TREK Farley 5 Fat Bike Review

Alpha Aluminium Frame

The Farley 5 frame is no exception to Trek’s high standard for aluminium frames. There are no wavy hydroformed tubes in the design; instead, there is a well-built, formal frame.

The Farley’s 5 geometry is made to be flexible and all-purpose. The paint work is excellent, and the welds are perfect. Internal routing is used for the dropper post hydraulics and shifting cables. The horizontal dropout enables minor wheelbase adjustment and is ready for geared or single speed use. If you want more stability, you can increase the space between the wheels; if you want rapid handling, you can decrease it. Riders as short as 5 feet can use the small size, while those as tall as 6 feet 8 can wear the XXL.

Shimano Deore 10 Speed Drivetrain

Performance of the Shimano Deore 10 speed drivetrain is good. As you would expect from Shimano, the Deore drivetrain is quick and light. The shifter’s light and plasticky feel is apparent if you are used to higher-end drivetrains.

Now that 11 and 12 speeds are the standard, you shouldn’t be worried about “just” 10 speeds. A broad, smooth gear range is not necessary for fat biking. The majority of your time is spent moving forwards in first. For the majority of the descents, you’ll switch to the mid range. You can only shift into higher gears on the straightest, flattest, and best-groomed parts.

SRAM Level Hydraulic Brakes

Although the Farley 5’s 160mm Avid CleanSweep rotors and SRAM Level hydraulic disc brakes are not the best available, it would take a very discerning rider to notice the differences. Controlling your speed won’t be an issue.

Especially in the front, picky riders who ride at high speeds or on steep terrain may choose to replace the 160mm rotors with larger ones. Although it’s a simple improvement, most riders won’t need it. Keep in mind that using proper braking technique provides you much more control than just using your brakes.

Bontrager Gnarwhal Tires

Even though the bike doesn’t have suspension, the enormous air volume of the 27.5″ x 4.5″ Bontrager Gnarwhal tyres helps to absorb a lot of shock and smooth over tiny obstacles and trail chatter, especially when you run the tyres at low pressure; we prefered them at around 10 psi. The bike has an excellent manoeuvrability due to its low wheelbase and relatively short reach, and its wide contact patch and grippy rubber provide almost infinite grip when cornering. Even though this bike isn’t as long as some of its rivals, it nevertheless feels secure and rooted when travelling at high speeds, largely because of the girthy rubber.

Wider axles on fat bikes cause more torque to be applied to the freehubs, which is a significant weakness. 

Rapid Drive Hub is excellent. On a basic fat bike, it is the greatest hub you will find. Particularly if you ride a Sasquatch Mountain Bike, the majority of fat bike hubs are quite inexpensive and break down rapidly. On fat bikes, you rarely find excellent rear hubs unless you pay more than $3,000.

Obvious the 27.5 wheels are far better as opposed to the 26 on bike. The longer contact patch provides significantly more grip. 27.5 is the size to go with fat bikes, in my opinion.

Oh! What a feeling

You may ride outside all year round on this four-season freedom mobility.

When descending, the dropper post enables you to quickly lower your saddle out of the way.

You feel more confident riding on any trail thanks to the stability and traction of extra wide tyres.

You can fine-tune your geometry using horizontal sliding dropouts by running it long for stability or short for more agile handling.

For those looking to enter the winter shredding scene on a budget, the Farley 5 is the ideal bike.