khutch

I have read quite a few reviews of the Pugsley. A few agree with you, most say that riding one is more like heaven than torture. Opinions vary and one is no more right than another.

Trainers give you a better resistance unit than rollers do. I don't think there is any fundamental physical reason why this should be so but that is what is available on the market. Rollers allow you to work on your technique better. Neither is perfect, I just like the trainer approach better. Opinions again. The 1Up USA trainer I use also has the advantage that it is actually made in Wisconsin, I don't know that any rollers are made in the US. BTW, I saw a video of a Pugsley being ridden on a set of home made rollers with a wooden frame and rollers made from kinda-sorta round logs. Most amusing and if you want to ride your MTB on rollers over the winter, perhaps that is the way to go!

Ken

giantcfr1

Most of winter I use my Hybrid but the widest tyres I can use are 28c. I used to swap the 23's to 28's but it's really no difference to me. On the few snowy days I use my crapper bike.
Crapper Cantondale :

javal

Umbrella - standard equipment?

tornado60

I decided this Winter is not getting the better of my ridding. We'll see how it goes when the snow flies.

qmsdc15

Ken, Have you tried rollers? I found my rollers left at the curb by a neighbor on trash day. They are old and a little rusty. No magnetic or wind resistance unit, but I think riding them in top gear makes it as hard to pedal as I'll ever want. Maybe the bearing are shot. I can't ride the rollers in top gear for any length of time. I'm actually kind of old and weak, so your mileage may vary.

I rarely use the rollers. I prefer riding outdoors and I get more than enough saddle time, but the rollers are fun and I believe they offer as good a workout as a trainer, which is not as much fun.

giantcfr1

But of course. I'm in Japan. A Mama-chari is not a Mama-chari without one.

idiotekniQues

up here in the nyc metro area and i just started commuting by bike to work and will do so through the winter on my hybrid. when there is ice or heavy snow i will drive but other than that no matter how cold it is i will bike it.

only a 3-4 mile commute each way so it's not too bad.

jayfromqns

I keep riding my hybrid through out the winter. I just pay more attention to cleaning off he snow, salt and grime afterwards if I'm riding in bad weather.

enine

In Ohio it can be summer one day and winter the next then back to summer so we don't put ours away. The week after Christmas last year we had a 60 degree day, all the snow melted and we went out riding then the next week had several inches of snow again.

Chalupa102

My studded tires are on it and if the roads are covered in more than 1-2" of snow, that will be the bike that I'm riding.

enine

Only 1-2 inches? I grew up in the mountains of WV, we got 1-2 feet at a time, thats when the bike rides you.

Fredster

In New Jersey, I haven't put it up yet but I'm not riding as much (maybe once or twice a week).

Chalupa102

We usually do get a lot of snow, but usually not 2 feet at one time. I did see it one year where we got 30" in two days though.

Right now I'm riding my trike and anything above 1-2" will pretty much make it a snow plow. That's when I'll use my hybrid, because it has a much higher clearance. They do a good job plowing the roads, but sometimes I have seen it get up to about 1 ft of snow on the roads before they bring out the plows.

GF Psycholist

Ironically I don't put my bike away due to cold and loss of grip. I put it away due to how people react to the weather.
I have put mine away but only because I don't want the grit and salt put down on the roads rotting the delicate parts on my bike. No matter how much time you spend cleaning and re-lubing, salt will do permanent damage. I'm planning on getting an old Mountain bike which is halfway converted to a hybrid anyway which I wont worry so much about wrecking with corrosion. Also the broader tyres and lower centre of gravity can't hurt when your grip's half of what it is in summer

Sixty Fiver

Just follow that link in my sig that says "Winter Cycling 101".

It will answer all your questions.

Think I will bust out the Trek tomorrow since the roads are a little clearer.

Sixty Fiver

You have to ride one... they are awesome bikes.

Capecodder

Well, seeing how I just got my new hybrid, I plan on ridding it all winter long........

