Karate Monkey 2x9 29er
Surly Karate Monkey
Easton EA70 / Thompson Elite
Surly KM Fork / Chris King nothread set
Shimano XT disc / Mavic SUP 29er
Shimano XT disc / Mavic SUP 29er
FSA Vero Square Taper / Shimano UN54 118mm
Selle San Marco Aspide Arrowhead Gelaround / Thompson
Shimano M545 / Dura Ace w/ SRAM Powerlink (this works sweet)
48/34 vs 12/34
I built up this Karate Monkey because I wanted an all-around/do anything bike. It's pretty new still, but rides great. This is my first bike with disc brakes and the Avid BB7s are pretty easy to set up and have great stopping power. The toughest part of building this bike was finding the right BB/crankset combo since I wanted a 2x9 set-up. I wanted to use square taper stuff, since it's usually cheaper, works great and lasts forever, but finding the FSA crank was tough. I could only find it with a 50T big chainring (too big for the KM chainstays), so I got a 48T ring on eBay. The components are SRAM X-9 for shifters and rear, Shimano XT up front. If you get the X9 trigger shifters, they come with cables, but not housing, so you'll have to supply that somehow. So far, I love this bike -- not sure about the pedals right now (I just took them off my Stumpjumper) I may go to clips and straps, but that's an easy switch.