The Pandemic Build - Custom Surly Krampus Review

[@WildOutdoorLiving]

For those who are curious most of this video was filmed in Harriman State Park Idaho.

[@MoisheLettvin]

I was curious! It kinda reminds me of the front range in CO but less developed.

[@chrisfoster3772]

Thanks jeff

[@JasonScottCarter]

Built up a Krampus this year as well. Love this bike! I ride it so much my full suspension is collecting dust

[@dougshankle7946]

This is an awesome video. I just found a Large and bought it and am planning on bike packing trip in Tahoe with it. This just gets me more excited lol! That blue color is sweet!!

[@WildOutdoorLiving]

I may be a bit biased but I do agree. The Tangled up in Blue has to be one of my favorite ever Surly colors. Good luck on your trip!

[@jackcarter233]

Steel is indeed… very real. Stay hardcore! Surly bikes feel great. Love the Kona Unit and the Vassago Jabberwocky (Gen 1) too.

[@AndrewTiedeplus]

Love the review, just bought myself a Krampus. Also went for some lighter-duty tires

[@MegaKrunkle]

Nice videos. I'm mid -build on my Krampus right now. Just waiting on my wheelset. Appreciate your comments on rear rotor size. I was thinking of doing 180 both in front and rear, but glad I decided on 160 for the rear rotor.

[@nuva]

I also built my own Krampus with bikepacking in mind and a Rohloff. I recently changed the knards 3.0 with Vittoria mezcals 2.6 shaving some 800 grams. I agree with you with that now the bike is sensibly nimbler. Anyway I somewhat miss the cushioning of the 3.0 and I need more pressure to avoid rim strikes. But I have to mention that my trails are quite rocky and steep.

[@wheelzandgillz]

Man I just know theres some trout hanging around by that culvert at 1:40 !! Would be neat if you did some bike fishing videos in your area!!!

[@WildOutdoorLiving]

Haha maybe someday. I do enjoy fishing, and this is a great area to do it. That said I know much less about fishing than I do about bikes.

[@EvandJohnson]

also riding the checkpoint at the moment and it's what's got me hooked... and now I need bigger tires

[@WildOutdoorLiving]

Isn’t that always the struggle haha

[@Mike-vd2qt]

Nice, balanced review. Wifey owns a stock Krampus.

[@rlake349]

Your bike build is really cool 👍🏻

[@GlowStick753]

Such a cool bike. Inspirational.

[@ronwhite8503]

Steel is real, my friend. I totally agree with feeling like a kid again on certain bikes; my old, steel Konas are just fun to ride, in any setup or terrain. If it makes a miserable, misanthropic sixty year old feel that way then it must be special. Or it's the combination of meds and pink gin. Woo-hoo!

[@robertbonner5973]

Nice Krampus! I’m building a Karate monkey now and I’m running 180 rotors in both front and rear. Hopefully, it’ll work in the rear . Thanks for that heads up.

[@WildOutdoorLiving]

If it’s like the Krampus it’ll work, clearance is just really tight with the wheel all the way forward. Let me know if the Karate Monkey ends up being any different.

[@thesawatdatta]

Krampus L frame is not available at this point of time in India. Have been waiting for 8 months and Will wait more but determined to buy krampus only.

[@ttattx]

did you find one yet? I've been looking for a front sus Krampus - 2-3 months, and suddenly - out of nowhere a LBS had one pop up on their site -- I bought it immediately!

[@thesawatdatta]

@@ttattx No. It's getting harder to get such bikes in India. I bought Bridge club in last month for time being.

[@gonesailing7942]

Thank you for the content. Enjoyed it.

[@ElevationEveryWeekend]

I own a Pugs and an ICT, would love to add a Krampus to the Surly quiver next year. I’d def want the 29x3” tires though.

[@WildOutdoorLiving]

Having a Surly quiver sounds like a dream! You’ll love the 29+

[@odgreenoutdoors20]

Nice bike, I got my eye on a Kona sutra myself

[@TK-OK]

Steel rides better than anything. Don’t care what study you try and rub my nose in. Yes, it’s heavier

[@bimmerbent]

What T Said.

[@monkayspunker4123]

sorry titanium is king...has same ride quality without the rust..

[@matthewknight496]

Yeah man I was riding both my buddies FS bikes. One has 3 of them and another has just one. So much squish. One use to ride in Oregon so I understand but he recently just moved back to Minnesota and man my rigid Karate monkey is wayyyy more fun to ride than any of those FS bikes. Fully rigid with bigger tires and single speed,. Wow what a ride. Way more fun than the expensive bikes. Imo. Now if I was about to hit a huge jump ,. I'll take my buddies downhill bike but for the single track around here in MN. Just love getting rowdy with the surly. You feel way more connected to the trail. Suspension takes all the fun out of it

[@bartmullin8018]

