Monkey Ride: Neil’s Surly Krampus 29+ Mountain Bike with SuspensionFork, Belt Drive, and Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14

Neil built this Surly Krampus after test riding Tyler's Krampus and others we've built for customers and realizing that he needed one of his own. Naturally, he chose a Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 and Gates Carbon Drive belt system for the drivetrain. The bike was finished just before Neil and Phil drove north for the Seattle Bicycle Expo, and Neil took it out for its first rides on the famed trails of the Pacific Northwest. The Krampus proved to be a very capable trail bike, with the oversize tires, stable handling, suspension fork, and dropper seatpost making for a fun all-mountain hardtail that is well suited to Neil's riding style.

We've put together quite a few Krampus builds for customers using the stock steel fork that comes with the frames, but most of these builds have had a touring or commuting focus, where the rigid fork is appropriate. The 3" wide tires that these bikes use provide some minor suspension that smooths out bumpy roads, but Neil wanted his own bike to be tailored towards more aggressive mountain biking where a suspension fork is a must - similar to the Krampus we built for the Interbike trade show: a durable ride capable of hitting jumps, rock gardens, and tight, twisty trails with ease.

Surly Troll Mountain/Touring/Commuting Bike with Rohloff SPEEDHUB500/14 and Schmidt Dynamo

This black and silver Surly Troll was built for a customer of ours in San Francisco who was looking for the ideal all-around bike for the many different kinds of riding he planned to do. He wanted to be able to ride comfortably both on road and off, ride around town to run errands, and go on some longer tours. As with many of our customers, versatility and durability were priorities for this build, which is why the bike was built around the Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 drivetrain.

Rohloff-Equipped Surly Ogre Mountain/Touring/Commuting Bike

The customer who purchased this bike was interested in a versatile bike that he could commute on and also use to get into mountain biking. He wanted a bike that would be comfortable for trips around town but capable enough to hit some of the many great mountain bike trails in Marin County, where he lives. After a few conversations about his dream bike, we put together this build based around the Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 and Surly's Ogre frame.

Surly frames are all designed with a lot of versatility in mind and make great all-around bikes. Their Ogre frameset was chosen as the basis for this build because it is designed for commuting and touring on mixed road surfaces, with plenty of braze-ons for racks, fenders, and water bottles. The frame's geometry will also tackle singletrack with ease.

Surly Krampus 29+ Mountain Bike with Suspension Fork, Rohloff SPEEDHUB500/14, and Gates Belt Drive

Sometimes the team here at Cycle Monkey dreams up a project that is not specifically for a customer but rather to satisfy our own curiosity. We chalk it up to product research, but these projects also have a bit of a selfish motivation: we like to build cool bikes! We put together this Surly Krampus to showcase in the Rohloff booth at the Interbike trade show in Las Vegas last September. The various customizations on this build were very popular at the show and prompted plenty of people to stop by and marvel at the Rohloff hub, belt drive, and suspension fork we had installed on the frame. 

The goal for this build was to create a bike that could be ridden more aggressively through rock gardens, off drops and jumps, and down steep descents. Surly’s Krampus comes stock as a fully rigid 29er with large volume tires that can care of some of the harsh bumps found on trails. Its three inch wide tires on 50mm wide rims provide a fair amount of pneumatic suspension, but in certain situations, the bike is very clearly rigid.

Rohloff-Equipped Soulcraft Road Bike

Custom Soulcraft frame in sea-foam green.

We built up this custom Soulcraft for a customer who had a very specific road bike in mind. He had searched in vain for a production frame to suit his needs, but couldn't find anything available on the market. After deciding that a custom frame would be his best option, he contacted Soulcraft, a local Northern California framebuilder, to make his dream bike a reality. With his one-of-a-kind frame in hand, he came to us to build up the rest of the bike around the Rohloff gearing system.

Our customer was looking for a comfortable yet nimble road bike that he could take on all-day rides without straining his neck, back, or shoulders. He requested a taller headtube on the frame to give him a slightly more upright seating position, yet he still wanted it to have a quick-handling ride quality like a traditional road bike. He also knew that he wanted to use a Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14, so the frame was made specially for the hub – braze-ons for Rohloff cable routing, no derailleur hanger, and a sliding dropout with a bolt for an axle plate to secure the hub's axle in place.

Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 with Rohloff-specific dropout design.

Because our customer likes to go for long road rides, he knew the Rohloff SPEEDHUB would work well for his riding style. The internally housed mechanics of the shift system are extremely durable and only need to be serviced with a new oil bath once a year. Long rides normally take you miles away from any bike shop, so a reliable shift system is a priority for endurance riding. Knowing he did not want to be stuck mid-ride on a desolate country road with derailleur problems, our customer figured the SPEEDHUB was the perfect hub for his needs.

