'Secret' Fat-Tire Trials Bike from Surly

We are on a fat-bike roll! Last week, we reviewed the obese-wheeled Salsa Mukluk “snow bike” then shortly thereafter reported on a project to bring suspension-enabled frames to the genre of the fat.

Now, another sneak peek at a fat-bike build that comes unexpected: On the blog of the Minneapolis bike shop Behind Bars owner Chuck Cowan posted two “secret” photos of a Surly prototype that for the first time adds fat tires (3.8 inches wide) to a trials bike.

The single-speed bike uses a small Pugsley frame along with a teeny chainring, disc brakes, Race Face and Salsa parts, as well as Surly’s own uber-wide rims and 26 × 3.8-inch Larry model treaded fat rubber. There’s a phrase stickered on: “Hold My Beer And Watch This.”

Cowan called the bike a “Surly Trials Pug” and said a QBP worker brought the bike into his shop for a quick look only. “This is on the D.L. [down low] so keep it to yourself,” Cowan wrote, ostensibly tongue-and-cheek (as he posted the photos on his blog).

The genre of the fat-bike continues to evolve. From snow, to trails, to suspension, now onto trials . . . keep watching here for updates on the burgeoning bulbous-tire scene.

—Stephen Regenold