Top 15 Fat Bike Accessories – [Take Your Fat Bike From Good to Great]

Thanks to significant improvements in the bike industry over the last 10-15 years, nearly all fat bikes are great right out of the box. The geometry is dialed, the components are spec’d properly, and little to no changes are required.

That said, each of us is unique, with different requirements for our fat bike depending on when, what, and how we ride. That’s where accessories come in. Not only are they practical, but, let’s be honest, it’s just fun to accessorize your fat bike and make it your own.

Here are 15 of my favourite fat bike accessories that can take your fat bike from good to great!

*This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using these links, I earn a small commission. I only recommend products that I trust and use myself!

Phone Mount

Overview

Quad Locks are incredible. They do away with the unreliability of other phone mounts and provide peace of mind that your phone isn’t going to fall off as you’re riding.

The system is easy to use, and having ridden more than 3 years with one on all sorts of terrain (XC, trail, enduro, downhill, fat biking), in all types of weather (hot, cold, rain, snow), and through many crashes, I can confidently say the product is bulletproof.

Buy the mount for your handlebar, select the proper case for your phone, and voila, you have a rock solid handlebar phone mount perfect for having Strava, Trailforks, Google Maps, or any other app up as you ride.

Tire Pressure Gauge

Overview

Fat bike tire pressure is notoriously fickle, and getting it properly set can be an absolute pain sometimes. Conditions can change so fast that the pressure you started off with may quickly become too much or too little, and your ride can become entirely unenjoyable if your tires aren’t rolling properly. 

The easiest way to address this is by using a tire pressure gauge to see what pressure you are at and to recheck once you’ve added or let out air. Topeak’s D2 SmartGuage is excellent for this – it’s small, well-built, has a swivel head which gives you better access, and has a digital readout for quick reading. 

So, rather than guessing your pressures, bring this along and get those pressures dialed on the trail.

Portable Pump

Overview

A tire pressure gauge is great, but it is absolutely useless if you have to add pressure to your tires. That’s where something like OneUp’s EDC Pump comes in handy. 

You can use your water bottle mounts to attach it to your bike, meaning it’s always with you. Perhaps more important, however, is its ability to carry CO2 cartridges. Anyone who has used a hand pump before knows just how exhausting it is to pump up a regular tire with, never mind something with a ton of volume like a fat bike tire.

CO2 cartridges solve this problem, allowing you to add pressure in seconds vs. several minutes. Besides that, it’s incredibly well-built, has additional storage space for a multi-tool, and is super well-designed and easy-to-use!

Handlebar Light

Overview

A common issue for me, someone who fat bikes near Toronto during the winter, is that it gets dark out very early from December through March. As such, most of my riding during the week is partially or entirely in the dark, meaning I need a light to see anything.

Whether you’re like me and struggle with early sunsets or simply want to extend the hours of the day you can bike, a handlebar light (combined with a headlamp) is really the only way to beat the dark and get out on the trails. 

There are many options for handlebar lights, running from less than $100 all the way to $1,000+ (you can read Bike Perfect’s article to see the top options on the market). That said, my favourite handlebar light is NiterRider’s Lumina 1200 Boost – it produces a great amount of light, doesn’t cost a fortune, and has a long history of being well-built and working for years on end.

Headlight

Overview

Handlebar lights are great, but to truly see at night you also need a headlight (aka a light on your helmet). Lights on your handlebar are fixed, meaning they don’t follow your head movement – just the turning of your bars.

By adding a headlight, you can have light shining down the trail via your handlebar light while also having light that tracks your head movement, allowing you to see where you’re looking, not just where the trail is. This combo provides the most amount of light possible, allowing you to see further ahead and carry more speed down the trail or road.

Your headlight is arguably more useful than your handlebar light, so I’d opt for a brighter light on your helmet than on your handlebars. With that said, my favourite option for a headlight is NiteRider’s Pro 2200 Headlight. It’s tiny, extremely lightweight, compact, has great battery life, has seven modes, and, most importantly, is very bright!

