Suggestions for Karate Monkey build
 

I am building a new surly

I have a 26" mtb I am happy with and thought about a road or cross bike, but the geometry doesn't feel right to me. I like the 29 er karate monkey and thought I would build one with some dirt drop bars and some 700 by 30ish or 40ish cyclocross tires (more slick than aggressive) to handle the rougher roads where I live. I think this would work for longer road rides than the Trek I ride on the trails.


Has anybody got any experience with this. Any suggestions

Thanks in advance for any replies, and any ideas or alternate suggestions for a more road friendly bike would be appreciated.

What bugged you about cyclocross frames and which ones did you try?

If the Karate Monkey gets you out riding more, go for it. But a SS 29er set up for road use just doesn't sound like that great of an idea to me. On bikes I use for longer road rides I like to keep my options open, SS 29ers seem really good at taking options away. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing....

I was looking at these this morning, they look kind of fun: http://www.rawlandcycles.com/

First,
I tried Konas, Treks (xo and portland), and a bianchi. I don't know what to say other than I felt crowded. If the standover was right I felt to really cramped (reach). If the reach felt good, then the bike was way too tall. I was at a couple of reputable shops and had them stumped on sizing. They said I was too picky, but if I am gonna spend that kinda money I'd like to be happy with it you know. I never had this problem with mtbs

Second,
The Monkey is versatile. It has horizontal dropouts AND a der. hanger so you can use it ss or geared. I like the geometry and fit of the large. It has disc and canti mounts.

Anyway--I like the idea of the Monkey, but the point was I want to ride on the road sometimes and it made sense to me to get a road bike.

I talked to you about fs too I believe--too many projects in my head--I have a bit of a bike problem hehe.

Thanks for the feedback

Clydeburr,

Take one more look at a road bike. Try the Specialized Allez. I can't remember your height, but the Alez has a fairly long cockpit and compact geometry. It's a real go fast bike as well. I had mine upgraded on purchase with 36 spoke Velocity Deep V's and the bars are wide.

Thanks T S,
The LBS carries specialized and I was actually looking over their line (specialized.com) a few minutes ago

One reason I like the Allez.....

I'm 6'1" and a 30" inseam, so I have a long torso and short legs. If my legs matched my torso, I'd be about 6'7" ;).

There are worse problems to have. :D

I can see how the CX bike might not work for you, the racing nature of them tends to give them a rather odd geometry that may not be suitable for long rides.

You might want to check out touring bikes before giving up on the road bike concept though. And still try test riding lots of road frames, there's a lot of variation in geometry amongst different models and manufacturers, so you might find one that fits.

Still, it sounds like you've got something of a handle on what you want, so maybe the Karate Monkey is the way to go, no matter how weird it sounds to us. And I should've guessed- it's a Surly, it's probably got braze-ons for everything.

you just described my problem--6'1" and a 31/32 inseam, so maybe the allez will work, thanks. LBS is waiting on some stock. They've sold everything almost as soon as they are assembled lately. I'm gonna try one in the next week or two. The Surly KM sounds good to me if the allez does not work, but I'm hoping I can find a road bike to round out my options.

Thanks