After seeing the improvement to my hardtail from swapping in wider tires (2.4 Maxxis Ardents), and other research, I have decided my next (and final?) mtb will be a Surly Krampus. I was fortunate enough to find a friend of a friend in town who let me borrow his Krampus for a few days, and I'm sold!

The Krampus I borrowed was an original model (green, with jump tube) in Medium, with some nice upgrades (most notably deore hydros, and 34x11-46 11sp drivetrain). While a gear calculator shows I would probably need to drop that chainring to a 28 to match my current 22x36 bottom, I was able to get up all my usual hills.

The ride was fantastic! I always knew that even when 'locked out' I could see a little bit of bobbing in my Reba RS fork, but I didn't really feel it, so I thought the lockout was doing its job. But the first time I needed to stomp on the pedals to get up a little rise on the Krampus, the difference of the rigid fork was obvious! On a rigid bike, I'm free to stand again, rather than be trapped in the saddle to try to grind it out. And with the 3" width, there's no worry of losing traction on sandy/pebbly slopes. There's a section on one of my regular trails with a short left downhill turn, then maybe 100yd of flat before a longer descent. I had never been able to coast that entire flat before, but on the Krampus I was finally able to! I think it was extra confidence to take the initial left/down faster, plus the WTB Ranger tires seem to be pretty fast-rolling (like they say on the sidewalls)

I like the rigid fork better also for drops. I'm not skilled with large (or what others would probably call small!) drops, I've had enough endos that they always make me twinge. But without that extra pitch forward from a suspended fork, dropping the front wheel feels much more secure!

The whole thing brings back sense-memories of riding my bmx bike around as a kid. If rigid is better for climbing AND dropping, what's the point of suspension? Why did it take the industry this long to figure out that bigger tires is where it's at?

Going down a fast, rocky descent was bumpy, but not a whole lot bumpier than on my hardtail, and I didn't feel out of control at all. And the weight of the bike is comparable; stood up on my bathroom scale, my hardtail came in at 30, and the Krampus at 32.

The only negatives were because the Krampus I got to borrow is a M, and I need a L. (That undersizeness may have contributed to the 'bmx' feel). I had to raise the seatpost to the min insert line, and I was tempted to try swapping in a longer stem as well.

Now I'm on the hunt for a used L Krampus!

Anybody else love their Krampus, tell me about it! Also, are there other rigid-fork, 1x, 29-plus bikes out there? I'm not aware of any, but I'm sure there must be 1 or 2 others