29+, 3" fatbike... What?, Yeah it is... Meanwhile while waiting on tomorrows harvest...

Harvest time, my favourite time in East Lothian, Scenically and for Fatbike XC cycling inland from the coast on  harvested fields, 29+ or as i call them 3" Fatbikes are great to ride on harvested stubble fields  :)

3" fatbike?
3" Fatbike-there is no such thing you say!,
Well according to some on fatbike Forums and i believe rulings of USA Winter Fatbike races say that 4" and wider is Fatbike.
MTBR Fatbike Forum steers 29+ and the latest other + wheel size bikes  over to another new `+` Forum page,
Personally i don`t want to go to yet another forum page to read about 29+ wheels fitted to Fatbikes...
Scotland is not the USA with any winter competition bike races, except the 24hour  Strathpuffer event, so thats fair enough for the USA to draw a line at a tyre size-that will be a `tire` size for them ;)

Interestingly though Gomez and co over at http://fat-bike.com/  in the USA includes all + wheel size bikes on their Fatbike website!,

So what gives?...

29+;  a 29" x 50mm wide rim which can be run at low pressures from 10 -15 psi, that is at least 40% lower than a regular MTB 29 x 2.25 wheel. capable of more traction and riding comfort than a regular MTB,
At those lower  pressures and bigger footprint i would call 29+  a fatbike concept,

Call it what you think it should be...

Here in the UK 29+, 3" Fat is good on rooty slippery trails, loose rocks and  sandy single track where you will get faster rolling momentum and more comfort and grip  than a regular 29er MTB.
And on sand  below the high tide line you will ride a 29+  over 50 percent of the stuff the guys ride on 4" and 5" Fatbikes... this was proved at Forth Fat here last year...


Rewind...
29+ was not around when Fatbikes first appeared commercially, and the Fatbike that the first 50mm wide 29+ rims  named `Rabbit Hole` and 29 x 3" tyre called the `Knard`were designed to be able to build offset to fit with their 17mm offset rims was the first available mass production Fatbike-the Surly Pugsley.
Surly have made some neat things and these wheels have been a great concept. With the 29+  concept running such low pressures for a 29er at 10-15 psi it is no regular 29er MTB,

Maybe there needs to be a 3" fatbike breakaway group from the non believers?,
Let them get on with it i say and just go ride your bike and enjoy it... post your pics on line and tag them as as  #3" Fatbike, then turn off notifications ;)


Back to the harvest...
Winter Barley is now harvested here and most of those fields are now disc harrowed already,
While were waiting for the main event here is a wee history lesson,
Yep the Agricultural revolution started right here in East Lothian after an invention right here on the East Lothian coast at East Linton, a film i made a couple of  years back..





More 29+ wheel building...

And while we wait on tomorrows harvest i have some 29+ wheels to build up to use single speed like my original Rabbit hole wheels....
These will bolt straight onto the old Alfine Pugsley using it`s drive chain after i remove the Alfine trigger shifter. So that will be a SS 3" Fatbike then?  ;)


Meanwhile here is a song by Scottish band  Boards of Canada`s  latest album `Tomorrows Harvest` which was released  June 2013... when i was not long rolling my first 29+ wheels on my old Pugsley that were singlespeed.
Song is  `Reach for the Dead`...



More soon...