Surly Karate Monkey Update Pt 1; Drop Bar geared conversion

When Surly brought out the first production 29er frame set it became a favourite bike for many who also bought 29er rims and tyres and swapped over parts of an existing 26" MTB.
With its cheap price, simple steel tube design, yet multi use set up ability with all types of 135mm hub options-gears, IGH, single speed, geometry that is suspension height adjusted for suspension forks or the rigid fork supplied, and wheel and tyre size options- 29er or 700c and regular or dropped bars it has become a very popular frame set.

This week they showed a couple of pics of a new Monkey Ops with cool drop outs, and paint job and 44mm head set...

I have owned two KMs , first a red one that was geared, and later a suspension fork was added, then some wide 47mm uni cycle rims which allowed lower pressures. Friend Colin now owns it..

Having a non dropped top tube like my Pugsley on the first KM my Epic Designs (now re-named Revelate) frame bag fitted and i enjoyed some bike packing trips...

A great use of this set up was cycling the The Kintyre Way

My first insight into lower pressure 29" wheels for trails. Wide rims allow you to drop the tyre pressure by a 3rd = more grip, more comfort-a good thing if riding a rigid bicycle...

Drop Bar 29;
Many folk built there Monkeys up with drop bars-aka a `Monster Cross`,
With bike packing getting popular the Salsa Fargo drop bar 29er became a popular option for off road adventures.
So i sold the bike and built a drop bar Fargo...

A lovely looking bike, but riding it unladen without luggage i just found it too harsh a ride on our rooted woodland trails and too heavy for long distance road cycling compared to a 700c bike. A sore neck and arms after long days i never had riding the Monkey-it had to go.

So i sold the frame and bought another Karate Monkey!, an ex demo frame set from UK Distributor Ison.
Fitted a 1 degree offset headset to slow down the quick steering i experianced with my previous KM which had me off a few times,  and with riser bars fitted along with all the parts off the Fargo build vola!-another geared Monkey!...

And the bike is better for the slacker head angle and fun in the woods...




All was well and happy in my cycling world, i again had another KM for woodland trails and longer XC days. Then these turned up as a pressie from Surly after FORTH FAT!...

29+;
The Surly Rabbit Hole 29" x 50mm  "Rabbit Hole" rims and 29" x 3" tyres - 29+ concept had arrived.
Fitted the then new Surly Krampus these rims having dual spoke holes allow 17.5mm offset so can also be fitted to a Pugsley- pure genius...

The KramPug is born...

The 3" wheel concept has even more roll than a regular 29x 2.25 tyre and increased comfort. I love them and cannot wait for more tyre options as the 29 x 3" Knards don`t like our winter mud here in East Lothian away from the coast. The Bike was single speed but i wanted gears to make it more versatile. The KM was not seeing much use so Colin swapped the hubs over and the KM then became a single speed...

It got some use but not as much as i have planned-winter night riding around my local Binning Woods.
But to be honest after this wet winter and a days tramping about a muddy golf course i cannot really be bothered slogging through slop for my hobbies, and then having all the cleaning afterwards when i can just ride on the roads a few miles to the coast and ride clean sandy single track.
I can also go ride old green roads and rough lanes on the new Genesis Cdf. Which is a nice alternative to fat bikes.

Single Speed - good and not so good:
Single speed should be great and it is!,  as its quiet, simple,  and not much to go wrong with mechs clogging with summer grass or winter mud etc...

But today for example as i sit typing this there is 25+ mph gales outside. Riding the SS KM today would mean anywhere i ride by road would be sitting freewheeling or slogging into the wind...



It`s a fatbike, 29+, 29er and ECR, All in one!;
Final nail in my off road riding of the KM as a regular 29er MTB is i don`t need it anymore as a regular 29er be it geared or not is due to this set up;

Fitting the 2.25 mud tyres to the Krampus wheels gives me a 29er too!,
This bike set up is lovely to ride, 1/2 higher BB height than a stock Pugsley on these tyres the ride is pretty nice with the slacker snow geometry and the springy and comfortable ride is well acknowledged on the Pugsley...

 The Pugs has loads of mud clearance too in 29er 0r 3" 29+ mode. For bike packing i also have a frame bag and can fit any rack options i want. The higher non dropped top tube is i am finding better for shouldering the bike if on an xc off piste ride, and as said a big frame bag fits in.
This is MY favourite Surly bike, and its 6 years old  and 10 years old in design!!!
I am going to ride and ride and ride it as long as i can, let is get scratched and rusty...

`Patina`  is very in these days, old and used, minimum depreciation,  no worries about nursing it with wrapping tape etc...and full of memories of fun times...




A rebirth is needed!;
All is not lost for the KM yet though, Any bike can always be used for commuting so i had fitted the Moonlander`s original bars and stem and used the bike a few days to work like this...

Halo tyres that were on the Fargo build. Duct tape on the fork to stop spray, but i want to fit full mudguards...

And gears as mentioned...

It is fine like this for commuting but it would be better on the road with drop bars so decided to make it into a geared drop bar 29er commuter then i can use it daily in winter months as well as some light off road detours home from work and long days out with some off road where the higher BB and rolling 29er effect along with drop bars for climbing and into the wind will make it the perfect bike for around here away from the coast in East Lothian.

Budget is £100 for the conversion; prob be twice that!
Mudguards arrived through the post; 29er 65mm wide SKS. £14 without the stays- i had them already from a 26" pair of these that i hacked up on previous bikes-see the rear of the old Peugeot...

With these guards i can un-clip the stay and remove the wheel from the horizontal chain stays, but the rear needs extended...

As my back got caked in crap riding home along a mud strewn road after heavy rain!, soon sort that problem out...

With another old guard cut up and bolted on- does not look that pretty but its gonna be a commuter bike!...

