For the Rovaniemi 150 race in Lapland I wanted the biggest tyres I could get hold of. The bigger the tyre the more likely you are to be able to float on top of the snow and get grip. It’s the same principle as with snow shoes. The biggest mothers in the fatbike world are the Surly Bud at 4.8 inches and the Big Fat Larry at 4.5 inches.

As Surly say, “when the riding gets weird, the weird go Bud.” I mean, just look at it! It just makes you want to go GNAR.

The Bud is a massive aggressive tyre with some serious knobs all over it. When you ride a fatbike you get used to people CONSTANTLY remarking on the size of your tyres. With the Bud I was doing it myself. They really are as big as you get on motorbikes! There is a strong edge to these tyres and I imagine they would be great on dirt as well as in the snow. RRP for the Bud is £94.99

The Big Fat Larry is a slicker treaded tyre, ideal for helping keep the mother ship rolling without too much drag. It’s also about the biggest thing that will fit inside the frame of my Extenze On One Fatty. There is a Lou, which is the whopping big partner and recommended rear tyre to go with the Bud, but this would not fit. The BFL is a fast roller and ideal for snow or hard packed ground. It is not a tyre for mud. Luckily there was no mud in Lapland. RRP for the Big Fat Larry is £94.99

Riding for nearly 100 miles on a bike you want to have absolute confidence in your components. These tyres definitely helped me in the race. Conditions were only 0 to -5 degrees C and as such conditions were very soft and loose. Smaller tyres were failing to float on the snow and were struggling for grip. It was difficult for me, but I could feel the advantage that I had. My rims are ‘only’ 70mm wide and I would have got even better grip with 100mm rims. Seating the tyres on the smaller rims was also a tricky process, but with lots of soapy water and careful inflation it worked out OK. For the conditions I was running around 5 psi front and back.

I came 3rd in the Rovaniemi 150.

More details on the Bud can be found here.

More details on the Big Fat Larry can be found here.