The Monkey Decade: Close- Very Close

There are some details to work through, but this is close to done.

Many of you regular readers are familiar with my 2003 Karate Monkey and the old thread I did on this bike starting back in 2013 which I dubbed "The Monkey Decade". That kind of drug on, and on, and on due to a stuck bottom bracket which I finally, with the help of the shop mates I have, got unstuck this past Spring.

Since then I have been, on occasion, fiddling with the fit by changing out some parts here and there. All the while trying to recreate the feel I had with this bike when I last had it dialed in back in 2007-2008. Have you ever had a bicycle you had so tweaked out that you could call it "nearly perfect"? This Karate Monkey was that bicycle for me. Then I went and started changing up stuff.

I was an idiot.

Well, of course, things changed with parts and what not until I got to a place where I just figured this bicycle would never be "that bicycle" again. Besides, I had other bicycles based off the old set up which were arguably better in some facets that mattered. Well......to me they mattered. Then I saw that Velo Orange Cigne stem and that gave me some hope that this part might get me close to "that bicycle" once again. And you know what?

I think it has done just that.

The Cigne Stem puts the drop bars right where they always should have been on this bike.

Now I have hope that with a few other key changes in componentry, I not only will have "that bicycle" back again, but that it will actually surpass that set up of old to reach a new level. The stem is the key. It puts those drops right in the pocket. I like the height of the drop section and the reach is dead on. That never quite was the case with the old Monkey set up with Midge Bars and a rise stem.

These drop bars are like the Velo Orange Dajia Far Bars but are actually Gary Ergo Sweep OS Bars from Origin 8. They are interchangeable as far as design, being the same thing. Anyway, I will reserve judgement until I get some longer rides in. So far they seem a lot like what their Origin 8 name implies, an ergo bend road bar in the drops, which I am not a huge fan of, but they are okay.

Like I say, there will be changes. A 180mm crank set with a bigger ring, a different cog on the back wheel, and the red will give way to green. But this is close to being done.

Very close!

The Monkey Decade: Close- Very Close

There are some details to work through, but this is close to done.

Many of you regular readers are familiar with my 2003 Karate Monkey and the old thread I did on this bike starting back in 2013 which I dubbed "The Monkey Decade". That kind of drug on, and on, and on due to a stuck bottom bracket which I finally, with the help of the shop mates I have, got unstuck this past Spring.

Since then I have been, on occasion, fiddling with the fit by changing out some parts here and there. All the while trying to recreate the feel I had with this bike when I last had it dialed in back in 2007-2008. Have you ever had a bicycle you had so tweaked out that you could call it "nearly perfect"? This Karate Monkey was that bicycle for me. Then I went and started changing up stuff.

I was an idiot.

Well, of course, things changed with parts and what not until I got to a place where I just figured this bicycle would never be "that bicycle" again. Besides, I had other bicycles based off the old set up which were arguably better in some facets that mattered. Well......to me they mattered. Then I saw that Velo Orange Cigne stem and that gave me some hope that this part might get me close to "that bicycle" once again. And you know what?

I think it has done just that.

The Cigne Stem puts the drop bars right where they always should have been on this bike.

Now I have hope that with a few other key changes in componentry, I not only will have "that bicycle" back again, but that it will actually surpass that set up of old to reach a new level. The stem is the key. It puts those drops right in the pocket. I like the height of the drop section and the reach is dead on. That never quite was the case with the old Monkey set up with Midge Bars and a rise stem.

These drop bars are like the Velo Orange Dajia Far Bars but are actually Gary Ergo Sweep OS Bars from Origin 8. They are interchangeable as far as design, being the same thing. Anyway, I will reserve judgement until I get some longer rides in. So far they seem a lot like what their Origin 8 name implies, an ergo bend road bar in the drops, which I am not a huge fan of, but they are okay.

Like I say, there will be changes. A 180mm crank set with a bigger ring, a different cog on the back wheel, and the red will give way to green. But this is close to being done.

Very close!

Friday News And Views

Look for another Project 1X1 update coming soon...

Project 1X1 Update:

Well, the wheels went well. I will get you all caught up to speed on how the final bits went and then I will move on to the rest of the bike. I had to get a new stem, handle bar, and I haven't decided 100% on what I will need to do about the brakes yet.

This is kind of a weird bike, for me at any rate. 26 inch wheels, and as it goes with most bike companies, I am an in between size for this bike. This is an 18"er, which is smallish for me, but a 20"er is too long. Oh well..... I am used to it and will make do for now.

So, at this point the bike is rideable. I have several "fine tuning" adjustments I have to make though. The brakes, mentioned above, being one of those things. The other major change will be when I can get my mitts on a set of Surly's new Extraterrestrial tires. Those meats are tubeless rated and should fit the Cliffhangar rims fine. All of that tubelessness will be awesome, and I expect to be able to do a lot with this set up over the course of the Winter.

The "place holder" tires are kind of interesting. They are some Serfas tires I got over a year ago when I was still writing for Twenty Nine Inches. Wait........twenty six inch tires were sent to Twenty Nine Inches for review? Yep! By mistake, and they didn't want them back when I offered to send them back, so they hung around here until I had a reason to use them. That reason is the Project 1X1. So, now you know and that in "full disclosure mode" and all.... Anyway, one of the tires is dubbed the "Boil" model. Yes......boil. Who comes up with these names anyway? Weird.

Is a Luxy Bar redux just around the corner?

Alt Drop Bar News:

As many of you long time readers here know, I am a fan of the old Ragley Luxy Bar, which is a highly swept, flared drop bar. Since it hasn't been in production now for a few years, many folks hunt these down on E-bay and are paying more than what they were originally offered for in hard earned cash. I have casually kept my finger on the pulse of a rumored re-introduction of this design for years now.

