Despite her fat-bike ambitions, winter did not go as planned for Hailey Moore. Read on for how she managed to salvage her time with a loaner Otso Voytek 2 with a spring side quest to Moab.

I was never supposed to write a review of Otso Cycles’ fat bike, the Voytek 2. I was, however, supposed to ride it on snow. When Otso super-homie Kurt (aka the marketing director for both Otso and Wolf Tooth) sent me a Voytek 2 at the start of winter, the plan was for me to put the bike through its paces at a few of the fat bike races that constitute the central Colorado winter race circuit and then write about the experience (I’ve never done a fat bike race). On my list were the seasonal classics of the Arkansas River Valley, events held on Leadville’s enviously groomed singletrack put on by the Cloud City Wheelers, or the high-altitude fat-bike epic near Buena Vista, the Cottonwood Crusher, a 45-mile adventure ride that makes a double crossing of the Continental Divide via its namesake 12,000-foot pass, in February.

From the top of Cottonwood Pass: March 2024 (left); August 2023 (right)

Turns out, winter had other ideas for me. In a late January plot twist, I managed to frostbite both of my pinky toes (not while riding, that’s another story). The good news is I still have all ten of my toes (only half joking here), the bad news is that incident, and the long tail of recovery that followed, brought an abrupt end to all cold and snow-dependent activities of my 2024-2025 season. As my toes shed their blistered, discolored skin, deflated back to a normal(ish) size and, eventually, tolerated being put back into bike shoes, the Voytek 2 looked on from a languishing distance. Snow and cold might have been off the table, but I was already scheming a redemptive adventure ride that would still play to the Voytek 2’s other idiosyncratic strengths.

About the Voytek 2

The original Otso Voytek fat bike was launched in 2016 and completely changed the game in the niche category, introducing the narrowest q-factor found on any fat bike and featuring agile—and adjustable—XC-inspired geometry.

The fact that the Voytek 2 didn’t come along until the latter half of 2023 is a testament to the innovative nature of the original platform. In the update, Otso made the Voytek 2 even more capable, most notably by pairing their GeoChip head tube system with the existing (rear) Tuning Chip dropout, which allowed for reach and (even more) geo adjustments, and by offsetting the rear hub by five millimeters to more comfortably allow for 26” x 4.5” rear clearance.

Otso Voytek 2 Quick Hits:

• Available in S, M, L and XL* (*GeoChip +/- 10 mm reach adjustment allows for more variability between sizes)
• Clearance: 26 x 4.6″, 27.5 x 4.5″, 29 x 3.0″ tires (Otso notes that chain rub is likely in the largest cog on 12-speed setups when running 26 x 4.6″ or 27.5 x 4.5″)
• Suspension corrected for up to 120 mm; Voytek 2 comes specced with Lithic Carbon Fat Fork
• Front/Rear Hub standards: 150 x 15 mm, 177 x 12 mm (rear hub is offset 5 mm to the driveside)
• Internal routing and dropper post compatible
• 83 mm BB shell (Pressfit 107); Q-factor: 183 mm with Race Face Next SL crankset/ 188 mm with Race Face Aeffect crankset
• GeoChip head-tube system (three sets of flip chips that hold the headset upper and lower cups): One set of GeoChip flip chips allows for +/- 10mm of reach adjustment; another allows for +/- 1º of head-tube angle adjustment; the third allows for +/- 2º of head-tube angle adjustment.
• Tuning Chip rear dropout system: Adjust the wheelbase by up to 20 mm, raise or lower the bottom bracket by up to 4 mm, and adjust the head tube angle by +/- 0.5º.
• Ample fork and main triangle mounting points; no rear rack mounts
• Custom Cedaero frame bags available: $274.95
• Price: Highly variable based on build; “Frankset” (Frame, Lithic Carbon Fat Fork, cranks and chainring) starts at $3295.

A Spring Side Quest: White Rim In-A-Day on the Voytek 2

There is a kind of pleasing symmetry in the terrain extremes that a fat bike is most suited for: snow and sand. Use it as a desert trawler in spring and fall, then make the most of winter with it in the mountains (or, anywhere that receives considerable snowfall). Of course, with its 29er compatibility and suspension-corrected front end, the Voytek 2 also touches down between these two ends of the spectrum. You could take a page out of Spruce Cycles founder and fat-bike diehard Jason Winkler’s book and kit out the Voytek 2 as a summer trail bike to make it a full four-season rig. In short, whenever the terrain demands a little extra fortification, a fat bike will excel.

