So fat eBikes. A lot of you out there are probably wondering what is an electric fat bike. Basically, it is a bike that has fatter wheels and tyres and an electric motor. They are also probably the bike that you most need in your life.
Fat eBikes Go Everywhere
There are many reasons for this but first I will tell you a little story. With this tale comes a health and safety notice of please do not do this, it is not big and it is most definitely not clever. The first time I had my hands on a fat eBike I decided to see what it was like for commuting. So I decided to commute to work one sunny morning on the fat eBike. As usual, I stopped for a coffee. As I was running late, also not unusual, I decided to drink the coffee as I rode one handed to work. I was then distracted by a shout as I rode along. Causing me to miss a traffic island in front of me.
I then rode straight over this traffic island. This should have caused a crash or at least the spilling of my coffee. It did neither, the huge tyres basically rolled over the island like it was not there. This, in a nutshell, is why everyone needs an electric fat bike. All journeys will no longer put obstacles in your way, the bike will conquer them all.
Fat eBikes Help With Mobility
This is why electric fat bikes are great. If you have mobility issues a fat bike will be great for getting around on and they are almost impossible to crash. Trust us we have tried. The huge tyres and low pressures bring you more comfort than you can imagine. It is like using a sofa to travel around on. They also go uphill surprisingly easy.
GCN did a test on pedal powered fat bikes and found they climbed better than more conventional bikes. This is even better on an e-bike there will be literally no slope that you will not be able to conquer on one. You might be slower due to the tyres but you will get there in comfort.
The Social Benefits Of Electric Fat eBikes
They are also the most social of bikes. People of all walks of life will stop and talk to you about your bike and those huge tyres. Traffic lights, coffee shops, and out on the trails people will stop and talk to you. We can almost use fat eBikes to bring world peace as everyone sits down and discusses tyre pressure and tyre variations.
Fat bikes were originally created to get over Alaskan snow and as such they have tyres of between 3.8″ and 5″ wide. This is the defining feature of fat bikes, originally they were all steel, rigid bikes and with no electric power. Now we have reached a time where we can have a fat bike made from any material and with front and rear suspension.
Our Top Three Fat eBikes of 2017
Haibike sDuro Full Fat 7.0
Commonly for fat bikes, the suspension duties are taken care of by Rock Shox Bluto fork and Monarch rear suspension. This is the package that the Haibike sDuro Full Fat 7.0 takes and mates it all to a 500Wh battery.
There will now be nowhere that you can not go. Sand, snow, bogs, and main roads will all be conquered by this beast. With 120mm of travel on top of the 4″ Schwalbe Jumbo Jim tyres you can be sure it will all be completed in comfort.
The electric system on the Haibike is the Yamaha PW system and we were impressed by the system when we wrote about it recently. This system then means you will be able to cover more distance in between charges, handy as this bike is super fun and you won’t want to be heading home anytime soon.
BH eMotion EasyGo Big Bud
If you fancy a fat bike but are not too keen on the idea of a full suspension monster then BH have you covered with their eMotion EasyGo Big Bud. This bike has a great stealth aesthetic, which even takes in the battery. People at first look will find it hard to spot the 250w eMotion setup that this bike runs.
At a sub £2,000 price point this could be the bike to welcome you to both the e-bike world and the fat bike world without destroying your bank account. The BH will allow you to discover how easy e-fat bikes make cycling. The easier cycling is, the more fun it becomes.
KTM Machina Kapoho LT 271 eBike
KTM are renowned for their great motorbikes and recently their pedal bikes have also been getting plaudits. They, therefore, must be one of the best-placed companies to offer high-quality e-bikes. This Machina Kapoho LT 271 certainly makes that point.
Coming in the KTM orange this is a hard e-bike to miss, especially when compared to the BH. It is also not as out and out a fat bike as the two previous options. The KTM is a plus size bike. It is semi-skimmed compared to our two full-fat offerings. It has a slightly narrower tyre, the frame having clearance for tyres up to 3″ wide.
What you then have is a lower rolling resistance but a tyre that still grips and refuses to let you crash. With the Bosch Performance Line CX system attached to the bike, you have a similar system to the Yamaha PW one on the Haibike. You can then again expect huge reliability and great mileage in one handy package.
There you have three bikes that use large tyres and great electric systems to make your cycling more fun and hopefully way muddier. Taking you to places that others just simply can not get to.