Back in February 2017 I went Fatbiking with Ride the Alps and my mates Dave and Chris.
After that I bought the Scott Genius Plus bike. That wasn’t a fat bike. It was a chubby and much fun was had, particularly due to the insane traction it generated whilst climbing. I sold that bike in lockdown and ended up making money on it despite having ridden it for a few years.
Over the COVID lockdown period I did A LOT of local riding. The best trails are in the woods down by the beach. Everything is on a sand subsoil and with local folks and visitors there’s been a fair bit of erosion and the trails are blown out.
That means unless it’s frozen, it’s very hard work and you’re probably making things worse not better. So that, plus recognition that all that sand probably wasn’t doing much good to Fox suspension forks meant it was time to go full fat.
The problem of course is that supply of most things is a bit screwed at the moment due to a combination of COVID, lockdown and Brexit and a large boat getting stuck sideways in a small bit of the sea. That and a global shortage of shipping containers because they’re all stuck in the wrong places. And various other reasons and excuses suppliers come up with.
So it turns out Specialized (whose Fat Bike I rode back in 2017) like Scott don’t make one anymore. Trek who do make a nice one don’t have any and that meant it was time to check out the German option. The Canyon Dude is a full carbon setup with a retro fade paint job. Aside from the questionable move to 27.5″ rims it ticked all the boxes and arrived in less than a week. I’ve picked up a set of 26″ wheels with 4.0″ and optional 4.8″ rubber so we will given those a go too.
The Genius Plus was riding on 27.5 x 3.0″ rubber and I’m not sure the 27.5 x 3.8″ on the Dude will cut it. We’re going to find out.
R O T H A R . C O M 