This year, a quasi-impromptu early April climbing trip to Moab provided me with the perfect excuse to finally test the Voytek 2’s mettle on a big adventure ride, albeit on the desert’s proving grounds instead of winter’s. In between climbing days, my friend, John, and I hashed out plans to ride the famed White Rim jeep road in one push—the century distance loop through Canyonlands’ Sky Island district would also be my longest ride post frostbite. Given that John would be aboard his Salsa Cutthroat with just 2.25” tires, I’d also really get a chance to see if the Voytek 2’s carbon XC-inspired chassis was as lively as everyone claimed.

We started the day early enough (by April standards), loaded down with what we hoped would be sufficient water and food to make it around the loop in unsupported fashion. The day would be hot enough (also by April standards, for those of us fleeing snow and temperate spring temps), and John and I both had concerns about the loop’s unrelenting exposure. With the car parked at the junction of Mineral Bottom Road and Highway 313, we set off just after 7 am for the very pedal-y 13-mile opening stretch of gravel road that gradually descends to the lip of the White Rim.

Considering the 4.0” Cake Eaters I was pushing, I was feeling like the Voytek 2 was actually handling the fast early miles quite well, but ultimately my 28T chainring and 10-52t gearing were no match for John’s 2x Cutthroat setup. I alternated between spinning my heart out on the flats and aerotucking on the descents, but I could still barely hold the wheel. We covered those first 13 miles in about 47 minutes, me feeling like the “warm-up” had been a tempo chase and privately longing for some sand and slickrock to temper the pace. We paused at the descent overlook to take in the road ahead: I caught my breath and the views were breathtaking. Nothing to do now but drop in.

It’s a strange feeling to start a long ride with a big descent. When you begin the day by climbing, you can opt to turn around at any time and instantly make your life a lot easier. But when your elevation profile takes the inverse shape, the commitment feels real.

This ride marked my third lap of the White Rim, but I still experienced a brief heart-in-the-throat moment as John and I carved the descending switchbacks and dropped an easy thousand feet in under two miles. I was also immediately reinvigorated to be taking on the day on the Voytek 2—the beefy tires deftly smoothed out the under-wheel chop, and the bike felt like a sports car careening through the corners.

Along the varyingly packed sand of the river bottom, our paces equilibrated. The sun-burnished rust-brown walls of the Sky Islands many buttes and towers framed the road as the Green River flowed at a slowness that seemed to reflect the imperceptible speed of geologic time.

Leaving the river and grinding up the first pronounced climb—the aptly named Hardscrabble—John outpaced me again. Despite the Voytek 2’s sporty weight, I still found that—like with other fat bikes—the fat-tire spec just makes for a lot of wheel to turn over with each pedal stroke. When it comes to adding weight to a bike, rotational weight is the most consequential for handling and is most noticeable while climbing (because: gravity). So even though a medium Voytek 2 frame clocks in at just 1,450 grams, there’s no getting around the rotational weight of the tires, each of which weighs almost as much as the frame. For comparison, the total diameter of the wheels I was running on the Voytek 2—HED Big Half Deal 27.5” Carbon 85 mm rims with Terrene 4.0” Cake Eaters—measured 787.2 mm; John’s 700c wheels with 2.25” tires measured 736.3 mm in diameter, about a two-inch difference. Still, I probably wouldn’t have given my climbing speed a second thought if I hadn’t had a friend to chase up the trail.

Fortunately, most of the climbing on the White Rim is gradual, punctuated by just a few hard kickers. After the Hardscrabble, we ripped a fast descent then began the steady crawl up to the approximate halfway point and second hard climb, Murphy’s Hogback.

On my previous two trips around the White Rim, I’d never managed to clean Murphy’s (the first trip being an overnighter from Moab on a loaded REEB Sam’s Pants; the second an IAD ride on a rigid Bearclaw Ti Hardtail). Although the steepest part gains just a couple hundred feet and is quite short, the final ramp maxes out at 24%.

