Struggling in the snow? Get this!!

Drayk

Dont know if this is old news or anything but have you seen this monster?!



http://surlybikes.com/bikes/pugsley_complete/

sniper68

Surlys have been around for yonks.Never seen one here but they're big over the pond.

jonnyc2420

could be fun for nailing it down sand dunes ...! 8)

bennett_346

It seems a shame that they don't focus very much on the rest of the bike.

Northwind

One of the guys I ride with has one, he loves it, mainly uses it for sand- not sure he's getting on much better in the snow than I am!

Mental Mickey

Most people I've seen talk about them on forums use them for beach riding.

By now you know that Pugsley was created to go where standard ‘all terrain’ bikes flounder. The floatation and traction afforded by large-volume, low-pressure tires can get you over and through otherwise unrideable terrain, such as sand, mud, wet rocks and roots, ice, and many kinds of snow. Wide, low-pressure tires are easier than standard tires on whatever terrain you pass over because they don’t dig in as easily.

I would think that skinnier tyres would work better in deep snow, rather than enormously wide?

ride_whenever

Depends on the consistency and depth though.

If you can float on the snow with the pug then it'll be better, if the pug sinks then you're completely boned!

Northwind

Yeah, usually with UK snow mud tyres are the way to go but not with this madness.

Chris McG

with tyres like that you could ride on water!

Northwind

Actually here's Bruce's attempt

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hVeI5s75lU

Shaggy_Dog

I love that bike, madder than a box of frogs

phoenixliston

looks like you could ride it on water..Jesus style..

Chinley Churner

Saw quite a few when I was out in Whitehorse in the Canadian Yukon last year.

bluechair84

road around one at a race a few years ago - I seem to remember the tyres making an awesome humm!

bails87

Mental Mickey wrote:

I would think that skinnier tyres would work better in deep snow, rather than enormously wide?

Just like how people use ice skates as snow shoes

The Rookie

Those aint no snow shoes though are they, the correct analogy would be like using narrow cross country ski's instead of trying to 'lang lauf' on fliers ultra wide ski's perhaps?

Simon

Northwind

The Beginner wrote:

the correct analogy would be like using narrow cross country ski's instead of trying to 'lang lauf' on fliers ultra wide ski's perhaps?

A good analogy would be using snow shoes when there's not enough snow to warrant it- that's where mud tyres still work and a monster bike isn't much better- the mud tyres cut through to a solid surface. But once the snow's more than pedal deep cutting into it stops working as you can't make progress once you've sunk into a drift, so you need to float on it, and that's where nothing can beat fat tyres.

The Rookie

You think those tyres will float on top of snow? I really do doubt very much they are wide enough as there footprint is stillless than a normal shoe (and if that were enough we wouldn't be talking about snow shoes would we!), if they don't 'float' you create more drag with wider tyres as your carving a wider path as my analogy correctly pointed out!

Simon

bails87

The Beginner wrote:

You think those tyres will float on top of snow? I really do doubt very much they are wide enough as there footprint is stillless than a normal shoe (and if that were enough we wouldn't be talking about snow shoes would we!), if they don't 'float' you create more drag with wider tyres as your carving a wider path as my analogy correctly pointed out!

Simon

But you won't sink in as far as with narrow tyres. As my analogy correctly pointed out!

The Rookie

Why won't you sink as far? the same mass acts right through the column of snow its resting on so it all compresses near enough the same amount, try it, you either have to sit on top or sink, there is no real half way house, at best it makes a few percentage points difference.

Simon

Shaggy_Dog

Ahem

The Rookie

Now that is a contact patch!

Not sure how the front brake works mind you!

Simon

Northwind

The Beginner wrote:

You think those tyres will float on top of snow? I really do doubt very much they are wide enough as there footprint is stillless than a normal shoe (and if that were enough we wouldn't be talking about snow shoes would we!), if they don't 'float' you create more drag with wider tyres as your carving a wider path as my analogy correctly pointed out!

Not meaning to be nasty here but it's pretty obvious you've never seen one of these in action. You run the tyres at very low pressure, giving a contact patch way bigger than a normal shoe. The Endomorph is 3.7 inches across and the size of a 29er tyre so run at snow pressures (5 psi or so) the contact patch is enormous. And of course the weight is constantly distributed across the 2 wheels unlike snow shoes.

Northwind

The Beginner wrote:

Why won't you sink as far? the same mass acts right through the column of snow its resting on so it all compresses near enough the same amount, try it, you either have to sit on top or sink, there is no real half way house, at best it makes a few percentage points difference.

Um, no. This is just all wrong tbh. The snow under your foot doesn't just vanish or move out of the way, it compresses, and the degree by which it compresses is down to the pressure applied. When you stand on top of snow it's not "sit on top or sink" as you say, there's a huge matter of degrees. Or do you not think snow shoes/skis compress the snow? Think about it for a minute.

getonyourbike

Northwind wrote:

The Beginner wrote:

Why won't you sink as far? the same mass acts right through the column of snow its resting on so it all compresses near enough the same amount, try it, you either have to sit on top or sink, there is no real half way house, at best it makes a few percentage points difference.

Um, no. This is just all wrong tbh. The snow under your foot doesn't just vanish or move out of the way, it compresses, and the degree by which it compresses is down to the pressure applied. When you stand on top of snow it's not "sit on top or sink" as you say, there's a huge matter of degrees. Or do you not think snow shoes/skis compress the snow? Think about it for a minute.

+1 for Northwind

Northwind

Nice analogy here would be a sprung mattress but I think this thread has enough analogies already.

bigmart

big,wide low pressure, thus big contact patches are great for moving across loose surfaces such as snow and sand as the pressure acting on the ground is far less. this stops the vehicle digging in and allows it roll over the surface, the flip side is poor ability to change direction quickly and accuratly

The opposite is to use a thin tyre and possibly with spikes as they exert a huge amount off pressure on a small point thus alllowing the tyre to dig though the loose materail and grip into the hard materail below. this allows qucik turning etc..

look a the tyres WRC cars use on snow

Nachimir

The Beginner wrote:

Why won't you sink as far? the same mass acts right through the column of snow its resting on

As Northwind says the snow gets compacted. To an extent, it resists compaction, and by reducing the contact area, the weight is concentrated and works against that resistance. It may not take much weight to compact a few inches of snow, but a bigger contact still reduces the force acting on a given area.

Consider a pair of tyres with 5 square inches of contact each, on a bike weighing 30lbs, and that's (in an ideal world) 3lbs per square inch. With a bike weighing exactly the same that has ridiculous tyres that give, say 15 square inches of contact, that's reduced to 1 PSI on any given patch of ground. It'd make stuff all difference on a centimetre of snow, but as the depth of snow goes up, the difference would become more and more noticeable. With a big enough (and light enough) tyre, you could float on a foot of fresh powder. Hence also advice to spread yourself out if you find yourself sinking in quicksand or a bog.

If you want try any of this out, I suggest riding a road bike over some sand dunes

The Rookie

Its not like that at all, once you overcome the crust you sink, while the amount you sink will be slightly less for a larger foot frint, its not the case that a double area footprint sinks half as far, its more like 90-95%.

If you can't stay on top, and I have serious doubts that will, then you sink.

Simon

The Northern Monkey

isn't snow fun!

Mental Mickey

I've give up trying to ride over it.