karate monkey info required

[paramart]

has anyone got one or tried one, are they heavy, does the rear wheel system really work, is it a faff to get wheels in or out as you have to force it in/out depending on axle size, does it affect the brake alignment , will it make a sit up and beg type bike with jones type of bars, thanks

[lune ranger]

Surly horizontal dropouts are imo more of faff than standard vertical ones.
I run a Rohloff and need to release the the caliper to remove the rear wheel.
Re brake alignment: if you move the wheel in the dropouts you need to move the brake.
I have a Krampus and wish the dropouts were normal but it doesn't mean I don't like the bike.
I just googled Karate monkey + jones bars and found a bunch of images online so it looks like a combo that works.

[middleagedmadness]

Got horizontal drop outs on my longitude mart ,at first they were a pain in the hole ,but after a little messing about you get used to dropping the chain to put the wheel on and off , if your after something like a km you can try my longitude for a blast mate ,they work out a lot cheaper than the surly,nice to ride but draw back is it's a straight steerer so you haven't really got any choice if you want to swap the rigid fork out

[Solo]

I have certainly seen a few KMs on insta and MTBR forum with Jones bars and the owners seem happy enough.

I think there are a few youtube videos with guys building up KMs which should cover the gnot boost spacing and Jones bars set up if you find that sort of thing helpful.

Mine is the older version but an OPS so has the MDS dropouts. My other Surly is a Pugs that is a challenge (to me at least) when it comes to rear wheel in/out.

[johnnystorm]

If you don't plan to use it as a trail bike with suspension and worry that the rear dropouts are a faff then how about a Bridge Club? Only available as a full build mind you.

I tested one and really liked it. The missus liked it too and bought one... :)

https://advntr.cc/surly-bridge-club-review/

[In Reverse]

I've got an Ogre which is the same geometry as a KM iirc. It came with loops on and I ran it that way for probably 18 months, including a JoGLE, and the riding position was fine. Comfortable for long rides with still enough bite at the front to be capable off-road.

The horizontal drop-outs don't bother me at all. Only time it's a faff is when I've run it as a winter road bike and had a full mudguard on the back - that needed the mudguard to be unfastened before I could pull the wheel out. Running Schwalbe Big Apples on it though so it's literally never had a puncture.

Oh, and yes it's quite heavy in the original spec. You could probably shed a bit of weight on parts but why bother? They're chunky lumps of steel and feel like that when you're riding them - the weight's just something to accept and embrace.

[paramart]

thanks for the replies, read the article about the bridge club seems ok, but I have 148 hubs and a tapered fork which I suspect I will end up using at some point, which is why i'm thinking about the km, I have a bike with horizontal dropouts and a aftermarket gear hanger which doesn't give any grief when taking the wheel out, just a bit dubious about easing the frame in or out if it affected any alignment, not bothered about the weight as long as it's not ridiculously heavy, also I could use most of the wheels I have to vary the usage which I can't do with my current bike, and the ability to ss if the rear mech breaks, will do some on line research cheers

[firestarter]

I found the rear a pain to drop the wheel out until I changed the hope end caps from qr to 10mm bolt thru and then when you removed the bolt thru the wheel slid in and out easily