The Pugsley lives!
Using a mixture of spares from the shed and some online purchases I transformed this:
Into this:
I've even managed a few test rides. The Pugsley is probably best described as cycling's answer to the Dune Buggy. The fat tyres make it very different from anything else I've ridden before. On the road it seems to have a mind of its own - which was even worse until I sorted out the tyre pressures. Now it's not really the ideal conditions for the fat tyres, at 3.7" they're a LOT wider than normal mountain bike tyres which are about 2.2" and run at a lower pressure. The width combined with the low pressure means that they float over snow, sand and mud. At the moment the temperatures here are in the high teens (remember this is London in March!) so snow is, at best, an unlikely proposition; the only sand locally is in the children's playground or the pile I found in the car park in the picture above and we have a drought warning so mud is fairly scarce too.
Having said that it's also great fun on normal trails. Despite the lack of suspension it gives a smooth ride as the big tyres absorb a lot of the vibration and bumps, the big wheel diameter helps it roll over obstacles (rocks, roots, small dogs...). As the scratches on my arms and legs will testify it's maybe not as precise as my other my bike but I suspect that's more a case of a bad workman blaming his tools than any inherent design flaw.
It's also a head turner, as I came home through the park a group of teenage skateboarders stopped me to ask questions: is is harder to pedal?, is is slower than a normal bike?
So all I need now is some snow, lots of rain or a trip to the beach to properly try it out.
No comments:
Post a Comment