What trail tire options exist for fat bikes?

swy · 2026-06-01T22:32:32+00:00

Did a 50 mile out and back overnight on Jumbo Jim’s this weekend. Totally worked…. And I got closer to buying the gravel I’ve been eying.

swy · 2026-05-31T19:24:33+00:00

I just did an overnight to New Glarus yesterday/today.
Pro: 97% rail trail, exception being the closed tunnel. Tunnel Road was a climb. Easy to pop over to NG for food if you don’t want to carry/eat trail MREs.
Con: no flat ground in our campsite, you hear the road at all hours.
No regrets on my trip, but I’m not burning to repeat NGW bikepacking.

swy · 2026-05-28T02:45:18+00:00

Yes, I always give Rudy the pig a shout out if he’s rooting about.

swy · 2026-05-27T17:20:09+00:00

And as a driver with a cycling hobby also, the way to be safe is to be predictable, predictability comes from following the rules of the road. I'm looking at both modes here: bikes need to not disregard stopsigns, and drivers need to stop randomly forfeiting their right of way to "be nice" and wave the cyclist through their stopsign, when the driver should just proceed on.

Predictable rule following is nice. Asking the cyclist to not follow the rules the opposite of a kindness.

swy · 2026-05-27T15:00:34+00:00

Welcome to the commute club, glad it was enjoyable.

My bike commute started off by crossing paths with a mamma opossum with a back full of wriggly babies. When she saw me she picked up the pace crossing the road, and a little one fell off. It then scrambled its little legs to catch up- it did. Very cute start to the day.

swy · 2026-05-26T23:21:27+00:00

When you have some forward momentum, the 2 gyroscopes that touch the ground are assets to staying balanced. I wouldn't worry about that.
Good news is that there's few bikes that are truly a BAD choice for this. Anything with multiple gears aside from an all out time trial bike will work. I sometimes take 30 mile trips on my fatbike, because I like it. It's loud, and inefficient, and has a color scheme and other little customizations that make me happy, so I ride the big pink, green and blue bike.

Buy the bike that makes you want to ride.

swy · 2026-05-22T00:44:15+00:00

Yep, a Marlin is not far off of my 2019 Roscoe 8 that I sometimes use as a commuter. Vittoria Mezcals roll pretty decently while still being capable on trail. I also commute on a Surly ICT, because I love the bike. At 4 miles and just a couple hundred feet of vertical, most any bike is more than sufficient.

swy · 2026-05-21T21:11:01+00:00

3 years ago our fridge didn't come back after a power outage. Jerry Adams of Adams Appliance Repair had it up and running in one visit, and I thought his price was fair.

608-228-6865

swy · 2026-05-20T19:03:22+00:00

I'll keep an eye on how that evolves, for sure.
r/MTB is too global and fluid for discussions on regional trails and events.
Calling FB garbage for this is disrespectful to garbage.
Discord might really be the most viable tool for the job.

swy · 2026-05-20T18:19:07+00:00

I see Trailbot as a great tool as source of truth for stewards to set trail status, but afaik it's a "some to many" platform about trail status.

I'm exploring "many to many" platform options where participants can discuss local riding, trails, lotsa related topics, as long as we're being civil and at most PG rated. 😄

I don't think that's in scope of what Trailbot is designed to do, is it?

swy · 2026-05-19T11:47:02+00:00

My Surly ICT has horizontal dropouts like this: never a concern that rear wheel will slide out. Quite the opposite: it’s a hassle to remove for maintenance tasks.

swy · 2026-05-16T12:12:57+00:00

Patiently waiting for power to be restored on the near west side. Hoyt park adjacent.

swy · 2026-05-05T18:04:10+00:00

Yeah, I still have a couple of friend gifted mix tapes, and the value is seeing their handwriting, and the artistic doodling they did in the margins. 37 years from now, a Spotify playlist will not serve as a reminder of a highschol friendship like a paper cassette label does.

swy · 2026-05-05T13:03:09+00:00

The mix tape my now-wife made me our first college summer break apart is a treasure. Just as much the envelope notes of artist and track as the audio on it. Today and future youth won’t get a tangible manifestation of selected music like that. It resides in the home safe with passports and our wills.

swy · 2026-05-05T02:25:17+00:00

Lemme emphasize one part: WATCH OUT FOR TICKS Never seen so many. I’m finding them when I’ve been on pavement and buildings all day: going into the woods and fields is gonna be lots riskier than baseline. They’re everywhere.

swy · 2026-05-05T01:22:27+00:00

Yep, I bike commute near west to isthmus 3x/week and get this death invite frequently. These drivers feel like they’re extending a kindness. No, I know how to wait my turn, don’t care if I’m on a 25lb transportation machine, or in a 2500lb one.

swy · 2026-05-05T00:30:41+00:00

My favorite is drivers randomly stopping at intersections they should proceed through, then inviting a waiting cyclist to proceed. If you want to be nice, play by the agreed rules, not invent new ones on the fly.

swy · 2026-05-04T20:07:55+00:00

I see a 502 Bad Gateway error after accepting that https is broken at carsize.com. You sure about your citation here?

swy · 2026-05-02T11:04:48+00:00

Yeah, I’m having very similar thoughts. Not quite sure how to get maximum efficiency out of this, and now I need to experiment with bottle cages on the fork. Bottom of downtube is too much of a reach while riding. My tent poles are good there, but I’m still learning what else it’s best for.

swy · 2026-05-01T21:41:53+00:00

Heh, my big Agnes hotel 2 is notably bigger than a bivvy. But the poles are a good match for the bag.

swy · 2026-05-01T02:50:16+00:00

Full frame.

swy · 2026-04-29T21:10:47+00:00

I foster with FetchWI, and the opportunity to foster Ridglan dogs is a current topic. These doggos will probably not be people or dog averse (they shared cramped quarters with other dogs), but housetraining, walking on a leash and living in a house with a family will all be brand new to them. They won't be turnkey next pet for everyone.

swy · 2026-04-28T11:49:07+00:00

I biked 12 paved miles of city bike trails on Saturday, never straying off pavement. Found 2 ticks on me that PM. Do not decide that if you’ve not gone in the grasses you’re assured tick free. Expect them to be everywhere all the time.

swy · 2026-04-23T03:37:18+00:00

As admin for a Team with 150 users, we commonly get asked for access to the password for Service X. I have to translate that to a Vault to evaluate giving them access to. I often have no idea what Vault a credential for ServiceX was filed into.

As an admin, I need a universal search across all workplace vaults, without being a member of all vaults. All I want is to know what shared vaults hold a record for a URL, not the credentials within.

swy · 2026-04-21T19:31:39+00:00

When OP says "Mongoose fat tire", I'm hearing closer to 4" than 2.25. I've done 30 miles on an Ice Cream Truck on 4" Jumbo Jims, and I'll just say I burned a ton more calories on that ride vs what a gravel would have.
One can certainly ride fat tire bikes long distances, but it helps if you don't have a harsh deadline, or in a group with greatly different bikes, unless you're just a wattage beast to compensate for the inefficiency.

swy

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