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2024 MADE Bike Show Pre-Feature: Paul’s Meriwether x Oddity Touring Fat Bike

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2024 MADE Bike Show Pre-Feature: Paul’s Meriwether x Oddity Touring Fat Bike

John and Cari are en route to the 2024 MADE Bike Show and stopped along the way to see the Paul Component Engineering fam in Chico, California. While there, we checked out Paul’s Meriwether Cycles touring fat bike. This collaboration bike with Oddity Cycles is a three-year project, but if you’re like us, you’ll agree it was well worth the wait. Let’s check it out!

WTB’s Bailiff 27.5 x 4.5″ Fatbike Tires

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WTB’s Bailiff 27.5 x 4.5″ Fatbike Tires

Fatbikes are often laid to the wayside by the bike industry, so when we come across a fatbike product, we have to share it. Case in point is WTB’s new Bailiff ($134.95) 27.5 x 4.5″ fatbike tires. These are available in standard and studded, with carbide studs pre-installed. Yet, both versions feature 312 stud pockets for unbeatable traction on ice. The Bailiff’s tubeless-ready 120tpi casing provides a supple ride feel, conforms to all surface conditions, and minimizes rotational weight. Its snow-specific compound remains soft at extremely cold temperatures to provide unparalleled traction on the most frigid days of the year.

Check out more at WTB.

Four Seasons: Daniel and His Custom Black Sheep Titanium Fat Bike

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Four Seasons: Daniel and His Custom Black Sheep Titanium Fat Bike

Every bicycle has a story behind it, especially those that are dreamt up over a period of years and eventually brought to life and built from the ground up. This absolutely stunning titanium Black Sheep ‘Speedster’ fat bike is definitely no exception. One could argue it’s a bit of a stretch, but in this case, this bike’s story involves skateboarding and a decades-long journey from the East Coast to the West Coast, and finally the Southwest.

Maine: America’s New Fatbiking Biking Mecca?

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Maine: America’s New Fatbiking Biking Mecca?

My friend Seth Levy, an obsessive bicyclist of the most masochistic variety, relentlessly tried to get me to fatbike with him when I lived in Maine in the mid-2010s.

“But I don’t like being cold, and I’m not a cyclist,” I explained. Maine’s long winters were glum, wet, and frigid. I preferred being in front of my wood-burning stove. And improved weather meant rock climbing.

Ignoring me, he enthused that I could ride fat-tire bikes all year round.

“Fatbikes open up so much more terrain for winter AND summer,” he explained. Yes, Maine has long winters, but also long springs “filled with mud, wet rocks and sloppy dirt roads,” perfect for a fatbike, not to mention great terrain to ride in the summer (aka “black fly season”).

“I’m not a skilled mountain biker, but I can do things with a fatbike I didn’t know were possible,” he added. “A steep hillside covered with roots and rocks becomes something you can ride up with a fatbike. Plus it’s such a new sport. Nobody is good at it!”

Fezzari Bicycles: Kings Peak Fatbike

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Fezzari Bicycles: Kings Peak Fatbike

Not many fatbikes hold the title of the “first to cross Iceland” but thanks to Burkard and co, Fezzari Bicycles’ newest model, the Kings Peak will proudly wear that crown. The Kings Peak is a full carbon chassis fatbike, with cargo bosses a go-go, a refined geo for off-road touring, and best of all, the complete builds start at $2499. See more at Fezzari.

Why Cycles Big Iron Fat Bike Gets Updated

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Why Cycles Big Iron Fat Bike Gets Updated

The Big Iron is Why Cycles’ flagship fat bike, built around 27.5×4.5” or 26×5” wheels and a titanium chassis. The newly-updated V2 sees some updates to a slightly more progressive geometry and a new UDH hanger to future-proof this bike even more. Named after the famous Marty Robbins song, the Big Iron was developed to take on everything from quick rips on the local groomed single track or an epic 1100 mile journey across Alaska. These new updates, along with a lifetime warranty really sweeten the Big Iron this winter! Head to Why Cycles for more.

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Bjørn Olson: Northern Migration

Bjørn Olson‘s latest video project is not to be missed!

“Hidden in the far north is a range of remote mountains where one can imagine the Aesir, Frost Giants, trolls, and cave bears reign supreme. Ferocious storms, neck-craning tors of marble, herds of herbivores, and stealthy carnivores fill the realm where few humans tread, and even fewer approach with a bicycle.”

Rocky Mountain’s All-New Blizzard Carbon Fatbike

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Rocky Mountain’s All-New Blizzard Carbon Fatbike

Yes, we’re already thinking about the forthcoming winter months. With each crisp morning we’re awaiting snowfall in our beloved Rocky Mountains here in Santa Fe. That means, more time for fatbike rides. There was a time when we thought fatbikes would disappear from the major brands but to our surprise, we just received a press kit showcasing Rocky Mountain’s new fatty.

The Blizzard is Rocky Mountain’s flagship fatbike. Originally sold as an aluminum chassis, the 2022 Blizzard now comes in carbon and has been updated to include a variety of new frame features and specs, making this model even more aligned for year-round touring purposes.

Specs:
-Fits up to 27.5×4.5 and 26×5.0 tires
-Longer, slacker geometry for added stability
-Integrated chainstay and downtube protection
-Suspension compatible, up to a 100mm fork with 27.5″ wheels and 120mm fork with 26″ wheels
-Two bottle cage mounts on the fork, plus two on the frame
-Bento box mount on the top tube
-Pannier rack compatible
-Dropper post compatible
-Sizing: S, M, L, XL
-SRAM UDH compatible

Retail is set at two pricepoints:

Blizzard Carbon 50: $4,099 CAD / $3,299 USD
Blizzard Carbon 30: $3,399 CAD / $2,699 USD

See more at Rocky Mountain.

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Diamonds In The Sand Trailer

On the fringe of the Namib Desert lies the Skeleton Coast. No one has ever completed its entire length in an unbroken line before by their own power. Explorer Kate Leeming sets out to be the first.

Her thousand-mile journey sees her enduring some of the most inhospitable terrains and harshest climates on the planet, in one of Africa’s most remote and spectacular locations. Accompanied by local companions, she battles extreme winds, energy-sapping sand dunes and quicksand, and comes face to face with the endangered but deadly Kunene Lions hidden in the vast desert. Travelling on an all-wheel drive fat-bike, she traverses beautiful landscapes and discovers the region’s hidden secrets and the harsh realities of life in this unforgiving land.

Watch the full documentary at Outside.

Winter Bikepacking to a Local Mountain in Norway

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Winter Bikepacking to a Local Mountain in Norway

Do you remember that feeling way back when you learned to ride a bike? I had just begun school when I got my first bike. Day in and day out I would sit on the seat and push myself along the roadside curb with my right foot. My strides became longer and longer until one day I put caution to the wind and took my first pedal strokes. That day, the bike became my freedom machine. The world suddenly grew bigger, right in front of my tiny handlebars. I never looked back.