In a sea of fat bikes, Surly’s newest creation had no problem catching our eye. While the world of fat bike tech has moved on from the original Pugsley, that steel beast still carries a loyal following. For those wanting to update their frame without moving too far away from the soul of those early Pugsleys, the new Wednesday looks like a winner.
Steel, symmetric, and extremely versatile, the Wednesday should be fun any day of the week…
Using Surly 4130 double butted (main triangle) ED coated chromoly tubing, steel is as real as ever. Meant to be sort of the middle ground between the ICT and the Pugsley, the Wednesday uses more trail oriented geometry than the Pugs, but still includes all the braze ons for adventuring including Anything Mounts on the fork.
Using 177 rear and 150×15 front spacing, the Wednesday manages to provide clearance for up to 26×4.6″ tires on 82mm rims with the hub in the most rearward position. Stock builds will include 3.8″ tires on 80mm rims which can be slammed forward in the dropouts.
Like the ICT, the front end is 100mm suspension fork ready with a 150x15mm thru axle and 44 mm head tube. With the rigid fork the head tube is set at 69° but with the suspension fork it drops one degree to 68°. The Wednesday also serves as the debut of the new My Other Brother Darryl rims. The 80mm rims are a more affordable option that are tubeless compatible.
Rather than using a standard thru axle frame, the Wednesday uses a 177mm wide dropout with track ends for single speed use. Using the custom 12mm thru axle that threads together, the frame provides most of the advantages of standard thru axles but with the ability to adjust the CS length from 435-455mm. Surly will make the axle available separately in the future and it will make the frame compatible with all 177mm hubs. The frame is also compatible with 170mm x 10 QR hubs with Surly adapters. The dropouts include horizontal stands that allow 177mm TA hubs to be installed vertically while the 170x10mm hubs can be removed horizontally. The best part is that all of the options are provided in a one piece cast dropout.
Other nice frame touches include internal dropper post routing and a 100mm threaded BB. Available in Robin’s Egg Blue or black, Wednesdays will be sold in an affordable build with a SRAM X5 2×10 drivetrain for just $1500, with framesets soon to follow. Find it at your local bike shop around October or November.
