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Let's see your KM builds

632K views 2K replies 430 participants last post by  Dry Pivots 
#1 ·
I'm about ready to order my Dark Black Karate Monkey frame and have been building it up on paper. I couldn't find any one thread with a lot of KM pictures on it, so if you don't mind post up some pics so I can get some ideas. Descriptions too if you want.

Thanks!
 
#1,596 · (Edited)
#1,602 ·
2013 KM (Med)

Frame is a 2013 medium (18").

I have a Surly Sunrise handlebar on order that should be here soon. For now I am running aluminum motox bars I found at a thrift store.

Drivetrain is now 1x9, 34t cassette w/ a 34t ring. Dually + Trail King on the back, Rabbit hole + Knard up front (same as before).

Bicycle tire Wheel Tire Bicycle wheel Bicycle wheel rim

Bicycle tire Bicycle wheel Tire Wheel Bicycle wheel rim
 
#1,605 ·
Thinking I might throw a Surly ExtraTerrestrial on the rear in a 29x2.5, should fit and would be a pretty good setup.
plenty of room, especially with you running a rear derailleur. i'm running them on a '15 single speed with my "biggest" chain ring/cog right now (36/19) with the horizontal MDS chips. Wheel is pretty much tucked all the way forward. if I change over to something like a 34/17 it shifts the wheel back a bit.

just be aware, the ET is a great tire but on loose scenarios it definitely behaves like a slick.
 

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#1,606 ·
Sure, happy to help. What do you need to see?

plenty of room, especially with you running a rear derailleur. i'm running them on a '15 single speed with my "biggest" chain ring/cog right now (36/19) with the horizontal MDS chips. Wheel is pretty much tucked all the way forward. if I change over to something like a 34/17 it shifts the wheel back a bit.

just be aware, the ET is a great tire but on loose scenarios it definitely behaves like a slick.
Good info, thanks. There's not that many other 29x2.5's out there that offer a good balance between weight, protection and grip.. Not 100% set yet.
 
#1,608 ·
Been wondering the same as I replaced all the NX with XTR on my new '17 KM Plus bike and was studying the alignment. My '15 KM with MDS is set up SS but I loved the option of changing out dropouts and being able to replace the chip using the hanger should it go bad. I guess with 'steel' being 'real', the likelihood of breaking the hanger is minimal as opposed to bending it. Reminds me, I need to order a Park DAG 2.2 to have in the shop.
 
#1,609 ·


Sometimes, if I'm dumb or I suck something up the hanger will deflect. But, this one is steel and re-bendable I think one less than an infinite number of times. If I haven't cracked the head tube or any of the welds around the B.B. yet, I have supreme confidence in the integrity of the hanger, despite claims otherwise in the "what's new for 2018" thread.
 
#1,615 · (Edited)
I'm not much for black frames these days but I think that may be because of how hard people tend to try and accent them with other "stand-out" colors and it seldom works from my perspective. That said, I really like what you did with this one in sticking to black for pretty much everything. The silver post clamp is a simple and nice touch as it plays off the seat rails yet doesn't scream out like a red clamp, or purple, or whatever the norm seems to be. Nice work. Great bike. I love the options we have with these platforms. They're just too frikkin' cool!
 
#1,616 ·
I'm not much for black frames these days but I think that may be because if how hard people tend to try and accent them with other "stand-out" colors and it seldom works from my perspective.
(looks over at Surly fatbike) Hey, I resemble that remark.

Bicycle tire Bicycle wheel Bicycle frame Wheel Bicycle wheel rim


If you would prefer I not do drastic things to spruce up my bike, please contact Surly and tell them to offer their bikes in colors that don't SUCK. When I bought my Wednesday the only other option was Beet Red (sucks and doesn't go with anything) so I went with Black (boring!!!!).

I'm also about to buy another Krampus. (my first one was a killer Green!!) Guess what the two available colors are... Black and Beets. Nope. Hence I'm left with no other choice than to do something drastic and powder coat it a very loud color. It will be the very opposite of Black.

Kind of sucks to have to strip a brand new bike have it powder coated, but I'd rather do that than be boring.

Thanks for listening,
-End Rant
 
#1,617 ·
^^ I hear ya. Early last year, I was perusing the ads just looking and on pinkbike, came across the 2015 mint green KM. It was brand new. Guy built it for his wife and then got divorced so it never got ridden. He took off all the parts and I got it for like $375 delivered. I love the unusual color and that really caught my eye.

The '17 Rhymes with Orange was a similar deal. Craigslist listing. The color just popped out at me and I absolutely love it! Brand new bike bought from Cambria Bike here in town. He bought it to fill a niche in his 4 Surly bike collection. He rode it up a steep fireroad on one of our trail networks practically in his backyard and came home and decided it didn't fill that niche. It went on the list for $300 less than new. I stared at it for 2 days over and over again wishing it was just a frame but decided screw it when I found out there was no way I could get that frame, I just bought the bike. Turns out I knew who the seller was, too.

I am really drawn to, and prone to buying shiny, colorful Surlys! :lol:
 
#1,621 · (Edited)
black on black color schemes with little else is one of my favorites. (Despite my choice for the new KM, see pic above). My main road bike is black on black. It has a red logo on the underside of the downtube, but you can't see it easily. And when I upgraded the drivetrain, I had the red cable covers changed out for black. The old drivetrain had a few red accent marks, and the new completely dark. Much better.

