What’s so special about the Pyga Mobu? Well, besides being designed and manufactured in South Africa – and the bike that carried Phil Buys to the South African XCO and Marathon titles in 2022 – it’s definitely one of the most versatile mountain bikes you can buy. Here’s why…
Paid partnership with Pyga Mountain Bikes
As the lines between mountain biking’s categories become more and more defined, brands are segmenting their line-ups accordingly. It’s a marketer’s dream to be able to punt different models to different riders for different types or riding or racing. The segmentation is bringing order to a sport that’s had an incredibly steep and somewhat chaotic development curve and for many, order is desired. Order feels safe…
Then you get the Pyga Mobu that rollicks along with quiet rebellion, shunning mainstream category division. Is the Mobu a XCO whip? Is the Mobu a Marathon machine? Is the Mobu a Stage-Race ace? Is the Mobu a Trail slayer? Truth be told, the answer is yes to all four of those questions. It very much is all of those at once. But how?
Here’s the thing. The Mobu is the culmination of many years of Pyga’s design and development in its quest to create a bike that’s snappy on acceleration, soaks up small bumps as well as it does big hits, handles with the surety of a hungry gecko and which weighs under 11kg, the widely accepted weight limit for high-performance race bikes.
FRAME
The Mobu frame is full carbon fibre, designed with input from the highly successful Pyga EuroSteel team riders and Blackstone Tek (BST), Johannesburg-based world leader in the production of high-performance carbon fibre wheels and components for motorcycle brands such as Ducati, MV Agusta, Norton, Vuhl and Ariel Atom. Rider control is paramount and the Mobu is based on its predecessors, the Stage and the Stage Max in terms of geometry with a 67-degree headtube angle and an effective 76.5-degree seattube angle.
Aesthetically, the raw carbon brings its own aura of bicycle aficionado credibility that’s synonymous with light weight and high speed…
SUSPENSION DESIGN
The Pyga Mobu features a Horst link with a vertically orientated Trunnion mount design. This flies in the face of the two-bottle trend that’s so in demand in modern XCO/Marathon bikes. The exceptional efficiency of the Trunnion mount rear suspension made it non-negotiable for designer, Pat Morewood. Never one to let a challenge get the better of him, he developed the main triangle to be able to carry a second bottle beneath the toptube. Unconventional, yes, but that’s what you can expect from a brand that wants to satisfy its market without compromising its soul.
With meticulous design and hundreds of hours of testing, the same bike can be ridden with confidence in a 90-minute all-out XCO race or it can tackle a steady all-day trail ride, simply by switching the suspension (and tyres). Know of any other XCO/Marathon bike that offers that? Thought not. And it’s not just theoretical. Gauteng-based racer, Bryce Munro, won the 2022 Sub-Veteran SA Enduro title on his Mobu by completing the ‘beef-up’ option.
A lower shock-mount flip chip enables the bike to be run with a 118mm of travel at the rear (with 120mm fork), for XC, Marathon and Stage Races, or a 135mm rear shock (with a 135-140mm fork) for Trail riding. Know of any other sub-11kg bikes that offer that? Thought not.
This also slackens the head tube angle slightly from 67 degrees in XC/Marathon mode to 66.5 degrees in the more stable Trail-riding mode.
WEIGHT
A super light bike is all good, but if it lacks strength, efficiency and durability, it might as well be a mantlepiece ornament. That’s why the Mobu is such a beast! It’s integrity is so sound that it comes with lifetime warranty. And it’s in that sub-11kg zone that gives a wilypro racer goosebumps. Obviously, the weight increases accordingly with the bigger shock, fork and tyres option.
THE AUTHENTIC CONNECTION
How does the Mobu manage to blur category lines so effortlessly? Probably because it’s not designed with any particular category purpose, it’s designed to be fast and fearless. Morewood is his own greatest critic. And because he personally test rides every version of every prototype, he’s in tune with each change or modification, no matter how small.
If something gives him a sleepless night, he simply heads to the Pyga factory in Pietermaritzburg early in the morning and deals with it. A tweak here, a fine-tune there followed by a critical test ride or few. You can’t do this with a big bike brand. It’s simply not feasible. Pyga isn’t a big brand. Not yet. Big in credibility yes, but in volume it’s still a niche brand that can be both proactive and reactive when necessary. And that’s pretty special.
Ask any Mobu owner what he/she appreciates most about the bike and you’ll be told about the always-on authentic connection that they feel with the trail. Want to experience that authentic connection? Contact us here for a test ride: sales@pygaindustries.com
For more detailed information and images of the Pyga Mobu, click here.
