Surly Krampus: Ridden!

One of the happy denizens the Surly Empire happens to live not to far from me over in Decorah, IA. He also happens to be a giant, like me! Aaand, it so happens that he just took delivery of his very own special Krampus! Joy! So I says, can I ride it? Sure! Says the giant gnome. Color me happy. See, for those who don’t pay attention to the intarwebs, or the cycling press probably don’t know that Surly has done it again. First, the Karate Monkey, then the Pugsley, and the Big Dummy. They have this knack for creating bikes that fill a niche, or create a whole new niche. Obviously, the niche we’re interested in here is the Fat bike realm. The one created by what can arguably be called one of the greatest mountain bikes made, the Pugsley.

Those 4″ wide tires opened up a whole new world of terrain to us adventurous types. Snow, sand, lake shores, river banks, river beds, open forests, serious rock crawling. It was [ and frankly IS ] cool. I love what they can do, where fat bikes can go. Supremely capable bicycles for sure. About the only issue though, is that pushing those honkin’ big tires around can get kind of old and tiring after a while.

I heard a few rumors of a fat 29″ tire roaming around the QBP facilities, then I saw some of the first grainy images, and I got real interested. I knew that I’d be real interested in what came out of these thoughts from the diabolical [to your wallet] minds of Surly. At this point we know what this was, and the fat bike geeks and 29er geeks alike are just itching to get their hands on one.

And I just did. So what’s it ride like? Pretty damned good. Pretty damned good. Rolling through town, it felt pretty much like any old fat bike. Big squishy tires, a bit of hum, but rolled faster cause there’s less resistance. If you ride Nates, you know what I’m talking about! Once the tires hit dirt[hero dirt no less!] things got decidedly more interesting. The trail went up, over loose shaley limestone. The kind of climb that on a normal bike is difficult. Fat bike no problem, and the same thing with the Krampus. It climbs really quite well. The lighter tires certainly make climbing an easier chore on this bike. Normally, I’m a fan of short chainstay bikes. In order to fit the big ass 3.0 Knard’s, Surly had to lengthen out the stays on this bike. Yet it remains well balanced. Bonus there. Once up top, the trail mellows and begins dancing through the trees. With the 30″ bars this bike had, I was a bit worried about my knuckles. That width was nice on the climb, but here? I dunno. I shouldn’t have been worried though. the bar width was minor, and once used to it, was fine. I was expecting a bike with such a slack headangle to a be a bit slow in the twisties, kind of like the Mukluk I own. Sure wasn’t though. I had to keep in mind the bar width, but that was the only thing slowing me down there.

Slowing down on this bike is something that I doubt will happen much, especially when you get it pointed down hill. This thing just flat out RIPS. Other than the few FS bikes I’ve ridden, this is the most fun bike going downhill that I’ve had the pleasure of riding. Stable. Steers from the hip with just a flick of the bars. Comfortable, confidence inspiring in the bike feel. The Krampus is easily lofted over roots and drops. If you have the room to let this bike free, you will be quite well rewarded. It wants to go fast. Just let it go. It won’t bite you. Good luck with your impatience. Now that I’ve had a bite, its gonna be even harder for me to wait.

Singular Swift = Ridden!

It was one of those rare moments we have this time of year here. 99% of the snow has been melted off, leaving dirt behind in the woods. Typically, this means traveling in the woods is not recommended as the temperatures are above freezing, but not really warm enough to dry things out.

Such is not the case today. As I type its 16°f. When I rode this afternoon, temps were in the low 20°'s. With last nights single digits, I was guaranteed a nice frozen trail to ride! So I slaved away at work, eagerly anticipating my first date with the Swift.

I wasn't disappointed.

The bike handles very well. Steering is easy, almost effortless. Changing direction happens quickly, but not so fast that you can't recover from any mistakes. There really is a remarkably light touch to flipping the bike through the trees. Nice! Sam did a really fantastic job in coming up with the geometry on this bike. I know he did some voodoo with the front end trail figures. Stuff that I really haven't been able to wrap my head around quite yet. What ever he did, it works. And well.



Climbing was another revelation. A while back, I owned a bike that many considered a benchmark for how it rode. Specifically, how it climbed. I could never get on with that bike. It left my stable pretty fast. This bike though. Night and day difference. Scampers right up climbs easy as pie. Standing and hammering suits it well. Positioning on the bike is spot on with a flat bar and short, flat stem. Seated climbing was much the same, but I didn't really get to test that part today.




Listening to: Iron + Wine//Boy With a Coin

They're here!

Ok, teasing. There's only ONE here, but its the first of a whole slew of 'em! I'm VERY excited to announce that The Prairie Peddler will be the exclusive seller of Singular frame kits in the US and Canadian market! Who, you say? Singular Cycles is a small UK based frame company that produces wonderful steel [4130 cromo, FTW!] bicycle frames with a timeless look, high versatility and quality materials. Great bikes for riding racing or simply bumbling about, no matter how you set them up.

From singular

We will be selling and shipping Swifts, Gryphons, Peregrines, and Hummingbirds out of the shop here in beautiful Prairie du Chien, WI. They all come ready to set up as a geared bike, a singlespeed, or any combination there-of that you can think of. How is this? Each of the frames has an eccentric bottom bracket. And that eccentric is no ordinary eccentric!

From singular

Yeah! A Phil Wood eccentric is included in the price of the frame, ALL of the frames!

From singular

A nice headbadge is there.

From singular

And generous room for big meats. The model I've received first, and the first ones that will be arriving, is the Swift. The Swift is the 29"er mainstay of the line. The one that started it all for Singular. This first order should be arriving in mid to late May.

Of course they can be ordered as a frame/fork kit only, and I'm working on being able to sell the bikes as complete's as well, if that's the direction you'd like to go. Shimano, SRAM or SS of course. As stated above, there is a rigid fork included in the purchase of the bike, but if you would like a suspension fork, I can accomodate that too.

Final pricing on frame kits is yet to determined, but you'll be surprised at how affordable these are going to be! Availablility should be in late May. Availability will be limited! I am only bringing in 100 total frames this year!

If you have any questions, and I'm sure you will, please email me - theprairiepeddler@gmail.com - I'll get back to you as soon as I can!

To see many more Singular's, head on over to Flickr to see lots of 'em.

Drinking: Pearl Street Brewery//That's What I'm Talkin' 'bout Stout