Bikes Of 2025: Karate Monkey

 It's another end-of-year period on the blog. You know what that means? Yep! Another round of my bikes I used in 2025. This round-up will not include some of the bikes I did not use this year much, or at all. I focus only on the bikes that played a big role in my riding during this year.  As always, any changes or future plans for any bike I feature will also be detailed. I hope that you enjoy this year's round-up.

 My 2003 Karate Monkey is still rolling along in 2025 after 22 years of service. It is my bicycle which I have had running the longest out of any I have now. This is also my first ever 29"er, the bike I rode the longest in one sitting, (around 160+ miles), and was my first gravel grinder bicycle. 

For most of its time with me it has had drop bars. I changed to a flat bar when I got in the Good Grief Cycles "Nice Bar" and installed it back in January of this year. It also was mostly used with disc brakes until a couple of years ago. 

As far as uses went this year I very briefly had this out on gravel, but for the most part it was a commuting bike used on the occasions when I wasn't riding fixed gear. I did put a computer on the bike this year as well. An older, NOS Cateye Velo 5. I recently put an old, reconditioned Brooks saddle and silver post on the bike but I am going back to what you see here in the Ritchey post and apple green Brooks B-17. 

One weird fact about this bike is the head set. It is a Race Face head set which I purchased in 1996 for a Diamondback full suspension XC bike I used to have. I used this head set when I first built this bike up in March of 2003. It is a turquoise anodized head set and it works perfectly on the bike to this day.  

In the future I have contemplated going back to disc brakes, but this would require a new wheel set, or.....I still have the original wheel set. It was a Paul Components WORD hubbed, Alex disc rim wheel set. I need a couple of parts for the Paul rear WORD hub to make it right again, but I hear Paul still will service these older hubs. I have to look into this. 

As far as the bars go, I like them, and the fact the Nice Bar is an angled extension bar makes me more likely to stick with it. Otherwise I think I'd go back to a drop bar again. 

I also need to find a new set of tires for the KM. I have on a set of old Vulpine 2.1" tires which are kind of weird handling and not the greatest for what I want out of this bike. 

I likely won't ever get rid of this bicycle until I cannot ride anymore. It is not just significant to me, but these first gen Karate Monkeys were the bikes a lot of custom frame builders used as a template for their early 29"er custom bikes. I'd go so far as to say this model was the most copied bicycle in modern times, from a geometry and style point of view. The first Karate Monkeys were most definitely a boon to the acceptance of 29"ers at that time and later. 

So, I am happy to have this bicycle yet, and it will be getting miles in 2026 as well. 

Project "Old School Gravel"

This year I am going on a bit of a retro-gravel journey. I started by taking my very first dedicated gravel bicycle, my 2003 Karate Monkey, and setting it up with the Good Grief Cycles Nice Bar. I also went with some older tires, the WTB Vulpine, (the original XC 29"er ones - not the current gravel versions) and rim brakes. 

But I am not stopping there. I am going to try to use stuff that is from the 2000's as much as possible. Things like the current tires, disc brakes, bags, racks, or even GPS computers are not going to be considered here. 

So, one of the items that will be employed in this project is an NOS Cat Eye Velo 9 computer. Now this may be an item which cuts across my self-imposed border of 2010, but it's close to what we would have used back in the day, and I don't think anyone will really quibble about this wired computer being representative of the era. 

I happened to come across this when it was donated to the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective. I purchased it and will now be attaching it to the Karate Monkey. This will be part of my old school navigation system. The other part will be a cue sheet holder made from an old water bottle and a clip for office files. It's a design I actually used several times before in the past, and was what I used when I completed Gravel Worlds in 2016. 

I'm still weighing my options when it comes to hydration. I could use a hydration pack, and I happen to have an older Osprey pack and a few bladders. They will need serious cleaning though so I do not get sick. Those nasty growing things! 

OR - I may use a half frame bag like my old Revelate Tangle Bag and stuff water bottles in there or again - a hydration bladder with the hose clipped to my stem. OR - I may use clamps and put bottles on the fork, but that is my least favorite option. 

Then it will be on to some adventures on the set up,which should start happening yet this month. I also want to try this set up in Kansas, if that trip pans out. 

Stay tuned....

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year

Okay, you made it into another realm of time known as "2025". You have another chance to ride. Let's go! You know what? You shouldn't wait until New Year's Day to think this is your next chance at doing this-or-that in cycling (or in anything, really) You should have this new feeling every day you wake up. Buuuuuuutttt, that's a whole other story. 

I'll just say that I hope all your dreams, goals, and desires come true in 2025.

Now, let's catch up, shall we? I've been posting so much on things past that what is recent and present has, largely, been ignored here. So, I thought I'd get that taken care of here today. 

The first thing to know about me and any December of the past two decades is that I try to pre-schedule and have written up posts for the entire month of December by the end of the first week or ten days of the month. That way I get some time off to relax from blogging/writing and I get a bit of rest to recharge. 

