FATBACK CORVUS FLT

same frame geometry since 2016

Discontinued by 2021

FATBACK BIKES went consumer direct in 2020.

After 4 years of being Canada’s Gold-Level FATBACK dealer, we will no longer be stocking their bikes.

WHAT HAPPENED TO FATBACK BIKES?

• Fatback Bikes underwent new management in 2020, and ceased business operations by 2021.

WHERE WERE FATBACK BIKES MANUFACTURED?

• Fatback Bikes maintained manufacturing facilities in both China and Taiwan. Fatback Bikes brand manager Scott Wolfe confirmed the carbon Corvus and Skookum “FLT” models were manufactured in a different factory than the regular carbon Corvus (Akio) and (Fatback) Skookum models.

Where was Fatback Bikes Located?

• Fatback Bikes had a sales and distribution headquarters located in Bend Oregon that served the continental USA and Canada, along with their original bike shop located in Anchorage Alaska.

Under New Management

• In 2020, Fatback Bikes underwent a 100% turnover in staff. A new Brand Manager was hired, and radical sweeping changes in marketing and operations took place within the company. New Management took the following steps :

  • At the onset of the pandemic in 2020, Fatback Bikes switched to customer-facing factory-direct sales as their main focus. Their once large dealership base of 80+ stores dropped to less than 10 stocking dealers world-wide.

  • The Fatback Warranty Page was removed from their website in 2020, and did not re-appear until 2022.

  • Bike and Frame boxes that used to be labelled as originating in Taiwan, were now arriving marked as “Made in China” (see picture)

  • Removal of the Fatback Warranty Page coincided with a very noticeable increase in frame warranty claims >15% for the lack of durability in the Fatback Skookum FLT and Corvus FLT frames between 2019-2021. (now being re-boxed in “Made in China” packaging).

  • “Virtual” geometry changes were made to all 5 Fat bikes that Fatback sold, enhancing their published stats, even though there were clearly not any new frame releases (for at least the next 2 years). This was deemed a sleazy “marketing adjustment” to increase sales potential, and deceive both customers and dealers alike. (see details below for more information).

  • Fatback then heavily advertised, promoted and pushed the sell-off of all existing “Fatback” branded frames.

  • Fatback closed their long-time Bend Oregon sales and distribution warehouse, moving all inventory back to the single store in Anchorage Alaska.

  • Fatback discontinued a number of their bikes, in late 2020 and early 2021, starting with the increasingly problematic FLT carbon frames :

    • Fatback Corvus FLT

    • Fatback Skookum FLT

    • Fatback Skookum

    • Haul Road gravel bike

  • Once remaining stock was sold off, Fatback Bikes ceased business operations and was closed by 2021.

  • Fatback Bikes was then renamed “Corvus Cycles” on or by OCT 2021. New products were launched, and marketing changes were made to the names of all existing bikes/frames, including :

    • The Fatback Corvus was renamed the Corvus Akio. Even though this bike is long-due for retirement being an 8+ year-old design, Fatback / Corvus Cycles re-released this bike as an “all-new” design in late 2021. The only “new” part of this bike was a carbon cargo fork that was 505mm AC instead of the old 473mm AC (axle-to-crown height). Fatback / Corvus walked backed this “all-new” claim after a 12-NOV-2022 podcast confirmed they never made any mold or tooling changes to ANY of their carbon frames, including the Fatback Corvus, Skookum, or Corvus Akio (word salad!).

    • The “enhanced” / (incorrect) geometry stats for these frames were all migrated over, even after company name changes took place, and Fatback / Corvus Cycles confirmed these models never received any new tooling or model releases

  • After the carbon Fat bike frames were discontinued, Corvus Cycles released new alloy and titanium frames to replace them :

    • Skookum (carbon) > Corvus Skookum AF (aluminum frame)

    • Corvus Akio (carbon > Corvus Magnus (Ti frame)

    • Haul Road (carbon) > Crow Pass (Ti gravel frame)

  • Fatback Bikes (now Corvus Cycles) held back their best titanium frame models from the remaining dealership network. If customers wanted these Ti bikes, then they had to order direct from Fatback / Corvus Cycles.

