Surly

Karate Monkey Front Suspension Bike - 27.5", Peach Salmon Sundae

Owned quite a few MTBs over the last 30 years from full rigid to full squish but mostly hardtails, and from budget to high end, but never a steel MTB. The Kmonk has quickly become my fav mtb by a country mile. I've only had the KMonk for a month now and have ridden it at least 5x a week from chunky dh trails, to sandy mountain wash trails & fire roads (aka "gravel"), and just riding around town on paved roads for exercise and recreation.. Not only is it capable across the board, the KMonk is surprisingly fast on pavement, terrific on the climbs off and on road while being pretty supple and comfortable to the point where it's become my go-to rig for all my riding except group road rides. Some specifics on components etc after some dialing-in and breaking it in, so to speak: Frame: Chromoly steel, natched tubing. First time on a steel mtb. Only other steel bike I've owned was as a young teen. It was an old Schwinn 10-speed. Love the feel of steel. Sturdy but compliant in all the right ways. Sure, a bit on the heavy side compared to my other mtbs, but I don't care much about bike weight other than the fact that I could lose a bunch of lbs myself before heading into weight weenie territory. Besides, it's a fantastic looking frame with the Peach Salmon Sundae color scheme (and name). Bottom line is that the Karate Monkey (and Surly bikes in general) is where quality, capability, and durability meet a fun aesthetic. Gearing: Shimano Deore XT shifting has been terrific. No problems at all thus far and I like the *harder* feel in shifting on mtb's. Brakes: Tektro Gemeni HD-M520 provide excellent stopping power. Haven't put them in a situation where I've needed to smash on the levers. Same time, they've functioned flawlessly and responded quickly when asked. I feel confident about them. Tires/Wheelset: The stock Surly Dirt Wizards are some good tires. I have a second set of tires (Teravail Warwicks) that I haven't used yet because I'm really happy with how well the DW's performed across the different terrains. Rockshox 35mm Gold RL (140mm travel): High quality suspension fork to complement such a quality frame. Can't really go wrong Provides plenty of what I need with the 140mm of travel. I will be picking up a rigid KMonk fork just to switch out once in awhile. TranzX YSP15 Dropper: This is the first mtb I've owned with a dropper post so I'm not sure how much I can say about it other than it eeded some adjusting and perhaps "breaking-in" and I haven't gotten it where it's worked extremely well. I'll keep fiddling with it. Salsa Rustler Bar & Velo Black Grips: Not sure how I feel about the bar that came stock. Fits me well enough that I don't plan on switching it out right now but I might in the future just to try some others out. Same with the grips. WTB Volt Saddle: It's a good saddle for the inexpensive price. Comfortable thus far including the several times I've done some long-ish rides (20 miles). Don't see any reason to upgrade since it's been just fine for me. What I love about the KMonk and of Surly's attitude in general, is their emphasis on making your bike your own, so to speak. I don't plan on any upgrades right now because it's spec'd pretty damn good for the stock build. If I do, it's mainly to try out different things or change the ride up a bit, for instance, putting the rigid fork on it; turning it into a single-speed. Trying out 29ers on it etc. More @ just having fun with it. Tree Fort: Had the bike in hand within a week of ordering it online on a Friday night and having it shipped out to SoCal. Bike came fully assembled other than front wheel & bars removed for shipping. They greased prepared the bike well to make it ride ready almost immediately and showed obvious care in packaging it for transport. Kudos to Tree Fort for doing exactly as they said they would. In short, I'd absolutely recommend that everyone get a Surly KMonk or some other Surly bike.