A few months ago i sold my Surly Moonlander and the spare Alfine hub Pugsley, and while sad to see them go, esp the Moonlander which is still in my view to date the best Beach bike out there with its bombproof 135mm multi hub rear option and narrow chain stays-that make it great for tight technical riding between rocks, i did it to help fund the purchase of the recently released Surly Wednesday. I was wanting to get in on some new fangled thru axle trail geometry action!, been 3 1/2 years since my last new complete fatbike!.
Kaboom!...;
Sadly my car required loads of money spent on it for it`s yearly MOT, and there went that new bike idea overnight...
Sadly so did my plan of a 5" tyre Fatbike like the Moonie but on 80mm rims which would nearly be as good as 100mm rims, but with a regular fatbike 100mm BB, rather than the John Wayne 120mm BB of the Moonie, oh and it takes 29+ wheels.
All is not lost...
`I have a cunning plan`...:
So i hatched a plan, encouraged by urgency after the forks showed cracks on my old Original Pugsley on a Sunday evening :(
`Panic on the streets of Birmin-err East Lothian...`
With the day trip to Tentsmuir organised the following weekend i thought i would never find a new Pugsley Offset fork nowadays here in the UK (All Pugsley`s have Symmetrical forks these days) so was surprised that Westbrook cycles had them in black in stock!, a pair was ordered and my face dropped when i pulled them out the box and they were in line symmetrical!!!, but hold on they look slightly err squint, then i realised they were a pair of the Ltd run of new Offset Pug forks!, never knew these had been imported into the UK!
You can read about these forks on the Surly Blog, and look there`s a pic of my Pug on there!, check it out Here...
Mounted up they look great..
I like to have two Fatbike, so...;
I decided after Tentsmuir that while out on group rides you only ride as fast as the slowest rider, and lets face it riding the East Coast is not the Iditabike! We rarely ride further than 40-50 miles and no big climbing is involved so weight is not top priority, reliability and quality of ride is more important.
If i was racing that then i too would maybe be after a Carbon all singing all dancing Fatbike... Or probably more likely i would get a Surly ICT and have another bike that would last for years!
A Pug`s for life, not just for Xmas...
The Pugsley is still a great fatbike and for trails and coastal riding here in East Lothian, so i decided while i cannot afford to pay up a complete bike until my wages get a rise, or i find a suitcase washed up on the coast full of used notes, i can for now afford to pay up a frame without breaking the bank. For £32 a month for a year on 0% finance again from Westbrook Cycles i will soon have two fatbikes rolling again, a good one and an old spare one, I don`t need to rebuild any more wheels, and everything is still interchangeable...
Super Pug!;
So i will swap this frame over onto my old Pugsley in a couple of months. I`m waiting on the statuary Orange Frame Graphics and head badge to arrive from the USA, some frame saver to rustproof the frame, and lastly as most of the parts will be swapped over except i want a 1x11 drive chain and that will take a couple of Months salary`s pocket money to purchase. And i plan to build in my eyes the best Pugsley i have had yet-A super Pug!, with two sets of wheels the orange beach wheels and the 29+ wheels, with 1x11 the rear wheel can be slammed right forward and along with the offset headset and wide bars should ride real nice with all my favourite parts on a new frame and fork. That should keep me going on a Pugsley for say another 8 years... :)
I will return to this frame build up in a month or two for Pt2 once i get all the needed goodies...
The old original Pug;
The old Pugsley needs to be rolling for Forth Fat in April as i have promised to loan it to Rob, who we met riding the Capital Trail event back in June, then again out walking at Aberlady Reserve, so i need to get a friend to repair the fork, source Some secondhand BB7 brakes, cranks, stem, seat post, and a few wee parts but should do it, after of course it gets powder coated in it`s original colour of Thunderbird Grey...
Surly Pugsley; Still fit for purpose :)
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