My recently acquired 2009 Karate Monkey turned gravel bike

I have absolutely fallen in love with this frame. It’s a 2009/2010 Surly Karate Monkey in the oh-so-lovely “chum bucket red”. Reminds me of barn paint. Or a lobster.

It came to me needing a lot of love. Initially, I set it up more or less as was originally intended — singlespeed flat bar 29er. Even had the original 666mm “1×1 Torsion” handlebar, which, while cool, I personally found too narrow for MTB.

Figuring I had a gravelbike-shaped hole in my shed, I rebuilt it with a 1×10 Microshift Sword drivetrain. For stopping power, I settled for affordable, yet effective, Avid BB5 disc brakes. I pulled a short RaceFace stem out of the parts bin and bought a medium-width PNW Coast handlebar. The knobby tires had to go, so 29”x2.1” Gravelking SK+ tires finished it off.

Absolutely loving this thing and really looking forward to longer days!