New Surly Ghost Grappler

The Ghost Grappler is a new ‘drop-bar trail bike’ from Surly. Is that going to be the next thing? Drop Bar Trail. Soon to be followed by Drop Bar Downcountry? It’s designed to be confident, nimble, and reactive, with a comfortable and stable drop-bar hand position. And, of course, lots of mounts for all your stuff.

Have yourself a promo launch video. How do you grapple a ghost? Surely it just slips through your hands?

And if that has you shouting ‘why, world, why?’, then here’s why, in a none more Surly beer in a basement video. Why do American basements all look the same? And why don’t UK houses have them? If we’ve learnt anything from TV, it’s that they appear to be really useful for misfit teenagers to hang out in.

Surly Ghost Grappler Key Features

• 100% Surly Chromoly steel frame and fork; 1-1/8″ headtube (non-suspension corrected)
• Double-butted main triangle, plus top tube and down tube gussets for added strength
• Surly’s Gnot-Boost rear spacing, allowing riders to run 142mm or 148mm rear hubs
• Custom dropouts ready to run single-speed
• 27.5 x 2.8″ tire clearance (with or without fenders) 29 x 2.1″ (without fenders)
• Front and rear thru-axles for ideal stiffness and handling
• Stealth dropper post routing
• Higher stack and longer reach than similar-sized bikes in the Surly lineup for improved fit, handling
• Rack and mudguard compatibility, plus generous frame and fork mounts for highly versatile cargo carrying options
• Accessory mounts on both fork blades
• Seatstay-mounted bottle bosses on both sides of frame (not available on XS frame size)
• Five frame sizes to fit nearly every size of rider: XS, S, M, L, and XL

Want one? They’ll be brought into the UK by Ison Distribution. UK pricing tbc, but in the USA a complete build is US $1,899 or £2,200, and a frameset is US $799 or £850. Which might make it quite competitive against the new Cotic Cascade. Hmm… decisions, decisions…