I'm not sure how this happened, but 2024 was my highest output for blog posts in a single calendar year. I beat the old record by three posts, and the new record is 392. I would guess that the Virtual Turkey Burn Ride Reports are to blame for this new record, so again - Thank You to those who sent in a report last year. 

So, I haven't been doing a lot of planned rides either. December is pretty much a rest month from all of those activities. It makes sense for me since my wife's and my daughter's birthdays are two days apart from each other mid-month and the next week is Christmas followed by my wedding anniversary, which is tomorrow. (26 years! Woo!)

I have tinkered with a few things in the shop. One which I have previously spoken of here in that Roval rear wheel. I had a bit of a hurdle when I came around to replacing nipples on those Aerolite spokes, which like to twist up like a ribbon when you tighten the nipples up. I needed room to get my bladed spoke holder as close to the exposed part of the nipple as possible and yet be able to turn the nipple with a tool to tighten it. 

The modded Shimano spoke wrench

I needed a spoke wrench that looked like a spanner wrench, not a traditional spoke wrench. There are some online, but I made one out of an older Shimano aluminum spoke wrench by filing its bladed spoke holder out to 3.3mm. I managed to get the job done, so that worked out well.

With all the downtime from writing I was noting that a few posts I made in early December were totally going off the hook. Why that was is still a mystery to me. Maybe it has something to do with bots and "AI", or maybe someone linked to a forum and that drew a ton of hits. Anyway, there wasn't really anything especially remarkable about any of the posts that were garnering the big numbers of views versus the ones surrounding them. I'll be keeping an eye out for anomalys like those in 2025.

We had an ice storm around mid-month in December which put the kibosh on any riding for a few days. It also stopped me from working one day as well, which, to be honest, isn't ever ideal since I work so few days a week as it is! 

Then two days before Christmas I got some intestinal bug or something which caused a lot of pain and discomfort. Finally it "passed", (sorry....) and I was on the mend by the 27th. However; the illness and the inclement weather we've had kept me off my bikes and I was going a bit stir crazy there for a bit. 

These types of situations are always cause for concern because I have the time to think. Think about doing this or that with some bicycle I own. Many might remember my Shogun 1000 post here a while back and my saying I missed riding fixed gear. Well, it has been a disease of late as I find myself looking at Surly and Paul disc brake fixed gear hubs to convert a certain bike I have sitting around here. 

Might happen, might not happen, or it may be happening now. Stay tuned .... 

I finally received that handle bar from Good Grief Cycles on the 27th and again - with all the time to think, I decided against putting the bar on my Blackbuck and I am put it on my old Karate Monkey which I want to put back into the rotation of gravel bikes here which I plan to I use in 2025. My idea was to set the bike up as a "throwback" gravel machine. I just need an old Persian rug to make a "top tube snake" out of and then I'd be spot-on. (If you know, you know) 

Okay, that's about it for notable cycling related stuff here. Tomorrow I kick off things again with a "State of the Gravel Scene" post and a surprise announcement. Make sure you check it out!

Bikes Of 2024: Karate Monkey

It's another late November/December here on the blog. You know what that means? Yep! Another round of my bikes I used in 2024. This round-up will not include some of the bikes I did not use this year much, or at all. I focus only on the bikes that played a big role in my riding during this year.  

As always, any changes or future plans for any bike I feature will also be detailed. I hope that you enjoy this year's round-up. 

The Karate Monkey I've had since 2003

This bike is a survivor, a bike that was an example of a trend that was destined to take over mountain biking, and a bike that is dear to me for several reasons. The 2003 Karate Monkey in Campstove Green. Now a commuter bike, for the most part, it is still one of my favorite bikes. 

The bike is a "survivor" because I almost had to retire it permanently at one point. Before it became my main gravel bike in 2004/2005, the Karate Monkey was at first my main mountain bike, then it went into commuter duty for several years. This meant it was ridden through Winter for several Winter's worth of salt, grime, and precipitation. This ended in a situation where my bottom bracket went bad and I needed to replace it, but it was frozen into the steel frame. 

The Karate Monkey was my first gravel grinder. Here seen in 2006

I was busy, I was doing a LOT of review work on 29" bicycles and products, so the Karate Monkey ended up being pushed to the darkest corners of the shop for several years. Then, around 2013, I decided to start working on the bike again. It took quite the effort, but the bottom bracket was extracted, and the Karate Monkey lived again to ride another day about eight or nine years ago now.

Last year I converted the Karate Monkey back to a flat bar bike for the first time in about 20 years! I did ride it flat bar at first, but not for very long. Now it is not only back to a flat bar, but I installed cantilever brakes last year for the first time on this bike.  

The set up hasn't changed for this year, but I did install a WTB TPU tube in the back tire for testing which has been awesome so far. I commuted on this bike for much of the year, but recently that duty has fallen to a couple of other bikes which you will see here soon in this series. 

