84 MURU WITJIRA FATBIKE
After being around for over 20 years, the fatbike is enjoying overnight success!
Historically speaking fatbikes have been taking heavily bearded riders to far off and inaccessible places for years. The unique design, 26-inch rims shod with three to four inch tyres, giving an overall wheel size of about 30-inches, gives fatbikes the ability to float on terrain such as sand, snow and heavily littered forest floor. Since the early 90s, fatbikes have been competing in extreme condition races across remote areas of Alaska to the barren deserts of the middle east, almost entirely without notice, until recently.
Enter Muru bikes. An Australian business partnership campaigned by seasoned Simpson Desert diehards, Wayne and Kyria Chapman. The Muru Witjira, named after the Witjira National Park in Central Australia, is primarily designed as a desert race sled, capable of riding deep sand without complaint on fat tyres with low pressure giving a huge footprint. The Witjira is a case study in form following function with durability and simplicity to match.
All Muru frames are made from titanium, seamlessly welded then polished with subtly etched graphics including ‘it’s a fat bike thing’ etched into the inner side of the chainstay. Not surprisingly, the frame comes complete with a lifetime warranty. The seamlessly welded frame comes in at 1700 grams in a medium (18”) frame. My demo model had regular vertical dropouts, however the frame is also available with sliding dropouts as a special order. The rear end has rack mounts for your expedition pack (or six pack if you prefer), a ZS44 takes care of multiple headset choice from external tapered to 1 1/8th internal. 170mm rear spacing and 100mm bottom bracket provided clearance for up to 4.8” tyres on 80mm rims. A 31.6mm seat tube completes the smooth frame and leaves you the option of fitting a dropper post.
Our Witjira came with a primo custom spec consisting of SRAM XX1 11-speed rear cassette, derailleur and gripshift shifter all being pulled by an e-13 TRS crank fitted with a spiderless 30-tooth ‘M’ ring with narrow, wide profile teeth. Dice hubs with Surly Rolling Darryl 82mm wide rims wrapped in bulging Vee Rubber Vee8, 4” tyres. A premium Ritchey seat post and stem (I chose to change to a shorter, 70mm Truvativ for testing), Muru 730mm ‘Sandbar’ Ti ‘bar with grip shift specific Oury grips and a WTB saddle complete the contact points. Along with the 4 inches of rubber suspending you from the earth, the Witjira came with a Salted Bikes, Eyre FatFork, supplying a further 110mm of suspension, complete with compression and rebound adjust, in a chunky looking upside down fork with 38mm uppers and 34mm lowers and a 15mm through axle.
With the Lower Blue Mountains generally being devoid of snow I had to settle for sand, something there is no shortage of here. My first ride on the Witjira had me riding some local singletrack with plenty of sand pockets. First impressions gave a huge smiles per mile factor. The Witjira has you looking for difficult and loose lines just to see how it goes.
It’s easy to see why the sand riders love the fatbikes: the 4-inch tyres give so much floatation on deep sand and with the tyre pressures set down to as little as 12-15psi climbing traction is sublime.
For riding singletrack, an amount of rider education is required. I was under the impression that the surefooted traction would also apply on regular trails and singletrack.
This isn’t quite the case. The Witjira prefers to slide into traction in corners rather than supply it straight off the menu. After a short time you develop the technique and tend to ride as if you are riding a mid-travel, slacked-out duallie rather than a hardtail. I found myself strangely drawn to a local little road gap that proved to be well within the Witjiras capabilities if not a little off the prescribed design radar.
Riding further afield I’ve taken the Witjira through water crossings, up steps and defeated some monstrously loose climbs that had other riders walking. It’s boosted countless water bars and bounced its way up rocky ledges and roots, all with its own take on style.
The 69-degree head angle and moderately long wheelbase gives a nice slack feeling for a wheel size that leaves most 29ers in the shade. The 12.4” high bottom bracket also contributes to the cornering balance and stability although you do often get to the point of going too quickly, sometimes all too quickly!
As a general use bike and/or as an only bike, you’d have to really want one, as it does have limits when it comes to speed and handling. It’s designed as a sand racer, and primarily that’s what it is, that is what it does best. If you are considering some desert races or backwoods epics then it’s definitely worth a look. In rigid form, with luggage racks and a taste for adventure the Witjira could take you anywhere that you could walk and screams out for ‘off the grid’ adventure.
I totally enjoyed every ride I took the Witjira on: it has a fun factor that goes beyond carbon and dual suspension, the titanium frame suits the bike so well, it’s light, it’s lively and it’s maintenance free and will age much more gracefully than its rider.
The 1x11 drivetrain also suits the ride, and the gripshift adds to the clean lines. The titanium frame and ’bar, combined with the 4-inch tyres, give an insulated but not removed feel from the trail.
The fat tyres are great to bounce off obstacles and water bars and are guaranteed to be a fat talking point at the coffee shop at the end of any ride.