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i am the last one of my friends without a fatbike, but right now i simply can't afford it. I have been planning a half fat build for a while now. it took me a while to gather up all the parts, but last weekend it all came together and i finally finished the build. in total it cost me nothing, i used all parts that i already had or were given to me by friends who didnt want them anymore.
the first step was building a fork.
I used the upper from a trashed 180mm spinner ammo fork and the dropouts from a walmart suspension fork. gusseted and reinforced the hell out of it. it was very important that the wallyworld fork had a disc tab, and i had to look around for a while before i found it.
I got a take-off tire from a friend's upgraded beast. when mounted on a normal rim it comfortably fit inside the 100mm gap between the stanchions of the fork.
I mounted it on my winter beater, it's a tidalforce electric bike frame. i welded the fork so that it had the same axle to crown height as the crappy duro it replaced. this kept the geometry from getting too wonky.
no matter what you do to a skinny bike, it will only ever be 25% as capable as a true fat bike. i knew this going into it, but it really dose help take the edge off. the front tire no longer dives in the soft stuff and it handles the snow much nicer than it did before. it steers like a truck, but thats what you get for putting 8 pounds of rubber on your front wheel.
since sunday i have put about 50 miles on this thing and so far i'm loving it. next year i will have a fat bike, but this makes the rest of the winter a lot more enjoyable while the snow is still covering the trails.
the first step was building a fork.

I used the upper from a trashed 180mm spinner ammo fork and the dropouts from a walmart suspension fork. gusseted and reinforced the hell out of it. it was very important that the wallyworld fork had a disc tab, and i had to look around for a while before i found it.

I got a take-off tire from a friend's upgraded beast. when mounted on a normal rim it comfortably fit inside the 100mm gap between the stanchions of the fork.

I mounted it on my winter beater, it's a tidalforce electric bike frame. i welded the fork so that it had the same axle to crown height as the crappy duro it replaced. this kept the geometry from getting too wonky.

no matter what you do to a skinny bike, it will only ever be 25% as capable as a true fat bike. i knew this going into it, but it really dose help take the edge off. the front tire no longer dives in the soft stuff and it handles the snow much nicer than it did before. it steers like a truck, but thats what you get for putting 8 pounds of rubber on your front wheel.

since sunday i have put about 50 miles on this thing and so far i'm loving it. next year i will have a fat bike, but this makes the rest of the winter a lot more enjoyable while the snow is still covering the trails.