Tuesday 4 March 2014

Surly Karate Monkey Update Pt 2; Drop Bar conversion

Nearly there on the build, Sunday was spent at home tinkering most of the day in the man cave.
Waiting for friend Colin to pop round to re lace the rear wheel i got the gears on.
Bar end shifters on...

Mechs and cables...

Rear not trimmed yet in this pic...

Taped in place...



Cable protector thingy that came with shifters taped onto the drops...

Some some bar gel pads on the lowers...

Colin arrived and soon laced the wheel...

Final true in the bike...


Waiting on Surly `Monkey Nuts` to arrive from the nice man Charlie Bikemonger so until they arrive used a Surly chain tug to pull back the rear wheel 10mm to clear the tyre/rear mech...


The easy way to use Shimano chain rivets, an old spoke works as a third hand while you install the rivet...

Front triple chain rings on i aligned the mechs- then trying out the gears i could not get enough pull on the front mech to engage the big ring. Mmm... bit of head scratching then dropped out the Bottom Bracket and remover the drive side spacer...

Better now but still struggled to shift onto the big ring, and the cable will stretch in time...


Answer = fit an Avid cable brake barrel adjuster to take up some slack on the gear cable!, sorted!...


Err just make you cut the correct cable first... Oops!, what a plonker!, that just cost me another inner cable lol...  fixed with a Sram cable joiner...


The Karate Monkey 29er has a great chain line, just like the Pugsleys and Moonlander, out of the 27 gears you can use more than half with a good 5 rear gears on each front chain ring...


Bar tape on, gears and brakes working...
Some bar tape around the top tube to protect the frame from the bar end shifters...

Nearly done...

One thing missing for commuting, a rear rack for my panniers when needed. I used a regular 26" MTB   £15  rear  `Revolution` rack i got for the Pugsleys at Edinburgh Bicycle Co-operative . I swapped the flat front mountings for some tubed ones i had lying about as they look neater but the stock one will fit fine...

A 6m nut used as a spacer and the guard stay clears the calliper and cable...


A cheap lightweight front rack again originally bought for the Pugsley was added. Amazon have these racks in stock but there nearly £30, i only paid around £14 for mine on eBay, do not see any in stock in the UK this now, buit if your looking for one google; Sunlite Gold Tec Front Bicycle Carrier


The original mounts i removed ,and a DIY fork mount was shaped out another rack mount, and i used some stainless  P Clips on eBay.. to fasten the rack to the Fork having removed the rivots and canti brake mounts to fit it to an offset Pugsley fork. P clips were also used for the front mudguard stays as you can see in the pic blow. The rack is not that strong but and it will do fine for work clothes etc...

28mm P clips for the rack on the upper fork leg (same diameter as a Pugsley),
20mm for the lower P clips where the mudguard stays are attached...

Ready for commuting, detours home off road after work, and general roughstuff cycling around the county and further afield on the Wind turbine maintenance roads across the Lammermuir hills...


3 comments:

  1. Good job you're not in the Bomb Squad ;-)

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  2. Could you post or send a detailed pic of how you attached the sunlite gold tec to the fork? I see the brackets around the fork tunes, but is there another place of attachment up near the base? Thanks. - Tyler

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  3. Hi, the bracket you mention is just a section right from universal rack mount bent 90 degrees and bolted through the hole in the fork,

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