Borealis Bikes

Echo XX1 HED Complete Fat Bike

Whether it's in a small mountain town or a snow-blanketed metropolis in the Midwest, winter typically hands us snow days when we can't commute, train, or just go out and spin. The Borealis Bikes Echo XX1 HED Complete Fat Bike doesn’t care, because it's wearing the bicycle equivalent of snowshoes. Borealis claims that the lightweight and responsive action of the original Echo XX1 "will make you think you're riding a 'skinny tire' XC race bike." Now, with the addition of a HED Big Deal carbon wheelset, the Echo XX1 HED really is threatening to become an actual race bike.

The HED Big Deals are basically a pair of super light, super stiff HED Stinger wheels after they've turned 40 and all those burritos and microbrews have expanded their girth a bit. They're still 100% HED, though, as evidenced by their single-wall, tubeless-ready construction. They're ribbed for your pleasure, because lowering rotational weight and increasing stiffness and structural integrity is definitely a pleasurable feature. The tubeless ride comes courtesy of HED's Inflatobam mounting system and its henchmen, the Inflatobands. Inflatobam uses a twin channel design to decrease the pressure needed to seat the beads, and the Inflatobands compensate for different tire beads by reducing the gap between tire and rim. The overall effect is easier seating and a more reliable seal.

At a claimed 445 grams per rim, the Big Deals promise to knock about 2 pounds of weight off your bike per wheel, for a total weight loss of four pounds. Yep: Four pounds. We don't normally truck with exclamation points and unnecessary formatting, but it's pretty damn tempting to celebrate these weight savings with some social media-type grammar. The rims are laced to Turnagain's newest FH150 hubs, which received updated colors and a front hub redesign to eliminate sleeve issues. Borealis likes them so much that the company is transitioning to their exclusive use.

The frame is the same cutting-edge carbon fiber construction and geometry used across the Echo line. It’s been optimized for the RockShox Bluto — the world’s first dedicated fat bike suspension fork. Beyond shedding grams, the composite construction has enabled Borealis to finely tune the ride quality, resulting in a strong frame that will hold up to heavy use. That’s particularly important, since the addition of the HED Big Deal wheels invites even more aggressive riding than the already surprisingly capable Echo XX1.

The seatstays are designed to absorb trail bumps and washboard noise, and the oversized chainstays keep the pedaling responsive when you stomp on the gas. Like the Yampa, the Echo clears massive 4.8 inch tires on a 100mm wide rim, more than capable of housing HED's 85mm Big Deals and clearing snow, mud, and other debris. The frame also affords enough clearance for a one- or two-by drivetrain, regardless of your tire choice. The head tube is tapered, which takes advantage of the incredible stiffness provided by the Bluto. It's equipped with three bottle cage mounts, to keep you hydrated for long hours in the saddle. And at 1370 grams for a medium frame, it’s far lighter than it appears.

Of course, the Echo frame is mated to a RockShox Bluto suspension fork. SRAM's XX1 one-by-eleven drivetrain got the nod for the XX1 build. The crankset is a featherweight Race Face Next SL setup. These Canadian-built beauties are by far the lightest fat bike-ready crankset on the market, and they’re paired with a 32t narrow-wide chainring for flawless chain retention without the need for a chainguide. SRAM XX brakes handle stopping duties, and the cockpit is primarily Race Face Next hardware with a WTB saddle. The HED Big Deals are wrapped in 4 inch wide 45 North Husker Du tires, for a versatile, reliable setup.

The Borealis Bikes Echo XX1 HED Complete Fat Bike is available in four sizes ranging from Small to X-Large in the colors Black and Black/blue.