We have long believed a wheelset truly “makes” the ride. Wheels play a large part in the ride quality and general feel of any bike. Much like a custom frame is tuned for a given rider, custom wheels can be tuned the same way. For the wheels on this bike, we used Velocity’s A23 road rims because the wider footprint allows the tire to spread out more, providing more comfort, control, and traction. We used White Industries’ American-made MI5 front hub and the SPEEDHUB on the rear. The polished silver color of the rims and hubs matched perfectly, making for quite a shiny, vintage-looking wheelset.

White Industries is another local company we have come to trust. They have been making parts in Northern California for nearly 40 years, and have a reputation for very precisely machined components. For these reasons, we chose a White Industries crankset, bottom bracket, and chainwheel for the Soulcraft.

Nitto Classic handlebars.

Finally, we set up the cockpit. We chose Nitto’s classically shaped drop bars, paired them with a Nitto stem, and mounted the Rohloff shifter on the end of the bar with a Hubbub adapter. Lastly, we wrapped the bars in tan Deda tape to compliment the Gilles Berthoud leather saddle.

This custom frame was a joy to build, and we were excited about the Rohloff-specific features designed into the frame. We expect our customer will enjoy this no-frills, durable road bike for years to come. Contact us to discuss whether a Rohloff-equipped road bike is in your future.

Build Details:

•  Frame: Soulcraft custom steel road
•  Fork: Soulcraft steel
•  Headset: Chris King NoThreadset
•  Stem: Nitto UI85EX
•  Handlebar: Nitto Classic
•  Shifter: Rohloff
•  Bar Tape: Deda
•  Seatpost: Paul Component Engineering Tall and Handsome
•  Saddle: Gilles Berthoud leather
•  Front Hub: White Industries MI5
•  Rear hub: Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14
•  Spokes: Sapim Laser
•  Nipples: Sapim brass
•  Rims: Velocity A23
•  Tires: Schwalbe Durano Plus
•  Cranks: White Industries VBC Road
•  Bottom Bracket: Phil Wood Stainless
•  Chainring: White Industries VBC
•  Pedals: Shimano Ultegra
•  Chain: Wipperman 8sX
•  Brakes: Shimano Dura-Ace
•  Levers: Shimano R600

Drop-bar, Rohloff-Outfitted Civia Hyland

The Civia Hyland is perfect for daily commuting or long road rides

A local friend of Cycle Monkey came to us a few years ago asking if we had any ideas for a sturdy daily commuter that he could also take on some long road rides. He’s an avid road rider and has a garage full of high-end racing bikes. For his commuter, he wanted a similar fit and feel that he was used to on his road bikes, with the benefit of not having to worry about maintenance on century rides or day-in, day-out commuting.

After we discussed his criteria, we opted to start the build with Civia’s Hyland frame. Civia designed the Hyland to provide reliable daily transportation strong enough to haul groceries and other gear in any road conditions, but nimble enough to navigate quickly through city streets. Disc brake mounts and fenders add to the versatility of the frame. Our customer liked the Hyland’s light, sturdy aluminum frame, but coming from a road background he wanted make sure his ride was both speedy and dependable. We told him we had something for him in mind.

The Civia's Rohloff-specific dropouts make for a clean, simplified drivetrain

Rohloff-Equipped, Belt Driven Independent Fabrication 29'er MountainBike

We built this bike for a local customer in El Cerrito, CA as an insurance replacement for a bike that was stolen.  While he was sad to loose his old bike, he got some nice upgrades with the replacement: disc brakes, 29" wheels, custom frame.  He had purchased a Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 several years earlier for a different bike, but that hub had subsequently gone unused following a bike swap.  After demo'ing one of our belt drive Rohloff bikes, he decided to build up something similar based on a custom steel frame built by Independent Fabrication (IF).  We converted his SPEEDHUB 500/14 to be disc brake and belt drive compatible and laced it into new rims for this build.  The paint scheme is based on the Titanium Factory Lightweight road bike from Independent Fabrication that we built up previously for a different customer.

Rohloff-Equipped, Belt Driven Spot Sprawl Commuter/Touring Bike

We built this bright green commuter for one of our customers in Anchorage, AK.  He had been commuting on an aluminum cyclocross frame and wanted to switch to a steel bike for better comfort.  He was also looking for a more durable frame to do some touring on.  He had picked up a used Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 and sent it down to us for an overhaul and to be built up with a Chris King front hub into a wheelset.  He wanted to put the new wheels on a frame that was Rohloff, and ideally belt drive,  compatible, so the Spot Sprawl fit his needs.

For the wheels, we laced up the Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 and Chris King ISO disc hubs into Velocity Dyad rims using Sapim Race double butted spokes and brass nipples.  This is a configuration we build regularly for commuting, road, light to moderate touring, or cross country mountain bike use.  Basically straight-forward wheels that will provide many years of reliable service.