Tail Light

Overview

While not a necessity for night riding, having a tail light on your fat bike can certainly improve your safety, especially if you’re riding on the road at any point. While you’d hope drivers see you, this isn’t always the case. Having a tail light on the back of your bike makes you far more visible, lowering your chances of getting hit (the flashing mode is especially useful for this).

For those that are only riding on trails at night, a tail light may make sense, as it helps provide a sense of depth to those riding behind you, allowing them to gauge how much space is between you and them. 

Sticking with NiteRider, my favourite option is their Solas 250 Tail Light. It’s small, compact, well-priced, durable, has a good battery life, and charges quickly!

Anywhere Water Bottle Mount

Overview

Whether your fat bike doesn’t come with any water bottle mounts or there aren’t enough for your liking, the SKS Anywhere Water Bottle Mount is a great solution.

I started using this mount on my mountain bike as it didn’t have cage mounts, and I absolutely hate wearing a CamelBak. Three years later, I’m still using it, and it’s easily one of my favourite fat bike accessories I’ve purchased so far. 

You simply strap it on to your frame wherever you’d like (the top tube for me), throw your bottle in, and go on your way. It keeps my back and hips free of packs and is rock solid through all types of terrain. I’ve never had a problem with it and recommend it all the time to anyone complaining about having no water bottle cage mounts!

Insulated Water Bottle

Overview

Most people purchase insulated water bottles to keep their water cooler in the summer. That said, I actually prefer using one when fat biking in the winter, as it helps keep my water from freezing. While it isn’t super effective in temperatures lower than -10, it does help keep things liquid for a few hours when temperatures are between 0 and -10.

If you also struggle with your water freezing in cold temperatures, try using CamelBak’s insulated water bottle. It’s double-walled, so it’s more insulated than your standard bottle, and it has a great locking system that keeps it from leaking.

A couple other things I’ve found to help keep your water from freezing are filling your bottle with hot water and adding a small amount of salt to help lower the freezing point. Combining these three techniques should give you enough time to finish your whole bottle.

Handlebar Mitts

Overview

Handlebar mitts, aka pogies, are a game changer for those fat biking in cold climates, with some even providing warmth up to -30 degrees celsius!

They are great for providing another layer of warmth, wrapping your hands, handlebar, and grips in an additional layer of insulation that keeps the wind, wet, and cold out. They also allow you to wear thinner gloves, which lets me hold the handlebars better and feel more in control of my breaks and gear shifting.

There are quite a few on the market, but the best I’ve found are the ones from ROCKBROS. They’re well made, super warm, easy to get on and off, have an excellent pouch built-in for your keys or other items, are affordable, and hold up well to wear and tear! For anyone doing routine winter riding, or fat biking in a colder city like Ottawa, these are must buy fat bike accessory.

Shoe Covers

Overview

I ride clips with my mountain bike, and truth be told, I’m on the thing almost all winter long with 2.8″ studded tires. The winters in Toronto just don’t warrant the fat bike all that often. And while there isn’t much snow here, the temperatures are still chilly, meaning my feet get cold quite quickly when wearing my standard bike shoes.

The best solution I’ve found is Fizik’s winter shoe covers. They slip over my mountain bike shoes, allowing me to run clips and wear the same shoes even when temperatures are cooler. This saves me from putting flat pedals on, and I don’t have to buy a new pair of winterized shoes/boots.

And while it isn’t the best idea to run clips with a fat bike – you can learn more about that by scrolling here to the 11th disadvantage of a fat bike – you can always try this method before committing to flats and winter boots.

Bike Cover

Overview

As fat bikers, the things we love about winter – snow and cold temperatures – are the things drivers hate the most. As such, towns, municipalities, and cities do their best to get it off the roads by dousing them in salt and sand.

And while we, as drivers getting our fat bikes to the trailhead, appreciate this, it’s the worst thing to put our bikes through. The salt corrodes, the sand seizes parts, and the condition of your fat bike quickly deteriorates. 

