Pages: [1]
Reply Reply New Topic New Poll
  Topic Name: Pugsley 2.0 vs. ECR with Enabler fork vs. Krampus with ICT fork? on: September 05, 2019, 09:19:34 AM
zuren


Posts: 34


View Profile
« on: September 05, 2019, 09:19:34 AM »

I've decided that I like plus size tires enough to consider eliminating my Ogre (with Enabler fork) and my Ventana El Rey (full suspension 29er), and going with something that handles bigger rubber better, but I'm having some decision paralysis.

Here are my current mtn bikes.  The goal is to reduce down to bike that can be a bit of a chameleon and handle most everything:

Ogre
- 29x3" Fat-B-Nimble tires (but they barely fit and the the hub needs to be pulled pretty far back in the dropouts)
- Salsa Enabler fork with front wheel built up with a 135mm single-speed hub
- 1x8 with an Alfine 8 hub.
- Rims are Velocity Blunts (35mm)

Ventana
- 2.2" tires (2.4-2.5" would be the max)
- X-Fusion Slide 29er susp. fork
- 3x9 Shimano XT drivetrain

The 29x3" rubber on the Ogre fits, but just barely.  If the rim goes the least little bit out of true, or the hub is anything but perfectly aligned in the dropouts, I get rubbing so I would like some more space.  My initial thought was go to a dedicated 29+ bike like a Krampus or an ECR.  But I have this tingle in the back of my head that I would like to try a fat bike at some point.  A Krampus or ECR can never be a fat bike, but a Pugsley can be just about anything and it seems plenty of people run their Pugs with 29+ tires.

I did a quick, back-of-napkin comparison between the 3 frames for cost:

- it seems that going with a Krampus or a Puglsey will cost nearly same by the time you account for parts that would need to be purchased due to lack of compatibility from my Ogre, if I have to buy new rims for the Pugsley (unclear on this).  If I can get away with my existing rims for an offset build on the Pugs, the Krampus becomes a bit more expensive due to the seatpost, headset, and ICT fork.
- Going with an ECR would be the cheapest - my Enabler fork is a direct swap, as are my wheelsets.  

Effort is a different story - for the ECR and Krampus, I mostly just swap the parts and go riding; for the Pugsley, I'll be tearing down and rebuiliding wheels

The few things that I keep coming back to:

- A Krampus is more trail oriented than touring, and most of my riding is "touring" in nature (gravel grinding, some trail).  This being said, I've never heard anyone complain on how a Pugsley behaves on singletrack, or how a Krampus rides on gravel.  I've read about the low BB and pedal strike for the ECR on trails, and the bike feeling "heavy/dead" when unloaded (only what I've read).
- A Krampus or ECR can never be fat bikes, but a Pugsley can be almost anything
- Krampus can run front suspension; I believe the susp. fork on my Ventana will fit the ECR; currently uncertain about the Pugsley.
- For the Krampus and ECR, with a switch of the fork, I basically have 2 wheelsets ready-to-go with the option of IGH, Singlespeed, or geared  
- Wheels built for a Pugsley will only be for a Pugsley, unless I tear them down again.  I'm typically not swapping wheels around and if I only have the 1 mtn bike there is no other bike to worry about, so maybe this concern isn't real

I'd be curious to hear if others have considered the same options and where you ended up!

Thanks!
« Last Edit: September 05, 2019, 10:29:40 AM by zuren » Logged
  Pages: [1]
Reply New Topic New Poll
Jump to: