We All Float

I jumped on the fat tire bandwagon and got a new bike.

It’s a 2018 Trek Stache 29+

As I mentioned in a previous post, most new bikes have fatter tires now. There’s the Fat bike standard of 5″, then what I’d call the + standard of 3″. Besides the difference in width, the height of the tire also kind of matters. As I understand it the 5″ width is pretty much reserved for 26″ tall wheels, while the 3″ is shared across 27.5″ and 29″ tall wheels. The advantage of using the 27.5″+ frame is that you can run a 3″ wide 27.5″ wheel or a standard 29″ wheel. This appears to be the best of both worlds for a rider like me, but I couldn’t find an easy single speed 27.5″ option.

So I got the Stache. It’s SS capable, but only runs 29+ tires. That means they’re huge. What’s the point? They’re super cush. We used to say with 29″ wheels you didn’t need rear suspension. Now with 29+ wheels you really don’t. The bike floats over everything. It makes riding bumpy slippery stuff a lot easier. The tires provide more suspension and traction at the same time. One could say it actually dumbs down the skill required to ride the hard stuff. I suppose I need to find harder stuff to ride.

I’ve ridden it once. It was definitely fun, but will take some adjustment for my riding style. I’m used to a more aggressive geometry that carves corners like a knife. I’m sure this will too. I just need to figure out how to position myself over it and keep the giant soft rubbers from folding over.

All in all, I’m pleased and looking forward to more time on it. In fact, I’ll likely be getting the girls similar rides in the spring.

– b

ps. I’ve named it It, because “We all float down here Georgie”