Sram joins the trend towards fat rollers

The "fat bikes", which feel really comfortable on snowy or sandy ground with monstrously wide tires, are rolling into the focus of a major component manufacturer. The wide tires far beyond the 3.5 inch mark not only require their own forks or rims, the drive unit also needs to be carefully selected. The US component specialist Sram is now building its own cranks, which should put an end to the problems of tire clearance with fat rollers.

An extra-wide, 100 millimeter axle, a "GXP" bearing with external shells and a two-speed combo with a 36/22 gradation: this is Sram's recipe for keeping things moving on fat bikes. At the level of the X9 and X5 line, Sram builds a crank that boasts these attributes and is therefore aimed at customers buying bikes such as the Surly Moonlander. Both chainring sets come in lengths of 170 and 175 millimetres.

According to Sram, the new cranks are a response to the "fat bike" trend in the domestic market. This type of bike was born in Alaska and New Mexico in the late nineties. Fat bikes are now also on the rise in other parts of the USA, where harsh winters or sandy and gravelly surfaces prevail.

sram.com