Fat bike - where to buy?

Fat Bike adventures at Belmont in Bray

https://fatbikeadventures.ie

Awesome. I bought a Silverback Scoop Delight myself in the summer of 2022 from FatBike Adventures. At that time, I knew nothing about bikes; I just wanted something for leisurely rides around the neighbourhood or to the nearby beach, and maybe for riding some trails (although I didn't have a clue about mountain biking either).

Since I live locally, I went to the shop once to check out some bikes and decided to rent a fat bike to try it out. After doing an easy spin on the green trails and a couple of laps on the pump track, I was exhausted since my fitness was nil. I went back to return the bike with more than 30 minutes to spare on the rental. But Ian from the shop insisted that I do the blue trail. It seemed scary to me at the time (heck, even the descent part of the green trail was scary that day), but I am glad that I tried it. A couple of weeks later, I bought a fat bike from the shop. Even at that point, I had no idea that I would fall in love with mountain biking. Belmont ended up being my regular haunt for the rest of that year as I worked on improving my fitness on the bike.

Even though I didn't try any other bike, I think the fat bike ended up being the perfect first mountain bike for me. As a beginner, the fat grippy tires keep me confident on loose ground, while the lack of suspension forces me to be more aware of line choice and my body position. Thanks to these two aspects, I was able to progress in a few months and start riding in Ballinastoe and Ticknock as well.

As mentioned above, a great bunch of lads running the shop, and it's my go-to LBS. I only go to Belmont once in a few weeks these days, but when I do, I pop in for a quick chat or if I have any bike-related questions. They're always very welcoming.

Looks cool! I ran everything stock for the first 6 months as I had no clue what I needed. Start of last year, I got a dropper seatpost installed. In summer, I replaced the pedals with Deity Deftrap, and the grips with Deity Supracush. Towards the end of the year, when CRC had their clearance sale, I replaced the handlebars with Nukeproof Horizon Riser bars.

This year I was thinking of a couple of major upgrades - a suspension fork, and going 1X (mine is currently 2X). But looking at the cost of the two combined, I decided to just save that money and maybe buy a regular mountain bike in a couple of years.