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I hope, you got, FAT
The background:
Ever since I first set eyes on a Pugsley I have been "fat curious".
However being a bit of a Luddite the thought of either having to build or get built a pair of off set wheels put me off.
The trend for many manufacturers now tends to be using symmetrical front and rear wheel builds albeit spaced wider than usual and for that matter wider than the original fat bikes.
That said fat bike wheel spacing is as contentious as wheel sizing these days
Anyhoo back on track......
Way back in November Sam @ Singular set up a Kickstarter project to build a Singular fat bike. The intention of the bike was to make it less sand/snow specific and more "trailsy". Having not ridden a fat bike before and not really understanding what "trailsy" means I cannot add much more to this
The frame and forks were set to be spaced 170mm R and 135mm F getting around the need for offset wheels and with clearance to accommodate the widest of tyres (more on this later).
The frame was also to feature the first 100mm spaced EBB to allow for SS without a tensioner and to adjust pedal clearance.
I back the project and looked forward to my February delivery ....... which ended up being a July delivery
That said it gave me a good deal of time to amass the bits.
First observation of building a fat bike ..... it ain't cheap :facepalm: But I knew this already.
The build:
The build was remarkably straight forward. Yes the hubs and BB/chainset are wider but the rest bolts together in eactly the same way. An afternoon tinkering with a good deal of tea and the bike was ready for its maiden voyage.
Initial build pics:
The build as seen in these pics is bang on 32lb with pedals. Whilst I would like to believe 30lb was possible it wouldn't be without a change of fork and that defeats the point of having bought a frame and forks
That said, if I ran my Marta brakes, used a narrow wide 1x10 ring, lighter shifter, foam grips 31lb or under would be achievable.
All that said i think I would be missing the point trying to build a light steel fat bike!
It does have a 115g carbon Selle SLR on it ......
MMMMM Pauls
The frame was supplied with some rather nice aluminum cable guides but I found using plastic P clips to achieve the routing I wanted. It bugs me when cables rub the HT hence my cables cross just in front of the ST allowing for less acute angles at the front.
The chaps at Just Riding Along build the wheels and supplied the tyres. Fantastic guys to deal with. I've since had a 29er+ wheel built by them and thats great too.
Wheels comprise: Hope Fatsno hubs, Surly Marge Lite rims, Surly Nate Ultralite(??????) tyres and sapim race spokes. The guys at JRA said you would build with a lighter spoke as the stiffness came from the rim and wider hubs but se point above regarding wight ....
As with all Sam's creations the frame wears a rather nice metal HT badge.
The ride:
I've ridden this a fair bit recently. I'm still playing about with tyre pressures (I must actually buy a pressure gauge!). First impressions are its a beast. Soooo much grip. Despite this being an XL frame I've taken to riding it like a big BMX. With all the grip it seems that you can carry loads of speed into corners and if you do run out of grip it kind of makes its own trails and it plows through stuff!
I had some good advice when looking at chainsets from the likes of Charlie the Bikemonger & Tim at Sideways Cycles as the wider BB takes a bit of time to get used to. I wanted to go with a pair of Middleburn's fat cranks but despite selling both brands and the Middleburns being twice the price both Charlie & Tim recommended the Raceface cranks as seen above as they were narrower.
One observation worth noting is that the Nate tyres shed mud really quite well. That coupled with their width and the relative "skinnyness" of the frame tubes makes for one very muddy rider
Future upgrades:
A compulsive tinkerer at heart means that even before the bike was built I was looking at upgrades .....
I would like to try a larger cluster set up at the back. Staying 1x10 but perhaps using Absolute Blacks cassette adapter and also a thick/thin ring to forgo using the chain guide.
Oh and a 80mm rim wheel build with a Surly Bud tyre (5'') for the front .........
These upgrades will come in the future when funds allow.
The background:Ever since I first set eyes on a Pugsley I have been "fat curious".
However being a bit of a Luddite the thought of either having to build or get built a pair of off set wheels put me off.
