Rungu is a bike trike company with an interesting solution for gaining traction in loose terrain. Sure, two fat tires offer great traction in sand and snow so three tires should be even better, right?
The company says the trikes are designed with two wheels in front for added stability through low speed slogs. If you’ve ever attempted to ride through really deep sand or powdery snow on a fat bike you know that momentum is your friend and that once you lose it, it’s tough to stay upright. Rungu says by adding a third wheel the Juggernaut improves float by more than 50%. I’m not sure about the math on that one–while it’s true that 3 is 50% more than 2, even on flat terrain, rider weigh is distributed about 45/55% between front and rear (or so I’ve been told.)
Still, I won’t argue that climbing stairs and grinding through sand on this rig should be easier than it is on a standard fat bike. The bike is bristling with rack mounts to haul all kinds of gear from surfboards to utility trailers (there are even mount points for an overhead rack). Rungu says the bike is spec’d with “low gearing,” but with a single 36T chainring up front and a 9-speed cassette that maxes out at 36T, I suspect many riders will struggle to climb even moderate grades on this 56-pound behemoth.
Rungu also touts “shoulder-width front wheel spacing to improve tricycle handling.” The split handlebar design certainly looks unusual but practically speaking, the two fork stems are linked together to keep both wheels pointing in the same direction at all times.
Mountain trikes (and quads) are nothing new, and many adaptive sports riders favor these setups to help with balance. There have even been attempts at building trails specifically for trikes like this one in North Carolina.
The Juggernaut can be purchased directly from Rungu for $3,500. The company also offers a trike called the Kilamanjaro that features two suspension forks and standard 29er mountain bike wheels up front while keeping the 4.8″ fat bike tire in the rear. The Kilamanjaro is priced a couple hundred bucks cheaper and also weighs a couple pounds less than the Juggernaut.
What do you think about these dual fork mountain trikes?
