Surly Pugsley E-Bike

 The conversion of an older Surly Pugsley with off-set frame & fork project.

A used 2012 Surly Pugsley was located and inspected.   It was a good price and good condition. 
On inspection, there were two areas of concern:  

First,
the 9 speed shifter looked like it need to be replaced.

Second, 

the Thomson set post was reported to be a 'little stuck' in the seat tube.

But to price was right and a couple hundred dollars less than the market. 

This looked like a good bike for the E-Bike conversion for a mountain and snow bike. 

The Surly Pugsley was purchased. 

Note: The Serial Number on Surly Bikes:

The Serial Number is stamped in the frame's bottom bracket housing. For example, the number will look like: M12060001

Following the factory letter, the first two digits mark the year. Next, two more digits mark the month, and the four final digits tell you the unique production number assigned to your specific bike.

M,” that stands for Maxway. Located in Taiwan, Maxway is Surly’s frame supplier.

12 = 2012 year manufactured  

06 = June month manufactured  

0001 = specific frame number made that month

The 2012 Surly Pugsley frame has an offset fork and 135mm-spaced horizontal rear-loading dropouts with a derailleur hanger.  

This means you can set it up with a derailleur drivetrain or an internally-geared hub.  

Run it with a single speed freewheel or a fixed cog. You have lots of drivetrain choices.

The stock fork accepts a 135mm rear mountain hub, just like the frame.  

This makes it easier to install and remove the wheel (a big tire on a big rim benefits from a wide opening),  and it allows front and rear wheel interchangeability.  

This means you can have the ability to carry another full gear cluster, a single speed freewheel, or a fixed cog on the front wheel.  

And should something go wrong with your primary drivetrain, you have the option of swapping wheels and continuing on your journey or retreating to a place where you can make necessary repairs.

Offset Front Fork

The Specifications for a 2012 Surly Pugsley

The Conversion Process

Before ordering the E-Bike Motor, it was important to confirm that the components on the frame could be removed from the used 2012 Pugsley.

Bottom Bracket Removal:

To remove the bottom bracket, the first step is to remove the Pedals & the Crank Arms.
The Surly Pugsley has a TruVativ Hussefelt crankset.

     This is a Splined Crank for the Bottom Bracket.

Splined Crank

After removal of the Pedals (to remove, place pedal wrench upward on the pedal bolt, and push wrench to the rear of the bicycle frame). 

To remove the Crank Arms, the Park Tool Crank Puller CCP-44 for Splined Cranks easily removes the Crank arms from the bottom bracket.  

(note: the Park Tool Crank Puller CCP-22 will not work)

The Bottom Bracket can then be removed using a bottom bracket tool.
Unscrew each side and remove the bottom bracket.

bottom bracket tool

With the bottom bracket removed, the frame can be clean and greased in preparation for the installation of a E-Bike bottom bracket motor.

Removal of Seat Tube

The seat tube needed to be removed from the used Surly Pugsley. 

This seat post is stuck. It has probably been in that seat tube for 10 years. 

Aluminum seat posts and steel frames is not a good mix. If the seat post is not removed, I will need to get another frame. 

Stuck Thomson seat post

This was a challenge.

The usual steps were taken.

- trying to muscle out by twist the saddle.

- lubing the top of the tube with penetrating oil

- Removing the bottom bracket and soaking the seat tube from the bottom with penetrating oil. 

- Using heat gun to heat up seat tube

- Putting seat post and vise and twisting the frame.   

Before my "last ditch" effort was done, I took the bike to my Local Bicycle Shop. 

They reported they have success removing stuck seat posts.   

 

I dropped the frame off at the Local Bicycle Shop, and wished them luck.
A couple of days later, they called and said they failed!
 

They drilled a hole in the post and tried to twist it out. 

Put it in a heavy Duty Vise and tried to twist the frame.  

The Post did not budge !

THIS TIME THEY FAILED.
and now, the seat post was destroyed, but still stuck in the seat tube. 

The Bike Shop tried! 

So it was back to me.
and The Last Ditch effort: Cut the Seat Post out.

A cut or a few cuts, in the seat post might make the post collapse when it is twisted. Then the pieces can be pulled put of the set tube.  

But NOT this seat post! 

After 4 separate cuts, using a reciprocating saw with a 9 inch wood 6 teeth blade, the seat post would not break away from the seat tube. It was galvanized bad. 

Using a wood blade can easily cut an aluminum seat post, 

but doesn't "like it" when its touches the steel frame. 

Hopefully this reduces seat tube damage.

 Each 1/4 strip of the seat post remained firmly attached to the steel seat tube wall.  It refused to be pulled out. Even after soaking with penetrating fluid.  

Using a small chisel, about a half inch piece of the seat post quarters could be pried away from the seat tube at a time. These pieces were then folded in to the center. The folded pieces were then drilled, broken and grinded into tiny pieces using an one inch wood drill bit. This process continued slowly down into the seat tube... about 9 inches.  

Eventually that last of the seat post was destroyed and removed. 

It was a time consuming process. 

The seat tube did have a little damage with this last ditch process.  J-B Weld Steel Stick was used to repair and resurface the inside of the seat tube & the lip of the tube.  A steel washer was shaped to the curvature of the seat tube and then welded to the bottom of the expansion slot of the seat tube. This was done to provide additional support.

The inside of the seat tube was then smoothed, cleaned and polished with steel wool. The seat tube was then blown out with an air compressor to remove any aluminum fragments. A coat of grease was applied in the seat tube.  

The new seat post was greased and inserted into the seat tube. The seat post fit snuggly... but inserted smoothly. It seemed very sturdy. A new seat post clamp applied.

It was a Hard job, but the Surly Pugsley Bicycle Frame should be 'good to go' for more miles. 

Note: Before purchasing a used bicycle, confirm the seat post can be removed!

The Bafang motor installation

With the frame confirmed to the fine for the conversion, the parts could be ordered. 
The parts list is shown below:

In a few days, the products arrive. 

The installation is very straight forward. There are many videos that show the basic installation.

But below are a few tips:

- The Lekkie Chain Ring is worth it. Better chain line.

- The Lekkie one nut works well and looks great. 

- Get the Brake & Shift sensor.  Easy to install and works.

- Having a few bottom bracket spacers are handy to get a great chain line. 

- You may have to create two spacers for the motor to lockring connection. 

    I use common steel nuts that the bolts slide through.  

- Tighten the lock nut really tight to force the lockring to 'bite into' the bottom bracket frame. 

    'whack' the bottom bracket tool with a hammer a few times to get it 'extra' tight

A Bafang BBSHD 120mm installed
A New Shimano Altus M2010 Shifter 9-Speed Right RAPIDFIRE Plus was installed.
The new Bafang Brake levers were installed.  These have worked great in the past. 
The display and controlled installed.
The Throttle was installed. 
A 48v 10amp Battery was used.
   The battery works good and has many options as to placement,
   hang on bar, place on rack or in a frame bag..

After the installation, there is usually a 'nest' of wires at the handlebar.   

A rollup tool bag it a great way to manage the nest of wires.  For this project, I used a black Carhartt 18 Pocket Water-Resistant Tool Organization Roll Bag the manage the wires.  In addition to managing the wires, tools and other items can be stored in it. 

Roll up tool bag

The Finished conversion looks like this

Surly Pugsley E-Bike (battery in frame bag)

Programming the E-Bike

The Bafang BBSHD Motor can be programmed for a performance that best fits your needs.
For Programming tips click here > Programming Tips