How Narrow is too Narrow?

Johnny Utah

Johnny Utah

Well-Known Member
Anyone run a 3.8" tire on something smaller than the Stan's Hugo (52MM width)? Maybe the Surly Rabbit Hole of Velocity Dually?

Do you have pictures? How did they ride?
 
I have bontrager 27.5 x 3.8 Hodags on wtb scraper 45 mm rims. They actually fit in my Trek Stache, but didn't give me much room. They balloon out quite a bit, but are pretty fun. On my old fat bike I had Marge Lites with a 3.8. They rode really well, just not as great in deep snow. More of a trail setup. One thing you do have to watch, your overall tire height does change quite a bit, changing bottom bracket clearance. If you were hitting cranks before, you're gonna hit them more now. Hugo is definitely wider that your other choices. They have an internal width of 50 mm. A Marge Lite 65mm rim has an internal width of 59, so only 9 mm difference. The Velocity Dually Dually 45mm rim has a 39mm internal width. Duallys seem to work better for plus size applications
 
i just saw a post today on mtbr about a guy who has hudus on duallys, leme see if i can find it

edit:\

http://forums.mtbr.com/fat-bikes/wheel-set-summer-riding-backpacking-1001187.html#post12427943
1044162d1411502474-wheel-set-summer-riding-backpacking-glacier-bike-small.jpg


looks like plus tires with a "regular" mtb tire shape
 
Mitch said:
Buys a Fat Bike and wants skinny Tires?? The next trend 29 Negatives.
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I am totally in love with 27.5+. To me this is a better fat bike. (I will add that mine is a dual sus, not sure if in would say the same about a hardtail)

Keep the 4.8" tires for the snow.

I know I will get some heat here, but ride one when you can.
 
When I originally built my Pugsley I used 40something mm Trials rims. Echo TRs, same as I have on my trials bike now. I honestly don't remember what it rode like but going from 65-85mm was amazing. The narrow rims are fast but I sort of like the wide better.
 
jdog said:
I am totally in love with 27.5+. To me this is a better fat bike. (I will add that mine is a dual sus, not sure if in would say the same about a hardtail)

Keep the 4.8" tires for the snow.

I know I will get some heat here, but ride one when you can.
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I just put 3.0 29plus on my Salsa Selma and i love it .
 
jdog said:
I am totally in love with 27.5+. To me this is a better fat bike. (I will add that mine is a dual sus, not sure if in would say the same about a hardtail)

Keep the 4.8" tires for the snow.

I know I will get some heat here, but ride one when you can.
Click to expand...
They look cool, but this is for building a fat wheelset for H2H to race in the rocks. 26x3.8 or fatter is the tire regulation to my understanding.

May also use this for Bearscat and w101
 
I used FBN 4 which are actually 3.8 on 65mm rims. Not sure I would go narrower. When I tried 4.7 on 65mm they didn't have good support in corners and felt very vague. Using 3.8 on a 50mm might feel the same
 
Supermoto said:
I used FBN 4 which are actually 3.8 on 65mm rims. Not sure I would go narrower. When I tried 4.7 on 65mm they didn't have good support in corners and felt very vague. Using 3.8 on a 50mm might feel the same
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Just went from FBN 4 to GC 4.6 on Nexties 65mm and really like the change.
 
alex_k said:
Just went from FBN 4 to GC 4.6 on Nexties 65mm and really like the change.
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What are you running for pressure? I had to go over 10psi before I got my bulldozers to turn well on 65mm, but then again I run 8psi on 80mm. I have heard the GC are great tires
 
gc 4 has great bite on the trail but has a lot of autosteer at lower psi and takes a lot of energy on pavement
 
Mumonkan said:
gc 4 has great bite on the trail but has a lot of autosteer at lower psi and takes a lot of energy on pavement
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My Jumbo Jims 4s have been awesome, they roll very fast and have a ton of grip. but I run them at 11psi since I don't need any cush out of them
 
Supermoto said:
What are you running for pressure? I had to go over 10psi before I got my bulldozers to turn well on 65mm, but then again I run 8psi on 80mm. I have heard the GC are great tires
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6psi at Allamuchy and 7psi at Allaire/6MR. I'm about 190# now and run less than 20psi in my regular 26 inch tires. I do not to ride my Beargrease in summer but now it is perfect.

I averaged the same speed on fatty as on my Turner 5Spot https://www.strava.com/activities/472674035. I expected to be beaten up but was very pleased with ride quality by these 4.6 tires .
 
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