“VIRTUAL” GEOMETRY CHANGES TO ALL FRAMES

• In early 2020, (under a new Brand manager) Fatback Bikes quietly made “virtual” changes to the manufacturer-published Geometry charts of all 5 models of their Fat bikes (Corvus, Corvus FLT, Skookum, Skookum FLT, and Rhino FLT). The “virtual” changes (on paper) did not reflect any new (physical) frame releases at the time, yet they affected key specifications, such as Seat Tube angle, Head Tube angle, and Chainstay length. The “virtual” changes certainly made their Fat bike frames seem more appealing to potential customers - but it all ended up being “marketing adjustments” to try and sell more units of the same old frames released since 2015-16.

• When questioned about this, Fatback ownership admitted to multiple “typos” being made on their website, but then failed to update and correct them (for 2+ years and counting), calling it a “petty issue”, which it was anything but that. This was significant, if true, and very disappointing on many levels, if false.

• Customers (and Fatback dealers) were now being purposely misled by the manufacturer, on key geometry specifications for all 5 models of their Fat bikes.

  • Note : New frames for the Rhino and Skookum, were not released for another 2+ years after this incident. The Fatback Corvus / Corvus Akio never received a geometry update since 2016, and it is now 2023 at time of writing this review.

MARKETING ADJUSTMENTS

• The following virtual geometry changes, or “marketing adjustments”, were made by Fatback management in 2020, when there was not an incremental or new frame release on these models at the time (or for at least 2 years AFTER) the published changes were posted to the Fatback Bikes / Corvus Cycles website :
  

  • FATBACK SKOOKUM AND SKOOKUM FLT

    (same frame from 2015 - 2022)

    • Seat Tube Angle (ST) changed from 73 degrees > 74.0 degrees

    • Head Tube Angle (HT) changed from 68.5 degrees > 67.5 degrees

  • FATBACK CORVUS AND CORVUS FLT

    (same frame from 2016 - 2022)

    • Chainstay (CS) changed from 455mm > 445mm

  • FATBACK RHINO FLT

    (same frame from 2015 - early 2022)

    • Seat Tube Angle (ST) changed from 73 degrees > 74.0 degrees

    • Head Tube Angle (HT) changed from 69 degrees > 68 degrees

• Please be aware, that when you slacken the Headtube angle (HTA), and steepen the Seat tube angle (STA), other geometry specs will be forced to change, like a reduced ETT, increased Wheelbase, increased Front-Center, and reduced Reach. None of these stats changed after their “virtual marketing adjustments” to the HTA and STA, so you know it’s all fake news from the MFG. No longer trustworthy!

• Apparently, not too many people caught on to what happened. Since we do custom bike building, and assemble every frame to fit our customers’ fitment data, we would certainly notice when a production frame physically changes in STA and HTA values. To make an example : if you were to increase the STA by 1 degree from 73 to 74, on a size=Large frame, you are decreasing the ETT (effective top tube by almost 25mm). This assumes the wheelbase does not change. Same applies to decreasing the HTA by 1 degree from 69 to 68 degrees. You are decreasing the ETT by about 16-21mm on a size=Large frame (assuming no change to the wheelbase).

• The modified stats that Fatback published, amounted to a decrease of 1 frame size in effective top tube length, if their changes were true. Hopefully you can realize this would cause us great concern, because it is very expensive to ship and import bikes and frames from Alaska. If the MFG is faking the stats, then we certainly have a problem with bike fitment for our customers, and we cannot "return” frames from Toronto Canada, back to Anchorage Alaska, without significant paperwork and export fees. If a MFG is going to purposely mislead their customers or authorized dealers, with fake marketing, we drop the brand.

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN CHANGE

• It gets even better. Shortly after the “marketing adjustments” occurred on all the Fatback Bike frame geometry charts (see above), we began receiving Corvus and Skookum frame/bike boxes that were labeled “Fatback Bikes - Made in China”. Up to that point, we were always assured their production facility was in Taiwan, and not China.

