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Karate Monkey with 120 mm fork = AM hardtail/trailbike?

3K views 6 replies 6 participants last post by  nativeson 
#1 ·
29" allmountain hardtails/trailbikes are very popular here in germany this time.

So I compared the geometry of a few allmountain 29" Hardtails and took the calculator…

Karate Monkeys geometry is suspension corrected for 80 mm forks.
So what happens to the geo, if I take a 120 mm fork?

Front is coming 40 mm higher -> good for descents

Steering angle goes down from 72 deg to 70 deg -> more stable going downhill. OK, not the angle of a real AM/Trailbike (about 68-69 deg) but you should feel the difference.

Seat angle goes down from 73 deg to 72 deg -> not so good for uphill, but if you use a setback seattube, you can compensate this with a non-setback one

BB drop goes down from 68 mm to 59 mm -> some AM hardtails (e.g. Kona Honzo) have such values and so it should be OK.


Has anyone tried a Karate Monkey with a 120mm fork and can write about it?
 
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#6 ·
BTW - I'm a Surly fan, but Kona just put out a low cost AM hardtail 29r called the Taro. I'd just buy something like that or the Kona Honzo or Canfield Nimble 9. Trying to make something it's not always ends in a compromise.

If you own a KM that's another story, but if you are buying new go for something that was designed to be an AM 29er from the get go.
 
#7 ·
i've been running my km w/an older 100mm reba and it's great. you might lose a little turning ability w/the bottom bracket jacked up just a bit, but who really knows. i've emailed surly about runnin a 100mm fork, they said it was fine. taken it on some long downhills in oregon and the local stuff here in santa cruz, and it's good enough for me. i had a 1st generation nimble 9 and once i took it to a steep climb w/a 100mm fork it felt way too floppy.
 
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