New Surly Karate Monkey for 2007?
August 8th, 2006 by Tim GrahlIn my interview with Nick Sande from Surly Bikes I asked him about their new stuff being released at Interbike and he was very tight lipped. However, I was talking to a buddy of mine that is usually in the “know” and he mentioned something about Surly reworking the Karate Monkey for 2007.
When I questioned him about it, he waved it often and said he wasn’t being serious, but I dunno. It seemed more like back-pedaling due to letting something slip he wasn’t supposed to.
So is Surly re-releasing the Monkey for 2007? If so, what could they be doing differently to an already popular design?
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Perhaps doing something about the standover such as an instigator styled frame and also working on the disc mounting setup to make it easier to remove the wheel.
Both of those would get my vote.
the number 853 has a nice ring to it!
….i’m cool with the stand over on my current km,but yeah the rear dropouts could be better or ebb…
Well, it would make sense for Surly to do something along the lines of the Salsa El Mariachi. A better tubeset, maybe address the drop out and standover issues, but I can not see them making it disc only, or taking away any of the built in versatility. Look to the 1X1 as an example.
Definitely they need to change the color choices.
They need to raise the bottom bracket height, and more standover would be awesome too, allowing a 5′9″ guy the ability to ride a Medium sized KM instead of a small like I am now.
Yeah, what Mark said - he beat me to it. The BB needs to come up quite a bit, at least for us NE riders. Whenever I switch between the Walt and the KM (like last night) there’s a good chance I’m gonna nail my cranks/pedals at least once early in the ride. I’ve really considered going to 165mm cranks on the KM for a little more clearance.
I know, I know it’s a “do it all” - but they have the LHT and ‘Cross Check so just make it a MTB only 29er and roll with it.
Surly will never do an 853 bike. It goes against their goals of providing affordable, reliable frames. Trust me, I asked
With a gazillion SS/Geared + rigid fork offerings out there now, the market has changed a lot for the KM. Easily 10 or 30 times more potential customers, but well possible fewer picking the KM. Standover IS an issue for those that are less than long-legged, but I still think the bike’s soul and handling make up for that. Also don’t forget that the KM set the geometry standard for 29″ers. More so than even Fisher, probably.
I hope they won’t wait till Interbike, but bring the goodness to Eurobike.
With (seemingly) the Instigator not really selling anymore, while more extreme riding is still in the way up, a large wheel successor dows make sense. KM or re-worked dropouts on a slacker geometry frame, that woul be pretty cool! I’m not betting my money on any sort of low top tube though, every company has it’s trademark…
Cloxxki
3 Surly’s and counting
Good points, Cloxxki. Read the Surly Blog entry for 8/9/06. In it they do indeed say that they will be showing the new goods at Euro Bike.
It would appear that they are slightly, well……”surly” about the speculation on their new projects out here in the web-o-sphere.
Surly has always been extremely sucessful in keeping new products and frame colors a secret till they hit a show or made a press release.
Time for a red KM, I say. Or poison green. But with every suggestion we make, it becomes more sure they’ll do something else.
Vertical dropouts and disc-only frames please!!!
Change the colors? Skid Mark Brown has got to be the coolest thing in the world!! I personally like the current geometry as I am a long legged, short torsoed freak of nature. The 18″ fits perfect and I usually ride a 20″ frame in 26″ wheel MTBs. Just make sure you look at the numbers when you pick your size and roll with it…
Need rim brakes please. Disks just add weight and cost.
I love my KM, the only thing that gets me is rear tire clearance when running gears. I had to grind some material off of the swing arm on my front der. It looks like they have solved the issue with the fork hitting the downtube for 07.
KM is the biz, a fantastic cool tool, I use mine for commuting all year rain, sleet, ice, snow with On-One carbon forks it just rolls along mile after mile. Althought fixed with a single front disc provides as much excitement as anyone can handle on icy tarmac, or is it me that is a wimp.
Long live Surly
Does anyone have experience with the frame size on this thing? I am 6′1″ and the size to me looks like a medium…only that scares me cuz I have never been a medium anything since I was 13. Does medium look like the right fit for someone with a 33/34 inseam?
I would like to know the same thing Sleepy, I’m same height and inseam and want to buy one.
I have roughly 2″ standover on the 2007 KM medium frame - my inseam is 32″.
Fixing front dreailleur issuse would be nice but for the disc guys out there would you really want to add more weight with an excentric bottom bracket and discs to an all ready heavy frame ?
I was almost tempted to set up my KM as a 1 x 9 because it was a pain to set one up.
What would also be nice if Surly expanded their size range to include riders smaller than 5′ 6″.
Shoooot… I’m 6′5″ and I have the opposit problem… finding something big enough but a large frame fits me well and with enough stand over height for my 36″ inseam.
I’m 5′11” and ride a 22. Is that weird?