Second Dirt:
I had a superb three hour trail ride in all conditions today. Here are a few thoughts few conclusions. Caveat: Forget about flotation, this is a review of the Pugsley as a trail bike. Excellence in the areas requiring flotation is a given, but that is not what I use this bike for.
Adding air to the Endo did little to improve its marginal climbing traction. No big deal for seated low gear climbing if I kept my weight on it. It would suck as a single speed tire for my conditions.
I was pleasantly surprised to hear a sound reminiscent of the original Enterprise's warp drive while rolling fast on a short paved section.
Climbing this thing is glacial. The rotational weight is immense. I had not measured the weight, so I did tonight post ride compared to my usual rigid set up:
Front Pugsley (Surly hub, Large Marge DH, Surly Toob Larry, 160 rotor) = 8.3lbs(3790gm)
Front Jones (Fatback 135 hub, Flow, Bonti FR3 tubeless) = 4.7lbs(2130gm)
For comparison, I just got a Fat Front Jones (Fatback 135, LM DH, Larry, Bonti 2.5 tube) = 7.4 lbs (3370 gms)
In steep climbs, I found myself stalling on water bars that usually would be easily dealt with. Yes I'm weak, harden up, etc...
Downhill, the wheels take forever to spin up. They are forgiving, but require a lot of work to throw around. The bike felt like a very heavy rigid bike with a little more cush as I took it down my favorite fast steep downhill.
I found the wheels were at their best at high speeds in small loose choppy stuff where you usually bounce off line pretty badly on a rigid, or even on suspension sometimes as the 2-4" rocks slide and move around under you The fat wheels were unflappable in that situation. I guess they just float through:)
The tires also drifted nicely in loose over hard. Super controllable.
My conclusion is that I find the wheels ponderous and not particularly advantageous for most of my trail riding situations. In almost every trail situation I have thrown them into, they are no better than a decent 29 inch set up. They do not seem to offer any advantage over what I currently ride except in a few, isolated trail situations.
If I all I wanted was some cush, I feel a 3 inch suspension 29er outperforms fat tires easily in almost every trail situation. A bike like this weighs in around 25-30 lbs btw.
A 37 lb suspension bike would crush the fat bike's performance in every way except simplicity for trail use.
I don't need the cush, I don't need the flotation, I don't want to deal with weight that does no enhance performance on the trail. This bike is for sale locally because I don't want to ship it, but if you are interested let me know.
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The good news is that the 100mm BB seems to be no big deal, I never noticed any difference from my usual ride. If I ever do another custom frame, it will surely have a 100mm BB and clearance for fatties. With a spare fat wheelset, I am certain I would find a use for it occasionally.
In the mean time, I just installed this:
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We'll see if it is a good use of and extra 2.7 lbs of rotating weight.![]()
I had a superb three hour trail ride in all conditions today. Here are a few thoughts few conclusions. Caveat: Forget about flotation, this is a review of the Pugsley as a trail bike. Excellence in the areas requiring flotation is a given, but that is not what I use this bike for.
Adding air to the Endo did little to improve its marginal climbing traction. No big deal for seated low gear climbing if I kept my weight on it. It would suck as a single speed tire for my conditions.
I was pleasantly surprised to hear a sound reminiscent of the original Enterprise's warp drive while rolling fast on a short paved section.
Climbing this thing is glacial. The rotational weight is immense. I had not measured the weight, so I did tonight post ride compared to my usual rigid set up:
Front Pugsley (Surly hub, Large Marge DH, Surly Toob Larry, 160 rotor) = 8.3lbs(3790gm)
Front Jones (Fatback 135 hub, Flow, Bonti FR3 tubeless) = 4.7lbs(2130gm)
For comparison, I just got a Fat Front Jones (Fatback 135, LM DH, Larry, Bonti 2.5 tube) = 7.4 lbs (3370 gms)
In steep climbs, I found myself stalling on water bars that usually would be easily dealt with. Yes I'm weak, harden up, etc...
Downhill, the wheels take forever to spin up. They are forgiving, but require a lot of work to throw around. The bike felt like a very heavy rigid bike with a little more cush as I took it down my favorite fast steep downhill.
I found the wheels were at their best at high speeds in small loose choppy stuff where you usually bounce off line pretty badly on a rigid, or even on suspension sometimes as the 2-4" rocks slide and move around under you The fat wheels were unflappable in that situation. I guess they just float through:)
The tires also drifted nicely in loose over hard. Super controllable.
My conclusion is that I find the wheels ponderous and not particularly advantageous for most of my trail riding situations. In almost every trail situation I have thrown them into, they are no better than a decent 29 inch set up. They do not seem to offer any advantage over what I currently ride except in a few, isolated trail situations.
If I all I wanted was some cush, I feel a 3 inch suspension 29er outperforms fat tires easily in almost every trail situation. A bike like this weighs in around 25-30 lbs btw.
A 37 lb suspension bike would crush the fat bike's performance in every way except simplicity for trail use.
I don't need the cush, I don't need the flotation, I don't want to deal with weight that does no enhance performance on the trail. This bike is for sale locally because I don't want to ship it, but if you are interested let me know.
The good news is that the 100mm BB seems to be no big deal, I never noticed any difference from my usual ride. If I ever do another custom frame, it will surely have a 100mm BB and clearance for fatties. With a spare fat wheelset, I am certain I would find a use for it occasionally.
In the mean time, I just installed this:
We'll see if it is a good use of and extra 2.7 lbs of rotating weight.
