Onto the Wall

Submitted by Unit on Sat, 02/16/2008 - 5:05pm.

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Today, I make it official. I have retired the Karate Monkey. This modified Surly frame set has served me well.

It never faltered, even in failure, it never let me down. So onto the wall it goes.

I purchased this frame and fork used from a good friend who got me back into mountain biking. He rode it lightly (compared to what I did on it) for about a year or so before giving me a deal on it.

It went through many modifications and alterations. I even changed to color a few times. This "cheap" frame and fork performed well...perhaps as well as many costing 4-5 times as much.

Some have seen the photos and videos I have posted over the past year or so...others have ridden with me and observed first hand...the abuse I put it through.

When I cracked the frame, I did not consider once sending it back to its creator for warranty coverage...Nope, I never want to let it go. I had it repaired by the guy who built me my new bike and continued to play (in the back of my mind knowing that the integrity of this frame was compromised, and "pushing it" would lead to a nasty Monkey Bite).

So today, I finally got around to stripping off some of the useful parts for another build I have been working on....But the green Monkey will live on my wall for some time to come. It will serve as motivation to remind me that some great things can be accomplished with some really basic (and inexpensive) equipment. This frame and fork may be among the cheapest around...but it never slowed me down.