Karate Monkey Mongrel Build
mikenetic
Posts: 486
I got hold of a Karate Monkey from a mate for a good price, so decided to have a play with it. It's a really adaptable frame, and mine came with both flat and wood chipper drop bars. It was a single speed set up.
After bashing about on it for a while I decided I wanted to build what was in effect an over-sized, super-plushy cyclocross bike, and to keep the maintenance to a minimum. To keep things interesting I decided to give an Alfine hub a try.
The finish was pretty bashed up, so in the course of my experimenting I brazed on an additional set of cable points so I could run a shift cable along the down tube and chain stay. The standard cable run up the seat stay would make the shifter cross the chain, and I wasn't at all happy with the clearances.
Then it was a fresh powder coat, in orange.
I got the rigid fork redone in the same colour, but I also thought I'd grab a suspension fork to give that a try. A 100mm Rockshox 30 Gold TK was duly purchased. And then I built it up with a drop-bar and a Jtek bar end shifter.
I've given it a few run outs now, and I'm really pleased with it. The hub shift is nice and crisp, with a decent range across the 8 speeds. The ride position is comfy, and it's possible to ride on the hoods as well as in the drops.
For a bike that superficially looks a bit odd I'm very happy with the way it hangs together as a package. I've got about 4 bikes in one. Drop or flat bar, rigid or bouncy, single speed or geared.
After bashing about on it for a while I decided I wanted to build what was in effect an over-sized, super-plushy cyclocross bike, and to keep the maintenance to a minimum. To keep things interesting I decided to give an Alfine hub a try.
The finish was pretty bashed up, so in the course of my experimenting I brazed on an additional set of cable points so I could run a shift cable along the down tube and chain stay. The standard cable run up the seat stay would make the shifter cross the chain, and I wasn't at all happy with the clearances.
Then it was a fresh powder coat, in orange.
I got the rigid fork redone in the same colour, but I also thought I'd grab a suspension fork to give that a try. A 100mm Rockshox 30 Gold TK was duly purchased. And then I built it up with a drop-bar and a Jtek bar end shifter.
I've given it a few run outs now, and I'm really pleased with it. The hub shift is nice and crisp, with a decent range across the 8 speeds. The ride position is comfy, and it's possible to ride on the hoods as well as in the drops.
For a bike that superficially looks a bit odd I'm very happy with the way it hangs together as a package. I've got about 4 bikes in one. Drop or flat bar, rigid or bouncy, single speed or geared.
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Comments
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Unusual but looks good!Cube Analog 2012 with various upgrades.0
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Thats certainly different. I like it!
Its more of a mtb with drop bars really, not a cyclocross bike.0 -
GT-Arrowhead wrote:Thats certainly different. I like it!
Its more of a mtb with drop bars really, not a cyclocross bike.
Yeah- I agree with you there, the slacker head angle and weight certainly change the feel when you compare it to a true CX bike. I normally ride road and CX, but I've entered The Crossing event this summer, and that was the motivator to get it built.
I was chatting to a guy in my LBS and he'd asked if I'd considered putting narrow CX tyres on it. I hadn't even thought of that, but at some point I might chuck a pair of 40mm tyres on it and see what that does to the feel.0 -
I'm not telling you to take the drop bars off, but that would look amazing with some flat bars.
I absolutely love the colour - if I ever get any of my bikes resprayed I think they would be that colour!
Road - Dolan Preffisio
MTB - On-One Inbred
I have no idea what's going on here.0 -
declan1 wrote:I'm not telling you to take the drop bars off, but that would look amazing with some flat bars.
I absolutely love the colour - if I ever get any of my bikes resprayed I think they would be that colour!
The colour is RAL2009 - traffic orange, in case you're planning a respray.
I actually do have a set of flat bars and controls too, including an Alfine flat bar shifter. To swap it to a flat bar all I'd need to do would be disconnect the shift cable and brake inners, cut the cable ties, put the new bar & stem combo and attach the new cable outers. It's more like a box of Meccano than a bike.0 -
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I don't get it, but I love the orange.
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I don't know who he is, but I still love the orange. 0
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Gettin' the Kids up to speed: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Tomac
Otherwise known as I Feel Really Old.0 -
He's only 5 years older than I am.
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