That’s why, for anyone transporting their fat bike on a rack during the winter, I highly recommend you purchase a bike cover as soon as possible. It’ll keep your fat bike fully enclosed, protecting it from the nasty elements on the road. A great option is the Team Obsidian Bike Cover. It’s relatively cheap, has been super durable, and does exactly what it’s supposed to do. This is a must buy fat bike accessory for anyone transporting their fat bike on a rack in the winter.

Sprayer

Overview

The flip side of the driving to the trailhead issue is the biking to the trailhead issue. In almost all scenarios, you will have to ride on the road at some point, once again introducing your fat bike to salt and sand.

This issue is complicated further if you don’t have access to water, whether that’s because your exterior water is shut off for the winter or because you live in an apartment/condo with no hose access.

The best solution is to purchase a basic garden sprayer that you can fill with water and spray down your fat bike with when you arrive home. You don’t need anything fancy, so settling for something like Amazon’s basic Chapin 1 Gallon Sprayer is a good option. Just fill it up before you go riding, and once you’re back, pump it up and give your fat bike a good spray down, removing any unwanted salt, dirt, and grime from the road!

Mudguard / Fender

Overview

Continuing down the path of keeping you and your bike clean, another great fat bike accessory to add is a mudguard or fender. As we know, trails aren’t always 100% snowcovered, and there’s a good chance you’ll encounter some mud, especially within the parking lot if temperatures are near 0. Of course, no one should be riding trails if they are 100% soft and muddy, but if you happen upon a few spots, having a mudguard on your bike will be welcomed. 

Unfortunately, the options for fat bikes are minimal, so while there is a clear winner for front fender options, the best rear fender isn’t quite so straightforward.

For a front fender option, the Portland Design Works Mud Shovel is great and an easy recommendation. I’ve yet to find a true standout for the rear fender, but the best so far has been the Mucky Nutz Fat Butt Fender. The plastic can be a bit brittle and depending on your seat height it can be quite far from your rear tire, but it does a pretty good job considering it costs less than $20!

Studded Tires

Overview

Standard fat bike tires work best over compacted snow. But when temperatures swing between freezing and thawing, what was once a nicely packed trail can quickly become a strip of ice. Standard fat bike tires will still work, but they are far less effective, and you’ll often find yourself slipping and sliding as you lose traction. The answer to this problem is studded fat bike tires! 

The studs bring unbeatable grip, biting into the ice and providing enough traction to pedal up, down, and over even the iciest trails. Having this ability to ride icy trails increases the amount of terrain available to you and lets you get in more riding as you can manage nearly any trail condition. Studded tires are a game changer if you fat bike in Ontario like I do.

Any studded fat bike tire from 45NRTH is excellent, but if I had to choose one, it’d be their WRATHLORDE tire. It’s designed for extreme conditions and will tackle ice better than any other tire, with 300 XL concave studs.

Winter Chain Lube

Overview

Not all chain lubricants are created equal, and companies actually go to great lengths to formulate different lubes for different conditions. 

Luckily, there is a simple solution for winter riding: switching to a wet lube specifically formulated to provide optimal performance in damp and dirty conditions. By doing so, you’ll improve the longevity of your drivetrain and notice better shifting compared to using drier lubes that are best left for the summer.

The tried and true pick for this is Finish Line’s wet lube. I’ve been using it for longer than I can remember, and it’s all you need to keep your drivetrain running smoothly all winter long. It’s not the sexiest of fat bike accessories, but it’ll make a noticeable different to your riding experience!

Wrap Up

And there you have it – 15 of my favourite fat bike accessories!

Not all of the fat bike accessories are overly unique or flashy (no oil slick parts here), but they are recommendations I’d make to anyone. Each item serves a purpose, is practical, and in one way or another, will make your ride more enjoyable!

Have you tried any fat bike accessories not mentioned here? Am I missing some obvious ones? If so, let me know in the comments below – I’d love to hear what you guys are using!

Many of these accessories make great gifts for the fat biker in your life. If a friend or loved one mountain bikes, consider reading my latest post on the best gifts for mountain bikers!