Wednesday 12 March 2014

Dam near perfect, Surly Karate Monkey Update Pt 3; Drop Bar conversion


The pic above of this week in East Lothian pretty much sums up why i want to work outdoors...
It has been an amazing week of high pressure which brings big blue skies and after an air frost warmer temps now over 10 Celsius by mid day...
Been busy this week at work, today we mapped all the Irrigation pipes, after 16 years i am still finding out new stuff about what is under my feet at my work!...


And i never grow tierd of my commute to work, 0nly 3/5 miles each way by road but why do the same old route?, i hate routine and love to mix up off road detours,
My idea of Commuting is that it`s about the journey of going to work and  and absorbing the scenery, views and the seasons and weather it brings...
Take this weeks `Indian Spring` stunning weather with cold clear nights, air frost at dawn, then big blue skies. then that hour of amazing light before sunset. and long shadows as the skies turn orange and the stars appear, magic...



On a bike you deft appreciate weather and scenery far more than trapped in the car, and you can go off road and get away from the rat race commute. I did this last night and rode down to Tyninghame woods on the coast...










I did some filming along some of the `Secret Trail` , it was 5pm and Tuesday- now i dunno why but i always seem to find places deserted around 5pm, esp on Tuesdays as i guess the day visitors to the coast have headed/or are heading home, and the usual day shift folks are not yet home to walk dogs, go for a run etc...
I dunno but i spent a good half hour filming on the trail and never saw another person despite all these cars in the car park as i cycled home...


Really liking the drop bar Karate Monkey, everything i wanted from the Salsa Fargo build of 2 years ago, but it was a lovely looking bike...

Friend Sanny has just wrote a long term test on his own Fargo on Singletrack World and he loves his,

I was disappointed with mine it`s harshness ride unloaded with adventure luggage. The whole thing was an expensive itch i had to scratch. but glad i did as i ended up with a Mk 2 Surly Karate Monkey frame set with the build kit from the Fargo, now i have the bike i really wanted!. The KM is maybe not designed to haul the same haul as the Fargo but that`s fine as i don`t need to do that here in East Lothian. The KM is a whippy flexi frame and more comfortable on trails and so ideal for what i want to do on a bike of this concept . The drop bars are way better on the road, but OK off it on trails!
Here is a wee film showing exactly what i want this bike to do after it delivers me to work. Panniers off for this ride as quite tight in places...
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