When I changed out my Krampus frameset for a KM, I specified no black because I had orange drivetrain pieces, etc. And I didn't want a Halloween bike. Black and orange...Though to be fair, I have seen some people do that on purpose, and it was nice.

bJames. That's a nice build. :) I'm collecting lists (in my head) of different riser bars with a slight sweep. The Rustlers look interesting. I like the Jones bars I have on the bike now. But they don't work that well for trail.
 
#1,622 ·
#1,624 ·
salsa bend 2 bars in the 23 degree sweep are what i have on my timberjack and those are super comfy...not much rise to them,i think the sq labs bars have a bit more rise but cost twice as much...anyway...with some ergon cross country racing grips and a set of the sq labs inner bar ends its a very comfortable yet still with awesome control over the bike...

anyway,the geo charts are fairly similar between the two bikes,im using a huge stack of spacers under the stem because i like my bars fairly high to keep my back happy,but the bend 2 bars are really working for me...
 
#1,630 ·
The KM got some new stoppers fitted today from Paul's limited run of blue ano. Klampers and Love Levers. So much easier to setup than hydros!

Feel great so far setup with some conpressionless brake housing, will get a proper ride in the way to work this week some time

Also ordered a set of set and forget skewers, but buggered up the measurements. Both are too short, trying to figure out if I can just swap the shafts....??







 
#1,631 ·
Hi Garth, are you sure you are not a Parra fan... Just saying :)

Looks like a great set of brakes, will be interested to hear your thoughts on them.

Seems like the fork has been changed too from my last viewing of your bike. My Monkey is now running a X fusion Mcqueen at 120mm and I am loving it.

OZ.
 
#1,632 ·
Haha, definitely not a para fan. The colour scheme started with a couple of spare Turq coloured bits of my Yeti, continued it with the blue Paul's parts when they did the special run.

Haven't ridden the bike loaded yet, but the klampers pull up really well with almost no bedding in (same rotors as before, so maybe that helped).

Well spotted on the new forks, got them for a steal. Front wheel tracks with a lot more confidence than the steel one. Without bags, but with the dyno setup on board, bike now comes in at 12.5kg.
 
#1,635 ·
Easier for me to just ask, rather than google or read through this thread:

New wheelset for my mint Karate Monkey (older frame, non-27.5+): how wide should I go with the rims? Currently on the stock Alex XD Lite, with 18mm internal. Would keep the 2.4 Ardents and look at 2.6 tire when those are done.
 
#1,637 ·
Hey I’ve looked through this thread and used the search function...can’t find a definitive answer.

I have the original karate monkey...pre seat tube brace... and I’m wondering if I could fit 27.5+

Has anyone tried with success? Imagine it would be fine considering a 27.5 2.8 on 35mm internal is about a 29x2.3.

I just worry about clearance on the side and I don’t want to lace up some new wheels to find they don’t fit
 
#1,665 · (Edited)
Hey I've looked through this thread and used the search function...can't find a definitive answer.

I have the original karate monkey...pre seat tube brace... and I'm wondering if I could fit 27.5+

Has anyone tried with success? Imagine it would be fine considering a 27.5 2.8 on 35mm internal is about a 29x2.3.

I just worry about clearance on the side and I don't want to lace up some new wheels to find they don't fit
I've done this with my -07 Monkey, and here's my experience;

I opted for 40mm inner width rims. I first got a set of G-One plus tyres, 3.0'', and squeezed them in. The rear fit by a very small margin but fit nonetheless. Just had to make sure my rim was straight as an arrow. It would rub a bit if cornering hard, especially if run at low pressures. If the tire was too hard it swelled up to the point of jamming between the stays. The G-Ones were nice tyres but I decided it wasn't worth the hassle trying to make it work with the rear of my KM. Then I went with some fake plus WTB Trailblazer 2.8's. I still have them on and they work perfect, but as mentioned they only swell up to about the size of a 2.5. I love the extra air volume to soak up the jitters but I also feel the BB gets a bit low for my liking with the 650B setup. I'm now dreaming of 29 inch wheels and dirt drops...

It looks badass though!

Here's from a tour I did in Estonia last summer, sporting the G-Ones;




Here in its latest setup with a Salsa Firestsrter fork and the WTB Trailblazers (cranks are being painted black as we speak);


And previous setup just for good measure;
 
#1,641 ·
But if it can fit a 2.5 29 then it should have no problem fitting a 2.8 27.5. Cause yeah Schwalbe runs fat and I've put a 2.35 Hans dampf in the rear and it was super tight
You would be basing a wheel build and relying solely on nominal size misinformation and deviation that "some" tire mfg's promote, but not all do. My plus tires (Schwalbes) are actually 2.8 when named "2.8" or the same for 3.0. Guess you'll have to carefully pick your tire and then stick with it.
 
#1,643 ·
In that regard, I have not personally tried putting a 650Plus wheel in there. I have a couple sets but they're all Boost. With that, the guy I bought this "new" frame from had bought it brand new, tried to squeeze 650Plus into the rear, and it failed his desired fit test so he sold the frame to me for my 29 build. He bought a Gnot Boost frame as they had just come out at the time. I can't say what tire choice he had tried but he was shootin' for "plus" so I'd guess 2.8 as a chance as 3.0 is no brainer, not gonna fit, option.
 
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