Fatbike-News: LAUF Carbonara & DT-SWISS 2250 BR

Fatbike-News: LAUF Carbonara & DT-SWISS 2250 BR: by c_g

You know we like our 29″ers and you know we are also keen to see what else is out there – always asking how it may, or may not help us and you in getting a beter ride. Some time ago during Eurobike’13, we reported on the somewhat peculiar looking LAUF Trailracer 29er fork:  A highly innovative suspension design executed in a full carbon chassis, eight composite leaf springs holding the thru axle dropouts, and at 990 g and 60 mm of travel, it’s right in the middle between a high end suspension fork and a rigid fork and it’s 100% maintenance free.  By our very first impressions at the time showed a ride feel that offers something unique to those weight weenie, purist, and adventure racers.

LAUF Carbonara – fatbike-fork

The first ever ridden LAUF Carbonara fork – looks really good on that bike, don’t you think?

Being from Iceland it was a pretty logical step for Benedikt Skúlason, founder and CEO of  LAUF, to widen the existing 29″er forks to accept Fat Bike tires. Still being the down to earth person he is, he was rather sceptical as to how the combined suspension and damping actions (or may we say lack thereof) of a LAUF fat sepcific fork with the name of “Carbonara” and those fat knobbies would actually ride. This is the reason the entire development process until now had been under locks and closed doors with no teasers whatsoever  – Benedikt simply wanted to make sure it would add up to a positive ride experience, or if not would have buried the entire project silently. Now we received the first images of the fork from the very first experimental ride, published on their Facebook page.

Here is Benedikt’s comment he sent us after the ride:

“As for the Carbonara, I had a fair amount of skepticism before riding it. I shared your worries on how it would be to couple together a bouncy fat-tire and a Lauf. I worry no more.  It was, in fact, better mannered than a rigid fatbike in this aspect. Coupling the Lauf spring on top of the fat-tire makes the front end a bit more relaxed as the bounce-back speed is slowed down by the softer combined-system.
I was also skeptical on how laterally stiff (i.e. soft) it would be (since the fat tires are able to deliver huge lateral forces). That worry was put to sleep immediately! It is by far our laterally stiffest creation yet. The increased spacing between springs, increased hub-width, and a redesigned stiffer chassis make a huge difference.”

The new LAUF Carbonara fatbike fork is targeted at appx. 1100g, featuring a  150x15mm thru axle and plenty of tire clearance to “easily” accommodate for 4.8″ tires. Suspension travel is identical to  the current offerings at 60mm, which LAUF feels is the prefect sweet spot of offering ample comfort without acting weirdly with no damping.

Now that the first rides have been carried out successfully and with all design work being well advanced, production is to start soon, leading to a estimated availability as early as July 2015. Good news for those year round fat bike aficionados.

We will keep you updated on any upcoming news on the LAUF Carbonara, but until then we can already announce the upcoming review of their 29er LAUF Trailracer 29er to start in the not too distant future.

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DT-SWISS 2250 BR – fat bike wheels

The DT-SWISS BR2250 may look delicate by the extensive cut-outs, but is supposed to be really strong.

The next product we want to introduce is one which had been shown as integral part of a bike already at Eurobike ’14, but has not made its individual debut yet – I am talking about the first ever DT-SWISS  fat bike wheels called 2250 BR (for “Big Ride”).

The DT-SWISS 2250 BR, which first had been shown on the astonishingly good looking and smart CANYON Dude CF (here covered from the Eurobike’14 coverage) , will have an inner width of 76mm and weigh a scant 2235g. This sensational weight  is only made possible by a single wall rim construction with extensive web like cut-outs, which according to DT-SWISS are aligned in a way not to compromise the rim’s strength and integrity.

DT-SWISS Classic hubs … the wide version.

The corresponding hubs are by design from their Classic Series, featuring their well established and super reliable Star Ratchet freewheel, Centerlock rotor mounts (with 6-hole adapters included in the package). Hub Spacing is going to be 15/150mm front and  12/190mm or 12/197 mm rear.

The wheels will be available soon and should retail for 869.- Euro per set.

RIDE ON,
c_g