The Old Peugeot Triathlon;
I wan`t  to stop using the 29 year old Peugeot Triathlon bike my brother bought new and passed onto me before i wreck it!. Wanna keep it for road cycling and commuting...

 After the enjoyment of my Genesis Cdf for road and off road on easy trails and green roads a drop bar 29er with disc brakes is a no brainer to do. But the price is got to be kept down as it is a commuter and will be used in winter, locked up outside shops etc...

25.4 semi drop bars...
Are as rare as rocking horse poo-both the budget On One Mary handlebar or Salsa`s Woodchipper.
I have email searches on these bars now on eBay to see what turns up. In the mean time i will use the Salsa Bell Laps from the Fargo build that are on the Peugeot.
I need 25,4mm bars to keep the budget down as i have some ideal stems in 25.4mm of various lenghts and angles. More on that below...

Back to gears;
Rear Hub;
I needed a rear hub. I have a Shimano XT rear hub but i would rather have another Hope pro 2 and i already have a steel free hub and axle and a drive side end cap...

I also have the spokes for the Monkeys rear wheel which had the gold Pro 2 hub, now on the KramPug wheel. time for some googling around on line for hub parts.
So i ordered a hub shell which cost £54, it comes with one bearing on the drive side,
so ordered another genuine Hope bearing,
a non drive side seal,
a non drive side end cap,
an inner bearing for the steel free hub as it was rough to turn,
the inner washer that sits between the free hub and hub body,
and new Free Hub pawl springs,
found the free hub washer and seal after a rummage through a few boxes and had everything to build a Pro 2 hub for £79...
That's the budget nearly blown! and i know there is a £100 still to spend on stuff-but i can recoup some money selling other stuff if i really want to...

Hope Pro 2 rear hub build;
Any bearings i buy i always carefully remove the seals with a tip of a Stanley knife and repack the bearings, . I am still using a cartridge of WURTH Graphite grease, had it 6 years now!.
The Hope bearings were near dry!...

Using the Hope bearing tools i tapped on the bearing to the drive end of the axle...

Then tapped the axle into the drive side bearing...

And using the other axle bearing tool tapped the whole arranged neat..

No meths at hand so some brake cleaner that evaporates allows the non drive side seal to seat and not be pushed out by grease when the end cap is pushed onto the axle, if this seal rubs on the end cap there will be some drag...

A spot of grease inside and the non drive side end cap pushed on...

The outer bearing on the Steel free hub was rough so tapped out...

A 22mm socket taps in this bearing and does not damage the seal...

A clean and a spot of grease on the free hub pawls, then fit the new pawl springs...

Don't forget to slip on the 2mm washer before the free hub!. and a light grease around the teeth..

Slide on the free hub turning it to allow the pawls to engage, then roughly seat the free hub seal and then push on with the Hope tool...

And job done-another Hope Pro 2 rear hub ready for a few years service!...

If you want to watch the Hope service film then here it is for these hubs. The Hope service tools part numbers are shown at the start.  "That's a good hub"   indeed :)





Drive chain and other Parts-keeping it cheap;
I have front and rear mechs, the front from the bike when it was geared, and a set of cassette and chain rings from a pugsley that have had 3 chains and are part worn, but will do for a while on a new £10 Shimano Deore chain...

Drop bar shifters and how to keep things cheap;
Dual control shifters are too expensive to buy this now for this bike so i had to look at another option, no second hand sets available so no option but buy some new Shimano Dura Ace bar end shifters. these are more robust than Sora dual shifters for the riding this bike will see, and were £55 using a £5 voucher at CRC and are on the way... then i remembered to order bar tape!, that's on its way on a second order within 5 mins of ordering the shifters!, they will still come separate though!...

 I ordered some Tecktro levers for £15 that have the right cable pull for V brakes so ok with Avid BB7 cable disc calipers.
£15 bought a cheap 25 degree 70mm rise 25.4 MTB stem to experiment with the drop bar positions as my stems i already have were too long at 90mm and 100mm.
I fitted the stem and Salsa Bell Lap bars and the levers this afternoon that arrived yesterday...

Stem looks a bit weird!, but achieves the right position. A brakeless ride around the street felt fine on the handling and slow speed balance was ok...

 The "elbow on front of seat to middle finger in centre of stem"  rule of thumb measurement is dam near perfect. Maybe i need less of a stem angle, or i can always reduce the steerer spacer height...

 I have the Brown leather Brooks bar tape and a B17 saddle from the Fargo build but there going on the 1974 Dawes Galaxy i have to rebuild (the next project!).
So using one of my 1960`s Brooks Professional saddles and underneath  is room to stash a tool pouch under the rails and a 29er tube, need to look out an old toe strap to secure the spare tube...

So it is coming together...

Spent another £10 this evening on some bar gel tape to put under the bar tape on the drops and some new inner brake cables. The outers are fitted-cheap orange outer i bought as a 10 meter roll on eBay for the KramPug build....

Spent £180- way more than i planned but i could of had to buy a stem and handle bar and new drive chain so it is still money well spent as i see this bike becoming my main mid week bike for work and post work detours home.
The Genesis is new and like the Moonlander is the only bike i have ever paid up and i hardly used the Moonie in the first year until that last payment was made, dunno why but i just don`t like to trash a bike i still have to pay for!.
Need to get some beers for friend Colin to lace the rear wheel to that new built Hope hub using the previous spokes, then i can fit the bar end shifters, gear cables, mechs, chain ring.
After a bit fettling of the gears this bike is good to ride and have fun on again in a new set of clothes.
Below a pic of my seat post rack which fits fine with the SKS rear guard if needed...

In Pt 2 the wheel build, gear tweak and first ride, maybe with some film... :)