The Rise of the SS Chunky Monkey

I spent an hour tonite swapping parts back on to the Karate Monkey frame. Basically everything that was on the Dissent went onto the KM. Unfortunately some extra weight came along with it. The BB7s are quite porky compared to the Avid V brakes, so even though I swapped out the chunky Thudbuster for a still kinda heavy SR seatpost, the bike still ended up at 28lbs, 7 Oz. Sheesh!

Where is all the weight? Well in lots of little places. The wheels are not light, the DT Swiss rims are 30 grams heavier than a Stan's Flow for goodness sake and the hubs are like an XT grade grams wise. Tubes don't help either. I bet I could drop a 1/2 pound a wheel with some careful spending.

BB7s are notoriously heavy but really are not all that bad compared to lesser $$ hydros. It is all about the cash flow, baby. Less grams = more cash. They are likely to stay in place for a while.

The Groovy Luv Handles are waay heavier than the carbon XC bars, but so far I am liking them on the SS quite a bit, so that is that. But, if I change my mind, the Easton carbon XC bars will be back in place.

The sus fork is a porker. The RST M-29 has been a great performer, not just 'for the money' but better than its cost would suggest. I understand they are not so well represented these days with the closing of the US distributors and the website and phone support, but RST is still around regardless. I would like to pop a used Fox or maybe even a classic Reba running at 80mm. That would shave 1/2 a pound. if I get a replacement for the Reba on the Lenz, I would swap the Reba to the SS.

There are little things like a thick Surly rear cog, the non-weight-weenie-buns-of-iron torture saddle, the SPDs that are less than feathery, etc.

Oh yeah, the over 5lb KM frame is a bad start.

I would like to get to a 25lb SS ride going. Less than that will cost me too much money, but with wheels and some wise parts replacements over time, I think I can get there.

In any case, I am very curious to see how the time spent on the DiSSent will have changed my perspective on how the KM feels. We shall see on tomorrow's ride.

The SS Monkey is back and rolling fat (literally).