I do not know exactly how it happened, but it is the middle of winter, and we have 11 bikes at home: from the road with 25mm tires to a fatbike with thicker tires almost 10 centimeters. Every day I stand in the morning wondering which to go to work, and who to harness to the next afternoon ride. We miss only the classic and most popular MTB with 26-29 inch wheels and a tire around two. At home there is unsupported, unsupported logical arguments of contempt for them. I assume, however, that everyone once had to deal with such equipment in his cycling history and knows that it is the most versatile, predictable and nicely speaking bike ... boring. The multitude of suspension systems, the dependence of traction on the selection of tires and the appropriate settings of the entire configuration, make you dizzy, which is why we will focus on more unusual solutions.

I write the test from the perspective of a Mazovian cyclist riding around one of the most boring areas in Poland, which is only saved by the Kampinos National Park.

During the winter the highway ... lies

[pullquote] Fat is so big that when reversing it should pounce [/ pullquote] Road bike in winter is a mistake. High speeds, lack of natural protection from the wind, which are in the area of the tree, the inability to make a sensible workout, because the air freezes the lungs and eclipses any pleasure in driving. Adding to it greater or lesser sudden loss of grip, combined with not very pleasant to the tippers (both for the cyclist and the bike) surface, we have a set, through which in October-March I hang the bike (with break for holidays).

If you have to go outside, the choice of rubber is simple: wider = better, but it does not matter anyway, because recent trends suggest that in the summer it is also a bit better and that 25 or 27mm is almost always better than 23mm.

Cross vs Gravel: Mythical duel

[pullquote] Fat is so thick that falling on the iPhone, it makes an iPad [/ pullquote] About the differences and similarities between the transfer, and the gravel you can write ... flyer. About the quarrels and disputes regarding how to recognize who is who would make a fat book. Gravel is a mythical creature that everyone has heard of, but few have seen it. We currently have at home Trek Crocket and Focus Mares, which represent the classic pass and 2 Whyte'y Friston as gravel bikes.

The first and most important difference: the thickness of the tire. The cross-country race is 33mm, and the illegal one is 35mm - it's a small difference, and it goes much easier. Gravel goes a step further and gives you more options: we have 40mm. The difference in comfort is significant, but on the ice everything dances the same. We quickly and painfully find that if it is easier to find sand more easily in the sand, in snow and mud a much larger difference can be made by choosing a different tread than embracing the modification of the width. Tires narrower, but with a more aggressive tread (especially lateral), they can hold much better than wide, but with a typical trekking purpose. Conclusion: the tread is more important than the width! If, however, it would be similar to the choice, in the winter in the dark I take a wider one.

Translating: it does not really matter in Mazovia. Cassette 11-42 with a crank 38 allows you to accelerate with a reasonable cadence in the area of ​​40km / h (that is, as much as winter I achieve on average once every two months), on the other hand, if the adhesion allowed, podjeżdżałbym the walls in his apartment. There is a lot worse in grading - finding the optimal cadence requires a change in speed rather than trying to change gears.

Position: in the cross-country more sportive, motivating to faster driving, in tourist rather gravel. At first, I have the impression that everything is uphill, but with time I'm getting used to it. Adding a steering wheel wider by about 4-6 centimeters, I feel like a boss ... at least as long as I go down the sidewalks, because squeezing between cars is much more difficult. But who would normally squeeze in the middle of the winter in the winter?

Something for something, unfortunately, thanks to all the facilities gravel is usually much heavier than the cross country. If speed is a factor that you pay attention to in winter, I would cross it, especially if you are afraid of becoming an "old man". Gravel somehow naturally drives a freer, slower, more touristic drive, from which there is only one step to consider, whether the panniers will bother so much ... I have always chosen Whyte for my trip to work. To the forest? I do not know myself - probably the one who is simply cleaner. For a race and an ambitious ride with colleagues - always cross ;-)

Twenty-seven and a half plus

[pullquote] Apparently, when once the fat has fallen down, it has become extinct dinosaurs [/ pullquote] I do not understand anything anymore what I do not know about these young people ... In my times it was easier, it was Reba in front, 26 "wheels and fulle with fox in the back. The conversations focused on the fact that this amor at the back is needed and basically the end: it was enough to pursue. Before collecting the bikes I wanted to read u 1enduro, about these different wheels. The effect of reading the book "Mathematical Analysis in Tasks" - you could understand it, but why? I agree with the fact that I do not understand anything and get on my bike.

We take bicycles with Absolute Bikes and Sport Guru - are publicly available to everyone to borrow . If someone ever tells you that the 3-inch tires they are equipped with is almost like a fatbike, then no. It's like a fata, like a gravel road on the asphalt. At 27.5, we drive great. Low pressure and cupid in the front dampen any irregularities to which we are accustomed. We're faster, healthier ... and just as bruised. Because ice is ice - everything slides. On singles, the grip is half the size of the pass, but the fact that we are driving also half faster makes us lie equally often. Such of us highlanders. On the afloat is moderate - slow, but you can drive. It is known that this is not the machines, but I will not go to the forest with a bicycle on the roof. In short: if you want to drive quickly through roots, uneven singles and snow: this is the bike for you. It still does not matter after ice.

Is it great to be fat?

No. End of the essay.

[pullquote] Fat is so fat that at school he sat next to everyone [/ pullquote] But seriously ... no. Having a fellow living in Warsaw is like having a quad bike. For sure there is a place where this bike works - I have not found it yet. Even if it exists, getting there requires a half-day trip. Once I wanted to get it to work, but as I thought I would have to pack a backpack with sandwiches, a thermos, a tent and a sleeping bag, I gave up. It is not even a problem that this bike is going 10km / h without any obstacles - with him just suffers the psyche. He is like a cross-country on asphalt - you can, but what for? After Kampinos, you go like 27.5 + ... but slower. This bike takes away the will to live and depletes cycling depression. It's like a comfortable armchair - it's fun to sit in it, but did you see someone walking around with an armchair? Currently, seeing a man on a facie somewhere in the city, I think of him the same as about a fisherman on the Vistula, who sits there on a gaming chair for PLN 3000. He's a superstar, he's fine, but he's been carrying him there for three days. But let's be honest - such a fatbike is not just a flaw! I had quite a lot of time during the last full-day (70 km) trip to find some pluses:

1. You can feel like a pervert. No matter where you are, everyone looks between your legs and shows what's in there
2. You can ride with people you do not like without stress - the tires make a sound that drowns out everything
3. Driving it everyday to work, you'll get your feet like Robert Förstemann
4. Do not you like how dogs / kids / people / cars run under your wheels? Now you do not have to avoid them. At low pressure and low children, I think I can go without even lifting the saddle
5. Fatbike makes you love your bike, no matter what it is. There may even be a piece of poker in the simulator - the speed of movement will be similar. Switching on anything else makes you like Speedy Gonzales. Well, unless you return to the road or cross-country - the narrow steering makes you feel like a bunny that has just met Elmirka
6. Riding a fate you will get a promotion at work, Nobel, Pulitzer and several other prizes. No matter where you go and go, you're isolated from everything that can distract you. Not only that, you'll be going there for so long that you can solve every problem in your head and think of anything you can
7. You will learn how to feel the connection between Kuba Wojewódzki and Bogusnia Linda. Wherever you go, everyone will turn around for you. Each. Beside you, you can park any Festka or other Parlee - it does not matter, only a small group of insiders appreciate it. You will interest everyone
8. Every girl smiles at you. Or from you, I do not know till the end. I have not discovered if they smile like they do a young beautiful getting out of Lambo, or more like that old and ugly getting out of Lambo with probably a non-daughter
9. You will practice hands that normally only serve to change the derailleurs and slightly adjust the steering wheel. Your back too. You will discover muscles that you did not know existed
10.  You will learn physics, even though the bike is completely unpredictable. In the end, you'll find out what motivyclists are saying that when turning left, the steering wheel turns right. Here is more than indicated
11.  Fatbike, despite appearances, does not get dirty. Maybe it's because the clearances are huge and it's easy to rinse the mud ... or maybe because after entering it into the hall, it does not fit in muck (or anything else).

We borrowed Fatbikes from Roadbike and Sport Guru. I recommend you do not trust me and convince yourself.

Obviously, my observations are based in the areas near Warsaw, in the mountains it looks probably quite different. How these bikes work on the roads to which they were created, we'll find out in a week on Fatbike Race in Stołowe Mountains.

Cyclist - bike - unity

[pullquote] Fat is so big that the steering wheel comes home 20 minutes earlier than the seatpost [/ pullquote] I always thought that talking about oneness with the bike, about the equipment's feeling, about the ripping and nobility of thin tires is nonsense. Well, no - it turns out that above the comfort and speed that 27.5+ offers, I prefer the fun that is given by the cross. Constant concentration, agility, dynamics and the fight with the smallest inequalities give me more fun. The crossover is like a Mazda MX-5 with a turbo. Speeds will be smaller, and the rear drive with this mass is much more dangerous than in a comfortable Panamera. Suspension will not choose inequality, and technology will not help when we convert in the bend, but YOLO. I do not go out on Saturday morning just to get somewhere, just to make the ride an end in itself.

I am aware, however, that this choice is unfounded from a logical point of view, but we live in such a place in Poland that it is necessary to diversify the ride a little bit by force.