Lamere Cycles Introduces Factory Direct Carbon Fatbike Frame and Fork

It seems odd that this frame has such a high price tag if you compare it to other Chinese open mold frame prices. Granted, fatbikes are hot shiz right now, but I don’t see much reason for an additional $1300 (non pre-order price) over standard mtb framesets from the same manufacturers.

These factories don’t all charge the same prices. You’ve gotta keep in mind….fat bikes are popular but they’re still going to make far fewer of these than regular mountain bikes. Also, nobody has any clue about the carbon structure they’re using. This could be a steal!!!

Keep in mind most people stamping out carbon frame via china are using a mold that’s bought/paid for already….usually by the company who commissioned the mold to begin with.

You have Salsa and Borealis currently doing carbon fat bikes they own the molds for. Likely won’t see direct copies off those molds anytime soon. Which means LaMere probably has $25k sunk into a mold and significant sze minimum orders , not just buying an existing frame a handful at a time and calling themselves a bike company.

170mm rear spacing is so 2011.

Mindless – Chainline and BB width issues mean that the 170mm rear hub spacing is likely to stay for as long as the ‘thinner’ 4″ tyres do.

Thanks for chiming in, JP!

Looks awesome! I like it just the way it is and wish I had the extra money to buy it.

Yay, something else to pull people away from you LBS. Seriously people, please support your local shops. They do way more than you may even realize.

From personal experience, I don’t think it will fit a bud and lou with a clown shoe. It widens the tire out to much. Maybe it will, but just saying what I have seen with my own eyes….

I’d rather have the Borealis ’cause it doesn’t use that awful Madoney headtube that all these open molders think is cool. It’s a much cleaner Chinese job and the Yampa was out first, JP, so it doesn’t stink of “Me too” as much.

there is no way a 170 bike fits a bud on a clownshoe, period. it does not work unless you invented some anti-gravity chain device to make the chain magically bend around the tire.

also, there is no way these guys paid for a mold. i know them, and they don’t have 2 pennies to rub together. they are charging a high price just because they can.

the major problem with open molds is that there is rarely, if any testing done, and the design was performed by people who don’t ride the bikes and know the nuances. when you pay more for a brand name, you are paying to employ an american rider who knows how to ride, knows that to do, and is trying to make the bike better for you. you are also paying for real engineering and destructive testing. support those that actually do the work, surly, salsa, borealis, 907, hell, even Trek.

Whats with the knock off BSA logo? stolen from BB30, but why?

@gringo Birmingham Small Arms came up with that logo in the 1920s for their 1.375″ x 24 tpi bottom bracket threading, duh! Just ask the Chinese engineer who drew it for Lamere.

@Big Cow +1

Wow. Now there’s a refreshing dose of plain talk for you, owning your own comments, not hiding behind anonymous monikers. Makes me want to support LaMere. Good luck guys!

@Big Cow
So you claim to “know these guys and they don’t have 2 pennies to rub together” and yet “(I) actually have no idea who you are, but i sure provoked a response that shows who you are!”
Do you know “these guys” or not? It appears not, and you are just being an a**hat, for why?

I think your (and other naysayers) assumptions and accusations show just what ignorant trolls you are, VS JPs’ debatable assertion of having the lightest fattie. So what if it is, or not – its damn close, if its not, and for less $. Is he defensive? Uh, YEA! Wouldnt you be if some ignorant a**holes on a forum were smack talking your project you just sunk a sizable chunk of your life savings into? This is bootsrapping, dude! JP is doing something many INDIVIDUALS dont have the balls to do – I doubt you do! This is what entrepreneurial drive looks like!

JP resides and has a storefront in (probably) one of highest fatbike-per capita cities anywhere – Minneapolis, MN; where MANY of us ride year round, fat or not. I think he knows what a fat-bike should look like, what with QBP – the umbrella corp of Surly and Salsa – right here in our backyard. Not a single Surly or Salsa product is made in the USA, BTW. 170mm rear? Awesome. Tons of parts available, unlike expensive 190 hubs, the way 170 were when they came out. I think Salsa started the 190mm trend just to mess with people. He even says he wanted it for 4″ tires, and it happens to clear “5. Bonus.

I will be honest: I own a Chinese carbon 29er frame, that looks a lot like the 2013 Origin 8 carbon frame. Yay. I got it for about $450, frame and fork, shipped. I freaking love it. I have mostly used, but really nice parts – Roval Carbon wheelset, Reba TI, XT, TIME, Thomson, carbon Avid hydro…

However, since I have copious student loans, I cannot even consider a LaMere at this time, let alone name-brand carbon like Salsa, Borealis or 907, but I am watching eBay like a hawk for the China knock-offs to start spilling out (Sorry JP).

The argument that you are taking money away from the LBS by buying direct from China is not entirely accurate. Yes, I bought a crabon frame from China for cheap – I still have to order all or most of my parts through my LBS (where I am sponsored, so I get a great deal, but…), have wheels built and trued there (when I am too lazy to do it myself), buy cables/housing, drive-train, brakes, cables, locks, lights, clothing, shoes, etc.

If you knew anything about the bike shop biz, you would already know that the bike (or frame, in this case) is not the money-maker for the LBS – it is the accessories and service that makes the real money. In fact, selling complete bikes comes with a whole host of problems like warranties, recalls, tune-ups, CUSTOMERS… I know of a mostly used shop that cleared $80k in flat-fixes one year.

I tell everyone not in the bike fold who asks about bikes/parts/service to go to one of two local shops, depending on their needs and budget; and, aside from helping them turn over stock, that is how I pay them back for sponsoring me.

Oh, and the Borealis is made in China (I got to speak to them personally recently, and I dont think they are mechanical engineers…), as is every other carbon frame out there, save maybe some high-end Italian names. The Salsa Beargrease Carbon? China.

YOU WANT Chinese carbon since they are the pros! Why pay twice as much for one with a brand-name sticker? His other frames may be open mold, but I believe him when he says he had the molds made for this one.

You want a real USA made frame? Better save your pennies (I hear JP has a few for you), or learn to braze, weld or wrap crabon, son.

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