We now have two of these on the way.

[Fenlason]

I think it was a Pugsley. I do remember that the front and rear wheel spacing were the same so you could have a fixie and a freewheel on the bike at the same time and swap when you felt like it.

-Greg

The Pugsley has been out for years.. the Moonlander is new in the last year.

Both the Pugs and the Moonlander are designed so that you can switch front and back wheels.

Although the Pugs and Moonlander can't switch wheels back and forth between them. The Moonlander wheel and tire combination is too big.. but even with smaller tires or putting the Smaller Pugs set up on the Moonlander won't work. The offset of the wheel is different. [They are dished very differently]

This is our 3rd season on the Pugs... and we love them. I expect the Pugs to be better at going fast, on "regular" mountain bike trails... but in places.. the Moonlander will totally out do the Pugs. 100mm wide rims vs 62mm.. and a 4.8 tire vs a 3.8... with this set up not only is the tire wider.. it comes out taller.. it is such huge air volume.

The new Lou and Bud bigger and knobbier yet.

[Fenlason]

Glen,
Now I'm really jealous. I wish I had some extra cash that I could lay down on one of those!!!!! I don't think I will ever be able to justify that much $$$$$ for another bike!

The Pugsley is a little less and is a LOT of fun. I am expecting the Moonlander to not be as good an all around bike [but that will really need to wait to be seen] but It will ride in snow conditions that even the Pugs won't work.. as well as in other places you need float. With the new tires [and available lower gear options] It should climb hills that nothing else will climb.. and do gnarly rock gardens..like nobodies business.

It was something my wife was excited about also.. the same day we found out we could get them this year [they were sort of sold out] My wife found out about her profit sharing.. some goes into her 401k some we get to take in cash if we want.. soooooo

[Fenlason]

The bikes came in late yesterday afternoon, and I got them built.[ I will play around with fit and changes later]. Both this bike and the Pugs sit you up semi upright. I altered the front end of the Pugs.. changing the stem and handlebar.. this bike I don't know yet. My wife was going to take the afternoon off so we could go for a ride... now tomorrow will work better for her. So I am heading out now for a little spin. I just put on my step in pedals..and pogues..and am just letting my hands warm up before heading out.

[Fenlason]

1st Ride report:
Sorry no photo's yet. My computer died.
We have also most no snow at the moment.. some patches of ice... and lots of hoar frost, or just hard lumpy frozen ground. The majority of trails I was on are pretty tough. Two of them [Lucinda and Just a Bunny] are new and still under construction. I have ridden them bare [before snow] and some with snow. I think I had forgotten how rough they were.. the snow hid some of the difficulties. Also the frost and hoar frost.. made the ground lumpier and tougher in places, than they normally are. In general the Moonlander is made for float.. for riding on snow.. sand.. that type of thing. Most of what I was on.. the Pugs will probably do just as well in some places better. The Moonlander sits me a little more upright than I generally prefer. For snow riding some do prefer to sit more upright.. but I don't think that will be my preference. The Pugsley was semi upright also, and I did change that. Right now I am thinking I will set the Moonlander up to fit like the Pugs.

I started the ride with a little too much air in the front tire, it was bouncy. Big volumous tires do give you cushion.. but with the wrong pressure for the conditions and speed.. and they can become like a pogo stick. My seat was a little low.. that combined with the air pressure and upright posture... left me having a hard time keeping the front tire on the ground. The brakes of course are brand new.. and are not broken in it.. and did not stop that well. Some have suggested the rotors are a little small, also. If I was staying on snow.. they would probably be fine.. but all my other bikes have bigger rotors.. so I suspect I will want to upgrade them.

I make a loop out of Lucinda and Just a Bunny.. I headed there first.. did some other trails.. then went back and rode them again. It was much better the second time around. [just getting used to the bike] It was amazing on the hoar frost. It stayed on top of almost all of it. Really nasty roots and rocks.. it does roll over better than the Pugsly.. [and the Pugsly is pretty amazing at that]. As shown in the video of the cobble beach riding.. it kind of rides ok on rock gardens.

Any new bike can take time.. to get used to.. especially in this type of riding... and time to set up to how you want it. So far.. it was pretty sweet. One of my problems was not having studded tires. I studded a pair of tires myself for the Pugsley. Just having studded tires.. bar end.. and broken in brakes would have made a world of difference.

[Fenlason]

[Fenlason]

It is black with metal flake.. the metal flake varies in size.. and there are some colors to it. It is made to look like Space... and that is exactly what they call the color.

[Fenlason]

I am just back from my second ride on the Moonlander.. Laurie her first. Before the ride I made some changes. I raised the seat almost an inch.. I lowered the stem.. hmm maybe that much or more. I added bar ends... and re-adjusted the brakes. Between these changes.. and just getting used to it.. wow! What a difference. I expect the big advantage for us.. the main reason we bought these.. is the ability to ride in snow, that is not packed enough even for the Pugsley. Right now the ground is almost bare here. There is a lot of hoar frost.. and just very very lumpy ground where the frost has heaved it. There are places the trails are pretty rough.. right now. Also some of the trails we are riding are brand new and not finished yet. These things are amazing at what they will ride through and over. In that way the Pugsley felt like a tank.. that it would ride through most anything.. well this thing kicks that ability up a couple more notches.

