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I seem to have become Krampus curious, is it like a Karate Monkey but with 3" tyres or is 29+ a completely different experience?
Been looking out for 2nd hand medium size complete bikes but they seem quite hard to come by.
I have a ecr, which is like a big krampus.
very comfy, very stable and solid feeling.
It’s not wildly different to the KM, it has a little more tyre clearance at the rear, and it has fewer braze ons.
the fork is the same.
i will just point out, i have 3” tyres on my KM, fitted to hope tech enduro wheels (23mm id)
i believe you would need a krampus if you wanted to use 50mm rims with 3” tyres though.
I have 40mm rims on my ecr. I want to run a smaller tyre than a 3''. how small can I go?
i’d venture 2.4”.
40mm rim is 20% narrower than the recommended 50mm for 3” tyres.
3” tyre if it’s 20% narrower would be 2.4.
I've got an original krampus on 50mm rims 3" tyres. Can't beat it for going up and over anything. The grip and traction is unreal, like riding a monster truck. It's a fun bike for me, had it on a rocky beach covered in seaweed and was stunned by how far I got on it. Ok I was slipping about like mad on the wet seaweed but laughing the whole time. For long days out and multi day bikepacking the big wheels keep on rolling, once you get up to speed the momentum is noticeably more so that normal 29er and even 27.5 plus. I've never felt slow on it either. Without a doubt my favourite bike.
Been looking out for 2nd hand medium size complete bikes but they seem quite hard to come by.
I'm not surprised. I wouldn't dream of getting rid of mine, not even for a newer model.
They're great 😉 I've had one for 5 years now, and it's definitely the bike I will never get rid of.
I got mine as one of the first batch of rolling chassis, and it's been built up in a variety of ways - rigid, suspension, normal(ish) 29er, touring, hardcore'ish hardtail.
They're an absolute hoot on technical singletrack (quite a few local KOMs taken on my one), but also excellent for doing long all dayers in comfort.
29+ is a great format for a rigid bike - the big wheels give impressive stability at speed and you can roll over stuff that would be tricky on smaller wheels. Great for all-day rides where you can simply point it anywhere and know you'll get there. I did an SDW overnighter with mates riding FS - dropping them on the downhills in the dark - Only downside is hustling through the twisties.
Thanks guys, I'll carry on looking out for the elusive beast then.
What tyres are you running Martymac ?
had one, liked it, but sold it as i always picked my faster bike to ride, lobbed loads of money at it as well to keep it light, not that it was slow, wrestled it round dalby red in a few seconds under 2 hours,
Knards
first time on chubby’s, but if I’m honest i think wider rims would suit them better.
that may happen in the new year 😁😁
Also see that a medium frame is up for sale from two days ago ??
Knards
first time on chubby’s, but if I’m honest i think wider rims would suit them better.
Knards are pretty good in drier conditions, but the biggest performance upgrade I made to mine was to put a Maxxis dhf on the front (I run a chronicle on the back, but will buy a dhr when it wears out).
Absolutely amazing grip, esp in the wet. Like shit to a blanket.
What psi are you running the knards at on 23mm rims? I guess a bit higher than the 12/13 psi I run on 50mm rims.
@ martymac thanks I've not heard of people using less that 50mm.
@ MadBillMcmad I'm after a medium unfortunately.
@ peanut I saw that but I'm after a complete bike.
I run a Knard on a (45mm?) Dually on the front of my SIR.9, with a 27.5” 2.8 on a Dually at the back. It seems to have all the daft roll over anything ability of 29+ but accelerates well with the b+ on the back. It’s also a load lighter.
But a full Krampus is a bloody laugh. They are a heavy beast though...
But I prefer my full fat Puffin though. It’s the other bike I’ll never part with. 🙂
Yup, on a medium Moonlit Swamp coloured one here.
Quite possibly my favourite bike, ever.
A great article here explaining the differences between this and an ECR..
http://www.bikepacking.com/gear/surly-krampus-vs-ecr/
I can’t really add much to the posts above other than to say that my Krampus (Moonlight Swamp, XL) is absolutely brilliant.
Have had it for a couple of years now and It’s the first bike I’ve had that I’d not consider parting with.
Rides like a big BMX on the downs 😃
I had one for a bit about 4 years ago.
I liked it but it wasn't without it's faults, some of which probably are no longer an issue.
I never rode one with a suspension fork, nor did I ride it with the current crop of Plus tyres which seem to have better sidewall support.
When it was stolen it (and my 29ER karate monkey) was replaced by a Chromag rootdown.
<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Plusses</span>
It was fun, very silly fun and surprisingly quick down stuff.
It was quite comfy, especially with Jones Bars
It had all the grip
It got a lot of attention.
<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Minuses</span>
It was really quite heavy
Tyre choice was limited, that seems to have improved a bit.
Tyres were stupidly expensive. I paid 160quid for a pair of the rare as rocking horse poo at the time Maxxis Chronicles.
Clearance between chain and tyre was approx sweet FA, resulting in occasional rubbing in the lowest gear, might be sorted on the new one.
Tyres did a weird self steer thing on hard surfaces.
27.2 seatpost (new one is 30.9)
Not sure you could run a suspension fork with the old one (in fact I have an email telling me not to from Surly as the adjusters would hit the DT in a crash) new one states you can.
It got a lot of attention.
For my riding I think a bike with a suspension fork and 29x2.5 tyre with 30mm rims is probably better for my riding. Thats not to say I wouldn't like to try a Krampus with 3in minions and 120mm fork.
If i wanted a rigid bike for bike packing or something I might buy another one.
Thats not to say I wouldn’t like to try a Krampus with 3in minions and 120mm fork.
You called? 😉
Old one runs sus forks fine - they even made it suspension corrected for when the tech caught up.
I've seen a few Large ones come up for sale now and again but still not seen any Mediums. Where else should I be looking apart from STW Clasifieds, Ebay, Gumtree, Preloved, Pinkbike, Facebook ?
Keep Pedalling in Manchester; outgoing colour at 20% off list in medium.
I know of a moonlit swamp in small that will be up for sale. PM for specifics
Sam
Thanks guys, looking for 2nd hand medium .
After months of searching I've finally managed to catch one...
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That looks great, I'm a big fan of subtle and simple
cracking that. got my ecr set up similar. wide low risers make it good fun offroad.
Purple respray? Nice 😉
Great in all weathers too....
Ajantom, not a respray, mine is a karate monkey.
Chosen over the krampus for 2 reasons,
1 it has the extra braze ons I require.
2 it was bought to go with some tyres i already owned.
Great bikes, really versatile.
Aldo consider a Stooge Speedball?