This...Originally Posted by Gunchie
... and this. That SR Suntour XCT 80mm fork with its 28mm stanchions is terrible. I hated mine and even the next step up XCM fork was a noticeable upgrade. A Reba or Fox would be a substantial upgrade indeed. A Reba fork and a set of Flows turned my cheapo Raleigh into a very enjoyable bike that I can ride year round even in the snow and sand. Some Ardent 2.4 tires on a set of P-35s or Gordos would give you some added float on soft surfaces albeit not as much as a fat bike.
I thought my fat bike was the bees knees and I would even admit I may have been a little bit obsessed with it. I could go anywhere and do anything! After a few months the honeymoon phase begins to wind down. The cost of maintenance begins to tear the relationship apart. I reckon owning a fat bike is akin to owning a Volvo.
My bottom bracket lasted 3 months. Luckily a replacement was only 40 bucks. I went through countless tubes which the cost of can add up rather quickly at 7 to 10 bucks a piece. There are ghetto tubeless tutorials on the web but after about 50 posts of failures and issues it turns out not to be the panacea for flats and weight reduction you'd hoped it would be.
Get a flat out on the trail, tubed or tubeless, and you will most likely end up walking. A frame pump takes forever to inflate a fat tire to a pressure that will allow you to ride out cautiously. Planning to carry spare tubes? A fat tire tube is a 6"x4" cylinder. Better have a lot of room in your backpack. You could carry standard 26er or 29er tubes but they scrub through and have a tendency to rupture at the seam near the valve stem. Slit a sidewall on a fat tire and you are out at least 90 bucks if you want a decent tire. You can get cheap Vee Rubber or Origin8 tires that weigh 1800 grams and roll like molasses for ~50 bucks.
When I sold my fat bike I was sad to see it go, but I was relieved at the same time. I've ridden my 29er in all the same places I rode my fat bike, with a slight change in technique of course. I feel the 29er does even better in places where there are big rocks and other things you can't necessarily plow over. The taller, narrower BB has considerably less pedal strikes than my fat bike, which could pedal strike a snail had it been in the way.
The good news is if you fall out of love with your fat bike you can easily sell it for close to what you paid for it since people are lining up for new and used fatties. Then you can put the proceeds toward a very nice fork, a bomb-proof wheelset, a pair of high volume tires, and have enough left over for a six-pack of the finest ale this side of the Atlantic.
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