Interbike 2013: As Fat As You Want...

Not that I even approximate any kind of an expert on the topic but, there were two fatbikes that stuck out (in that inexpert opinion of mine) at the show this year: First, the Borealis, and second the BooBicycles.

Growth in the fat bike market continues unabated with more manufacturers getting into the game. The Yampa, produced by Borealis Bikes is one of those. The stripped-down version of the Yampa, the one that was actually out on the race course when I first stopped by the Borealis booth, weighs in at a svelt twenty-one pounds. It wasn't that long ago, really, that a twenty-one pound road bike was considered light. Starting with something that light is going to make for a fun day on the sands, or in the snow. Throw on a rack and some water bottle cages and you will be set up for a weekend adventure outside of town. The seat stays are nice and beefy, then flatten out as they rise to meet the seat tube; not so much that they won't accommodate the bosses for your rear rack. Frame, fork, and single-pound rims are manufactured overseas; design and assembly is done here in the states.

Boo Bicycles has been making road, cross, mountain and touring bicycles since 2009 and is poised to expand into the fat bike market as well. Boo bikes combine carbon fibre joints with bamboo tubing. Though the company is relatively young in the bicycle industry, its founder has 15 years experience working with bamboo from a design and engineering standpoint, a background which seems to have translated well, complimenting his move into the bicycle industry. Aluboo Bikes was started in 2012 - as you may have guessed, if not noticed in the photos below, Aluboo frames are part aluminum, part bamboo. Hence the company name. Don't ask me how the company structure works out - they seem to be both the same and separate at the same time. The fat bikes available at this time are of the Aluboo variety; the carbon/bamboo combo is a prototype for the time being.

Over the two days of walking the floor, I somehow I seem to have missed the Surly booth - unfortunate, since they are and have been, the most well-known and diverse of the fatbike manufacturers. A few other fatbike notes of interest: Norco has redesigned their Bigfoot mountain bike as a fatbike, to be released new for 2014. The one on display seemed to seat the rider in a more upright position than any of the other fatbikes I looked at. The Origin8 Crawler remains unchanged from last year. The one-off, full-suspension Phil Wood (I showed last year) was on the floor again as a show piece. Many smaller, less-well-known companies were showing fatbikes - a lot of these I would equate to the cruisers of the fatbike world, heavy steel construction, not really practical for more than a couple hours riding, at best.

Finally, a new kid on the block with a lot of promise is the Pro-form prototype. Pro-form, best known for their Tour de France trainers, is moving into the bicycle market as well, with two models of road bikes and, potentially at some point, the fatbike model shown below.

As with all these reviews from Interbike 2013, I have not received any prior compensation, nor promise of later compensation, from the above mentioned company, nor am I connected to them in any way. Views expressed are the result of my observations and subsequent research only.