The Pyga MoBu is said to be the first full carbon mountain bike ever produced in South Africa. When Pyga founder, Patrick Morewood, set out to design to MoBu, his aim was to improve upon the Pyga Stage while future-proofing the frame. They’ve effectively ended up with two bikes that share the same frame; a 118mm travel XC/Marathon bike, and a 135mm travel Down Country Trail bike. We set eyes on it at EuroBike… here are the details.
Pyga MoBu Carbon Mountain Bike
The Pyga MoBu was shown in its shorter travel XC/Marathon build, running 118mm of rear wheel travel paired with a 120mm travel RockShox SID fork. This one runs a 185mm x 47.5mm shock, but switching to a longer stroke 185mm x 55mm shock increases the rear wheel travel to 135mm. That gives you the Down Country Trail configuration that pairs that additional rear travel with a 130mm travel fork. A lower shock mount flip-chip facilitates this change.
Though they use the exact same frame, the two bikes have slightly different geometries due to the longer travel fork on the Down County build. It has the slacker HA of 66.5° with a 76° effective seat tube angle. The shorter travel setup gets a 66° HA and 76.5° SA.
A reach adjust headset gives riders the choice of running a 465mm or 480mm reach on the size large Down Country Trail build. On the XC/Marathon setup, the choice is between 474mm and 484mm.
The frame is designed around a 29″ wheelset, with chainstays measuring 439mm, consistent across the M-XL frame size range. Pyga reckon that caters to riders from 165cm to 195cm+.
Made in South Africa
“Project MoBu is the realization of a dream to build the best carbon fiber mountain bikes in the world. In order to fulfill this dream, we needed to find a manufacturing partner who shared our passion for innovation and our belief that things can always be done better” – Pyga Mountain Bikes. Luckily for them, they found that partner right on the doorstep in South Africa.
Blackstone Tek deal in the production of high-performance carbon fiber wheels and components for brands including Ducati, MV Agusta, Arch and others. In partnership with Pyga, they are manufacturing the MoBu using Toray-Mitsubishi T800 and T1100 fibers.
Pyga say that, thanks to Blackstone Tek’s unique and proprietary manufacturing techniques, the resulting frame is “unparalleled in quality, strength, and ride-ability”.
Also on show at Eurobike were their aluminum full suspension mountain bikes that are also made in South Africa. We got eyes on the Pyga Slakline 160mm travel enduro bike, setup with a RockShox Super Deluxe Coil shock, Lyrik Ultimate fork and red anodised brakes, cockpit, pedals and drivetrain components from Hope Technology.
Showing off their ability to deliver a wide range of color customization for customers, Pyga brought along this 140mm travel Hyrax, duplicating the retro look of this Iron Horse from the 90s…
Pricing & Availability
Pyga have the capacity to produce just 130 MoBu frames each year due to the low waste carbon production method employed by Blackstone Tek. They’ve already sold 30% of the bikes for this year and there’s already a 4-month waiting list. Which, actually, isn’t that long in the current climate. Join the waiting list now for around 5000€; that gets you the frame and a RockShox Super Deluxe Ultimate shock.
The MoBu is available in the Raw Carbon colorway only, though there are 30 decal colors to choose from to match your fork, or not.