As far as any future changes go I may return this bike to a drop bar set up with disc brake wheels and brakes if I should decide to start doing some more gravel riding on it again. But I am waffling on that point. I do think new tires are in order, at least for commuting duty. We will see. One thing is for certain though and that is that this bike is not getting retired anytime soon!

Three Major Players: 25 Years Of 29"ers

Yesterday I wrote about "The Tire" and wheel diameter as it relates to 29"ers and off-road bicycling.  Today I wanted to highlight three major players in the early 29"er movement that, I believe, without whom the 29"er was doomed to the dust heap. 

The Karate Monkey by Surly as shown at the 2002 Interbike show. (Image courtesy of Surly Bikes)

The Karate Monkey:

In my opinion the Surly Karate Monkey was probably the most influential 29"er ever made. One, because it was the first, widely available, affordable 29"er option that was well thought out. This design was so well done that it inspired a slew of other 29"er models in its wake, not to mention a bunch of custom builders as well who were brazing and welding up new 29"er frames as fast as they could. 

However; the affordability provided by the Karate Monkey maybe was the biggest influence here. One could buy a frame and fork, then pull together the rest of the build from inexpensive parts, parts bin finds, or in whatever way one desired. This provided the 29"er curious an avenue to try bigger wheels before they were forced into plunking down big money for a rare bike shop model or custom build. 

Because Surly built their reputation on versatility, single speed capability, and value to the customer, there perhaps was no better company suited to "evangelizing" the 29"er. You could go a hundred different directions with your build, which was probably another part of why this bike caught on as quickly as it did and was responsible for many converts to big wheels in the early 2000's. 

Niner Bikes was solely focused on 29"ers in 2005. (Image courtesy of Niner Bikes)

The Big Revolution - Niner Bikes:

In late 2004 an advertising banner appeared on the 29"er forum at mtbr.com ballyhooing a new company no one had ever heard of before called Niner Bikes. All it said was "The Big Revolution". No bike was shown. The previous banner for the forum was from a small custom builder called WaltWorks, a builder that had been an early champion of big wheels off road. 

This stirred up a lot of interest and speculation. Was this new imposter really behind 29'ers, or was someone just trying to make a buck on a new trend? Such was the sentiment of many 29"er fans back in the day, earning all of the 29"er crowd the derogatory "29"er zealots" tag from the rest of the MTB community. 

But Chris Sugai and Steve Domahidy were dead serious about this venture. They bankrolled their future success on the big wheels and never looked back. This eventually had a major impact on the 29"er community. By the way, I interviewed both Chris and Steve from Niner Bikes at the time in this "Ted-terview" from 2006.

Niner pushed the boundaries of what 29"ers were capable of from being just a niche, single speed bike to full-on 29"er down hill type rigs. Niner was so confident that 29"ers would eventually be the first choice for wheel size amongst off-roaders that Chris Sugai made the bold statement that 26"ers would be extinct in the near future. 

The bold, forward-thinking direction that Chris and Steve had for 29"ers was a major influence on the cycling industry and showed riders that no off-road discipline was off limits for 29 inch wheels. "Big Revolution" indeed! And what of Chris Sugai's bold prediction? 

You tell me where all the 26"ers are in 2024. 

A titanium Gary Fisher prototype circa 2000. (Image courtesy of Trek Bicycles)

 From The Godfather of Mountain Biking - Gary Fisher Bikes:

Of course, no discussion of this type can be had without the mention of the importance of Gary Fisher and his namesake company. Gary Fisher is also one of those important figures in mountain biking and his influence came to bear behind the scenes in the late 1990's which was critical in the push to get a true 2" wide 29"er tire. Fisher, himself a racer at the time, was interested in how such a larger diameter tire could be utilized to gain an advantage in racing, specifically XC MTB racing. 

Even after "The Tire" was made, Fisher's effervescent personality and endless energy came to bear on Trek, the parent company, and he was convincing enough that by 2002 Gary Fisher Bicycles had a 29"er MTB in their line up. Keeping the foot in the gas, Fisher convinced team racers to try a 29"er, and by the mid 2000's he saw results as Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski became the first successful 29"er XC racer. More results followed and other brands, teams, and athletes began to take notice. By the time the 2000's came to a close, XC MTB racing was starting to see many more 29"ers on the start lines. This all thanks to Gary Fisher's inestimable influence on big wheels. 

On the retail side the road was bumpy, but Trek stuck behind the 29"er and with the coup Trek pulled by getting Rock Shox to give Fisher Bikes the exclusive on the Reba 29"er fork for a year, sales skyrocketed. Soon 29"ers were outselling 26 inch MTB's at Fisher Bikes, and again, brands were taking note. By the close of the decade you could more easily count those companies who were not offering a 29"er than you could count those who were offering 29"ers. 

Perhaps even less known than all of the above was Fisher's influence on women and 29"er acceptance. By offering 29 inch wheeled MTB's to the woman's team, Fisher encouraged the switch to women riding on 29"ers in races all throughout the world. This very thought, that shorter people could ride 29"ers effectively, was a major criticism of big wheels in the 2000's and this eventually was blown away as well by the late twenty-teens. 

