Surly

droenn

droenn

Fat Man's XC President
Thinking/dreaming of exploring the Surly side of life with a Krampus / Karate Monkey setup.

Seems the KM is about to be discontinued though - not sure if there is too much overlap with Grappler and Krampus now or they are looking at a new mtb frame (all rumours)

Not many posts about Surlys here, anyone get up to commutes, fire road meanders or bikepacking adventures on their offerings?

What are your setups?
 
I’d not be concerned with buying a soon to be discontinued surly, the whole point of buying a surly is you don’t really care and just wanna burn around without thinking on a somewhat outdated heavy hardtail that will outlast you haha.
It’s kinda liberating.

Do it. Buy the hardtail.

These guys go deep on hardtail reviews and love some steel.

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droenn said:
Thinking/dreaming of exploring the Surly side of life with a Krampus / Karate Monkey setup.

Seems the KM is about to be discontinued though - not sure if there is too much overlap with Grappler and Krampus now or they are looking at a new mtb frame (all rumours)

Not many posts about Surlys here, anyone get up to commutes, fire road meanders or bikepacking adventures on their offerings?

What are your setups?
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I've got a KM. It ticked many boxes for me in terms of what I like in a bike. External cable routing, threaded BB, 44mm head tube that can take either straight steerer or tapered steerer forks, internal dropper post routing. Rear dropouts are horizontal and come standard with a proprietary thru axle that can run either boost or non-boost (gnot-boost, they call it). I don't know how it works but it does. I've tried both boost and non boost to check.
The derailleur hanger is part of the frame, so no replacing it if it breaks (or just run it single speed).
It's hefty, but fun. If you can get it for a good price, go for it!
 
Ultra Lord said:
I’d not be concerned with buying a soon to be discontinued surly, the whole point of buying a surly is you don’t really care and just wanna burn around without thinking on a somewhat outdated heavy hardtail that will outlast you haha.
It’s kinda liberating.

Do it. Buy the hardtail.

These guys go deep on hardtail reviews and love some steel.

Bikepacking Bikes Archives

Interested in a rig for bikepacking and dirt road touring? Read our in depth, real-world reviews here. Sort through reviews by category below, or find announcements to newer bikes we’ve yet to review in our News/New Bikes section. Also, dig into our Rider & Rig series featuring people and their...
bikepacking.com bikepacking.com
Click to expand...
Yeah not worried about discontinued, its more stock levels. Not sure any more KMs are coming to Aus - but will ask local dealer some more qns. Its end of an era, so would be cool to have one.

If not, the Krampus is pretty much the same geo and also close to my old Cotic Solaris too - I definitely miss having a steel hardtail!
 
Labcanary said:
I've got a KM. It ticked many boxes for me in terms of what I like in a bike. External cable routing, threaded BB, 44mm head tube that can take either straight steerer or tapered steerer forks, internal dropper post routing. Rear dropouts are horizontal and come standard with a proprietary thru axle that can run either boost or non-boost (gnot-boost, they call it). I don't know how it works but it does. I've tried both boost and non boost to check.
The derailleur hanger is part of the frame, so no replacing it if it breaks (or just run it single speed).
It's hefty, but fun. If you can get it for a good price, go for it!
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Its why I’m drawn to the brand - build it up with what you’ve got and go ride!

The prices are a bit steep and went up recently, its over $2k for a frameset. But what frame isn’t now.
 
droenn said:
The prices are a bit steep and went up recently, its over $2k for a frameset. But what frame isn’t now.
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Surly are fairly ubiquitous in the US, not so much here. So we pay a premium. I didn't buy mine brand new, but even the second hand price can be high. I think my frame is from around 2017 or thereabouts. I'm fairly sure they haven't changed much aside from colour options since then.
 
I have a 2012 Ogre, has been my daily commuter since then but has been out on the trails both with the included rigid and a suspension fork.
It's the same geo as a KM, just a few more braze ons.
If you can get one in your size buy it, SCV Imports (AU distributor) have every size listed in the Mold White colour, and a few of the extreme sizes in other colours. Any good bike shop should be able to order you a frameset.

Edit: i was wrong, just had a closer look and Scv imports dont have them in stock. Hopefully you can find a bike shop with remaining stock.
 
I generally keep a bike of this type on my fleet. Started when I had a 1x1 about 10 years ago, then a salsa, then a Kona unit X and currently a old Haro Mary.
Should never have sold the Kona.

You would pick up a Kona Unit X for not much more than a KM frame set would cost, they just seem pricey for what they are
 
+1 for the Kona steel options.

I had a Kona Sutra tourer with Deodeccai steel. Lovely bike.

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I think my latest Cotic Solaris cost me $2,500 landed in OZ, later last year.
I'll always have a HT, preferably in steel in the quiver, HT are so versatile.
 
Screenshot 2026-02-18 at 7.06.49 pm.png
 
Yeah not quite in position just yet to grab that one, but exactly what I would be after.

Mostly wanted to see if there were a few Surlys lurking around rotorburn to get some insight and stoke the flames a bit.
 
Oddjob said:
+1 for the Kona steel options.

I had a Kona Sutra tourer with Deodeccai steel. Lovely bike.

Sent from my 24069PC21G using Tapatalk
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My Kona Unit just sits in the shed now. Was my go to bike when riding with the kids or ride into town to grab a few things. Been thinking about posting it up for sale but I do like to look at it.
 
RastaRuss said:
Thinking on it, one of the best bikes I ever had was Dartmoor Primal HT, about 10 years ago.
Bit heavy, but as cheap as & so much fun
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I had a sick Primal too, which I saw on market place last year and tried to get back but guy went AWOL, wish I could find that bike
but steel is real
 
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