Diamondback

El Oso Grande Complete Fat Bike - 2016

You can continue staring longingly towards slushy, snow-covered trails in the woods and watching with envy as other cyclists pedal through deep, soft sand with ease, or you can enter the world of huge tires and see what all the fat bike fuss is about. Diamondback's El Oso Grande Complete Fat Bike is a wallet-friendly introduction to the world of fat bikes, with solid componentry that will enable you to navigate tougher conditions and explore terrain and seasons that used to be off-limits.

Diamondback starts with a lightweight, durable 6061-T6 aluminum frame to keep the El Oso Grande nimble and responsive on challenging trails, and it made the decision to omit suspension in the design to create a lighter frame overall. SRAM's X5 compact 10-speed drivetrain provides you with a wide range of gear ratios to use as you navigate slick mud and deep snow, while TRP Spyre mechanical disc brakes promise consistent, reliable stopping power when you need it.

Looking at just these components, the El Oso Grande could easily be a normal mountain bike — but all pretenses at normalcy evaporate when you consider the included extra-wide rims and Chaoyang Cruiser tires. Measuring just less under five inches wide, the knobby rubber platforms absorb bumps effortlessly and float across snow-covered singletrack in conditions that would be considered hazardous for road or mountain bikes.