27.5plus - winter bike?

lm_trek

Over the last few years my winter biking has died up, this year its not going to happen!!

So new bike time, looking at a hardtail to get me through the winter and thoughts drift to the 27.5 plus namely a stache or a specialized fuse?

Are there any others on the market I should look out for? or are they just a waste of time for the winter?

rockmonkeysc

Plus size is not good for winter unless you never ride anywhere muddy.
You want either a proper fat bike or something with tyres less than 2.5" wide.

JGTR

I just change tyres to a 2" winter mud tyre (Storm Control). I've seen fat bikes on muddy days and they didn't look that impressive, in deep mud they slide around a lot especially on corners.

johnmcl7

I have a Stache 7 29+ and a Farley 6 fat bike and it will be the fat bike I'll be riding in the muddy winter conditions, the Stache has more grip than my 29er in muddy conditions but in those conditions the fat bike has a good bit more traction and makes winter riding a lot more fun for me. I was out on a group ride a while back and there was a very muddy section where everyone regardless of bike was bogging down and getting stuck aside from the two fat bike riders who were long gone and powered through it with ease. They're nowhere near as slow or hard going as they look either, on natural trails the big tyres soak up a lot and allow you to carry a fair bit of speed with ease.

John

lm_trek

Cannock doesn't get muddy muddy anymore, unlike the old section 4 which is now long gone, its more pebbly and brake rutterly hence why I thought a mid fattie would be great, plus help build confidence. I used to ride the 3 sets of rocks on the original monkey all the time and the wolf drop but since they have been changed I bottle it every time. I've tried new bikes and better standover, my last real hope is a fatter tyre maybe.

If not I've spotted a Trek Superfly in the sales, was thinking new bars, better tyres and a shorter stem would unleash it a bit?

rockmonkeysc

Fatter tyres won't help your head! You could ride those features on a £200 hardtail.
Do you not plan to ride anywhere else? Not many places stay mud free.

johnmcl7

lm_trek wrote:

Cannock doesn't get muddy muddy anymore, unlike the old section 4 which is now long gone, its more pebbly and brake rutterly hence why I thought a mid fattie would be great, plus help build confidence. I used to ride the 3 sets of rocks on the original monkey all the time and the wolf drop but since they have been changed I bottle it every time. I've tried new bikes and better standover, my last real hope is a fatter tyre maybe.

If not I've spotted a Trek Superfly in the sales, was thinking new bars, better tyres and a shorter stem would unleash it a bit?

That's a difficult one to answer, personally plus tyres didn't do that for me - to its credit despite the big wheels, the Stache still feels like a 29er just with more grip when you push it. The fatbike has a bit more of a tank like feel in that you can just point it in the direction you want and it will generally just roll over it without issue so when pointing down slippy, rooty stuff I felt a lot more confident letting go of the brakes and letting it roll down particularly as if you miss the trail it doesn't really slow down off the trail. On the other hand the Stache comes into its own when pushed at speed although for me it's a summer bike.

The Superfly seems an odd choice in that regard, I had fancied one originally but preferred the Fuel for cross country general use.

All of that is just my opinion and with mountain biking there's no real clearcut answers, I think if possible you'd be best getting on some demo days and try out the different bikes as you might find your opinion on plus bikes is entirely different to mine.

John