With the popularity of fat bikes at an all time high, the plethora of new tire/rim/suspension/frame options has allowed to designers and engineers to explore their wildest fantasies.
For Rocky Mountain, inspiration came from a set of over-sized prototype tires and rims from WTB, and the end result looks like the comically shreddable bastard child of a fat bike and adventure touring bike.
Jokes aside, this concept bike blends two incredibly different riding styles to create a seriously capable fat tire trail bike. Head past the break to learn more….
To create the new Sherpa, Rocky took a stock Element front triangle and stretched the rear triangle to fit the fatties.
The prototype 2.8″ 650B WTB tires utilize the same tread pattern as the new Trail Boss, but add an extra bit of girth. They’re not quite as voluminous as proper fat bike rubber, but when paired with the extremely wide 45mm proto rim, they’re roughly the same outside (read: rolling) diameter as a 29″ tire.
Like a 29 + fat bike, the 27.5+ concept gives you the opportunity to use the bike in one configuration for traversing accross snow, sand, or the bike path. Swapping out the tires would give you the ability to setup your bike more aggressively come summer.
So there it is. The first 27.5+ full suspension trail fat bike I genuinely think looks rad (which is no small part due to Stacy Glasser’s incredible paint job!) and would love to rally. Want to see these products make it to the market eventually? Let WTB and Rocky know in the comments.