The latest that I have heard is that "pact bikes", the new project started by the designer of the Luxy Bar, Brant Richards, was green lighted to do a knock off of the Luxy Bar. Then things were very quiet for quite a while. That is until yesterday.

That was when I noticed a bit of Twitter back and forth between Brant and some other UK based blokes who were mentioning the Luxy Bar and a company named "Alpkit" in the same breath. What?!! So I investigated, and it seems that this company is going to do a line of bicycles and components, one of which is a flared drop bar that, (supposedly), is the Ragley Luxy Bar reborn, or close to it. Now, I've not seen this mystery, unicorn bar yet, but when I do, I'll post up about it here. Stay tuned......

By the way, this is a "pactbike" Battlecat 650B+ rig. It's titanium. I think it is quite lovely. Brant designed one in Alu for Alpkit too. Check it out.

Velo Orange Dajia Far Bar

Velo Orange has just released the "Dajia Far Bar" for sale on its site at $54.00. This, or one nearly like it, appeared as a bar on some Koga-Miyata trekking bikes, as I understand it, in Europe a while back. However that may be, here is another choice for a flared drop bar.

It kind of reminds me of what might be called the love child of a WTB Dirt Drop v2 and a Woodchipper. My initial comments were that it looks as though you have one place to put your levers and one place to put your hands in the drops. That seems a bit limiting when you compare this to other swept/flared drop bars that are out there for sale these days.

These are available in silver or black ano, so that is cool. At least you aren't stuck with boring ol' black ano. Velo Orange also offers them in two widths, 44mm and 48mm. They are bar end compatible as well. The bars are definitely different, but I struggle to see any benefits over what we have now with Midge, Cowchipper, and hopefully that new "Mud Love" components bar from Alpkit.

Okay, that's a wrap from G-Ted Productions for today. Have a great weekend and go ride a bicycle!

Friday News And Views

Look for another Project 1X1 update coming soon...

Project 1X1 Update:

Well, the wheels went well. I will get you all caught up to speed on how the final bits went and then I will move on to the rest of the bike. I had to get a new stem, handle bar, and I haven't decided 100% on what I will need to do about the brakes yet.

This is kind of a weird bike, for me at any rate. 26 inch wheels, and as it goes with most bike companies, I am an in between size for this bike. This is an 18"er, which is smallish for me, but a 20"er is too long. Oh well..... I am used to it and will make do for now.

So, at this point the bike is rideable. I have several "fine tuning" adjustments I have to make though. The brakes, mentioned above, being one of those things. The other major change will be when I can get my mitts on a set of Surly's new Extraterrestrial tires. Those meats are tubeless rated and should fit the Cliffhangar rims fine. All of that tubelessness will be awesome, and I expect to be able to do a lot with this set up over the course of the Winter.

The "place holder" tires are kind of interesting. They are some Serfas tires I got over a year ago when I was still writing for Twenty Nine Inches. Wait........twenty six inch tires were sent to Twenty Nine Inches for review? Yep! By mistake, and they didn't want them back when I offered to send them back, so they hung around here until I had a reason to use them. That reason is the Project 1X1. So, now you know and that in "full disclosure mode" and all.... Anyway, one of the tires is dubbed the "Boil" model. Yes......boil. Who comes up with these names anyway? Weird.

Is a Luxy Bar redux just around the corner?

Alt Drop Bar News:

As many of you long time readers here know, I am a fan of the old Ragley Luxy Bar, which is a highly swept, flared drop bar. Since it hasn't been in production now for a few years, many folks hunt these down on E-bay and are paying more than what they were originally offered for in hard earned cash. I have casually kept my finger on the pulse of a rumored re-introduction of this design for years now.

The latest that I have heard is that "pact bikes", the new project started by the designer of the Luxy Bar, Brant Richards, was green lighted to do a knock off of the Luxy Bar. Then things were very quiet for quite a while. That is until yesterday.

That was when I noticed a bit of Twitter back and forth between Brant and some other UK based blokes who were mentioning the Luxy Bar and a company named "Alpkit" in the same breath. What?!! So I investigated, and it seems that this company is going to do a line of bicycles and components, one of which is a flared drop bar that, (supposedly), is the Ragley Luxy Bar reborn, or close to it. Now, I've not seen this mystery, unicorn bar yet, but when I do, I'll post up about it here. Stay tuned......

By the way, this is a "pactbike" Battlecat 650B+ rig. It's titanium. I think it is quite lovely. Brant designed one in Alu for Alpkit too. Check it out.

Velo Orange Dajia Far Bar

Velo Orange has just released the "Dajia Far Bar" for sale on its site at $54.00. This, or one nearly like it, appeared as a bar on some Koga-Miyata trekking bikes, as I understand it, in Europe a while back. However that may be, here is another choice for a flared drop bar.

It kind of reminds me of what might be called the love child of a WTB Dirt Drop v2 and a Woodchipper. My initial comments were that it looks as though you have one place to put your levers and one place to put your hands in the drops. That seems a bit limiting when you compare this to other swept/flared drop bars that are out there for sale these days.

These are available in silver or black ano, so that is cool. At least you aren't stuck with boring ol' black ano. Velo Orange also offers them in two widths, 44mm and 48mm. They are bar end compatible as well. The bars are definitely different, but I struggle to see any benefits over what we have now with Midge, Cowchipper, and hopefully that new "Mud Love" components bar from Alpkit.

Okay, that's a wrap from G-Ted Productions for today. Have a great weekend and go ride a bicycle!