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A comfortable and well designed Fat Bike with powerful brakes and monster 4” wide tires.
Firefox have constantly been expanding their bicycle portfolio by having bicycles for all riding purposes. One such category is the fat bike category, which is becoming very popular in India. We got the opportunity to test ride Firefox’s first fat bike, the Swagfire and here is what we thought.
Frame, Fit and Comfort
This alloy frame is strong and has a comfortable riding posture. It comes in a standard 17” frame size
The Firefox Swagfire is built on a strong and bulky alloy frame. Fat Bikes need lot of weight and material on the frame to handle the bulky tires and the rough terrains it has to go through. The frame geometry on the Swagfire made sure the riding posture was comfortable and not aggressive. The 17” frame size is the standard size available on this fat bike.
The suspension fork on the Swagfire is functional over larger curbs and bumps as the broad tires absorb the smaller vibrations of the surface. The tall suspension forks also make for a upright handlebar position.
Design
The Swagfire comes in only 1 colour variant; Matte Black with Orange/Yellow graphics
This fat bike which I test rode came in a full matte black coloured frame with orange and yellow graphics. To go with the name of the bicycle, the orange and yellow combine nicely as a design to bring out a fire inspired design. The seat tube has a unique dual tube design when it joins the bottom bracket, which looks good and makes the bicycle look big. The fat tires has an artistic tread pattern design.
Gearing
Shimano Tourney’s 21-Speed drivetrain was sufficient for urban, trail and beach rides
This Fat Bike comes equipped with Shimano Tourney at the front and rear as derailleurs. These derailleurs are entry-level MTB components and performed well during the test ride. There were no evident lags experienced during the shifting of gears on the test ride. The 21-Speed trigger shifters were easy to use.
Brakes and Steering
The Tektro Mechanical Disc Brakes were powerful and balanced to use
The Mechanical Disc brakes from Tektro on the Swagfire are a great component for braking on the roughest of surfaces. Even though the wheelset is heavy, these brakes are quick to react and felt balanced as well.
The 620mm handlebar was perfect in length and made sure the rider is comfortable and finds it easy to turn the heavy wheels on both roads, sand and flat trails.
Ride Quality
The Wanda King 26” x 4.0” fat tires were treaded well and provided good traction on wet and dry surfaces
Tires on a Fat Bike are what make them unique, as they are twice or sometimes thrice the size of an average adult bicycle tire. The Swagfire rolls on a pair of 26” x 4” Wanda King tires. These monster tires rolled nicely on flat urban roads and had a uniform tread design for traction. To ride on the sand is the fun element on a Fat Bike and to do comfortably one must reduce the tire pressure a bit to make sure the tires roll on the surface of the sand smoothly without going in. The stock saddle was ergonomic in design to keep the rider comfortable on bumpy rides.
Overall Rating
- Comfortable riding geometry
- Powerful Tektro Mechanical Disc Brakes
- Well treaded 26” x 4” fat tires
- Loose handlebar grips
This Fat Bike is the first one from Firefox and it does the basics right. The comfortable riding posture along with powerful brakes and fat tires make it comfortable to ride on the road, trails and sand. Priced at Rs.25,900 (as on 7th November 2018) the Firefox Swagfire is an ideal choice for anyone looking to buy a Fat Bike for fun and leisure riding on urban roads, flat trails and on beach sand.
