Apart from fitting a suspension fork!
Finally after a few years of illness I finished my XL Pugsley refurb after buying it 2nd hand and stripping it down.
I fitted Jumbo Jims tubeless ...4.8 on the front and 4 on the rear although amazingly it does appear another 4.8 will go on the back even with a double chainset.( Marge lites)
Not sure what pressure was in the rear but it was only 5 on the front when I went out for a quick ride. I'm also using a thudbuster and the ride felt great apart from the expected bounce back due to massive undamped tyres on bumpy ground. I didn't ride fast as it's no longer my thing but wondered how on earth people cope on fast downhill lumpy sections ? Are there any tricks of tips ?. I remember Sanny of this parish writing several articles re his ice cream truck and he seemed to indicate he had no issues with that type of riding.
Apart from hanging on for dear life , careful line choice and removing your amygdala what's the secret if there is one ?
Any advice welcome
Cheers.
Tyre pressure is everything.
Play around with adding or removing one psi from one tyre at a time. You will get alarmingly low.
The biggest thing for me when riding lumpy stuff rigid is bent knees and elbows.
Weight low, knees and elbows bent and as the bike move away from you the knees and elbows extend a big like when you're pumping the bike.
Then when the bike comes back up again bend them back again to soak up the lumps soothed bike really is moving around underneath you whilst your torso stays put. Sort of.
Have you got a dropper post on it? Found it helps massively on my fatty getting the seat out of the way to let the bike move around beneath you.
Good point, get low, get happy.
You did say you had a thud buster, you definitely dont want be sat on the rough stuff.
Get rid of the Jumbo Jim's - quite possibly the worst premium fat bike tyre. Light but very little grip. Great for general bridal way type riding, but imo, terrible on dedicated UK trails. Atrocious in the mud.
As others have said swap the thud buster for a dropper. Then experiment with tyre pressure.
Good tyres and correct pressure is everything on a fat bike. When done right it should straight line steamroller over most roots, Los, bumps etc, but big rocky sections you need to have good line choice.
He's not mentioned grip, just bounce.
Jumbo Jims are a great all rounder imho.
I never change mine.
It's a different kind of ride. Embrace that. Don't try to make it perform like a standard mtb. It's fun because it's ridiculous.
I really enjoy the basketball getting chucked down a bobsleigh run myself.
So fun.
It's not meant to be the right bike. That's why it's great.
But yeah, tyre pressures sound low for more aggressive riding..
I fitted the thudbuster as, on a test ride round the local park I found when sitting down whilst traversing any rough stuff the seat would jolt me due to the rebound, so I thought it would absorb that movement and it does. It was more the front end I am concerned with. I've been riding for many decades and know the basics + do indeed stand over lumpy ground normally, using my legs for shock absorption particularly so when riding rigid bikes which have been my main ride for the last 10 yrs (surly ogre with 29+ up front)
I will try staying low as you suggest +playing with the tyre pressures.
I just saw a video taken by " bedmaker" who is often on here. It's on YT and titled ciclo Montana 2014. He is riding a rigid on one fatty ( I believe ) with Jones bars over and down plenty of fast rocky downhill , often being slowed down by riders on standard fS and HT's . He doesn't appear to be shaken to pieces either which surprised me..the footage is quite stable. Perhaps I should ask him for a few tips also.
I second Kayak23 - ridiculous, and fun because of it. Don’t try and ride it like a modern mountain bike, more like an insanely capable hardtail.
I’m running 4.8s on mine too. I don’t bother with a pressure gauge, instead preferring to rely on the pinch test. For general trail riding I would best describe the pressure as “the tyre deforms when you compress the bike but you’re no-where near bottoming out”. It’s all about getting the tyre to the point at which it moulds over roots but is still supportive.
And yeah, as others have said, low body position with elbows out, heels well dropped and I wouldn’t be without my dropper post.
Finally, get used to all rides taking longer than they should because people want to talk to you about your bike.
+1 to tyre pressure being critical.
Going from 5psi up to 6psi is a 20% jump!
It is very terrain dependent. For instance, Glentress is great but Laggan is shit.
Play around with pressures. Tubeless of course. Then eventually give in and fit suspension forks. I wasn't convinced at first bug now never bother taking them off.
FWIW I run JJs all year.
Then eventually give in and fit suspension forks.
+1
I think if you're slogging slow through sand, mud etc then low pressures make more sense but I never go too low on mine for trail riding as you get that bounce when pedalling a bit too much.
It's a balance.
I will personally not fit suss forks to mine. I like that it's not supposed to be fast and capable downhill, but is.
Tried 4 psi on the front today and on road was too much self steer. 6 psi was a lot better. Also managed to squeeze a 4.8 on the back which feels much better.
Never seen another older Pug with 4.8 F + R
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As above, tyre pressure is everything, and getting the right pressure means tubeless is a must IME.
Happy memories from that Ciclo trip! The dustcloud thrown up by the fatbike over there is something to behold...
I took the fatbike over there twice, and also to Morocco. IT was the perfect machine for the high Atlas.
It's quite daft how fast a good fatty can go downhill once you adjust. With a rigid front, keeping as loose as possible is key, a high front end helps. Too much weight over the bars is really limiting, same as any rigid bike really.
Therre's an element of bounce which is unavoidable on steppy stuff and bigger hits, all part of the fun!
Thanks for that Bedmaker
There's no beating the undamped bounce, but you can adapt to it. But having the front end get out of shape is definitely a lot less troublesome than it is on a suspension fork, I can happily bounce the fatbike through stuff that has it borderline out of control and just sort of manage it, if I was to try the same on my full suss I'd probably crash. Don't exactly know why
Some tyres are more damped than others if you continue to find it troublesome, frinstance I had a Bud and it had way less boing. The Jim is probably a bit bouncier than some but it's not any less managable than a minion or similar.
Pugsleys very much a touring exploring fatbike. Go find stuff you'd never think of riding on another bike. But do it slowly! Beaches, moorland, properly untamed stuff, deep snow, claim it as the first person ever to take a bike there.
Then you'll need another fatbike as your trail fatty with suss forks. Thats where I'm at 😁