On Saturday I met Ted Wojcik and his wife Susan and their cute dog Daisy and picked up Ted's latest hardtail design - a 29er labeled the "Monkey Butt." This frame was build with help from input from members on the 29er forum (where I moderate) and with a goal of building a 29er hardtail that could fit a front derailleur with ample tire clearance while providing the frame with short chainstays - with a focus on East Coast Trails. Ted took input from forum members and applied his years of frame building skills and expertise to come up with this new 29er. The name is partly due to the origin of the frame - ridemonkey.com - but also a little bit of a pun on "butted tubing" used in the build.
This bike features a fairly steep HT angle, and short stays utilizing paragon sliding dropouts, along with an e-type front derailleur. Currently the rear stays are at 17.2" with a fully geared set up, but if you were to run a 1x8 or 1x9 or single speed set up you could run a nice sized tire with sub 17" chainstays. The set up makes for a quick and nimble and highly responsive 29er hardtail.
Ted spec'd the bike with a Fox F29 fork and a mix of Shimano XT and LX components. The wheels were provided by Mavic, and Mavic will receive this bike for riding and testing.
But for now it resides in Central CT - and my role is to ride the bike and provide Ted with feedback and observations. I also have the job of getting other riders on the bike in exchange for their thoughts and feedback to relay to Ted so that he can refine the design.
This is because he will be producing this "Monkey Butt" as a new hardtail in his line-up and will have it available in small, medium, large and XL sizes.
The original thread that breathed life into this frame is here:
I have two short rides on it and I'm impressed. The bike is quick, nimble, and precise and just superbly crafted. I need to dial in the Fox fork a bit more and look forward to more miles on the bike.
If you are interested in a demo/test ride - let me know. You can contact me via email at
mmcg25@gmail.com or via PM (but I prefer email). All we ask for is your feedback in exchange for time on the bike.
Well enough rambling - here are some pics.
[img:614:460]http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc54/tedwojcikcustombicycles/The%20real%20Monkey%20Butt/P1010001-1.jpg[/img]
[img:614:460]http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc54/tedwojcikcustombicycles/The%20real%20Monkey%20Butt/P1010026-1.jpg[/img]
[img:614:460]http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc54/tedwojcikcustombicycles/The%20real%20Monkey%20Butt/P1010029-1.jpg[/img]