Have a 2018 Karate Monkey and it's more of a tank (in a good way (with the 27.5 x 2.8 Vittoria Martellos). Might run a Vittoria Mezcal 27.5 x 2.6 XC Trail on the back for an experiment this season; supposed to be fast and more friendly to snappy cornering on the dry stuff. Have racks front and rear now so, the bike's a shade heavier but, the handling is spot on whether loaded or not; trail-bike when unladen, stable but still not a pig when laden. Will really see how it handles loaded when I put the newly purchased dirt touring gear on come April/May for my Lost Sierras 'Dirty Tour'. Love the 'just a bike' philisophy/the feeling of simple joy (unless being berated by an a__hole motorist...) when riding. It's not some over-teched halo-bike that's more of a status symbol than bike almost. Bete noire (Black Beast) has evolved in a reverse custom build; ran stock stuff and over time upgraded or added factory upgrades (Moloko bars, SRAM Code R's, WTB Deva saddle (comfy!),Box 1 rear derailleur, Sunrace 11 spd 11-46 cluster, Surly external bottom bracket, Pedaling Innovation platforms (Huge!), Race face Cinch 28t oval chainring, Whiskey aluminum 50mm wide front rim, Reserve valve-stems, and ditched the 20 ton/SLOW Dirt Wizards in favor of Vittoria Martellos; huge fan of Vittoria (!). Check them out if you haven't; just expect to wait, supply-chain blues... ;(. Said bike was and has evolved further into the best, most generally useful bike I've ever had. [Even raced CX on it, feels like taking a Trophy truck on a WRC course but, don't have the dough for the All-City CX bike so,...]

[@aldojacobi6007]

I'm a newby to SURLY and am curious about the difference between the KARATE MONKEY & KRAMPUS? Is it mainly that the KRAMPUS accommodates 29+ tyres?

[@WildOutdoorLiving]

That is correct, they are very similar. The Krampus fits 29+ while the Karate Monkey 27.5+. The Karate Monkey will also fit non plus 29er wheels and tires. There are very minor geo differences to account for this but otherwise they are the same bike.

[@rolandsala9005]

What Krampus colorway is this? 😁

[@WildOutdoorLiving]

It’s called “Tangled up in Blue”

[@tinman1955]

I just bought a used Stache with Sunringle Duroc 50 rims. Do you know if those rims will take 2.6 inch tires?

[@WildOutdoorLiving]

They will but you will have a very vertical sidewall and squared off tread pattern. Ive had as small as 2.5s on those rims, definitely works but isn’t ideal.

[@mikehoncho6143]

Whats the weight of your build?

[@WildOutdoorLiving]

28lbs with pedals, a bit more with bags of course.

[@naldovaz9157]

nice build.. l ride the 2019 Surly ECR and also have a 2nd pair of wheels for urban mode and ride Schwabe Gzero l think 2.4... ofcourse the bike is nimble and twice as fast with my urban setup.. but I just love Riding my ECR... I live Montana so now running 2.8 studded tires...

[@icantgivecredit871]

DO people ever say that aluminum frames are more compliant? Because, strong aluminum frames are unbelievably rigid (at least, in my experience). I wonder if perhaps it's the sheer heft of steel that some riders complain causes discomfort. Perhaps the shock from larger bumps resonates through steel as it flexes(?)

[@아우빠]

Your susbscriber from the Basque Country here! I was wondering how many millimeters there are from the seat tube to the rear tire and from the chainstays to the rear tire. I want a bike with massive clearance for clay mud (big issue here). I have 29x2.6 complete wheels and I'm about to buy the Krampus frameset.

[@WildOutdoorLiving]

It is a bit hard for me to measure but the narrowest point is the chainstays at half an inch or 1.1 centimeters on each side of the tire. The seat tube, seat stays and fork all have quite a bit more. This is with the tire fully forward as well.

[@oskibila3938]

@@WildOutdoorLiving THANK YOU SO MUCH! It really is hard to meassure. 11mm with 2.6'' tires does make sense although I must admit I was hoping for an even bigger gap to justify the extra 200 euros (233 USD). If a 3'' tire is 8mm wider, 4mm at each side, that lives us with 7mm gaps at the narrowest point, which in our clay terrain here would be a big no-no, but somewhere might be perfectly fine. It still is an AMAZING BIKE and I wish I had bought it myself in that cool blue color. THANK YOU AGAIN!

[@아우빠]

@@WildOutdoorLiving One last favor? Would it be possible for you to measure the diameter of the toptube and the downtube in the middle and where they meet the headtube? I am about to sell my current frame to buy a Krampus because I fear mine has thiner and weaker tubing. Also any idea what the weight of the frame or frameset was? I found nothing on google about the 2020 frameset.

[@colehendrickson1908]

What Salsa Frame Bag is that?

[@WildOutdoorLiving]

It’s no longer made but it is essentially a previous version of the Revelate Designs Ranger bag with Salsa logos on it. (They were collaborating for awhile). I bought it used, I was never able to figure out what size it is but if you like it I would recommend following the size chart on Revelate’s website.

[@mr.snowfoam1542]

What made you desire to build a Krampus over a Karate Monkey?

[@WildOutdoorLiving]

I’ve become quite a fan of 29ers over the years. I’m 5’11” tall so no issues with fit. I liked the idea of being able to run a normal size 29er tire with more mud clearance than the KM would have or being able to go back to full 29 plus. I used to own a Trek Stache so I already knew I preferred that platform over the 27.5+ bikes.

[@dazzasp3]

Like it 👍🏼

[@caesarrizky]

What size is this? and how tall are you?

[@WildOutdoorLiving]

It is a Large, I am 5’11.5” tall

[@tompelham7035]

I get it;)

[@KarmicPatina]

I set mine up as an ebike...it's a rip