Flying Ball Mission

Finally, It's happening. Tomorrow morning I shall be boarding a flight bound for Hong Kong. Destination: Flying Ball Bicycle Co., And if all goes as planned, I'll be back here in Manila before midnight.

With my new Karate Monkey.

Yep, another bike. This time a slightly different beast from the Tingle. For once, the KM runs on bigger wheels - 29ers, in fact. We'll see how it the build goes - the KM is versatile enough to run gears or singlespeed. For now, here is the plan:

Frame: Surly Karate Monkey Frame & Fork
Headset: WTB Momentum GreaseGuard Headset (taken off the Caballero)
Stem: Salsa 21st Element Scandium Mountain Stem
Handlebar: On-One Mary Bar (taken off the Tingle)
Grips: Oury Lock Ons or Salsa Cork tape
Brakes: Magura HS-33 Hydraulic Rim Brakes (taken off the Caballero)
Seatpost: Salsa Shaft Seatpost (taken off the Caballero)
Saddle: WTB SST-XR with Titanium rails
Crankset: Shimano Deore with Salsa 32T chainring and FSA Ultimax Ti BB (taken off the Tingle)
Pedals: Time ATAC Alium Pedals
Cassette: Boone Ti 18T (taken off the Tingle)
Hubs: Ringle front and rear
Rims: Salsa Delgado Cross 700c
Tires: Maxxis Ignitor 29x2.1"

For the weight-weenies out there, I estimate the bike to weigh in at around 25-26 lbs. Not bad at all, considering this is a practical build (mostly carried over parts).

What shall become of the Tingle? We'll see. I can actually build her back up as a singlespeed once more parts come in (they are in transit), or maybe slap on some gears on her (what blasphemy!) hehe.