Last week, via Twitter we received the following question from @IslandPathways of Salt Spring Island, British Columbia, regarding our #fatbikefeb campaign: ?Do you have any info on the environmental impact of fat bikes in the backcountry?"
Now, I?ve been mountain biking for about as long as the activity has existed under that name. I organized Adventure Cycling?s (then Bikecentennial's) first group mountain bike trip in the 1980s, in the North Fork of the Flathead in Montana; I mapped the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route in the ?90s. Yet I?ve been on a fat bike a grand total of one time ? at the Fat Bike Summit last month in Island Park, Idaho, and that ride was over a groomed snowmobile trail. So, I don?t exactly consider myself a fat bike expert, nor all that qualified to comment on the impacts they might make on snowless terrain.
But from what I?ve gleaned by reading and talking to avid fat bikers, along with the application of a little common sense, it appears that their fat, low-pressure tires would cause less impact on many trails, whether wet or dry, than skinnier tired mountain bikes sometimes do. However, they are also easier to pedal cross-country, so their impact could be greater in some cases ? their ability to go over terrain lacking trails could be tempting to many riders.
In conducting an Internet search for published information about fat-bike impact, I came across a few relevant links. One good document is the International Mountain Bicycling Association's Natural Resource Impacts of Mountain Biking. While not specifically about fat bikes (it's excerpted from a book published in 2007), much can be extrapolated from the article and related to fat bikes. A more recent document from the same organization, one aimed directly at the topic at hand, is IMBA Fat Bike Best Practices. It includes directives for riding on groomed Nordic trails and snowmobile trails, and also recommended practices for riding on natural terrain and in the backcountry. Also of note is a piece from Coloradoan.com, titled "The Skinny on Fat Bikes." "While the bikes were pioneered for snow climates," the article goes, "such as those found on the [Colorado] Front Range, they work well in a variety of environments including sand and loose rock, which has some local bike experts dubbing fat bikes as the all-around mountain bike of the future."
To date, however, I don't think there's been enough use of fat bikes in snowless conditions for meaningful data to exist. Land managers I know would simply say there isn't yet adequate evidence one way or the other regarding fat bikes' impact.
That?s what I know, or think. Now I?d like to introduce Mike ?Kid? Riemer, the marketing manager at Salsa Cycles in Minnesota. Mike, who consented to weigh in on this subject for us, is an expert, as you will see, and an avid fat biker. In fact, he says, ?If I could have only one bike, it would be a fat bike."
Take it away, Mike.
There are an estimated 10,000 fat bikes out in the world currently, and that number is predicted to grow dramatically in the next few years. While the impact of fat bikes in the backcountry is a bit of an unknown, there are few things we do know and should consider:
- Fat bikes, because of the surface area of their large tires, often leave a much smaller mark on the land than a ?regular-sized? mountain bike tire ... or even the boot print of a hiker or hoof print of a horse.
- Fat bikes, in part because of those same large tires, can literally ride places that other bikes can?t. They offer sure footing and stable geometry that is comforting on difficult terrain.
- While some fat bikers ride predominantly on snow or sand, a growing number of riders are learning how incredibly capable these bikes are to ride on any terrain, including off-trail.
All this points toward increased impact in the coming years, and a need for both education and advocacy efforts.
I?ve been riding fat bikes for about ten years now and have ridden them on an incredibly diverse range of terrain: snow, sand, dirt, rocky singletrack, marshland, massive boulder fields, frozen lakes, rivers, and swamps. Obviously, some of these rides have been on trails, but others have been entirely off-trail, and I find myself picking my way through a forest or swamp.
I?ve ridden in places that most people would never expect a bike could be pedaled.
In the coming years, more people are going to go looking for these same experiences. Some of them will do it in the right places, but others are going to end up in conflict with land managers, landowners, and other user groups.
Think back close to 30 years ago, to the birth of the mountain bike. We thought those bikes could go anywhere, and conflict resulted. Well, fat bikes are actually a lot closer to being able to go anywhere than those early bikes ever could, and we should expect some of those same conflicts to emerge again. Some proactive thinking and efforts at education could go a long way to avoiding some of those same traps that mountain biking fell into years ago.
I have a very personal stake in this. I?m the marketing manager for Salsa Cycles and we design and sell fat bikes. We value and promote the experiences these bikes offer, and I?d like to see the opportunity for those experiences to continue. More selfishly, I ride fat bikes myself, and I want to continue to enjoy those same opportunities. I want to continue to have both on-trail and off-trail experiences. I want to continue to enjoy all that these bikes help make possible.
Thanks, Mike, that?s great information. I hope it helps you out @IslandPathways. As for me, I'm too much of a diehard alpine and Nordic skier to consider buying a fat bike just for bicycling on snow. But the above has me thinking: I'd really like to give one a go on some of the technical trails around my mountain home in Idaho after the snow melts for the summer.
Photos courtesy of Mike Riemer/Salsa Cycles.
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MICHAEL McCOY is Adventure Cycling?s media specialist. He compiles the organization's twice-monthly e-newsletter Bike Bits, which goes free-of-charge to more than 47,000 readers worldwide, and organizes the Bike Overnights program.
Source: http://blog.adventurecycling.org/2013/02/the-impact-of-fat-bikes.html
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