WARRANTY PAGE DISAPPEARED

• At about the same time we started receiving frame and bike boxes labeled as “Fatback Bikes - Made in China”, the Fatback Warranty Page was taken offline, and stayed offline for nearly 2 years! When it did go back up, the warranty coverages had changed significantly for frames and wheelsets. There was no longer any “Lifetime” warranties, and 5 year warranties were reduced to 3 years or less, with more strict rules on what would or would not be covered.

• Fatback management began to fight some customer warranty claims at this time. As an example, one customer had to repeatedly apply for and negotiate a warranty claim on his Fatback bike (Skookum) and it took more than a year to resolve. The frame he ultimately received as compensation (more than a year later), was nowhere near the level of detail or workmanship of the original frame that developed a crack in the seat tube.

FLT FRAMES DISCONTINUED

• There was soon a very noticeable increase in the customer warranty claim rates for the Fatback Skookum FLT and Corvus FLT models. These carbon frames were experiencing all sorts of issues with either frame cracks to the seat tube, bottom bracket area, chainstay or top tubes. Also at issue, were problems with internal cable routing blockages. Paint lines were not as crisp or matching up, as in previous years. Clearcoat issues developed on some frames. Within months, the FLT FRAMES WERE DISCONTINUED on both the Fatback Skookum and Corvus models.

CUSTOMER SERVICE commitment

• After Fatback’s management turnover in 2020, customers were repeatedly complaining how hard it was to receive any warranty or customer service support from Fatback Bikes. There were apparently issues with both Fatback’s email and phone systems for many months. (we experienced the same issues for weeks at a time)

FACTORY DIRECT SALES

• At the onset of the pandemic, as bike sales started to skyrocket, Fatback Bikes adopted new pricing strategies and tactics - ultimately wiping out their once large dealer base in the USA and Canada. Fatback began to actively compete for sales vs. their own Dealer network - even going to the point of blocking certain transactions with retail shops to force (their) customers to buy directly from the Manufacturer. (this upset quite a few customers, let alone what the dealers thought of it all). Obvious choice here, the manufacturer is no longer supporting their dealer base, so there is no need for any dealers to continue selling that brand.

HAUL ROAD GRAVEL BIKE

• Did you know Fatback had their own gravel bike, called the “Haul Road”? It was a standard OEM catalog frame, with identical geometry to several other factory-direct vendors, such as On-One in the UK. This carbon frame bike was cancelled on or by 2020.

  • Fatback Haul Road > discontinued

    • eventually replaced by the alloy Crow Pass Ti bike

MANUFACTURER NAME CHANGE

• After about a year of inventory struggles of not having anything in stock to sell or distribute, FATBACK BIKES rather suddenly ceased operations in 2021. It resurfaced as CORVUS CYCLES, on or by 9-OCT-2021. This happened in the middle of the COVID pandemic, even while a well-established bicycle company in Colorado was already registered under the name CORVID Cycles, and the original Corvus Cycles was already established in South America. Which leads everyone to the same question “Why did you really drop the name Fatback Bikes?” (It gets even more confusing, keep reading!).

FRAME MODEL NAME CHANGES

• FATBACK BIKES not only changed the name of their company to CORVUS CYCLES in 2021, but they decided to change the name of all their well-known Fat Bike models :

  • Fatback Rhino FLT > Corvus Rhino FLT

  • Fatback Corvus > Corvus Akio

  • Fatback Corvus FLT > discontinued

  • Fatback Skookum > Corvus Skookum (renamed, then discontinued)

    • replaced by the Corvus Skookum AF (Aluminum Frame)

    • Fatback Skookum FLT > discontinued

ARRIVING OF THE CLONES !

