I’ve mostly been into gravel riding the past few years and I’ve wanted to get back into mountain-biking. I have a Surly Straggler and I love it. But So much has changed that I barely recognize the hobby anymore.
Most important to me is the gearing (I want to be able to climb well with it), weight (even though the Surly is steel, it seems to be the same weight as the Stumpjumper), and brakes. If I had to rank my needs in order of importance, it would be 1) climbing 2) enjoyable to ride on flatter ground (as I ride to and from my local trails 3) and last would be downhill. I enjoy some downhill but I’m not as into the jumps and big drops.
Surly’s are great bike packing bikes, but I’m mostly looking for a pure mountainbike. I’m wondering if the Karate Monkey would be the move. Or should I look for more pure mountainbikes?
I was thinking of getting the Specialized Stumpjumper, which seems to be a good entry level FS mountain bike, but many folks are lukewarm on it, and it’s $2800-$3300. A bit steep. But I’m really keen on the full suspension.
The Surly Karate Monkey I want is a hard tail, comes with front suspension, and is $2500. As I said, I’m mostly considering a FS bike, but if I got a hard tail it would probably be the Surly. I’d probably put some giant tires on it to make up for the hard tail.
Is the Surly too heavy? Other recommendations to check out? As I said I’d like to go the FS route but man these bikes get expensive quick. Not sure I want to drop 4 grand on a hobby I’m just getting back into.
[https://www.levelninesports.com/product/surly-karate-monkey-front-suspension-bike-27-5](https://www.levelninesports.com/product/surly-karate-monkey-front-suspension-bike-27-5)
by Numerous_Win_8003