The trend for many manufacturers now tends to be using symmetrical front and rear wheel builds albeit spaced wider than usual and for that matter wider than the original fat bikes.
That said fat bike wheel spacing is as contentious as wheel sizing these days
Anyhoo back on track......
Way back in November Sam @ Singular set up a Kickstarter project to build a Singular fat bike. The intention of the bike was to make it less sand/snow specific and more "trailsy". Having not ridden a fat bike before and not really understanding what "trailsy" means I cannot add much more to this
The frame and forks were set to be spaced 170mm R and 135mm F getting around the need for offset wheels and with clearance to accommodate the widest of tyres (more on this later).
The frame was also to feature the first 100mm spaced EBB to allow for SS without a tensioner and to adjust pedal clearance.
I back the project and looked forward to my February delivery ....... which ended up being a July delivery
That said it gave me a good deal of time to amass the bits.
First observation of building a fat bike ..... it ain't cheap :facepalm: But I knew this already.
The build:The build was remarkably straight forward. Yes the hubs and BB/chainset are wider but the rest bolts together in eactly the same way. An afternoon tinkering with a good deal of tea and the bike was ready for its maiden voyage.
Initial build pics:
The build as seen in these pics is bang on 32lb with pedals. Whilst I would like to believe 30lb was possible it wouldn't be without a change of fork and that defeats the point of having bought a frame and forks
That said, if I ran my Marta brakes, used a narrow wide 1x10 ring, lighter shifter, foam grips 31lb or under would be achievable.
All that said i think I would be missing the point trying to build a light steel fat bike!
It does have a 115g carbon Selle SLR on it ......
MMMMM Pauls
The frame was supplied with some rather nice aluminum cable guides but I found using plastic P clips to achieve the routing I wanted. It bugs me when cables rub the HT hence my cables cross just in front of the ST allowing for less acute angles at the front.
The chaps at Just Riding Along build the wheels and supplied the tyres. Fantastic guys to deal with. I've since had a 29er+ wheel built by them and thats great too.
Wheels comprise: Hope Fatsno hubs, Surly Marge Lite rims, Surly Nate Ultralite(??????) tyres and sapim race spokes. The guys at JRA said you would build with a lighter spoke as the stiffness came from the rim and wider hubs but se point above regarding wight ....
As with all Sam's creations the frame wears a rather nice metal HT badge.
The ride:I've ridden this a fair bit recently. I'm still playing about with tyre pressures (I must actually buy a pressure gauge!). First impressions are its a beast. Soooo much grip. Despite this being an XL frame I've taken to riding it like a big BMX. With all the grip it seems that you can carry loads of speed into corners and if you do run out of grip it kind of makes its own trails and it plows through stuff!
I had some good advice when looking at chainsets from the likes of Charlie the Bikemonger & Tim at Sideways Cycles as the wider BB takes a bit of time to get used to. I wanted to go with a pair of Middleburn's fat cranks but despite selling both brands and the Middleburns being twice the price both Charlie & Tim recommended the Raceface cranks as seen above as they were narrower.
One observation worth noting is that the Nate tyres shed mud really quite well. That coupled with their width and the relative "skinnyness" of the frame tubes makes for one very muddy rider
Future upgrades:A compulsive tinkerer at heart means that even before the bike was built I was looking at upgrades .....
I would like to try a larger cluster set up at the back. Staying 1x10 but perhaps using Absolute Blacks cassette adapter and also a thick/thin ring to forgo using the chain guide.
Oh and a 80mm rim wheel build with a Surly Bud tyre (5'') for the front .........
These upgrades will come in the future when funds allow.
Very nice indeed - keen to hear how these ride!
Yes they are relatively heavy but have lots of grip, they tend to smooth out the trails a bit, work well on wet roots and from limited testing, I'd say its a bit like the MTB is like a good old Landrover, whereas the Fatty feels a bit more like a Range Rover - bit more comfy, not quite as agile - subjective opinion of course (and perhaps biased due to me fitting a Brooks B17 to mine making it particularly springy). 
