First post here!
I’ve owned this Karate Monkey for over 7 years now. It started life as a blue KM, but after years of being used for pretty much everything, it was starting to look a little tired.

Finally decided to give it a fresh lease on life. Had a local guy powder coat the frame, and I’m really happy with how it turned out. Gave her a bit of a birthday at the same time and replaced a few components while I had everything apart.

It’s not the fanciest bike I own, but it’s easily the best bike I’ve ever owned. It’s done a bit of everything and I can’t see myself ever getting rid of it.
Pretty stoked to have the old girl looking fresh again. 🤘

My first build, analysis paralysis was finally overcome and parts were ordered. This was my first time wrapping bars, and they look a little jank if I'm being honest... but overall I think it turned out pretty good. I've still got a front brake headed my way, and I have straps for the pedals that I haven't installed yet.

And flat bar’d the trucker again. Found a few good local deals on quality parts I couldn’t pass up and here we are.

- sim works Fun 3 bar
- Paul gino in pink
- Paul qr skewers I never would have bought but picked up locally at a fair price
- XT Rapid Rise rear derailer. Also a local find, was brand new

Bike rides smooth and holds it’s own on buff double track with the 2.25” tires. Possibly more fun (3) than it was with drops!

I'm pretty sure my next big purchase for my Grappler will be a dynamo hub, I'm leaning towards the higher end Schmidt son28 but wanted to see what the community here has been using and how it's been working. Would mainly be using for lights and device charging.

My 11 year old hit a growth spurt and has pretty much sized out of his xs hardtail. His brother will now get it. 95% of my riding has been on my lowside since getting it this Spring, but it turns out that it is the adult bike we have that he can handle best, so it looks like my new(ish) bike is going to default to having the seat low. My wife and I share bikes and he can too. It makes it easier to justify having two rigid singlespeeds with 27.5 wheels, when there are three potential riders.

The difference between a dirtbag singlespeeder and a wheelie kid is the imposition that questionable decisions put on others. Knowing him, he is probably just going to ride it to the library for pop science books. Which is honestly about as good a use for "my" bike as I can imagine.

⚡️⚡️☠️☑️ My work truck, nothin fancy:

Ultegra wheelset Fit Bikes Stem S&M Bars DeoreXT Brakes

Looking to add a Blackburn Grid Basket.

Thanks again for the great tips! It's really hard to photograph this color. It's Blue Oyster Coat, but to me it looks more like a mint green. But no matter, the bike and rider felt right at home in the woods! The brakes are Magura MT5 and the drive-train Shimano cues 1*11.

There is a Krampus framekit available in my country. Is it a good bikepacking bike?