Have had my cross check in various formats for a good few years now, currently flat bar cross general dad bike & have always loved it. Thinking of replacing it with a karate monkey in the new blue?
Appreciate your thoughts & pics.
Ta

Well I’ve had my KM a couple of weeks now and I can heartily recommend it. Although maybe a little “dated” in terms of 29er geometry, being quite a sharp handling bike, it’s very comfortable, zingy etc….I take it you’ll be sticking with SS then?

I like the monkey… It has One Really important thing that other bikes don’t …. It’s own theme tune….. for you to hum as you nail single track…

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBQKiCosmQs[/video]

I have both a Crosscheck and a KM (Oh check me out).

I love them both. The Crosscheck has been built up in every guise going from Fixed gear town bike to Monster cross, but I do find it a bit long.
The KM is my first 29er and I have to say I love it. I could never go back to a 26″. I don’t pay much attention to geometry its all about what suits, I find it quick, a lot more nimble than my old 1×1 or infact any of my 26s. I was scepticle of the high front end, but actually love it (that maybe because I am getting old).

If I had to own just one of the two it would be the KM. Its versatile in terms of what you can kit it out with, disc, cantis, racks, geas, ss, Alfine…

I’m loving my Monkey. Currently running it rigid singlespeed but I’ve just bought an Alfine wheelset. No rush to put it on yet though….
In fact, I’m off out on mine now.

Untitled by redmancunian69, on Flickr

Edit: and now I shall be humming that tune all day 🙂

I have both a Crosscheck and a KM (Oh check me out).

Me too. I had my Cross Check for about a year before buying a Karate Monkey. I love them both and to be honest if you can get away with keeping them both you would probably be better off doing that as they are totally different bikes.

The versaility of the KM is legendary but it does mean that I feel tempted to take it apart every few months and make changes. As a result my reliable old Cross Check gets more use.

If I had to own just one of them I would ensure I killed the person forcing me to make such a painful decision and then keep them both.

I love my KM but why would you replace a bike you love?

(that said, you could always do this:

The Cross Check is an awesome bike let down by not taking discs. That’s a win to the Monkey for me, I think, though I’m not sure the geometry is as drop bar friendly.

Discs… I think if you made a cross disc check, it would need a fair bit more material to make it strong enough to handle the braking forces… And it may well lose its lovely steel zing, and feel more like a long haul.

Had them both too 😉 infact just sold the crosscheck, two entirely different bikes tho so depends on your needs, I’ve run the km with 26 wheels and massive tyres as a semi fat ran it as a flat barcx and had the cc in alsorts of guises from fixed road to geared monstercross with 1.8 tyres on , both great in their own right

Sold the km due to needing gearbox on motorbike and sold the cc the other day to fund my new salsa 29er rohloff 😉

Not regretted not having the km ever but I’m missing the cc already :'(

Thanks for all the posts, the disc thing is a biggy charlie but that is what makes it light & zingy?
ormondroyd – do love it but its one in one out policy & am getting the build itch!