AdelaaR

You might want to get knobbier tyres to get through snow though, capecodder.
That way you can have wintertyres and summertyres

MNBikeCommuter

It's the road bike that hibernates and the hybrid comes out for winter. I'm running a '95 Cannondale hybrid with 16.5k miles on it--all hard miles. The components last about a fifth the miles as those on the road bike. :-) I'm certainly more choosy about the days I go out, but with studded tires, and clothing down to -5 to -10F, it keeps me from getting soft over winter.

khutch

My LBS has a floor model in stock now so I have ridden one recently. While I did not find anything magical about the ride on pavement as many others report, it certainly was nothing like torture. It rode and handled much like any other bike in fact, so much so that it was only the rumble and vibration from those knobby tires that told me I was riding a Pugsley. The shop doesn't have anything in the way of an off road test track but you can ride around on the turf and embankments surrounding the adjoining commuter rail parking lot. Not much of a test yet the Pugsley makes riding on turf just like riding on a paved road, without the rumble and vibration. Not a bike everyone would use but if you put it through its paces even on terrain that just barely makes use of its capabilities you get a hint of how awesome it must be in its element. If I had a place to ride it in warm weather or any real interest in riding through the dead of winter I would be lusting after one. As it is I think I can escape this temptation but not because there is anything wrong with the bike. It's a great bike.

Ken

qmsdc15

My rig has a gross vehicle weight of over 70 lbs, so I guess riding a Pugsley wouldn't be too much worse. I'm pretty sure my bike and trailer wheels combined have less rotating weight and less rolling resistance than the wheels on that fat pig of a bike. I can carry four hundred pounds of freight with my rig.

If I was interested in riding shorter distances while going slower and working harder, the Pugsley would surely fit the bill.

Sixty Fiver

If all you did was ride on dry clear pavement a Pugsley would not be optimal but the rolling resistance of those tyres is far less than you assume and the Pugsley does roll out very well and they are not overly heavy either.

qmsdc15

I love riding in snow, because it's different, challenging, and probably because I don't have to deal with it very often. If I was up in Alberta, riding in snow might get old. I probably don't have what it takes to do Iditabike, but I could probably be talked into trying it. I'd gladly ride a Pugsley in conditions where it's the tool of choice. I like an adventure.

I guess it wouldn't be "torture" to pull my trailer with a Pugsley, but I don't think it would be any fun. I'll never know, because it ain't gonna happen.

So how much does a Pugsley weigh? Do you own one? There is a guy in DC who rides one and loves it. I know another guy who owned one, but only for a short time. He didn't love it.

Years ago, before I pulled a trailer, I ran 2.35" Maxxis Hookworms (fat street treads) on my bike for a few weeks. I put them on because they looked cool, but they made my life too hard. I gave them away. I hate fat tires on the street. I love bicycles for their efficiency.

I suspect the appeal of the Pugsley has a lot to do with how cool it looks and less about it's practical application as a form of transportation.

khutch

It accelerates well and it handles quite well on pavement. The bike is a lot lighter than you would assume from looking at it. You are right that no one should buy one for road riding but if you need to ride on roads to get to your favorite off road playground the road riding segments will not be punishing. Up until now the Pugsley has only been available as a frame plus some components like the Large Marge Rims and the Larry or Endomorph tires. So most of the Pugs out there are semi-custom builds. This fall they released a factory complete bike with those rims and one each of those tires. The front fork has to be quite wide to accept those tires, so wide that the front wheels are built on rear hubs. That gives you the option of swapping wheels from front to back if your rear derailleur gives up the ghost, for example, or just because you want to. The bike I rode did not have a cog on the front hub but it appeared to be set up to accept a single speed (or fixie perhaps) cog so you would have a limp home mode or a choice of transmissions if you bought the extra components. You'd use the derailleur or what's left of it as a chain tensioner. It is a nice bike if you do much of the riding it is intended for.

Ken

Sixty Fiver

The build weight on a Pugsley varies, as it does with any bike but you are looking at a bike that curbs out in the 35-40 pound range if you run SS to geared and a lot of people like using IGH hubs which will bring them into the mid 40's.

They will roll over and through damn near anything and I think we covered the, if you are only gonna ride on the street this bike isn't for you as it is designed for off road and off road touring.

In other news...my Trek went on it's first winter ride of 2010 - 2011 and it was marvelous... I was running 700:35 cross tyres with no studs as the road conditions did not warrant them.