Sadly, Trek folded the Fisher brand into its Trek brand in 2010 by saying "The Gary Fisher Collection" will give Trek retailers acces to a unique product line up of 29"ers". In reality the Fisher brand name disappeared and the legacy of Gary Fisher was hidden from view afterward. Whether Trek honestly believed its own marketing hype, or if it was a veiled attempt at killing off the Fisher brand, I don't know. But in my opinion, it is a travesty on Trek's part that they have erased the Fisher brand from the consciousness of the mountain biking public. 

In Closing: All three of these brands built their legacy in 29"ers off the introduction of the 29" WTB Nanoraptor 25 years ago. Had that tire not happened, and it nearly did not, the landscape of MTB would look radically different today. 

Next: Why "The Tire" Matters Today

More Maintenance & Changes

Maintenance has been ongoing with the "fleet" of bikes here throughout the end of January and early February. I thought I might take some time to detail what I've been up to and show any changes i've made of late. 

The Tamland got some long, long overdue maintenance recently. How long has this been waiting? Well, I got the chain and cassette for this repair over a year ago. That long! 

I took the opportunity to clean it up thoroughly as well. At the time I did this I was thinking we might be in for an epic "slop season" with all that snow. However; that did not materialize and now I am contemplating removal of the fenders so I can test something else out on the bike. Stay tuned on that...

Otherwise the Tamland Two is pretty much good to go. That bike is "set in stone" as far as how I have it set up with the exception of the fenders and I do have alternate wheels for it. I gotta get that out a few more times than I did last year. It's the ten year anniversary for this bike, by the way, which happens next month. Look for a special post about that coming in a few weeks.

I road the Fargo a couple of times recently for some in-town rides and I was rethinking my take on the Hy Rd calipers. 

I was pretty much thinking they were much like the TRP brakes on the aforementioned Tamland Two. That being more "on-off" with little modulation. But then I found through more riding that the Hy Rd does have a bit softer feel than the TRP full hydraulics do. 

This probably has a lot to do with the fact that my cable housing flexes somewhat and a full hydraulic set up has very little housing expansion. That would account for the softer feel of the Hy Rd right there. 

It is still a very powerful brake, and very quiet. This, more than anything else, is what I like best about the Hy Rd's. I cannot remember a time where those old Avids were "quiet". BB-7's are inherently noisy unless you have the really old and really rare single piece caliper BB-7's. Those are a lot quieter than the newer versions are. 

The Pofahl Signature Custom single speed. Notice anything different? (Ha!)

The Pofahl had the maintenance wand waved over it recently as well. I cleaned out the old I-9 hub and re-greased it with some DuMonde Tech Liquid Grease. It needed it too! It was very black and dried up for the most part inside there before I cleaned it all out with some Finish Line degreaser followed up with some WD-40 and then the Liquid Grease. 

That hub was insanely buzzy before the maintenance but afterward it was relatively quiet. I actually have to attune my ear to it now. So, that's a big improvement and a testament to what a good grease can do inside a hub. 

So, another rig ready to go and I hope to do just that with this bike and the Karate Monkey which I also did a little change to. I swapped out the 17T cog for an 18T rear cog to take the bite out of accelerating that bike. One tooth? Yes. Yes it does make a difference. I know because I have been riding it a fair amount of late. I probably will be doing some country rides on it soon to get accustomed to single speed gravel again and so I can test something on the bike I can't talk about just yet. 

That's about it for now. Stay tuned for more soon....

Bikes Of 2023: Karate Monkey

 It's another December here on the blog. You know what that means? Yep! Another round of my bikes I used in 2023. This round-up will not include some of the bikes I did not use this year much, or at all. I focus only on the bikes that played a big role in my riding during this year.  

As always, any changes or future plans for any bike I feature will also be detailed. I hope that you enjoy this year's round-up. 

The Karate Monkey, a bike I have owned now for twenty years! That's crazy to write that! But.....it is true, and it was my first 29"er. Big changes to this rig for 2023 included going back to a flat bar, the first time the ol' KM has seen that since 2005! 

I used the Velo Orange Utility Bar and I affixed their Utility Rack to it. Then I found a used Velo Orange handle bar bag and kind of rigged that on there. A seat pack and a Revelate Designs "Jerry Can" went on it as well. That rounded out the set up and I've ridden this all over the town during 2023. 

I did do one gravel ride with the set-up to fetch a pint jar of gravel which the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame requested from me. That trip revealed that the gearing chosen for this bike is too steep! So, that may be a change for 2024, as I wouldn't mind this becoming my flat bar gravel bike, but I really have to change the gearing. 

Another change may be getting a basket instead of that randonnuering bag. Baskets. All the rage now! I'll be sooooo trendy! Ha! 

