FAT is where it’s at for some folks. I am sure they are fun to ride, especially off road which, of course, is mostly what they are designed for. I will have to admit if money was not an issue I would probably have one in addition to my current tadpole trike.
Here is a low cost FAT trike made in China. I don’t know anything about the overall quality of it. As has been discussed on this blog previously buying a trike from overseas from a source unestablished as being reliable and providing great customer service would be a major concern for me. That being said, if the buyer is mechanically inclined most of the various components are pretty much standard bicycle parts and so they can be replaced. The frame being made of steel is fairly easily repair weldable by a qualified weldor should it fail. And it can always be reinforced if needed. So for me personally I would not be all that concerned about purchasing one of these. I am capable of doing all the mechanical work and the welding if the need arises. My biggest concern is not so much with the trike itself as it is dealing with the unknown … sending my hard earned money and not having the assurance I will receive my trike. I am not trying to say anything bad about the company as I know nothing about them. But I do know that there have been problems in the past with buying such products from China. In short, people have been ripped off. Well, anyway … on with the information available about this FAT trike.
$1,460.93 includes shipping ($950 for trike & $510.93 for shipping) Estimated Delivery Time they say is 11-19 days … which is very reasonable. What I don’t find reasonable is the shipping charge. Trident trikes only charge $125 and their trikes come from Taiwan.
* 26 inch X 4 inch FAT tires * steel frame * 24 speed * mechanical disc brakes on all 3 wheels * comes with neck rest, front chainring guard,
Available color: red, orange, black, blue, silver and green
It has direct steering which I applaud. It lacks fenders which is quite typical. And finding fenders to fit a FAT tire trike is challenging, if not impossible. The rear disc brake is actuated by friction lever so it could be used for parking to keep the trike from rolling or as a drag brake on descents. One needs to be careful of that however, as the rear wheel can lock up and contribute to loosing control.
The tires are Chinese, of course, so probably are not the quality of some others such as VEE or Schwalbe tires. But, hey, for $950 for the entire trike … once they are shot put better quality tires on it.
As you can see in the picture below the only thing that folds is the boom. That being the case this trike is still pretty bulky as far as fitting it into some vehicles and other small spaces. I also see a cable which is unattached and laying on the ground. I don’t know what that is about, but it is not desirable.
I am sure that all the components are inferior off brand ones, but I am pretty sure they work and would suffice for most of us. Again, they could all be upgraded to better quality components when the time comes.
The shifting levers can be seen although not close up enough to make out much of anything. I tried cropping and enlarging the image, but I still could not make out much.
There are alternatives such as the Trident Terrain FAT trike. It also folds (better than the Chinese FAT trike). It lists for $1399 plus $125 shipping (total of $1524). That price is for a 20 inch wheel trike. For only $100 more ($1624) you can get it in 26 inch wheels.
Utah Trikes sells the SunSeeker Fat Tad CXS trike which they produce starting at $1899 plus $299 shipping (total of $2198). That is about a $737 difference and I think is about the next cheapest FAT trike available. It features rear coil-over suspension and integrated front suspension. It too comes with Chinese tires.
So if you are wanting a FAT trike they can be had for less than $8000 like the one ICE sells … or even $4559 for an Azub FAT trike . (One could buy a very nice used car for that kind of money.) Yep, I would buy one if money were not an issue. Alas, I will just have to continue to …
KEEP ON TRIKIN’
on my non-FAT trike and be content. 🙂
Honestly I am most thankful I have what I have.
A FREE GIFT awaits you!
Tadpole Rider 
I purchased this fat tadpole Trike On eBay and received it for weeks later as promised in the ad. I have only test driven A fat tad 10 blocks. Before deciding I wanted to get one.
I purchased the electric version with 750 W 16 amp battery.
I have wriddenthe trike 150 miles already and have not had any mechanical problems whatsoever. The controls and components seem To be built with integrity.
As the temperatures begin to fall, I look forward to ridding in the snow.
R
Wow….! I should have looked at the link first, (LoL…! ) But you really did get a lot in there….! It’s amazing….!
Thanks Hobo…!
Hey Zack,
My big ICE Full Fat fits into the back of a small Chevrolet Equinox SUV when I fold it in half. I was quite amazed that it did. You would be surprised what little space the big fatrikes take up when folded. Of course, as Steve Newbauer pointed out, the one in this post appears to fold at the boom only, not in half like mine. Here is a link to one of my websites, which shows my trike in the Equinox on the photographs page:
https://mojavetraverse.wordpress.com/the-photographs/
steve
Here is a link to a fellow who has one of these trikes in your post. I bet he may be able to provide some factual feedback about its quality and dependability. This man is a member of Fatrike Forum, where this link takes you to his post about the new trike:
http://fatrike.freeforums.org/new-beast-of-bodmin-t119.html
Steve (trike hobo), I have clicked on that link a couple of times looking at what was there and trying to find something more to lead to this person and discover what you are talking about, but I have not had any success. All I found were two videos by him … both of which I have watched.
You know what Steve you are absolutely right, I didn’t even think about that at all I was just excited as to maybe having away to get around a pitfall that I had never gave proper thought about when buying my ride.. I still do not regret my buying my recumbent quad, I only wish I had more options… but I guess I’m just going to have to save my pennies and buy a folding trike that I really like…! As I said another Catrike…! Lol…!
Armadillo Zack
This is the first folding fat trike I’ve seen and I don’t know much about them, but my concern would be only are they capable of the terrain in which fat trike riders frequent …! I guess I would like to wait until someone I know acquires one and wait for their input on the capabilities before I make the plunge for a fold up trike as I would love to go visiting other groups within my state, and the only thing that prohibits my venturing out to meet and ride with them is the fact that I am unable to fold up for travel my Q-4 recumbent….! So if this is a worth wild idea or I should say trike that meets my demands then I would make the plunge….! I have however been considering just going the other route and buying another Catrike with fold able capabilities but just not a fat one… So only time will tell as the funds are low also, LoL…! (who’s aren’t these day’s right..?)
Armadillo Zack
Zack, as I stated in the article this trike only folds at the boom so it doesn’t fold much. It is still quite large and so wouldn’t be practical for what you are talking about. And any FAT tire trike isn’t going to be very small even if it does fold as the tires are humongous and in and of themselves take up a lot of space.