Big Wheels - Big Fun!

By Jack Hawkins

Photos: Steve Crawford, Ray Brown

That behemoth above is a Fatbike. Fatbikes are bicycles with oversized tyres, they’re made to ride on surfaces that are too soft for other bicycles’ tyres, such as snow or sand.

Fatbikes have really caught on in North America since American bike manufacturer Surly Bikes - famous for producing the ultra-popular touring bike, the Surly Long Haul Trucker, produced their own ‘Fat’ bike – the Pugsley. 

Fatbikes have grown in popularity since Surly took that big, fat (see what I did there?) leap of manufacturing faith. Salsa have created the ‘Mukluk’, and FATBACK, a company which solely produces Fatbikes, have just introduced the ‘Corvus’.

However, Fatbikes are not cheap. Most range at around $1500 and up. Locally, Consolvo Bikes of Moncton, New Brunswick, sell the NORCO Bigfoot (released in November of last year) for $1500. Consolvo also offer a rental service. According to Jim Goguen, the shop’s manager, “For $50-per-day and that initial cost is waived if the rental leads to a sale, there is also a full warranty on the bikes.”

LET’S RACE THEM!

On February 8th, the city of Moncton – in partnership with Consolvo Bikes hosted the first ever Fatbike Race in the Maritimes at Hillside Christmas Tree Farm. Below is a selection of photographs from the race courtesy of Ray Brown, one of the racers, and Steve Crawford, a spectator.

Jim Goguen reflected on a very successful day, “The Men’s Winner was Bruce Macpherson and the Women’s Winner was Kimberly Abbott. But, I must say that we were all winners today! There were strong winds and a strong wind-chill, it was -20!” Jim also stated that Consolvo’s was planning another Fatbike race in the future.

Fatbiking definitely looks like a lot of fun! Something definitely worth the fifty-dollar rental fee that Consolvo offers. Hopefully we’ll see more Fatbikers in the future.