But otherwise the only thing I ever think about swapping here is the cantilever brakes for disc. And that's just because the wheel choices are so much better than rim brake rims offer. I also want better tires, and I want to run tubeless. 

I have some rad cantilever brakes and levers from Velo Orange that were going to go on this bike, but then I realized that the Karate Monkey was set up for linear pull brakes out back, so that sort of ixnayed that idea! Oh well.... 

From the gravel fetching trip back in May

 The Karate Monkey has seen some adventures and some long down times since I've owned it. My hope is that 2024 will be the year that the KM makes a big return to gravel travel. It was my first "gravel bike" as well as being my first 29"er, and this bike has been one of my sentimental favorites for many years now. I hope to write several more chapters in its story with me going forward.

Country Views: Gathering The Gravel

Escape route: 4th Street, Waterloo, Iowa.

 Last Thursday I decided I'd better get this chore done that I had been putting off for several weeks. It was a very odd job to fulfill a strange request. A request from the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame, as a matter of fact.

They are trying to build displays for each individual already in the GCHoF and requested a few things from each of us. One of those things was a 20 ounce jar of our local gravel. yes - a jar of rocks. 

I suppose it will be somewhat interesting to see all the rocks and dirt people will eventually contribute in the years to come. We will see that "gravel" is not only diverse in terms of the people that participate, but in its very nature when it comes to what we ride on.  

I searched the house for a canning jar but could not find one. I ended up using a jar from spaghetti sauce instead. I wrapped that in a shop towel and bubble wrap and then I put that in my Campagne Bag on the Karate Monkey. That would insure that I wouldn't break the jar on the trip. Of course, I had to do this by bicycle, and I used the KM not only because that big bag is mounted on it, but this bicycle was my first "gravel bike". It was the bike I fell in love riding gravel with over my first several years of riding gravel. 

Once again, things are VERY dry in the country.

I saw a weather related article before I left that stated that due to this run of very dry air with no rain for days that where I live is on the verge of being rated "moderate" in terms of drought conditions. Once I reached the gravel, it was plain to see. The gravel is very dusty, and the dirt looks pretty bad around the North side of Waterloo. 

Looking North up Sage Road you can see how it veers left to get around the Big Rock

Looking West over to Big Rock Road

I decided that the place I would scoop up some gravel for this GCHoF deal had to be at the intersection of Big Rock Road and Sage Road where The Big Rock is beside the Southeast corner of the intersection. I stopped and leaned the Karate Monkey against the huge stone and stepped over to the intersection, stooped down, and scooped up a few handfuls of crushed limestone. 

As I stood up I felt oddly. Like this was a significant gesture and I felt a wave of emotion. But just then, a car's tires were heard on the rocks coming from the South up Sage Road. I didn't have time to process those feelings and I stepped off the road to allow the car to pass by. 

The jar of crushed rock on The Big Rock

Old and new technology coexisting on the farm

I snapped off a few photos to mark the occasion and remounted the bike after packing the jar of gravel away carefully in the Campagne Bag. Heading East down Big Rock Road, I was feeling a lot less work on the pedals. Heading Eastward was very bad since the wind was strong out of that direction. The air was super-dry, but otherwise it was an awesome day with zero clouds in the sky and warm temperatures. 

Riding the Karate Monkey in this new configuration is so-not aero and I could tell the difference. It was super-slow going heading into the wind and even without that it was slow. Much slower than my "true" gravel bikes are when riding out in the country. Slow isn't necessarily "bad", but if I am trying to get miles in this bike won't do. 

Anyway, it was a ride, I got my chore done, and today, sometime this day, that jar will get delivered in Emporia.

Country Views: Gathering The Gravel

Escape route: 4th Street, Waterloo, Iowa.

 Last Thursday I decided I'd better get this chore done that I had been putting off for several weeks. It was a very odd job to fulfill a strange request. A request from the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame, as a matter of fact.

They are trying to build displays for each individual already in the GCHoF and requested a few things from each of us. One of those things was a 20 ounce jar of our local gravel. yes - a jar of rocks. 

I suppose it will be somewhat interesting to see all the rocks and dirt people will eventually contribute in the years to come. We will see that "gravel" is not only diverse in terms of the people that participate, but in its very nature when it comes to what we ride on.  

I searched the house for a canning jar but could not find one. I ended up using a jar from spaghetti sauce instead. I wrapped that in a shop towel and bubble wrap and then I put that in my Campagne Bag on the Karate Monkey. That would insure that I wouldn't break the jar on the trip. Of course, I had to do this by bicycle, and I used the KM not only because that big bag is mounted on it, but this bicycle was my first "gravel bike". It was the bike I fell in love riding gravel with over my first several years of riding gravel. 

Once again, things are VERY dry in the country.

I saw a weather related article before I left that stated that due to this run of very dry air with no rain for days that where I live is on the verge of being rated "moderate" in terms of drought conditions. Once I reached the gravel, it was plain to see. The gravel is very dusty, and the dirt looks pretty bad around the North side of Waterloo. 

