Moonlander sighting

[dogdriver]

Just finished a ride with my buddy Lincoln and his (first-in-Utah-as-far-as-we-know) Moonlander. I have no words. Its HUGE. My Pugsley cowers in its inadequacy. To increase the insult, its actually one pound lighter (not that this matters, but its not 10 pounds heavier) than my pretty-well-built Pugs. Snow riding has a new standard of Chub, and its called the Big Fat Larry...

[Louis]

Are those motorcycle tires?

[Fixed]

Cool pictures and dog
Cheers and bike too

[bigflax925]

Awesome!

[keevon]

WOW.

How did it compare to the Pugs for snow riding?

[tv_vt]

Uh, you call that snow? Where I come from, that's called a dusting. :)

[jet sanchez]

Very cool. How do those really wide tires handle heavy snow on street surfaces? I ask because for the last 10 years or so I have been riding a single-speed road bike during the winter with 20mm tires and it has been good so far, the thin tires cut right through the snow.

[spiderman]

can't wait to see one up close and personal!

[FlashUNC]

I have an odd fascination with these things. Just look really fun to ride.

[William]

Pretty wild looking rigs. I can admit to being a little curious as to how they handle.


http://fat-bike.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/fat-bike-wallpaper-1440-Greg-1.jpg


http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XRqRsx9vCqA/TuqLIzMijEI/AAAAAAAAAOI/awZrQtxFyTA/s1600/Moonladner.JPG





William

[Louis]

I've never ridden one, but the word "ponderous" comes to mind.

Pretty wild looking rigs. I can admit to being a little curious as to how they handle.

[dogdriver]

Responses in no particular order:

Rides just like the Pugs. Good geometry, feels (like the Pugs) like a rigid mountain bike (with really squishy tires). I spent about a minute on it, but felt no significant difference over my Pugs. Not the most inspiring ride out there-- everything about it (the Pugs) is neutral. The snow makes you smile, not the ride the frame produces. "Ponderous", however, has never crossed my mind. I get too much of a kick out of riding places that I never could on a mountain bike, and the ML is no less nimble than the Pugs. Lincoln (a far better bike handler than me) was crushing me on the singletrack descents. I don't think that the extra tire width was slowing him down at all, at least in relation to riding a Pugsley.

Bigger tires: Better flotation, no doubt. It sunk less than the Pugs into some crunchy snow that my foot sunk about 6 inches into. I figure about 50% more footprint/tire patch than the Pugs-- more testing to follow if it ever snows again this winter. I suspect that the Moonlander can ride over snow that I would posthole into walking-- generally my limit on the Pugs.

Re: the sad snow conditions-- I hear you. After the best-ever early season last year, we are experiencing the worst-ever this year. The few trails we have that are snow-packed are firm enough to ride a CX bike on. We had to go cross-country to find deep enough snow to test tire flotation. In my case, this was usually spontaneous as I'd miss a singletrack turn and rage into the duff. Lincoln seemed to be doing it for fun.

I don't think I'll be selling the Pugs next week (unless somebody REALLY wants it-- I'm not above ordering a Moonlander), but my next snow bike will definitely be a Moonlander, or another ride with 5" tires (I suspect that other builders will bring out their designs now that there's another tire available to work with). For now, I think I'll put a Big Fat Larry on the front (the Pugs fork can fit it) and let it carve out a path for the "mere" 3.7 inch rear tire. I won't get the tread width of the Moonlander, as the Pugs rims aren't as wide and won't spread the BFL tire out as far, but the extra tire width will be a good thing.

I'm still annoyed that its lighter than my bike. It is, after all, HUGE!!!

Merry Christmas (or whatever you celebrate), and I hope that the transition to the new site goes well. Busy life these days-- dunno if I'll make the move.

Best, Chris

[thendenjeck]

my next snow bike will definitely be a Moonlander, or another ride with 5" tires (I suspect that other builders will bring out their designs now that there's another tire available to work with).


jeff jones is already doin it

[skijoring]

just test rode one today...such a fun bike...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/oldspokeshome/6544635181/in/photostream

[ultraman6970]

Wow, those are big ass tires and I like it because is so odd :) wonder if the scott hybrid thing will be able to handle those wheels, would be interesting tho :) The wheels are so ridiculously big that look too cool :)

Are 29ers or are 700C??

[thendenjeck]

29er = 700c

700c = 29er

[thendenjeck]

like to take one of those on this ride

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmy_of5mRTQ&feature=youtu.be

[buck-50]

Picked up a pugsley a couple weeks ago- handles pretty much like a mountain bike- its surprisingly nimble. Not "it's nimble for being so big and heavy", more like just plain nimble. Handles like a cross between a rigid bike and a full suspension bike- its quick, manouverable and all there's no suspension sucking power, so that's like a rigid bike, but lines don't matter much on singletrack- those tires just roll over anything in their way, like a f/s bike. At low speeds it is an incredible rock crawler- stuff that would stop my 29er cold just gets swallowed up. Most fun I've had on a mtb in years. Also doesn't get slowed down much. In grass. So far the only place it really sucks is on pavement.

