Let's get FAT!

Let's get FAT!

Nah, we're not talking about the extra pounds you might put on at holiday time or what you might gain from restricted activity due to the pandemic, we're talking TIRES.

Zio Lorenzo's been musing about a super-monster-gravel bike project but so far has been too cheap to pull-the-trigger on one. Your can read more about that HERE.

Meanwhile, he's now mounted up these way-fat tires on the ancient MTB. These babies are FAT!!!

Fat, fat, fat!!! The old Schwinn "balloon" tires come to mind, but these are high-quality tires with a supple carcass and great ride, perfect (as they note) for making your old 26" wheeled MTB into something more useful....which really means fun, right?

Since Zio Lorenzo no longer has interest in bouncing around over big rocks (or worse, falling off and landing on 'em) he was looking for a way to turn this old bike into something more fun to ride on non-asphalted roads and trails....like the old daze in SoCal.

How fat are they? Check out the images here with the calipers showing just how fat they are. They remind Zio of the racing slick tires fitted to some small GP-style motorbikes!

They say knobs and such are only useful when there's mud or soft-enough dirt for 'em to dig in and let's be honest - how often is that the case? So why slog along pushing those squirmy (and noisy) knobs around? The GEAX tires put on this bike for riding around Rome were the eye-opener as even with their knobs, compared to the moto-inspired, stiff-carcassed Panaracer Dart and Smoke we previously used on these bikes they rolled like silk tubulars! 

These bald fatties seemed a logical next step. A fast, twisting paved descent could be BIG, BIG, fun on this bike...the V-style brakes work pretty well paired with the proper brake levers ... and there's a big contact patch of rubber on the road. But of course first ya gotta pedal it up to the top!

But for now it's providing some fun and keeping Zio from coughing up the thousands of euros for that fantasy super-monster-gravel bike.