The bike is built up with a collection of high-quality, durable parts to complement the nearly maintenance-free drivetrain offered by the Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 and the Gates Carbon Drive belt drive system.  For the brakes, we used the TRP Parabox mechanical to hydraulic disc brake system, which allows you to use any standard brake levers, which in this case are from SRAM.  Brake cables run from the levers to the conversion unit mounted below the stem and are connected to small lever arms that drive fluid to the brake calipers.  This system offers the solid lever feel of a full hydraulic system without being locked into a given manufacturer's brake or brake/shift levers.  Like the Magura brakes we normally spec on flat bar builds, the TRP brakes also use mineral oil, which is less toxic than DOT fluid and doesn't require as much regular maintenance.


The Sprawl frame is marketed for commuting or light touring.  The geometry is the same as their Mod cyclocross bike with that addition of rack and fender mounts.  Sliding dropouts provide belt/chain tension, and the drive side one separates to install a belt.  A Rohloff-specific left side insert is available for use with the Rohloff OEM axle plate.  Tubes are True Temper OX Platinum chromoly steel, built in Colorado.


Build details

• Frame: Spot Sprawl Steel
• Fork: Spot carbon
• Headset: Chris King NoThreadset
• Stem: Salsa Pro Moto
• Handlebar: Salsa Pro Moto
• Shifter: Rohloff
• Brake Levers: SRAM 500
• Tape: Deda
• Seatpost: Velo Orange Grand Cru
• Saddle: Fizik Aliante
• Front Hub: Chris King ISO Disc
• Rear hub: Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14
• Spokes: Sapim Race
• Nipples: Sapim Brass
• Rims: Velocity Dyad
• Tires: Schwalbe Marathon
• Skewers: Shimano XT
• Cranks: Race Face Turbine
• Bottom Bracket: Race Face
• Chainring: Gates Carbon Drive Center Track Pulley
• Chain: Gates Carbon Drive Center Track Belt
• Brakes: TRP Parabox
• Rotors: Magura Storm

Rohloff-Equipped, Belt Driven Co-Motion Americano Touring Bike

We built this steel touring bike for a customer in Henderson, NV to replace the Surly Cross Check that he had been riding.  He came to us two and a half years ago to build a rear wheel with a Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 to replace the derailleur system on his Cross Check, and a couple months later, we built him a matching front wheel with a Phil Wood Touring hub.  Having been happy with the performance of the Rohloff drivetrain, he decided to upgrade to a dedicated Rohloff frame and swap out his chain for a belt while he was at it.  The Americano model from Co-Motion offered all the options that he wanted.

Co-Motion is one of the few US bike companies that offers dedicated Rohloff-specific frame models.  They build bikes out of steel and aluminum in their facility in Eugene, Oregon.  They are well known for their tandems and touring bikes, though they also offer road, cyclocross, and commuting frames.  Their catalog includes a wide variety of models with stock geometry, with custom geometry available for a moderate up-charge.  A few years ago, they decided to design a Rohloff OEM dropout and offer stock Rohloff-specific frames to accommodate a growing number of custom Rohloff frame orders.  Since many of these customers also wanted to use the Gates Carbon Drive belt drive system, they incorporated a split point into the dropout so a belt could be inserted in the frame.

Independent Fabrication Factory Lightweight Titanium Road Bike

We recently posted a full-suspension fat bike; this week we're going the complete opposite direction with a lightweight road bike.......with derailleurs even.  While we typically showcase Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 builds on our blog, this Factory Lightweight Titanium road bike stands out as a fine example of the work that Independent Fabrication does as well as showing off some nice custom wheels.  IF builds bikes out of steel (chromoly and stainless), titanium, carbon fiber, and a mix of carbon fiber and titanium.  Everything is custom-built to order, and their quality and attention to detail is top notch.  Their in-house paint department can handle all sorts of custom finish requests, including the orange-blue color block pattern used on this frame.  We've enjoyed working with IF for many years providing tech support for their Rohloff frames as well as building wheels for their complete Rohloff bikes.  We featured a Rohloff touring bike from IF back in April and currently have a steel belt drive Rohloff mountain bike frame in their build cue for another customer.

This tricked-out road bike was built for one of our local Rohloff customers in Berkeley, CA.  The customer has a penchant for high-end titanium bikes, including his Rohloff-equipped mountain bike, but made an exception for this beautifully painted frame with carbon seat mast. Lots of high-end carbon parts are used in the build kit: Campy Super Record groupset, SRM power meter on SRAM carbon crank arms, and ENVE Composites handlebar and carbon rims.  The ENVE rims are laced to Alchemy ELF and ORC hubs using Sapim CX-Ray spokes for what we think of as the ultimate all-around set of road wheels.