Surly Pugsley 2.0 Update and Review; 100mm rims/4.4" Fat wheels now added....

Been riding the new Surly Pugsley 2.0 for a year now after i built the frame set up as i recovered at home from what would be a sucessful Cancer Op and i rode it as a ridged 29+ bike which has replaced a geared original 29+ `KramPug` and a Surly 29+ ECR,

Here is the film of the build,
Song is `PSI` by Max Cooper,


Surly Pugsley 2.0; a 29  KramPug build... from coastkid71 on Vimeo.

I like the tall head tube with less pressure on the wrists and since building up the frameset i have used used Jones loop bars, Nitto Moose bars and regular MTB riser bars, and i have used 3 rear wheel builds, starting with a Shimano Alfine 8 speed internal geared hub (IGH) then a Shimano 135mm quick release hub, then for 29+ settled with a new (pricey!) lovely polished Hope Pro 4 142mm through axle hub.

The Surly Pugsley 2.0 has had a redesign of geometry on the old original Pugsley after 12 years of production and something Surly did was increase the width of available tyres that can be fitted.
The frame can now according to Surly take the new in between size of 4.4" tyres while running the rear wheel full forward and if you pull the rear wheel back in the horizontal drop outs and fit a wider Surly Moonlander fork the bike can be fitted with the bigger 4.8" tyres.
This is on 80mm rims, pretty much the standard go to width these days,

But could it take 4.4" tyres on 100mm Surly `Clown Shoe` rims as fitted to the Surly Moonlander and Ice cream truck?, It certainly can on 4" tyrs on the old Pugsley as i bought a used pair offset on eBay that had been on an old Pugsley with 4" Surly Nate tyres,
I swapped out the 4" Surly Nate tyres for the Surly 4.7" `Big Fat Larry` (BFL`s) tyres (Gotta love the tyre names!) with friend Mike and fitted them up to see the size,


NOTE;   Bear with me on all this fatbike tyre waffle while i try explain the 3 widths and heights/volumes of available tyres available these days-  Surly`s original 5" tyre the BFL is stamped 4.7" but comes up the same size as say a Schwalbe Jumbo Jim 4.4" tyre, as is quite a bit smaller in width and height and therefore volume and float than the new 4.8" tyres available these days.

You still there?, right then, the Pugsley 2.0 comes with a 142mm (now standard -for now!) width chain stay with 3 sets of axle spacers to allow different options of hubs - 135mm Quick release (9mm qr) , 8mm bolt on axles, like the Shimano Alfine IGH, 142mm through axle - that's what i use on the 29+ wheels  with a Hope Pro 4 and the supplied Surly 12mm through axle,
You can see the black spacers on this side of the Hope Pro 2 135 QR hub that came on the Moonlander wheel set...

I had to unbolt the rear brake calliper to fit the wide rim in but the wheel fitted and the same size 160mm rear disc rotor and rear mech would both not need adjusting as the Hope Pro 2 and Pro 4 hub shells are the same sizing there,

And look at the tyre clearance! loads!

The front wheel was also offset and also has a Surly hub same as my 29+ and went straight in, result!

Well chuffed!

So i now have a Pugsley fitted with essentially 4.4" tyres but with increased float with the wider 100m rims with no tyre/frame/fork/drive chain problems...

That`s the same tyre and rim size that came on the Surly Moonlander 9 years ago which felt like another milestone after the amazing original Surly Pugsley Fatbike - but now instead of the Moonie`s wopping wide 120mm Bottom Bracket The Pug sports the Moonie wheels with a standard Fatbike 100mm wide BB, so now offers loads of crank options,

Pedal clearance is the same height on 4.4" tyres as with 29+ wheels fitted, and with no pedal strike issues riding these wheel sizes personally as mentioned by folks riding their new generation Pugs on 4" tyres i have not found this comment on the frame set a problem...

Down to Yellowcraig to try out the bike and it rides superb, the new Geometry and taller head tube on the Large size frame give`s a more sit up and beg position and a lot less pressure on your hands and wrists, something i welcome with a long term issue on older Surly Pugsleys, with numb hands on long rides despite using loads of handleabar types and Ergon grips...

What`s next to try?
Maybe just ride it as it is once i set up these wheels with my usual Ghetto split tube tubeless,
Or scratch an itch and pick up a Moonlander fork and with a chain tug in the rear drop out fit 4.8" Jumbo Jim tyres -that would make the bike a real gem of a sand bike,

Maybe i will leave that upgrade to next winter and just enjoy the bike for now...

Wee film, Song is `Oceans` by Pearl Jam


Surly Pugsley 2.0; Beachride at Yellowcraig, Feb 2020 from coastkid71 on Vimeo.


Update; Fat wheels now split tube tubeless!
Set them up this afternoon using two 24" Maxxis Downhill innertubes i bought several years ago to do my own Surly Moonlander wheels but never used them when on opening the boxes discovered the tubes did not have removeable valves.
Did not take long or much effort to set them up...

A wrap of camp mat foam...

Tube on inflated then split and folded over and washed with soapy water to remove chalk dust the tyre  was worked on easy enough pushing on the foam to pul the tube through...

Being lazy today i used a Co2 cartridge to seat the tyre then pumped it up to 20 psi to get it seated properly and left it for 10 minutes while i did the same with the rear wheel...

Brake caliper disconected to remove the rear wheel...

So as mentioned the valves are not removable on these tubes and i had to fill them with some tyre sealant...

So with the wheels on their side slightly raised opposite the valve i slowly deflated them leaving them seated then used a tyre lever to push between the tube and tyre bead allowing to insert the tube of the sealant bottle i use....

I put in a lot of sealant - 160ml of Stans Sealant as to save refilling for a while though it should be easy enough to do the same again as this time i left a good bit of tube showing - this was also to help protect the rims from rim strikes as these tyres have a soft sidewall compared to most modern tyre case designs,  does not look that pretty but functional...

One last job to do is copper grease the valve lock nut thread to prevent this sezing on with salt water exposure...

I rode the bike around the street to wash the sealant around and make sure there seated perfect, left them overnight then next morning before riding aired them down to 6 psi ready to roll!...

 More soon...