Looking North up Sage Road you can see how it veers left to get around the Big Rock

Looking West over to Big Rock Road

I decided that the place I would scoop up some gravel for this GCHoF deal had to be at the intersection of Big Rock Road and Sage Road where The Big Rock is beside the Southeast corner of the intersection. I stopped and leaned the Karate Monkey against the huge stone and stepped over to the intersection, stooped down, and scooped up a few handfuls of crushed limestone. 

As I stood up I felt oddly. Like this was a significant gesture and I felt a wave of emotion. But just then, a car's tires were heard on the rocks coming from the South up Sage Road. I didn't have time to process those feelings and I stepped off the road to allow the car to pass by. 

The jar of crushed rock on The Big Rock

Old and new technology coexisting on the farm

I snapped off a few photos to mark the occasion and remounted the bike after packing the jar of gravel away carefully in the Campagne Bag. Heading East down Big Rock Road, I was feeling a lot less work on the pedals. Heading Eastward was very bad since the wind was strong out of that direction. The air was super-dry, but otherwise it was an awesome day with zero clouds in the sky and warm temperatures. 

Riding the Karate Monkey in this new configuration is so-not aero and I could tell the difference. It was super-slow going heading into the wind and even without that it was slow. Much slower than my "true" gravel bikes are when riding out in the country. Slow isn't necessarily "bad", but if I am trying to get miles in this bike won't do. 

Anyway, it was a ride, I got my chore done, and today, sometime this day, that jar will get delivered in Emporia.

Going Flat: The Bag

Used Velo Orange Campagne Bag

 I was able to finally complete my vision I had for the Velo Orange Utility Bar/Handlebar and the Karate Monkey recently. This post will detail what I had to do to make it all work. 

The former owner of this bag, a Velo Orange branded handle bar bag, offered me a ridiculously low price for it. In fact, I ended up doubling his offer and at that I still think I came away with a bargain. Most decent handle bar bags like this that I can find are well over $100.00 and I paid less than half of $100.00 for this bag which I cannot hardly tell has been used. 

So, with that score I came home and tried to figure out just how to attach this thing to the Utility Rack. This bag is meant to be held by a decaleur and I did not buy that since the decaleur would not have worked with the Utility Rack. The good thing was that the bag was drilled, or had holes, for the decaleur mount. I was able to kind of make my own mount which came out pretty well. 

Warning: If you are offended by roughed out fixtures and bits, please skip the next section.

If you like tinkering and finding parts to repurpose for other means, as I do, then read on....

Doing a bit of fab work

I searched around for a suitable material or bit to make a set of hooks. I also kept an eye out for something to use as a "backbone" across the back end of the bag to give it some place to be attached to as well. In the end I found an old steel fender brace for a cruiser style bike that gave me inspiration. 

The steel was rigid for sure, and the ends already had holes, which I could use. My mind went to work, and using a hack saw, a hammer, some drift punches, a bench vise, and some files I was able to fashion a brace and hooks from the old fender brace. 

And there ya go!

I won't bore you all with the nitty-gritty details of drilling holes, deburring, filing, and attaching the bits to the bag with hardware I had saved over the years. Suffice it to say that the plan worked out and the bag isn't going to randomly come off the bike now. I'll show you why in a bit here.

It's uncanny. This bag is perfect for this rack in terms of size. It fits the base like a glove. No overhanging at all, and comes up high enough on the Utility Rack's backstop that the lid opens and closes on the bag with no interference from the rack. It was as if these two items were designed for each other, in a way. Well, besides the fact that the rearward facing pockets are next to unusable and that I had to pretty much invent a way to attach the bag to the Utility Rack! 

A look underneath.

The bag originally had a sewn in leather bit with a slot that ran perpendicular to the bike's centerline. The old owner had two plastic cable ties through this slot loosely enough that I could run an old toe strap through them and then through the slotted tabs on the Utility Rack. This will keep the bag from bouncing off the deck of the rack. 

And here you can see what is going on up top.

The hooks and "backbone" I fashioned out of the old fender brace bolted to the bag with water bottle bolts and Nylock nuts and washers. Then I toe strapped the "backbone with downward pressure toward the lower brace of the Utility Bar, drawing the bag down which puts pressure downward on the hooks which are gripping the rack. 

By the way, that's a sleeping bag in a dry bag inside the handlebar bag. Lots of "bag" talk there. Sorry! I may put some Presta Valve caps over the ends of the exposed water bottle bolts just to ward off any possibility for those threads to tear something up, but for now, it's not a concern. 

Loaded up for a test ride.

I loaded up the handle bar bag and went for a ramble around the neighborhood. I rode on gravel, in alleys, on pavement, and across some grassy spaces. Nothing seemed to upset the bag on the rack, so I think this is a go for the time being. 

