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…
While not quite as shiny, this one’s a polished aluminum frame with a unique touch:
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.
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.
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.
Another aluminum frame, this one in purple ano! Black, green, orange and raw ano finishes also available.
Rack mounts let you build it into an adventure / touring bike.
