum, steel and titanium frames and complete bikes customer direct. We had a chance to talk to them for a bit at Interbike’s Outdoor Demo and they’ve got some pretty neat ideas about fat bikes and ways to make them work.

They had three bikes floating around, the shiniest of which was the chromed version shown above. It was not, however, their most trick build…

2013 Fatback alloy belt drive internally geared hub fat tire snow mountain bike from Alaska

While not quite as shiny, this one’s a polished aluminum frame with a unique touch:

2013 Fatback alloy belt drive internally geared hub fat tire snow mountain bike from Alaska

A custom spacer lets you run a standard 135mm rear hub. The benefit here is that there’s an Alfine internally geared hub to make snow plowing a bit more enjoyable without subjecting a standard cassette and derailleur to the elements. You may have to change out the grease/oil inside the hub for super cold temps, though.

They also make a 170mm hub that’s symmetrical, with the flanges set equidistant from center so all spokes are the same length and tension for a stronger wheel.

2013 Fatback alloy belt drive internally geared hub fat tire snow mountain bike from Alaska

Other nice touches are a tapered headtube, which lets him use an AngleSet or equivalent (this one uses an FSA Orbit Option) to adjust head angle and handling to meet the customer’s preferences.Fatback’s bikes are built to ride more like a mountain bike, and they say you can easily put 29er wheels (with the appropriately spaced hubs, of course) on in the summer and ride it like a normal hardtail.

2013 Fatback alloy belt drive internally geared hub fat tire snow mountain bike from Alaska

Fork is a 90mm travel German product that’s not sold in the US. This one’s just to show what’s possible with the bike, but there aren’t any firm plans to import them.

2013 Fatback alloy belt drive internally geared hub fat tire snow mountain bike from Alaska

2013 Fatback fat tire snow mountain bike from Alaska

Another aluminum frame, this one in purple ano! Black, green, orange and raw ano finishes also available.

2013 Fatback fat tire snow mountain bike from Alaska 2013 Fatback fat tire snow mountain bike from Alaska

Rack mounts let you build it into an adventure / touring bike.

2013 Fatback fat tire snow mountain bike from Alaska

2013 Fatback fat tire snow mountain bike from Alaska

2013 Fatback fat tire snow mountain bike from Alaska

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Ironhorse
Ironhorse
11 years ago

Polished stainless steel.

PedalBike
PedalBike
11 years ago

They sell direct, yet are at Interbike…..conflicted?

Rick
Rick
11 years ago

PedalBike…yes, conflicted enough to get awesome PR with 2000 views on this site apparently for showing up!

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...
11 years ago

@PedalBike
2 very good reasons to be there
-Exposure to customers, while interbike is for industry, it also produces the most bike tech news of any North American event. Great to expand the consumer base (if your product is very distinctive)
-Attracting dealers/distributors. Not every small bike company wants to spend the rest of its days handcrafting 10-30 bikes a month. Distribution or direct-to-dealer deals have a much greater chance if the exposure is high and the purchaser can get hands on.

Ajax
Ajax
11 years ago

Geez! What’s with all thes motorcycle width tires on adventure stel MTBs today? Whatever happened to just normal suspension forks for soaking up the bumps?

Max
Max
11 years ago

Fat tires are not for soaking up the bumps but for traction on snow, mud and sand

Ajax
Ajax
11 years ago

You can get traction with a more knobby tread pattern. A bigger volume of air doesn’t make one difference in traction.

Lance
11 years ago

@Ajax, you’re smoking some really bad weed… i’ll challange you to a race on dry sand or snow (with one leg and bald tires on my fatbike) and you can use both legs and the biggest knobby tires that your little whippy mountain bike can turn… Winner gets two cases of their fav beer and the looser must hang their head in shame.

King County
King County
11 years ago

Surly puts on a fat tire race every year. I forgot the offical name of it. You can enter with any bike you like. Lots of people use the Surly Pugsly, but a guy on a regular mountain bike won. He couldn’t grab any of the prize money because he wasn’t riding a Pugsly, though.

paul
paul
11 years ago

Ajax…..

You obviously have no idea what you are talking about. I have many fat bikes. Take yer little knobby 29er or 26er along with me, and you wil be hating life and end up pushing the hanlbars off hat thing. Larger tires with lower.psi rein superior in traction. I know, i live in Alaska and ride 100 miles a week in winter.

I too challnge ya to a race on sand or single rack snow…except we’ll race for bikes…

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