Wednesday 7 February 2018

Surly Pugsley 2.0!, and another used cheap Surly Pugsley build!...

 Pugsley build No7...


In last weeks Fatbike internet news Surly announced a new Pugsley,
12 years after the original Pugsley was launched Surly has went back to it`s roots and built an updated Pugsley 2.0 with a few modern evolution developments now available to a classic design frame set built for a purpose...

Pic Surly Bikes


Pic FAT-BIKE.COM

FAT-BIKE.COM page

Surly Bikes


Sadly for as many people excited about this bike the mostly USA Internet forum has been full of real sad responses to this bikes design and brief, well the thing is they did not read why Surly brought out a new Pugsley,
Those in the know understand the design brief and build of this bike, though there is one slight issue,
UK pricing for this frame set is £800, and that's way too much for a frame set here in the UK when what else is available,

Pugsley...
This blog came about because of the Surly Pugsley, just click on the `Pugsley` label on the right hand column to see that and how many posts have been written, a life changing bicycle that i have quoted as being `Fit For Purpose` and it still is,
The new Pugsley 2.0 will no doubt be an improvement on the original design,
It`s just that price tag...

Meanwhile...
So in the meantime there is always the good old Pugsleys that can be bought and built for £600 or less, an ideal value of bike to be abused on the coast and it`s harsh conditions, or packed on aircraft and flown to far flung continents and ridden where only old traditional Mountain bike parts are available, and this is not just countries outside the Commonwealth and new world, think your local bike shop in the average village or town that does regular family type bikes, a supply of standard 135mm hubs and headsets, Bottom brackets, headsets, etc...

A Fatbike to keep rolling on as an expensive or as cheap a build as you want?, then a Pugsley fits the bill...

2015; New Pugsley build, sold on... then another returns...
A few years back i built a nice new Black 2015 Pugsley frame set up with a mix on new/old parts that had both fat and 29+ wheels, built to keep me rolling for the next 10 years at least as long again as my original 1st Puglsey frame set has...



Sadly tough times in my previous job with forced salary cuts made having to sell that bike with it`s 29+ wheels and a few other bikes to pay bills to keep the wolf from the door...

Luckily i had kept it`s trademark orange rim wheels and now a new job and secure salary i am rebuilding the collection and when a black `Necromancer` Pugsley frame set turned up on eBay i put in a fair bid and won it...


The fitted parts will go on other builds and the symmetrical fork i swapped for an off set fork i already have, i like that quirky feature of the Pugsley of being able to have reversible wheels, although i have only used it once to get home when a free hub failed, and my Orange wheel set is off set...



Built with used parts and a new 1x10 Shimano Zee drive chain that uses a 40t Sunrace cassette and a stealth 22t bail out granny ring and new BB7 mechanical brake set the bike was built and complete, Except for an orange Pugsley sticker set, something i had previously been given a set  from Tyler of Surly, they were a limited run batch and they were never available in the UK, and now also unavailable in the USA shops i searched online.

Time to ask a favour and i contacted John at Surly to see if they had any lying around and a month later i received a package form Surly HQ...



Orange stickers for this build, and a white set for my original Pugsley getting stripped and restored in original `Thunderbird Grey` soon...


So on with finishing this Pug and `now you see them`...


A few secs with the heat gun and scrape with the finger nails and...


`Now you don`t`...


New stickers on...




Job done and my new go to beach bike, built with existing parts for just over £300, and a sale price of £600 i have gone full circle realising this is all you need for coast riding, a cheap built £600 bike.
I realised this with the Alloy Charge Cooker which i built for this winter to roll with until another Pugsley frame set turned up. I plan to swap the Charge for another of my long sold Fatbikes soon...

Spec;
Frame set;  (18") with white offset fork `Plasticoat` sprayed gloss black
Headset; Cane Creek and 4 BBB headset spacers
Stem; Raceface Ride 70mm
Bars; FUNN 875mm
Grips; Ergon
Brakes; Avid BB7
Seat Clamp; Surly
Seatpost; Raceface Ride
Seat; Charge spoon
Crankset; FSA Afterburner 175mm
Pedals; Disco Components Resin with threaded studs
Chainring; 30t Raceface Narrow Wide, and 22t inner ring
Cassette; Sunrace 10 speed 40t
Shifter and mech;  Shimano ZEE 10 speed
Chain; KMC 10 speed
Wheel set; Reversible 17mm offset built Orange Surly Rolling Darylls, Surly front hub with fixed Surly Dingle cog, rear Hope Evo 4 hub,  Surly Larry tyres, Ghetto split tubeless
Extras; Alpkit top tank bag and JanDD frame bag, Alpkit Love Mud mudguards


 Pug love...



More soon...

3 comments:

  1. Really good write up Bruce.
    I'm another one who is pleased to see the Pugs live on.
    What is The difference between the Necromancer and a normal Pugs out of curiosity?

    Thanks and regards
    SuperSolo

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Supersolo, The Necromancer was a complete Pugsley that had a symmetrical fork and 80mm wide (unmachined) Rollin Darylls (standard Pug completes had Large Marge then later Marge Lite rims) and Microsoft Thumbshifters and MWOD cranks. This spec was then later renamed the Pug Ops and had drilled RD rims,

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you Bruce.

    ReplyDelete