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Surly Karate Monkey
Looks like an interesting bike capable of all things
anyone own one? |
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#2
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Surly Karate Monkey
On Apr 12, 2:09*pm, wrote:
Looks like an interesting bike capable of all things It doesn't have braze ons for front or rear racks, has too short of a chainstay for practical road use with bags, anyway, and doesn't look to be easy to fit a kickstand to. So useful as a mtb, but little else. A LHT complete costs $100 less and has an excellent multi-speed drivetrain. Swap out the silly drops for a trekking/Milano/riser bar and appropriate shifters--and you got yourself an upright do anything bike. |
#3
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Surly Karate Monkey
landotter wrote:
wrote: Looks like an interesting bike capable of all things It doesn't have braze ons for front or rear racks, has too short of a chainstay for practical road use with bags, anyway, and doesn't look to be easy to fit a kickstand to. So useful as a mtb, but little else. A LHT complete costs $100 less and has an excellent multi-speed drivetrain. Swap out the silly drops for a trekking/Milano/riser bar and appropriate shifters--and you got yourself an upright do anything bike. The Surly LHT doesn't take tires as fat as the Cross Check can, let alone 29er tires. And it has a nice touring-appropriate low BB. So it can do a lot of things, but not MTB things. Chalo |
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Surly Karate Monkey
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#5
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Surly Karate Monkey
wrote:
Looks like an interesting bike capable of all things anyone own one? I don't own one, but I took a long hard look at it while picking out a 29er upon which to base an electric-assist city bike. I used a Karate Monkey fork on the testbed machine. Ultimately, I went with a Redline Monocog 29er frame instead. There were several reasons why: - The KM has chainstays that are a little too short for luggage (and tall people), and that's why it has a queer squiggly seat tube. Good for branding, but not for much else. The Monocog has stays that are a little longer, allowing a straight seat tube with plenty of tire clearance. - The KM fork was nicely made, but maybe a little light for my application. The Monocog's fork was burly. - The Monocog frame was sturdier overall, with a gusseted head tube and thicker tubing. It was also significantly cheaper. - The largest Monocog 29er frame was effectively bigger than the largest Karate Monkey frame, with a longer top tube. That doesn't matter for everybody, but it mattered to me. Landotter notes that the KM isn't kickstand-friendly. Well, neither is the Redline Monocog 29er. It has a sheet metal plate for a chainstay bridge, leaving no place for a kickstand bolt to pass through. Either one of these bikes could be fitted with a rear axle mounted kickstand. Like the KM, the Monocog lacks basic brazeons. Gene Daniels (datakoll) has added them to his Monocog, as has a friend of mine here in town. The same would be possible for the KM. It would be feasible in either case to use P-clamps instead of brazeons, at some reduction in rack load capacity. To be honest, neither of these bikes is as close to a do-all machine as a fat-tire Sakkit or Bruce Gordon bike would be. But they are adaptable, and far more cost-effective than the bespoke versions. 29er geometry is uniquely well-suited to changing roles, because narrow tires give it road-bike-like BB height, and 29er tires give it MTB-like BB height. Chalo |
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Surly Karate Monkey
On Apr 12, 4:20*pm, Chalo wrote:
landotter wrote: wrote: Looks like an interesting bike capable of all things It doesn't have braze ons for front or rear racks, has too short of a chainstay for practical road use with bags, anyway, and doesn't look to be easy to fit a kickstand to. So useful as a mtb, but little else. A LHT complete costs $100 less and has an excellent multi-speed drivetrain. Swap out the silly drops for a trekking/Milano/riser bar and appropriate shifters--and you got yourself an upright do anything bike. The Surly LHT doesn't take tires as fat as the Cross Check can, let alone 29er tires. *And it has a nice touring-appropriate low BB. *So it can do a lot of things, but not MTB things. Ya know--mtbs are dirt cheap on Craigslist. If you actually wanna ride some singletrack, get one. An LHT--or any number of aluminum hybrids can do just about anything with the right tires. *Most* will fit a set of Panaracer 37s--and that's plenty to float you on fire roads. I do the local ones on 32s. Cross check is fine--just a little short if you're mounting bags with big feet. Or in that vein, for the same price, you can get a Bianchi San Jose and throw a gearhub on it and a Jtek shifter. ;-) |
#7
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Surly Karate Monkey
Chalo wrote:
29er geometry is uniquely well-suited to changing roles, because narrow tires give it road-bike-like BB height, and 29er tires give it MTB-like BB height. That was my thought as well after reading review of the KM..... but you guys have brought up some negative points abt the KM So its not so much that 29ers are bad for touring but that THIS 29er the KM is bad? If yes, what abt some of the 29ers sold by BikesDirect? I don't have local bike shop for MILES |
#8
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Surly Karate Monkey
On Apr 12, 6:03*pm, wrote:
Chalo wrote: 29er geometry is uniquely well-suited to changing roles, because narrow tires give it road-bike-like BB height, and 29er tires give it MTB-like BB height. That was my thought as well after reading review of the KM..... but you guys have brought up some negative points abt the KM So its not so much that 29ers are bad for touring but that THIS 29er the KM is bad? If yes, what abt some of the 29ers sold by BikesDirect? I don't have local bike shop for MILES The Motobecane Outcast SS could be a fun hub gear project. It's got braze ons for a rack and fenders and a rigid fork, also with fender eyelets. For $350 you get a fun project bike. The Fantom Cross looks to be the best bet for an all-rounder out of the box. It's really just a touring bike with short stays, even with low rider braze ons. |
#9
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Surly Karate Monkey
On Apr 12, 7:09*pm, wrote:
Looks like an interesting bike capable of all things anyone own one? Don't own one but gave it a hard look last year because it is a genuine 29-er frame and was instantly available. Surly's Karate Monkey has three advantages. It is very sturdily built. It can handle 622-60 tyres and still take fenders (you have to make your own brackets...). It is much nippier because of the short wheelbase than your general run of 29er. There are also major disadvantages for a utility bike. The short wheelbase -- so short the seat tube has to be bent around the wheel -- makes carrying stuff in panniers a bit problematic. Not that you'll be able to carry a lot of weight anyway, as there are no rack braze-ons. But racks have been fitted to the KM. I saw several KM on the net that had been turned into credible credit card tourers, though not campers. Thing is, the Surly Long Haul Trucker, the obvious do-everything alternative if you're already into Surly, won't take balloon tyres. I think that today a utility bike just about has to take 622-50 and preferably -60mm, which made the LHT less attractive to me than the KM. The short wheelbase, and its consequences, was one of the reasons I decided against the KM. But if nippy handling in traffic is more important to you than the ability to carry a lot of stuff, the KM could be a decent semi-utility town and country bike. And it has to have better offroad capability than the LHT. Watch out in some of the frames competing with the KM for the top tube height. The KM top tube slopes so it doesn't slam into your family jewels whatever size tyre you fit; some of the others may claim to take 60mm tyres but they would raise the top tube into the danger zone. Andre Jute Visit Jute on Bicycles at http://www.audio-talk.co.uk/fiultra/...20CYCLING.html |
#10
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Surly Karate Monkey
landotter wrote:
The Motobecane Outcast SS could be a fun hub gear project. It's got braze ons for a rack and fenders and a rigid fork, also with fender eyelets. For $350 you get a fun project bike. What do you mean by project bike? What modifications would you have in mind? |
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