A project that was close to a year in the making has finally concluded with our first production TRANS-Fat. The TRANS-Fat was originally created as a custom bike for a customer. Thankfully, the customer was willing to wait as we diligently worked out the quirks with one of the world’s first production full suspension fat bike frames. The resulting bike rides like you might think: smoooooth….
This first frame was built around a Rohloff rear hub and features a 135mm offset rear dropout spacing. Production frames will also be available with 170 mm symmetric dropouts.
The TRANS-Fat offers a respectable four inches of travel pivoting on eight serviceable, oversize, sealed cartridge bearings. Constructed of 3/2.5 Aerospace grade seamless titanium throughout, our 18″ frame weighed in at 5.75 lbs. Our first frame is fitted with an X-Fusion O2 with a handlebar mounted lockout. (Other rear shock options will be available upon request.)
The TRANS-Fat features ample clearance for tires up to 5″ in diameter and with a standard 100mm threaded bottom bracket you will have plenty of crank options to choose from. The TRANS-Fat has a 12.99″ bottom bracket height, enough to clear most trail obstacles in your path.
We opted for an 1-1/8″ headtube and a Risse Racing Trixxxy. Production frames can also be ordered with 44mm, 56/44mm tapered or 49mm Lefty specific headtubes. The Trixxxy fork setup with five inches of travel is a great match for the TRANS-Fat frame, although keep in mind that the fork does not have ample clearance for 100mm rims, and 84mm rims are a bit too close for comfort.
It is great to see a long-term project come to a successful end. After the final photo shoot the bike was packed up and shipped off to a very happy customer. After riding several versions of the TRANS-Fat, we can say it is an absolute blast to ride. At first it may seem a little too soft, mostly because you have added four inches of rear wheel travel to an already aired down 4″ rear tire. But after the initial squish factor fades, you realize how much this bike rips. Climbing, descending, cornering…the bike NEVER loses traction. Maybe not the fastest bike up the climb, but the TRANS-Fat opens the door to climbing trail sections you never thought possible.
If you are ready for a healthy dose of TRANS-Fat, Carver bikes can set you up. We have several production TRANS-Fat frames on order now. If you would rather customize the frame to your spec, drop us a line and we can start a conversation about your first full suspension Fat-Bike.