Haven't really been all too interested in fat bikes to be honest. But was clicking through some random mtb sites this morning and came across this pic..

I wonder if the carbon fat tire forks will be available when the frame is. I also wonder if these Chinese carbon vendors will be trying to charge more for the fat bike frames than the 29er and 27.5 frames. Doesn't seem the price would or should be any different, but we'll see.

Either way.. This bike does it for me and I'll probably build a chiner version. Just looks too cool not to own it. This exact build - hopefully with SRAM xx1 1x11 would be ridiculously sweet.

Okay guys.. This is a work in progress so there won't be too much exciting going on here for a couple of weeks, but I thought I'd go ahead and get started anyways, just so I can list out all of my components and keep track of them a bit better than I have been in my scribbled notebook.

My main objective with this build was to be patient and shop around for great online deals, and get the absolute most bike that I could for 2k. I didn't go for the absolute lightest bike that I could build, and instead tried to find a sweet spot for strength, durability, weight, and price. I could have shaved grams in quite a few places but with a riding weight of 220 lbs I tried to choose wisely. The Haven carbon bars and post, for example, aren't the lightest parts and I actually could have saved some bucks AND had a lighter bike. But as I've never owned Carbon and being in the upper range of rider weights, it was more important to me to have as much confidence in the safety of the bike as possible. That said, I realize I may have over built it a bit. But if so.. not by much. Guess I'll find out when I throw it on the scale for the first time, but I'm hoping for 22 lbs.

Bike will be built up as a 1x10 and will be mostly black with a white fork and a few red accents (like most other bikes it seems)

Frame: FM-057
Fork: Manitou Tower Pro QR15 80mm (wanted the 100mm but it sold out and Manitou actually has a slightly higher than normal axle to crown measurement so it should be all good)
Headset: Cane Creek 40 series
Stem: Easton Haven 75mm
Handlebars: Carbon Easton Haven 711mm
Rear Shifter: XT SL-M780
Rear Derailleur: SLX shadow plus
Brakes: Shimano Deore M615 (Should have waited for the PricePoint deal on an XT set for $99. Meh, can't win em all, the M615s are supposed to be equally good and I dig the all black finish)
Rotors: SLX 160mm
Crankset and Bottom Bracket: Shimano M670 triple converted to single chain ring
Narrow Wide Chainring: Raceface 32t
Chain: KMC X10.93
Cassette: XT 11-36
Pedals: VP Vice (flats)
Wheels: Sun Ringle Charger Experts 15mm front, 142 x 12mm rear
Tires: Maxxis Ikon 2.35 tubeless ready, non-exo front - Ikon 2.35 tubeless ready, exo rear (decided to shave about 50 grams off of the front wheel by skipping the EXO)
Seatpost: Carbon Easton Haven
Seat: Fizik Gobi XM
Grips: ESL Extra chunky
Post clamp: Salsa Lip lock
Cables: Jagwire mountain Pro


Okay.. I think that's everything. I'll update with ride impressions, any build issues encountered, and pics and vids of the build in progress, and of course of the final product, soon.

One of the more popular Chinese carbon 29er hardtail frames has been the IP or FM 056 and 057 frames.

The "IP" or "FM" in the name doesn't mean anything other than apparently differentiate between different manufacturers and or vendors. Also, the only difference between the "056" and the "057" is that the "057" has the 142 x 12 mm rear axle... Like this: http://www.amazon.com/Shimano-SM-AX65-Rear-Hub-Axle/dp/B007Q4M150 while the "056" uses standard 9mm QR axles.


The frame can be had for about $500 give or take a bit, and that's shipping included.

I'll continue to add to this thread as time goes on. Anyone else that wishes to add some info or ask questions - Feel free!