A BRIEF HISTORY OF FAT BIKING

1987

The first Iditabike is held. Minnesotan Dave Zink wins the 210-mile out-and-back race along the first section of the Iditarod sled-dog racecourse. Zink finishes in nearly 34 hours and pushes his bike for half of the distance.

1988

Alaskan Steve Baker welds two standard mountain bike rims together, laces them to four-flange hubs, and mounts a tire on each rim to create a double-wide “tire” measuring 4.4 inches

EARLY 1990s

Simon Rowaker develops a 1.7” (44mm) wide rim called the Snowcat; it is the largest production rim.

1991

Dan Hanebrink of Hanebrink Bikes develops the Extreme Terrain Bike. It has 20-inch-diameter, 8-inchwide tires designed to ride on snow, sand, and slickrock.

2005

Surly releases the first mass-produced fat bike, the Pugsley. It has four-inch tires.

2007

Alaska-based Fatback releases fat bikes with symmetrical frames and ultrawide hubs and rims, allowing for better flotation while reducing weight.

2010

Salsa releases its first fat bike, the Mukluk.

2012

Grand Targhee becomes the first ski area in the country to allow fat bikes, conditions permitting, on its groomed Nordic trails.

2013

Salsa releases a carbon-fiber fat bike, the Beargrease. Sales of the ‘grease exceed predications by a factor of four.

1996

Ray “Remolina” Molina, an adventure cyclist in

New Mexico, cuts two Snowcats up the center and welds in additional aluminum to create 80mm rims. He develops a 3.5-inch-wide tire, the Chevron, and finds a company in Mexico to manufacture both.

1998

Bike manufacturer Surly launches. Making steel bikes exclusively, the company quickly develops a reputation for edgy rides.

1999

Alaskan Mark Groneweld pairs Remolina rims with a custom frame— the first modern fat bike is born.

2000

The first Iditasport Impossible, a 1,000-mile version of the Iditabike (and now called the Iditarod Sport Invitational), is held. The winner completes the course in 15 days.

2013

A group begins snowshoe packing a couple of miles of the singletrack trails in Cache Creek to demonstrate to the Bridger-Teton National Forest (BTNF) there is a need and desire by fat bikers for grooming.

2014

Fat biking is the fastest-growing market segment in the cycling industry.

2016

BTNF grants local nonprofit Friends of Pathways (FOP) approval to officially start grooming singletrack trails in Cache Creek for fat bikers.

2021

FOP earmarks about $5,000 annually for grooming 12 miles of fat biking trails in Cache Creek. This year the nonprofit must also spend about $14,000 on a new snowmachine and grooming attachment. JH