The next test will be a run somewhere to make coffee and then back again. I want to go by gravel to a place I have in mind, but if time gets short I can always run the Green Belt route. We will see. It may not happen right away and if it doesn't next week is a busy week so it would end up getting pushed back into June. 

Dang! Half the year gone already!

Going Flat: The Bag

Used Velo Orange Campagne Bag

 I was able to finally complete my vision I had for the Velo Orange Utility Bar/Handlebar and the Karate Monkey recently. This post will detail what I had to do to make it all work. 

The former owner of this bag, a Velo Orange branded handle bar bag, offered me a ridiculously low price for it. In fact, I ended up doubling his offer and at that I still think I came away with a bargain. Most decent handle bar bags like this that I can find are well over $100.00 and I paid less than half of $100.00 for this bag which I cannot hardly tell has been used. 

So, with that score I came home and tried to figure out just how to attach this thing to the Utility Rack. This bag is meant to be held by a decaleur and I did not buy that since the decaleur would not have worked with the Utility Rack. The good thing was that the bag was drilled, or had holes, for the decaleur mount. I was able to kind of make my own mount which came out pretty well. 

Warning: If you are offended by roughed out fixtures and bits, please skip the next section.

If you like tinkering and finding parts to repurpose for other means, as I do, then read on....

Doing a bit of fab work

I searched around for a suitable material or bit to make a set of hooks. I also kept an eye out for something to use as a "backbone" across the back end of the bag to give it some place to be attached to as well. In the end I found an old steel fender brace for a cruiser style bike that gave me inspiration. 

The steel was rigid for sure, and the ends already had holes, which I could use. My mind went to work, and using a hack saw, a hammer, some drift punches, a bench vise, and some files I was able to fashion a brace and hooks from the old fender brace. 

And there ya go!

I won't bore you all with the nitty-gritty details of drilling holes, deburring, filing, and attaching the bits to the bag with hardware I had saved over the years. Suffice it to say that the plan worked out and the bag isn't going to randomly come off the bike now. I'll show you why in a bit here.

It's uncanny. This bag is perfect for this rack in terms of size. It fits the base like a glove. No overhanging at all, and comes up high enough on the Utility Rack's backstop that the lid opens and closes on the bag with no interference from the rack. It was as if these two items were designed for each other, in a way. Well, besides the fact that the rearward facing pockets are next to unusable and that I had to pretty much invent a way to attach the bag to the Utility Rack! 

A look underneath.

The bag originally had a sewn in leather bit with a slot that ran perpendicular to the bike's centerline. The old owner had two plastic cable ties through this slot loosely enough that I could run an old toe strap through them and then through the slotted tabs on the Utility Rack. This will keep the bag from bouncing off the deck of the rack. 

And here you can see what is going on up top.

The hooks and "backbone" I fashioned out of the old fender brace bolted to the bag with water bottle bolts and Nylock nuts and washers. Then I toe strapped the "backbone with downward pressure toward the lower brace of the Utility Bar, drawing the bag down which puts pressure downward on the hooks which are gripping the rack. 

By the way, that's a sleeping bag in a dry bag inside the handlebar bag. Lots of "bag" talk there. Sorry! I may put some Presta Valve caps over the ends of the exposed water bottle bolts just to ward off any possibility for those threads to tear something up, but for now, it's not a concern. 

Loaded up for a test ride.

I loaded up the handle bar bag and went for a ramble around the neighborhood. I rode on gravel, in alleys, on pavement, and across some grassy spaces. Nothing seemed to upset the bag on the rack, so I think this is a go for the time being. 

The next test will be a run somewhere to make coffee and then back again. I want to go by gravel to a place I have in mind, but if time gets short I can always run the Green Belt route. We will see. It may not happen right away and if it doesn't next week is a busy week so it would end up getting pushed back into June. 

Dang! Half the year gone already!

Going Flat: Velo Orange Utility Bar & Utility Rack

Yesterday you got a sneak-peek at the handlebar/rack set up that I have on the Karate Monkey. You may have thought, "But wait! Didn't GT show us his Orange Crush as the bike he was going to go with flat bars?"

Yes, you would be correct. That was the plan, but there was some sort of wire crossing somewhere that led me to go with the Karate Monkey after all, and you might be surprised to know that was my first choice anyway. 

So, briefly then: I was offered a chance to review this rack and handle bar (Standard Disclaimer) and there were two options in finish- silver or black. I originally wanted black and had thought to mount the parts to the Karate Monkey. However; somehow I came to understand that black would not be available until later this month but that silver was available immediately. Okay, I could use that on the Orange Crush, but I'd need some silver levers and why not use Velo Orange cantis too? So, that's why I wrote what I wrote last week. 

You can imagine my surprise then on Friday when I opened up the box and saw a black component. Well......back to the drawing board! I sought out my black/grey Avid levers and found them, so that led me back to the Karate Monkey and well, there you have it!