• If things were not going bad enough for the legacy of the Fatback carbon frames, right about this time in 2021, the Chinese carbon Clones arrived for the Skookum and Corvus (Akio) models. They were even available on Alibaba for 1/3rd the cost of a Fatback carbon frame of the same design. The only noticeable difference between the two was obviously the paint and decals, plus different cable routing, and disc brake mounting locations - but the geometry was practically identical. The carbon rigid fork information was hard to pin down, so not sure if they come with the original 473mm or the newer 505mm AC height carbon fork. If you look hard enough, you will find the clone frames online! Hint : Search on the geometry specs)

• This is the same thing that happened to the original Gen1 Fatback Corvus carbon frame. When the Clones appeared, Fatback switched up to the Gen2 Corvus frame. Now the Clones have arrived for that Gen2 frame! Odds are, Fatback will drop the Corvus (Akio) altogether and switch to the Magnus Ti or a more affordable Alloy version, or just settle for the alloy Rhino FLT. There really is no reason to keep rolling the Corvus (Akio) as the frame design and geometry is now 8 years old, and better lightweight carbon options exist from other competitors.

MOVING AWAY FROM CARBON

• By this point, can you see the trend of this company moving away from carbon frames. Investment and startup costs of producing the carbon molds for each size of every frame model is substantial. With five models, and five sizes for each, you are looking at 25 molds and tooling. Every incremental change to those designs requires more tooling and mold modifications. A very expensive undertaking. Since Fatback chooses to run so many different frame models, and the fact their carbon frame designs were now 8 years old, they had a big choice to make : (1) reinvest in more carbon frames, (2) consolidate to just a few frame designs, or (3) switch to alloy.

  • Fatback Haul Road (carbon) > cancelled, replaced with > Crow Pass Ti

  • Fatback Skookum (carbon) > cancelled, replaced with > Skookum AF (alloy)

  • Fatback Corvus (carbon) > Corvus Akio (renamed, cancelled, scheduled to be replaced) > Magnus Ti (?)

  • Fatback Rhino FLT (alloy) > renamed to Corvus Rhino FLT (alloy)

  • Fatback Corvus FLT (carbon) > cancelled

  • Fatback Skookum FLT (carbon) > cancelled

PAINT SCHEMES SIMPLIFIED

• Fatback was once known for its wide selection of frame colors and vivid colorways, for any given model. There were usually 3-5 appealing choices to pick from, per model. Some of them were really cool. This made custom building their bikes a lot more fun, with many more build options available. Paint and clearcoat quality up to 2020 was excellent. After 2021, Fatback switched to a one-color per model scheme. Very simplified paint and colorway options. Loyal Fatback customers now opted for other Industry options, with more appealing geometry, paint/colorways, better customer service, and higher performance-minded frames.

NEW NAME, NEW GEOMETRY SPECS, RIGHT?

• How do you extend the life of a 7-8 year old carbon frame design, without actually physically updating the tooling or molds? It appears all you need to do is this :

  • (1) - Quietly change the published geometry specifications online

  • (2) - Change the name of the company

  • (3) - Change the name of the frames

  • (4) - Paint the frames a new color

  • (5) - Re-release the same old frames as “all-new” editions under the new company name and model.

    • After all those “marketing adjustments”, who is going to notice you published fake geometry stats?

FAT-BIKE.com PODCAST CONFIRMED IT ALL

• Fatback’s brand manager and owner, both went on a live podcast over at Fat-bike.com on 12-NOV-2021. During the podcast, Fatback’s staff unintentionally confirmed the virtual “marketing adjustments” they made to existing Fatback frame geometries for the previous 1-2 years. They got caught! :

  • Fatback Corvus, aka : Corvus Akio, never received an actual physical frame geometry update since 2016. (and it is now 2023)

  • Fatback Skookum, aka : Corvus Skookum, never received an actual physical frame geometry update between 2016 and 2022.

    • Comments confirming Skookum frame has remained unchanged since 2016, begin at 35min, 30sec, and continue through 36min 4sec when Scott Wolfe (Fatback Brand Manager) verifies (with regards to the Fatback Skookum) … “Tooling of the bike remains unchanged from previous years”. (Yet he went and changed the official geometry charts after he was hired on in 2020 !!)

  • Fatback Rhino FLT, aka : Corvus Rhino, never received an actual physical frame geometry update between 2015 and 2022.