I don't expect it will ever be a go fast summertime trail bike. [although I may be wrong about that.] It was some time riding the Pugs before I got used to it, and learned all that I could do with that. It is not the weight of the Moonlander.. for it is lighter than the Pugs when it was stock. It is a lot of tire on the ground. I know the rim is lighter.. hmm I will have to look at wheel and tire weights. I did not expect it to be fast.. I did plan on keeping the Pugs.. and we do also have "regular" mountain bikes, for doing that on.

I am thinking about building some Moonlander specific trails...

[Fenlason]

We now have the new Bud and Lou tires coming for our Moonlanders. They come stock with the Big Fat Larrys The Bud and Lou are front and rear specific.. and are VERY knobby. a description of them from one of the designers

“They are meant to be the wildest, gnarliest, oh my god my face is bleeding tires available. The footprint is massive (larger than Big Fat Larry) and the tread is aggressive. This combination is going to keep you moving in the most demanding soft conditions any bicycle will attempt. You could say these tires are 4.8˝ Nates, but they are so much more than that.”

I can't wait to get them.

[Noob]

More pics, esp the new tires ... and other changes/upgrades.

[Fenlason]

More pics, esp the new tires ... and other changes/upgrades.

I will.. I don't have the new stuff yet... I just ordered it through work Friday... and I start jury duty tomorrow... so I am not sure when I will be able to get to the work. I don't think I am doing much to them yet. The tires obviously. I wanted to get the tires while they were available.. and we were not quite at the free shipping level.. so I added the lower gearing option for the cranks.. and got a different stem and handle bar.. nothing fancy.. just playing with fit.

[Fenlason]

I have done a little work to the bikes. Handlebars were one of our "nessisary" changes. The bikes come with a Salsa Moto Ace bar. It is 660mm wide, and it sweeps back quite a bit. Some say for snow riding you want to sit more upright, and with the Pugsleys we did not find that to be the case. I also read everywhere about wider and wider bars, and I can't say I like them either. I try..I have put some time on them, but I prefer a little narrower. Also the 660's wont fit through some of our trails without hitting.

I put an old Fat Chance handle on my wife's bike. Putting them on they look narrow, but they are the same width as what we ended up putting on her Pugs. Right away.. she went "ahhh" I purchase a Race Face bar and stem. I wanted a little longer than stock. A 120mm stem and narrower 600mm bars. Again " ahhh"

I did get the lower chainring set for the cranks... they come with a 22-36 double, and with the traction this beast has. I know it would be capible of using lower. [I will need to get a better rear wheel also, for I know with this gearing and some of the beastly hills we have, the pawls will shear.]

I did put the chainrings on. That Surly Mr. Whirly crank is quite a cool versatile crank. I decided to wait on the tires. I wanted to try a decent snow ride before putting them on. Which we did yesterday afternoon.

[Fenlason]

Report from that ride: Normally to ride snow.. it has to be below freezing. The day before we had gone out for a road ride, and once back we took the Moonies out on the lawn and notice it was crusting up already [at about 4:00 pm]. I was surprised how quickly it was happening.

We were anxious to get out, and wanted to see what the Moonlander was capable of. We headed out a little after 3:00 pm.. with the temp at 44.. not what one could call bike able for on the snow. We thought we would still try it.. and at worse case head back and wait for later in the day. It was work, but it was rideable. You needed to keep your speed up, and your rpm fairly high to do it.. but do it you could. It was amazing. I am pretty sure we should have had lower pressure. Laurie had 7psi.. I had 7.5. With tires this big.. they still felt semi firm. I am also guessing in most places the other tires would have worked better. We were riding in conditions that the Pugsley would not have been able to, which was pretty amazing.

This particular route has a lot of fields. On fields the snowmobiles tend to spread out, vs staying on one or two set of tracks.. so they don't get packed as much, plus these areas were more exposed to the sun vs the narrower trails in the woods.

We got in about 18 miles.. on an out and back. I was tempted to go further, by rides end I was glad we did not. Our turn around point was where we cross a road.. and a set of train tracks.. and we had a pretty big train to stop for. The worst part of the trail was the beginning, which would of course also be our end. Being too tired in these kind of conditions can be tough. In a lot of places if you don't have enough energy to keep your speed up... you are sinking.. and walking. It was a great ride.. and a great test of what a Moonlander will do.

[Fenlason]

I have not gotten to take more photos of the bikes.. but here is one a friend took, on today's ride.

[Fenlason]

It took a while... but here are a few photo's of one of our Moonlanders with the new tires. hmm this has my new Bars and Stem also.