When we first started talking about a blog or other storytelling platform of some kind, it was with the intention of sharing some of our favorite bikes and the tales behind them. Calvin was immediately stoked to write about his favorite bike these days; a Surly Krampus. We are giving him the honor of the first post on the new site so he can wax poetic about this truly rad daily rider. Come along with us has we join ol Calvin on the bike path...it's probably the Swamp Rabbit.
Custom Surly Krampus build: BILL KRUMPUS
What kind of weirdo names their bike(s)? That’d be me. Bill Krumpus…Yea, that’s a strange name, even for a bike. It’s a play on words. Legend has it, there is an obscure rough and rugged Jeep trail in the Grandfather Ranger District of the Pisgah National Forest named, “Bill Crump”. I’m assuming named after Bill who lived in the area. Anyway, it’s a terrible mountain bike trail but very memorable. From what I recall, it dumps you out in an old lowland area where a gentle creek is flowing and there appeared to be an old homestead site. A nice place to disappear to for a spell and reflect on life’s challenges. All this to say, when I decided to build a dreamy, capable and mean Surly, I landed on the Krampus in the highly desirable colorway of “nose drip curry”. Once I completed the build journey, the name “Bill Krumpus” just made sense. Now that I’ve logged some decent test miles on this bike in a variety of terrain, I believe it may be one of the most enjoyable rigs I’ve ever had the pleasure of putting together.
It all started with making the decision to assemble an “all-in” spec singlespeed capable of clearing massive meats, i.e. 29x3.0, while still being fun, responsive, durable and not too heavy. Since this was a rigid build, the extra tire volume would offer suppleness and control in the rough stuff. Once I decided 29+ was the direction of the build, it was time to start considering the wheels and then the other components. Of course, this being a dream build, Chris King hubs were a no-brainer. I went with the “black punch” colorway as King had just dropped that new color combo on the market a few weeks before. Looked great on paper, er webpage! In person, that color combo is a bit muted but supreme in all the ways. I went with 6-bolt because I’m old skool like that. For the rims, I went with the Velocity Blunt SS in black. Velocity is a brand that has really grown on me over the years. The fit/finish/durability is excellent, and they have all the right dimensions with internal width and profile. Since I didn’t go with the Blunt 35, the SS gives the tire just the right amount of roundness/bulbousness (lol) to keep them tracking over loose and weird terrain that I so enjoy riding. Speaking of tires, since 29x3.0, and bigger, seems to be going the way of the dodo (for now), selection was sparse. I generally don’t run super heavy tires because I don’t really need that. I do like grip though. Maxxis mostly checks my boxes but in this case, it was Surly who stepped up with the Dirt Wizard. I’ve run this tire before on other bikes but not in 29+. These tires are HEAVY but I forget all about it once they’re moving. Traction is excellent and durability has proven solid. I highly recommend these tires for this particular use case. Of course, I’m running this as a tubeless setup. I used DT Swiss tape and Stan’s sealant.
Back to the wheels, since that’s my thang, I went with my favorite spoke from Sapim, CX-Rays. I love these spokes because they are so dang light yet so dang durable. Yea, they’re expensive but hey, this is a dream build, and I don’t cut corners. I’ll get flamed for using alloy spoke nipples but since I started using Polyax nipples from Sapim over a decade ago, I’ve never seen a failure. I don’t ride at the coast or live with frigid winter temps so salty air/salty roads are not generally a consideration for corrosion. Even so, Sapim processes their alloy nips with a hard anodized coating that seems to hold the corrosion at bay. Plus they come in a lot of cool ano colors and everybody loves cool ano colors!
Now that the wheel explainer is out of the way, I can move on to some other cool custom parts of this build. For the fork, I decided not to use the Surly one that came withthe frame. Those are good and reliable (and have a perceived weight to be constructed of Tungsten) but I wanted something a little lighter without sacrificing durability and strength. For this, I contacted Walt and Waltworks in New Mexico. I had seen some of his work before and knew he could build me exactly what I was looking for. After chatting back and forth a bit, we landed on a similar axle-to-crown dimension as the ENVE rigid fork with Boost spacing and raw steel finish. Walt’s segmented design is appealing to the eye and rides great. Clearance is excellent for the 3.0 tire. The thru axle is from Paragon Machine Works and is a specific length for this fork. Keep this in mind if you ever go custom with a fork that the axle can sometimes be challenging to source if not already in stock at the builder. The deal with the raw fork is that it will eventually corrode (rust). The secret to keeping it shiny is wiping it down a few times year with KROIL oil. Works like a charm!
Another unique and weird component I found was a set of oddMONE Titanium riser handlebars. These are made out in ColoRADo by a rad dude, Burnsey. I’ve had the steel version of these bars in the past and they are my fave for mtb. The titanium version is the icing on the nose drip curry flavored cake! Grips are ODI Long Neck lock-ons and the Spurcycle bell is a non-negotiable on all of my bikes. Holding the bars in the air and at the appropriate angle of the dangle is a sweet 50mm Paul Components Boxcar stem in naked finish. I’m a big fan of these stems. Simple, industrial, hella strong and made by a well-qualified machinist out in Chico, CA. On top of the stem is a Klamper dial style top cap. Below the stem is, naturally, a Chris King Inset headset in matte black/gold combination. The Paul theme continues with a Tall and Handsome seatpost and qr binder. Saddle is a hip, new Fizik 3D printed Argo. For cranks and chain ring, I went with 5DEV. This is the first set I am trying from them and so far, these are impressing me. Relatively light but very stiff. The cranks are clear ano aluminum and the 32T chain ring is titanium. They pair right up with the DUB Chris King bb in black punch. I’m still running the LOOK X-Track carbon SPD pedals and don’t plan to change that anytime soon.
Braking responsibilities are handled by a zoot set of Hope XCR’s. 4-pot front, 2-pot rear with carbon levers in sweet purple ano. Rotors are Galfer 2-piece, 180mm front and rear. The braking performance is outstanding. The only caveat I would offer is that after running Hope brakes since the early 2000s, I’ve never owned a set that were “quiet”. I just live with it because the braking performance is second to none while maintaining an exotic and quite appealing aesthetic.
Other odds and ends include a 20T Boone Ti singlespeed cog and spacer kit, a SRAM Eagle oil slick chain, titanium bits and bobs from Better Bolts including a gold titanium bolt replacement for the Surly Gnot Boost axle, bottle cage bolts, and mounting boss bolts all over the frame. The total package weighs around 27lbs. Seems chunky for a rigid singlespeed but due to the comfort, it rides a lot lighter. I have no reservations about piloting this bike anywhere and couldn’t be more pleased with it. If you are interested in a “ground up” build like this, hit us up. We can offer solid, time-proven advice about frames, components, wheels and how all these things work together to create an unsurpassed rider experience. Our team has many decades of experience in this area and all the brands mentioned above are readily available from us here at rideabike.com. Talk soon!
The build list: