Fat-tire bikes tread new path in the Valley

WASILLA — For the price of an older model used car, there is a bike that can take a rider anywhere, on any terrain, anytime.

The spendy new hobby of fat tire bikes has started spreading across the nation, but the trend originated out of Palmer and New Mexico.

Since the early 80s, people have wanted to take their bikes into more and more extreme places. Enter the mountain bike. But, in Alaska where it’s snowy 60 percent of the year people can’t ride as much, and in New Mexico, where there is warm weather year round but lots of cactus and lots of sand, the role of an ordinary mountain bike was challenged.

Thus the fat bike was born.

During the last 20 years, small groups of people have come together to create and build bikes that could be ridden on snow no matter how deep. In that same idea, these bikes can be ridden on sand. Out of that planning and creation came what is known as the fat tire.

Fat tire bikes run anywhere from $500 to $7,000. The quality and dependability of the bike is in direct correlation with how much a buyer wants to pay. A buyer shopping at a generic big box store could pick up a fat tire bike for $500 to $800. It will weigh between 35 and 40 pounds and it will have a few gears.

On the other hand, a trip to a bike specialist will fit a bike to your size; include hand mitts, or pogies, that go over your handlebars, plus many gear options to help you through hard terrain. The more expensive model at closer to $3,000 is a light 20- to 30-pound frame, and includes a saddlebag that holds extra warm gear. For that price, it’s a bike that will last longer than the used car for the same amount of money.

The fat tire bike, called a fatty, is like a regular bike in many ways. It is easy to ride with not much of a different feel from a regular bike, balance- or steering-wise. There is no extra maintenance necessary unless ridden every day.

One way the fatty is different is that depending on the terrain and hardness of the ground the tire pressure can be changed to help traction and increase balance. The four-inch-wide tire can ride with pressure as low as 10-15 psi. This allows for more contact with the ground and enables the tire and bike to go just about anywhere.

There are more than 4 million bicyclists, or 27 percent of the adult population, in the Mountain states of Arizona, New Mexico, Montana, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, and Colorado alone. And, from the looks of it, a third of those should have a fat tire in the next few years.

Back Country Bike and Ski in Palmer is the primary seller of fatties in the Valley. Backcountry is located at 132 W. Arctic in Palmer and by Sakura Sushi on the Parks Highway in Wasilla. They are a sponsor of the Tri Fat Tire Bike Race in Talkeetna on March 14. Riders can choose a 20, 40, or 60-mile race on snow.

Or ice, as the case may be this year.

Eli Ickes is a junior at Wasilla High School.