Trek Farley 5

I bought the Farley 5 as a winter bike to avoid exposing my trail bike to the winter grime and abundance of salt we throw everywhere in Ontario. Happily this bike is seeing and will be seeing plenty of summer use. It's just too much fun to "monster truck" around on when it's warm. The Farley rolls over everything, the stock tires are some of the fastest rolling as well as largest available. The modern geometry rides like a proper mountain bike rather than something from the stone age. Stranglehold Dropouts give the Farley versatility to run "skinny" 27.5+ or 29+ tires should you want something a little more slick in less rugged conditions. The tires/rims are tubeless ready and replacing the nearly 2lbs of tube with 8Oz of sealant and a tubeless rim strip is a no brainer. It really helps reduce the weight of the bike and improves the ride quality and handling immensely. Highly recommend swapping out the front derailleur and running a single chain ring as the bike does come equipped with a suitable rear derailleur for a 1x10 set up further reducing weight and removing the headaches of sloppy front shifting. Trek nailed it with this bike, by far the best value to dollars spent at MSRP for 2016 fat bikes.

This is a great bang for the buck. I think the Trek Farley 2016 aluminum frame offers many great features for the price point. The bike has an excellent frame which offers a great starting point for upgrading parts as your budget allows. It offers massive tire clearance. These stock wheels are easily convertible to tubeless, which will help with traction and reducing some rolling weight and resistance. Hydraulic disc brakes are nice at this price, even if they aren't the best brakes available. The drivetrain is dependable. Great bike overall.

I have ridden only on mountainbike and bmx trails so far and it handles like my old Specialized Epic 26" with the exception that it feels longer (Probably the fat tires...). I'm using it as my mountainbike not just a beach or snow cruiser and it is tough. It stands up to all the obstacles that my mountain bikes of the past did. It is light (about 30 lbs) and I have no problem getting up to 40 kph when sprinting down a road to the next trail. At no point riding has it felt sluggish or heavy like you might expect a fat bike to be from the looks. The matte black finish is awesome and every time I pass by it in the garage I stop to admire it. Lots of compliments and curious bystanders. Needs derailleurs a adjusted now but any new bike does after the first few 100k. Love my Trek Farley 5.