    • Comments beginning at 37m0s talk about updating a future release to the Rhino, but as of that date, they claim to actually lengthen the Chainstay to fit 27.5”x4.5” tires. (Geometry charts did not get updated back then to show a longer Chainstay, to match what they claimed to have transpired in the Podcast… again, which version is the truth?)

    • For the next 1+ years, the Fatback Rhino FLT geometry charts swung around all over the place. It was anything but consistent, and did not reflect the current production model.

  • Fatback Corvus FLT and Skookum FLT were discontinued due to frame construction issues. (We always found the non-FLT versions were stronger, stiffer, and more durable than the lighter FLT versions. The podcast basically confirms this too).

(updated 15-NOV-2021)

FATBACK/CORVUS CYCLES OWNERSHIP ADMITS (ON 12-NOV-2021) THAT THE FATBACK SKOOKUM FRAME GEOMETRY HAS NEVER CHANGED SINCE ITS RELEASE IN 2015

• Proof = Live interview @ Fat-bike.com, between Fatback Bikes (Corvus Cycles since 9-OCT-2021) Owner Greg Matyas, Fatback Brand Manager Scott Wolfe, and Fat-bike.com owner and interviewer Tio Gomez, on The Danger Gnome Podcast 12-NOV-2021, entitled “Fatback Bikes becomes Corvus Cycles”.

link : https://fat-bike.com/2021/11/the-danger-gnome-podcast-fatback-bikes-becomes-corvus-cycles/

• Comments confirming Skookum frame has remained unchanged since 2016, begin at 35min, 30sec, and continue through 36min 4sec when Scott Wolfe (Fatback Brand Manager) verifies (with regards to the Fatback Skookum) … “Tooling of the bike remains unchanged from previous years”.

UPDATE : FATBACK / CORVUS CYCLES released a “new” CORVUS (AKIO) fat bike frames at Sea Otter 2021 on 9 OCT 2021. The expectation was, that the newly released production frame would will finally match the geometry charts that were re-published with altered FATBACK CORVUS (CORVUS AKIO) stats on their company website over 1.5 years ago.

• After comparing the stock media photos released to the public on OCT9 2021 (with the originals released in 2016), it remains clear that the CORVUS (AKIO) frame has not changed from 2016. The CS is still 455mm. This is a quite misleading to existing and potential customers and authorized dealers alike. (see “Layering the Photos” section below)

CORVUS FLT FRAME GEOMETRY

(AS PUBLISHED ON FATBACK’S WEBSITE)

LAYERING THE PHOTOS

When the two stock media photos of the FATBACK CORVUS / CORVUS CYCLES AKIO are layered over each other and compared, it becomes apparent that the Chainstay (CS) Length did not change from 455mm to 445mm, as FATBACK / CORVUS CYCLES claims. Even with the “new” version of the Corvus / Akio, there is too much of a gap between the rear 27.5 x 4.5” Maxxis Colossus tire and the Seat Tube, for the CS to be 445mm. Measurement taken from the center of rear axle, to center of bottom bracket. (For those that are curious about the Chainstay (CS) Horizontal measurement, that should be 451mm, according to Pythagorean Theory of right-angled triangles. (You know CS and BB Drop, and you just just need to solve for CS horizontal on a 90-degree angle - you can google the formula and try it yourself at home). FATBACK’s latest geometry claims appear to be “Marketing Strategy Adjustments” for the 2021 CORVUS (AKIO), just like they did for the 2021/22 Skookum.

To sum it up :

• Same FATBACK CORVUS (AKIO) frame geometry for last 6 seasons. CS = 455mm (actual)

• No new carbon frame enhancements for OCT 9th 2021+ Sea Otter launch date.

• “FLT” performance-minded carbon frame was discontinued.

• Different paint.

• Different decals.

• Frame name change = CORVUS > AKIO.

• Company name change = FATBACK > CORVUS CYCLES.

• Different “marketing strategy” on the geometry charts.

CORVUS FLT PRICING

SPECIFICATIONS

COLOURWAYS

(2016/17 - 2021)