What is the name of the type of bicycle designed for riding on snow and sand? Fatbike.
A fatbike uses unusually wide tires to spread the rider’s weight over a larger contact patch. That lowers ground pressure, helping the bicycle float across soft, unstable surfaces such as snow, sand, mud and bogs instead of sinking as readily as a conventional mountain bike.
Early modern fatbikes emerged from experiments in Alaska and New Mexico during the 1980s and 1990s. Alaskan builders focused on winter trails, while New Mexico designers developed wide-tire machines for desert sand. The term “Fat Bike” was trademarked as a model name by Mark Gronewald in 2001, and Surly’s Pugsley helped bring the design to mainstream bike shops in the mid-2000s.
A fatbike is not defined merely by its riding environment: it can also be used on ordinary trails and pavement. Its tires are commonly at least 3.8 inches wide and may run at pressures as low as about 5 psi. “Mountain bike” is the common mix-up, but mountain bikes generally have narrower tires and are optimized for firmer terrain.