My fellow fat bikers, it’s time we look ourselves in the mirror and make some difficult admissions. First, we are an odd bunch measured against the bell curve of normality. It turns out, most cyclist don’t fancy riding bikes with 4-5” tires running at 3-5 PSI, painstakingly trudging through snow or sand. The fat biking revolution that was to be, died before it even started.
So, that begs the question, why would Enve invest in the R&D, manufacturing and marketing needed to serve this ultra niche market? I have no earthly idea. But, am I glad that they did!
First a few notes. The fork comes with the through axle and a compression plug.
My first two test rides were on a somewhat bumpy, packed snowshoe trail.The fork has a decidedly different feel than the ~1200 gram stock oversized aluminum one it replaced. It feels quite stout and precise, but not harsh. I never imagined the previous fork to be flexy laterally. But it is, relative the Enve. As far as quieting the chatter, I can’t say it magically deadened all noise. But it didn’t amplify it either. I’d like to think it helped. A little. I’m sure Enve put some thought into the design and layup.
The finish is what you’d expect from Enve. Perfect.
I had narrowed my list to Enve, Whisky, Trek Haru, and Otso’s Lithic fork. I’m sure I’d be delighted with any of the options. But in the end it came down to trust in the brand. Though this is my first Enve purchase, I friends with their products going back to Edge days. Carbon is their specialty. And, they decided to make a carbon fat bike fork???? Hells yeah.
It didn’t hurt that their geometry best matched the original fork.
In total. It’s exactly what you’d expect. And you will be happy with the purchase. I’m just glad someone there said, “we should build a fat bike fork.” Thank you!