[BumbleBeeDave]

Picked up a pugsley a couple weeks ago- handles pretty much like a mountain bike- its surprisingly nimble. Not "it's nimble for being so big and heavy", more like just plain nimble. Handles like a cross between a rigid bike and a full suspension bike- its quick, manouverable and all there's no suspension sucking power, so that's like a rigid bike, but lines don't matter much on singletrack- those tires just roll over anything in their way, like a f/s bike. At low speeds it is an incredible rock crawler- stuff that would stop my 29er cold just gets swallowed up. Most fun I've had on a mtb in years. Also doesn't get slowed down much. In grass. So far the only place it really sucks is on pavement.

. . . it would be fun on any off road ride, not just in the snow! What kind of tire pressure do you run and where on earth do you get new tires? Do you have to get them from Surly? Also, tubeless?

Is it sized the same as a standard MTB? If I ride an 18-19" standard frame would I take that size Pugsley, too?

BBD

[dogdriver]

. . . it would be fun on any off road ride, not just in the snow! What kind of tire pressure do you run and where on earth do you get new tires? Do you have to get them from Surly? Also, tubeless?

Is it sized the same as a standard MTB? If I ride an 18-19" standard frame would I take that size Pugsley, too?

BBD

Yep. Just finished a ride on combo dirt and hard snow due our dismal early winter conditions. The Pugs rides great on dirt-- all that tire contact makes for good traction, and 3 inches of air mellows out the bumps. Some guys (I haven't) ride them on beach or desert sand, anywhere that spreading out the weight helps.

As to pressure, I never ride more than 16psi-- essentially rigid-- and go as low as 8psi on soft snow. Lighter riders (I'm 190#) go as light as 6psi. Lots on the Surly blog and other winter riding blogs on this. Low psi is HORRIBLE on pavement or firm conditions, as the tire "squishes" underneath you. Ergo, take a pump along if you think you'll need higher pressure (pavement return to the house, etc) later in the ride.

Tires available from many retailers. They're not cheap ($90-100), which is the main reason that I ride mine only on snow. I've heard of guys pulling off tubeless (look at the Speedway Cycles, Anchorage, AK blog), but I stick with tubes for simplicity and fear of not being able to hold a seal at the ridiculously low pressures and accompanying sidewall deformation.

As for size, Pugsleys are S, M, L, XL. BBD--I suspect you'd take an M. That said, the TT on Surly doesn't vary much with different sizes and the newer models have a sloping TT (mitigates the much feared symmetrical dismount issues), so you might err to the larger size to take advantage of the longer HT. My first Pugs was a M, my current an L. I prefer the more "beach-cruiser" posture of the large. Lincoln's (pics in the first post) is an XL. He's 6' 2", I think, with longish legs.

Yeah, they'll ride anywhere-- a local guy won a CX race on one last year, though he would have crushed the competition on anything and was obviously just riding the Pugs to rub it in. He crossed the finish line in a wheelie. I can't even get the front wheel off the ground. Talented people both annoy and inspire me...

[Louis]

DD,

Lincoln's tires look pretty slick to me. How was his traction in the inclines?

That sounds like a lot of fun to ride. If we had "real" snow here I'd seriously consider getting a ML or a Pugs.

Louis

[buck-50]

Yup- sized just like a regular mtb. I'm running about 10 pounds of pressure- more and you lose traction.

I was riding in maybe an inch of snow, so I'd say it would be pretty good on regular singletrack- that's where I was riding it.

It's not light at all and most of that weight is in those freaky wheels but it climbs really well, especially in the kind of short, steep climbs you get in the Midwest.

If you can ride it without looking at those monster tires it really doesn't feel any different than a normal mtb.

[Lincoln]

Haven't been in here in a while...

A few responses to the :banana: gallery

Fixed-Thanks, she's a good mutt, learning to be a good MTB dog and one of my excuses to buy the bike. I plan on running it as a single speed in the summer for short dog-rides. Nice to see you back/still in here, you've always been a positive part of the vibe.

tv_vt-No kidding, we need snow. Most of the stuff right now could be ridden on a regular MTB--though some of the east and north facing stuff would be pretty challenging. Oh, and I grew up in VT and thought I knew about snow and winter. Then I moved to Utah :beer: .

Ultraman--They are 26" rims but the outside diameter of the wheel ends up being pretty close to that of a 29" wheel with a "normal" size MTB tire on it.

BBD--Most (all?) the tires are from Surly they have four or five models. I've heard of some tubeless setups but they are still pretty rare. I would size by TT and if between sizes round down.

Louis--More tread on them than it looks like in the pictures but still not super aggressive (but think of the size of the footprint at ~7psi!) Traction is quite good especially on snow-packed trails or 2-3" of new on top of packed trails (waiting for more snow to test the limits). Better picture of the treads. (http://surlybikes.com/parts/big_fat_larry)

Happy Holiday Trails!

[Louis]

Traction is quite good especially on snow-packed trails or 2-3" of new on top of packed trails (waiting for more snow to test the limits). Better picture of the treads. (http://surlybikes.com/parts/big_fat_larry)

Wow 4.7" worth of tire !!!

Thanks for the link.

[benitosan1972]

That bike has wider tires than my car! :banana: