The 100mm fat tires were invented in Alaska, as I understand it, by ultra-endurance riders. One of the principal proponents of that design was Pete Basinger, many times winner of the Iditarod Invitational Bike Race, and the ultimate winter bike event by any measure. We are acquainted, but his parents are close friends of ours so I was introduced to the concept from one of its progenitors.
And then there’s Jan Heine, sort of a similar force in cycling to Amir and ASR—data-driven and annihilating years of myth and lore. He taught us that suppleness is what makes fat tires work.
All my bikes were made before all that enlightenment, so I put the widest tires that will fit. But I’m a fair-weather cyclist, too—my days of enduring winter conditions on the bike are behind me.
Rick “still uses rim brakes” Denney