♪ [music] ♪
- [Mark] So Neil has already discovered that fat bikes are definitely fun.
But as a racer, I want to know one thing. Are fat bikes fast?
- [Neil] So we've come to our local trails and we're going to test out.
We got a fat bike each and a normal trail bike each. We've got a Strava, put them
to the test and see what's fastest. As ever with our GMBN tests,
they're really just a bit of fun. They are not the most scientific test ever.
Why compare a full suspension trail bike to a hardtail fat bike I hear you ask?
Well, this is a regular trial bike. The sort of bike that we'd always use when
riding this sort of terrain. So for me, a true challenge of which bike is fastest.
A fat bike or a normal mountain bike.
- So now for the course. We have a six and a half kilometer loop containing
fire road climb, a rocky single track, followed by a very steep descent.
A technical climb and then a fast flowing XC-style dissent to finish.
All in all, 20 minutes of absolute pain.
- So I'm looking forward to this these are my local trails, I've ridden here for 20
years, I know all of the lines. I ride here on a trail bike just like this
all the time, so excited to see the difference between a normal bike
and a fat bike. Right, when you're all set?
- Ready?
- Let us roll.
- Three...two...one. Do it.
♪ [music] ♪
- So we've set the times of the trail bikes, no surprises there.
On with the fat bike., Mark what are your first impressions, just riding it under me
on fire road?
- Well as you can see it's quite a bumpy fire road and I ride a hard tail
twenty-niner at home and this seems to just roll along, along the road.
You don't really feel any of the bumps or anything, just nice and mellow.
The problem will be I think trying to get it to accelerate out of like a slow corner
or something. But we will see.
- Yeah, let's put it to the test.
♪ [music] ♪
- Oh my God. That was good.
- Okay Mark, so the times are in but first of all,
do you think it was fast? How did it feel?
- I think it struggles on the climbs. I think it's hard to get it back
up to speed when you've slowed down for a tight corner. But once it's rolling,
boy, is it rolling.
- It is rolling, that is true. So let's split it into the main parts first.
So the long far climb, six minutes forty-one on the normal bike,
on the trail bike, and it's six minutes fifty-four on the fat bike,
so a little bit slower.
- Thirteen seconds slower on the fat bike. I'm actually surprised it so close.
- Into the singletrack, slightly downhill and it was actually nine seconds
faster than the trail bike.
- You could feel that though couldn't you, like once you got going and
it was rolling over those rough little rocks and stuff, it just seemed to keep
accelerating whereas the trail bike would snag on stuff and you'd slip and you'd
have a little bit off a moment.
- And you really, really have the grip, didn't you, obviously?
Into the steep downhill, it was actually slower. Only three seconds slower.
Definitely felt like the big tire. But you haven't got you know,
big braking surface on there. So when you're in the loose stuff,
it didn't feel like you could slow down fast.
- On the flat stuff, it had the traction and you felt quite confident in it.
And as you say, on the steep stuff perhaps there's not so much load on the
tire, so it can't sort of dig in.
- But the big result, so if the full lap, the trail bike was 22:55,
and the fat bike was 23:36.
So for me, that's proof that it is actually fast. Yes, a bit slower but not
as much as I would have expected.
- It's way closer than I thought it was going to be.
I mean for me regardless of whether they're faster,
I'd really hate to say, but I kind of enjoyed riding it.
- They are good fun. And I'm sure they're faster on
the trails they are designed for, in the snow and the sand.
You can't compare them then.
- No, that's true.
- Will we see fat bikes at EWS, Enduro World Series or World Cup Dino's?
- I can't see it, Neil.
- No. Maybe plus bikes, maybe?
- Plus bikes, something in between could be the next thing.
- Who knows.
- That will throw the cat amongst the pigeons, now that will really.
So that's it for fat bikes versus trial bikes and how fast do they go.
Well, pretty fast. For more videos here on GMBN, you should click up here for our fat
bikes fun with Neil.
- Yes, they are fun. Yes, they are fast.
- I can say that they are fun after riding one day on one.
- Still look a little bit like a clown bike though, don't they?
And you can click down there for my 27 versus 27 plus feature.
- And did you think this video was controversial? Well I was in it,
and I thought it was controversial, so definitely give it a thumb up to like.
- And as ever, if you haven't done already, click on us to subscribe to
the channel.