Thursday, September 6, 2012

News from Surly Intergalactic Headquarters

If you're a devotee of Surly Bikes, much of this is old news to you, as you're probably already following their blog and Facebook page. For the somewhat less initiated, here's a quick run-down of what's new and exciting from the Surly gang.

Probably creating the most buzz around the Interwebz in the past month or so is Surly's new mountain bike, the Krampus. What is the Krampus? It's a "semi-fat" bike, made to bridge the gap between a regular 29er mountain bike and a snow bike. Before you get all cranky, no; it's not a new wheel size standard. The wheels are based on the 29er rim size (622mm bead seat diameter), but just, well, fatter. Three inches fat, to be exact. They've taken to calling it "29+."

"I stole this shot from Maurice at Dirt Rag because he probably won't sue us." --Skip from Surly
Why do you want a Krampus? As one tester described it, while a regular snow bike, such as a Surly Pugsley or Moonlander, makes you want to drop it into the lowest gear and see what kind of muck you can plow through at low speed, the Krampus feels more like something you want to crank into high gear and cruise over the most gnarly terrain. It's built more for speed, while still giving some of the traction and flotation advantages of a snow bike.

The Krampus is expected to be available as a frameset (along with new Rabbit Hole rims and Knard tires to go with it) some time around December of this year. Complete bikes expected some time in the spring. Pricing will be around $750 for the frameset and $1950 for the complete bike (subject to change). The color, of course, will be Swamp Green.

What is a Krampus? In Norse mythology, it's like the Anti-Claus. He follows Santa around, and stuffs the bad little boys and girls into a sack, and carries them back to his lair to be eaten.

You can find more answers to your questions about the Surly Krampus here.

Next on the new bike front is a new take on an old favorite. So, we always make a big deal out of the Cross-Check, with its forward-facing semi-horizontal dropouts, makes a great bike for both geared and singlespeed setups. (Ok, maybe it's not THAT big a deal, but work with me here...) The Cross-Check has been available as a complete geared bike for a few years now. If you wanted to build a singlespeed Cross-Check, you had to order the frameset and put together the parts on your own. So what about for those singlespeed fans who don't have the time, or expertise, or are just plain lazy (trust me, I know where you're coming from) to spec out a singlespeed parts kit on their own?

That's where the above-pictured Single Speed Cross-Check complete bike comes to our rescue. Yes, that's a new frame color, Dark Dirty Blue. This bike comes with all the basics you need, and none that you don't. 42-tooth single speed crankset, 17-tooth freewheel cog, flat Salsa handlebar, Avid brake levers with linear-pull brakes. You purists, don't start on us about that last bit. Read more details here. Possibly available later this month, or next, for around $999.

Finally, you're probably saying to yourself, "But Kevin," (which is a funny thing to be saying to yourself, unless your name also happens to be Kevin), "What about new colors?" Without further ado, here is the list of the never-ending merry-go-round of Surly colors:

1x1 - still just Black
Big Dummy - still just Black
Cross-Check - Black, Dark Dirty Blue, Hospital Foam (don't ask, I don't know)
Disc Trucker - still just Super Dark Green
Karate Monkey - Black and Mandrill-Mug (I don't know what that is yet, either)
Long Haul Trucker - Black and Silver
Moonlander - still Space Black
Ogre - Black
Pacer - still Sparkleboogie Blue
Pugsley - Loaded Yellow and Engine Red
Pugsley Necromancer - still Neck Romancer Black
Steamroller - Black. Complete bikes going away; framesets only
Troll - Nurple Purple and Black
Trucker DeLuxe - still Dave's Frozen Tears

Click here if you'd like to read more techy bits about the above.

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