Okay, now with that out of the way, let's talk about this Utility Bar and Utility Rack. These parts are meant to work together to form a solid cargo-carrying option for flat bar bikes. The Utility Bar is made from ChroMo steel and is available in riser and flat (shown) options in black or silver. The Utility Rack is an stainless rack that bolts to the Utility Bar in one of two orientations- With the longer part on the bottom or the shorter part on the bottom. There are also eyelets for a generator light mount, centered, in either orientation. 

The Utility Bar has eyelets to mount the Utility Rack in four spots, but these are through-hole, threaded mounts which are also spaced perfectly for a water bottle cage. So, you could mount the rack, use water bottle cages facing you, or not use the rack and have water bottle cages facing away from you. I suppose you could also use something like a Wolf Tooth B-Rad accessory mount to do all kinds of stuff with as well. 

The Utility Bar is not lightweight. You can imagine that it has to be somewhat stout to support a rack, and it is rated to MTB test spec. That said, it weighs in at 820 grams. The Surly Moloko Bar, a steel multi-hand position flat bar, weighs in at a claimed 100 grams less than that, for comparison. The Utility Bar is also pretty wide at just shy of 800mm with my Cardiff cork grips installed. 

A new look up front.

The Utility Rack weighs in at 570 grams with hardware. It has a 12lb weight limit (conservatively) and price is yet to be determined with an availability late this month or the first part of June. Same deal with the Utility Bar in terms of pricing and availability. UPDATED 5/12/23: The price for the Utility Bar in Black or Silver is $130.00 and the Utility Rack is $90.00 in either color, black or silver.

I mounted everything up and installed two stainless steel water bottle cages on there for good measure. The bike rides and handles very nicely with this set up. I was a bit afraid that the Utility Bar would be too stiff, but it does have some give to it and the cork grips lend some comfort as well. I've got a line on a Velo Orange handle bar bag that will sit nicely on this rack, so I am looking forward to getting that and seeing how this all will work together. 

I'll have a full review on Riding Gravel on this also. More soon.....

Going Flat: Velo Orange Utility Bar & Utility Rack

Yesterday you got a sneak-peek at the handlebar/rack set up that I have on the Karate Monkey. You may have thought, "But wait! Didn't GT show us his Orange Crush as the bike he was going to go with flat bars?"

Yes, you would be correct. That was the plan, but there was some sort of wire crossing somewhere that led me to go with the Karate Monkey after all, and you might be surprised to know that was my first choice anyway. 

So, briefly then: I was offered a chance to review this rack and handle bar (Standard Disclaimer) and there were two options in finish- silver or black. I originally wanted black and had thought to mount the parts to the Karate Monkey. However; somehow I came to understand that black would not be available until later this month but that silver was available immediately. Okay, I could use that on the Orange Crush, but I'd need some silver levers and why not use Velo Orange cantis too? So, that's why I wrote what I wrote last week. 

You can imagine my surprise then on Friday when I opened up the box and saw a black component. Well......back to the drawing board! I sought out my black/grey Avid levers and found them, so that led me back to the Karate Monkey and well, there you have it!

Okay, now with that out of the way, let's talk about this Utility Bar and Utility Rack. These parts are meant to work together to form a solid cargo-carrying option for flat bar bikes. The Utility Bar is made from ChroMo steel and is available in riser and flat (shown) options in black or silver. The Utility Rack is an stainless rack that bolts to the Utility Bar in one of two orientations- With the longer part on the bottom or the shorter part on the bottom. There are also eyelets for a generator light mount, centered, in either orientation. 

The Utility Bar has eyelets to mount the Utility Rack in four spots, but these are through-hole, threaded mounts which are also spaced perfectly for a water bottle cage. So, you could mount the rack, use water bottle cages facing you, or not use the rack and have water bottle cages facing away from you. I suppose you could also use something like a Wolf Tooth B-Rad accessory mount to do all kinds of stuff with as well. 

The Utility Bar is not lightweight. You can imagine that it has to be somewhat stout to support a rack, and it is rated to MTB test spec. That said, it weighs in at 820 grams. The Surly Moloko Bar, a steel multi-hand position flat bar, weighs in at a claimed 100 grams less than that, for comparison. The Utility Bar is also pretty wide at just shy of 800mm with my Cardiff cork grips installed. 

A new look up front.

The Utility Rack weighs in at 570 grams with hardware. It has a 12lb weight limit (conservatively) and price is yet to be determined with an availability late this month or the first part of June. Same deal with the Utility Bar in terms of pricing and availability. UPDATED 5/12/23: The price for the Utility Bar in Black or Silver is $130.00 and the Utility Rack is $90.00 in either color, black or silver.

I mounted everything up and installed two stainless steel water bottle cages on there for good measure. The bike rides and handles very nicely with this set up. I was a bit afraid that the Utility Bar would be too stiff, but it does have some give to it and the cork grips lend some comfort as well. I've got a line on a Velo Orange handle bar bag that will sit nicely on this rack, so I am looking forward to getting that and seeing how this all will work together. 

I'll have a full review on Riding Gravel on this also. More soon.....