On the Voytek 2, my initial charge towards the last pitch of Murphy’s quickly slowed into a nose-to-the-bar grind, but even as my speed was slowing, I realized that my traction wasn’t diminishing. The wide footprint of the Cake Eaters felt like velcro on the off-camber surface, which meant I was able to use more energy for forward and upward motion, rather than for balancing the bike and maintaining traction. I might have been red-lining by the end, but Murphy’s went clean. A win for the Voytek 2 in my book!

John and his Cutthroat

PSA: there is at least one large boulder with shade at the top of Murphy’s Hogback, which is where John and I ended up taking a lunch stop before tackling the second half of the loop. Although we encountered some sandy stretches, in general the route was to my (perverse) chagrin, less sandy than in past years. Still, when we would enter a short sandtrap, I noticed that, although I mentally braced to quickly counter steer, the Voytek 2 kept an even keel, undeterred by the changing surface. More so than sand, our afternoon hours were spent rumbling over extended sections of slickrock and, even after airing down the tires some, I could feel the accumulated toll. I guess one of these days I’ll have to ride the White Rim with some proper suspension.

Just as the afternoon was feeling long and the slickrock tedious, we crested a saddle just past the White Crack overlook. The distant, still snow-capped La Sal Mountains slammed back into view and I thought, “Oh right, we’re going to make it. I know where Moab is now.”

The notorious Shafer climb still lay ahead—and above—but, after a full day of riding, when we arrived at the base of the 1,500’ exit climb, I was surprised to find that my legs didn’t protest tooooo much. That 28T probably helped, too.

Somehow we’d decided to end the day with the seven, upward rolling, paved miles that separate the Canyonlands Visitor Center (at the top of the Shafer Climb) and the road junction where we’d parked. Much like the day started, this ended up being my own personal hell, the sound of the tires buzzing keenly reminding me of the extra rolling resistance that I was most definitely feeling. Still, we ended the ride in daylight, with no mechanical dramas or heatstroke, and me with a newfound appreciation for the Votek 2’s adventurous and versatile demeanor.

Voytek 2: An N+1 Bike

As I’ve accumulated more time riding bikes, and more time writing about riding bikes, I’ve noticed that my younger impulse to own and try out a lot of different bikes has tempered some and been replaced with the desire to subtract and simplify. Bike storage and upkeep can become kind of a headache, as can keeping up with all the latest tech. I really just want one fast bike—for roads and smooth gravel—a good touring steed, and hardtail for the moderately technical trails that I like to ride (in reality, those last two could be the same bike, but I’m not that disciplined).

Then I’d argue there’s another category of bike, one in which the design and features are so considered and compelling as to be almost too enticing, but ultimately fall outside my needs. This is where I’d place the Voytek 2. I can begin to make a case that justifies me personally owning this bike: the lightweight frame, the adjustable geometry and four-season compatibility (available for the “low cost” of an extra bespoke-hub-spec 29er wheelset). But at its core, the Voytek 2 is a fat bike and its best use case is fat biking on, as previously mentioned, sand and (groomed) snow. I don’t live in the desert and, in winter, the closest groomed fat-bike terrain is a minimum 2.5-hour drive over high mountain passes that are often made hazardous by poor road conditions. The honest truth is, if I’m going to drive that far in winter, I’m probably going skiing.

Still, I’m a little bit envious of people with access to good fat biking. Maybe this is a romanticized view, but fat bikes are just so dang fun to ride: the handful of times I’ve ridden a fat bike on groomed snow, I couldn’t stifle the goofy grin that kept spreading across my face and during my most recent ride around the White Rim, any moment of tedium was soon interrupted by the absurdist joy that is riding a Voytek 2. With the Voytek 2, I can imagine an alternate universe where I do live close to groomed snow and get to partake in the truly quirky subculture that is fat biking—in this fantasy, the Voytek 2 is still a fat bike first, but I could also make the case for it being my trail bike and touring bike (though, I’d have to lose all my sentimentality for it to become the latter). For the time being though, it’s the bike that will have to keep living in that alternate universe, my N+1 bike, a dream that I ultimately can’t personally justify.

But, then again… you never know, doing a fat bike race is still on my bucket list and there’s always next winter.