It’s been 14 years since the introduction of the original Surly Pugsley. 14 Years! Given the aging platform, we weren’t all that surprised when we found out that the Surly Pugsley would be available as a frame only and no longer as a complete at Eurobike 2016. However, that seems to have changed with the introduction of the Pugsley 2.0. More importantly, the Pugsley has changed too – with a few updates that may once again make it a popular option.
In a world of super light carbon fat bikes geared towards racing, the Pugsley 2.0 is decidedly different. Geared instead to the touring world, the Surly 4130 Chromoly 2.0 has been built so you can haul your gear into the backcountry and get out if you run into trouble. That includes full fender mounts, rear rack mounts, and triple mounts on the top and bottom of the downtube, fork mounts, and an extra bottle cage mount on S-XL frames.
That means that the frame still uses the 17.5mm offset rear end to allow you to build the wheels with a “normal” mountain bike hub. Surly has also brought back the matching offset fork theoretically allowing you to swap the front and rear wheels. The idea is that you can build the front wheel as a single speed or fixed gear to swap for the geared rear should you have a derailleur failure or a frozen freehub.
New to the frame though is the ability to clear up to a 4.8″ tire – though the stock bikes will include the new Surly Edna 26 x 4.3″ tire on MOBD 80mm tubeless ready rims. Surly says the 4.3s will fit along with a rack and fender, and they’ll also clear the narrower q-factor cranks with the chainring flipped on a 1x drivetrain and a 100mm threaded BB. Running a double or the 4.8″ tires may require different cranks, but Surly says that the option is there.
While the frame ships with 135mm hubs front and rear, the rear dropout will actually clear a 142 x 12mm hub. The frame uses 10/12mm adapter washers on the “Gnot Boost” spacing to allow both 135mm and 142mm rear hubs. Obviously, using a 142mm hub out back eliminates the ability to swap the front and rear wheels, but if you are building up a frameset and want to use the centered Moonlander fork (needed for 4.8″ tire clearance up front), it wouldn’t matter anyways. That should result in a stiffer rear end as well which is good news for the offset design.
The new dropouts also include the dedicated Rohloff OEM 2 axle plate compatibility and special rack mounts. Putting a rack on an offset rear end is a bit tricky, so the mounts have been centered so that you use the outside mount on the non drive side and the inside mount on the driveside to help straighten things out.
A horizontal dropout allows for single speed use, and the chainstays are 12mm longer to provide more heel clearance for winter boots and loaded bikes while also stabilizing the bike a bit when weighed down.
Geometry has also been tweaked a bit to accommodate the bigger tires with more BB drop, 1° slacker at the head tube, and shortened seat tubes.
Sold complete as a 1×11 with 135mm hubs front and rear, the Pugsley 2.0 includes mechanical disc brakes, and tubeless ready tires and rims – though you have to add the Surly tubeless kit for the rims to hold air tight. The bike also includes the new Surly Moloko handlebar in a nod to the more touring focus of the 2.0 for more hand positions and more stuff. Available in “Candied Yam Orange”, complete Pugsley 2.0s will sell for $1,899.
