27.5+ roll call Please tell me more + or -

[Christophe Noel]

Thanks for all the info so far.
Alaska State Parks just made the call this year that fatbikes on winter trails have to have a min of 3.7 inch tire and a tire psi of 20 or less. I see land managers trying to stay in the game and reduce user conflict and resource damage. It would be interesting to see how beaches and shorelines will be managed in the future with these true all terrain bikes.

Interesting. Even a little disheartening to see land managers getting so particular.

 

[Co-opski]

A lot of it has to do with Alaska's strong Nordic Skiing community, they are powerful and political. Fatbikes had been blocked or needed a permit to ride multi-use non-motorized winter trails within the State Parks. Sure we have millions of acres of trails that we can ride without a permit but when your city (1/2 of Alaska's pop.) is surrounded by a million acre State Park it makes riding close to home a little better. A low psi 3.7 tire has proven to leave little to no impact to a groomed snow surface. Yes I could run my snowcats on my Trek on a groomer but a 2.3 would still leave some type of rut. Groomed snow is renewable but with a cost of labor and fuel. Reality is the moose stomp up the trail worse than any trail users. :elkgrin:

 

[R Stowe]

To jump in as for the future of tire preferences... after growing up riding regular old 26ers, trying a 29er, then getting a 27.5 that I really like, and then trying out a 29er Plus...I can say that I, as a rider that likes to keep one road-esque bike and one mountain bike, am really hunting a hard tail 27.5+. I ride forest roads both loaded and unloaded, single track, and some mixed terrain bikepacking a really think the 27.5+ is the sweet spot for me.