Mountain Biking Australia – August 2019

RIDDEN & RATED

nowadays without it feeling like a

cramped mess.

A 70mm stem with 800mm

bars (smaller frames have

60mm/750mm combinations) is

roughly what you’d expect given

the bike's intentions of ripping

single track as well as being

usable on longer expeditions.

Those 800mm alloy bars can

always be cut down a little if

you don’t want them that wide.

If you were looking at using it

purely to ride single track then a

shorter stem might sharpen up

the steering at the expense of a

bit of climbing and comfort on

longer rides.

Wheelbase numbers around

the 1120mm mark and head

angle of 67.5 degrees keeps

things comfortable when the

track turns higher speed and

steeper. While it’s not going to

be mistaken for a downhill bike

these numbers keep the bike

agile enough when you need to

get your weight back behind the

saddle without sacrificing too

much for the climbs back out.

But where the bike shines

on the trail is the balance

and playfulness of a short

rear triangle. At 423mm long,

chainstay length might not be as

short as other 29er hardtails such

as the Kona Honzo but still are

short for a 29er bike and make

the bike easy to manual and

pick up the rear wheel

over obstacles.

The level brakes are SRAM’s XC/

Trail designed brakes and offer

consistent performance with a

Up the back the bike runs

Surly’s Gnot-Boost rear axle in

its horizontal dropouts. Along

with the option of running

single speed cogs from the

horizontal dropouts, the

145mm-wide frame spacing

allows running 12x142mm

hubs or the 12x148mm spaced

Boost hubs that are part of the

complete bike’s wheelsets or

even 10x135mm hubs with the

appropriate washers from Surly.

Also up the back is big tire

clearance, while it won’t fit the

massive 5” wide tyres of the

Surly fat bikes, the frame is rated

to take a maximum tyre size of

29x3.0”. The stock 27.5x3.0” tyres

clear the rear stays adequately,

but take note of the axle position

when you’re doing it up and

make sure it’s tight to get the

centre of the tyre lined up. I

found it pretty easy to line up

the middle of the tyre’s treads

with the bolt provided for fitting

a mudguard in the chain stay

yoke when fitting and re-fitting

the rear tyre.

How did it ride?

Steel frame aficionados will tell

you all about the ride quality of

steel-framed bikes, compliant

and lively with a springy feel.

Depending on the type of steel

used, its heat treating, butting,

shape and form there can either

be a heavy duty ride ready to

take everything in its stride or a

feel akin to one of those animals

on spring play rides you’d find

at a local park. Flexing under

power and with a large amount

of undamped feedback.

OK, I’m probably exaggerating

just a little bit on that last one

but thankfully there’s none of

that here. Instead being a great

balance between compliance

and ride feel. Tearing down the

single track with the fat tyres and

modern geometry it felt planted

and stable. Down high speed fire

trails filled with chundery rocks

and gravel it was surprisingly

capable but maintained a lively

feel over water-bars and other

trail features.

Bars and Base

The geometry of the bike felt

comfortable for trail and longer

rides. With a 450mm reach for

the large size it does feel long

enough for my height but not as

long as some bikes are getting

Above: The wheels boast a
huge 40mm internal width.

Above Right: SRAM’s XC/
Trail brakes feature on the
Monkey.

Opposite From Left to Right:
NX Eagle shifting prvides
great climbing ability.

The comfortable WTB saddle.