{"id":19138,"date":"2015-10-20T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-10-20T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/2015\/10\/20\/best-bike-in-africa-2015-9-mercerbikes-hungry-monkey-ii-r3688\/"},"modified":"2023-02-08T09:09:48","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T09:09:48","slug":"best-bike-in-africa-2015-9-mercerbikes-hungry-monkey-ii-r3688","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/best-bike-in-africa-2015-9-mercerbikes-hungry-monkey-ii-r3688\/","title":{"rendered":"Best Bike in Africa 2015: #9 MercerBikes Hungry Monkey II"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Best Bike in Africa will be held at the 2015 Standard Bank Africa Cycle Fair<\/a> on 23 – 25 October at St Stithians College, Johannesburg. The competition invites fair visitors to vote for their favourite bike at the Best Bike in Africa stand. All the entrants that vote for the bike that wins the Best Bike in Africa will go into a draw to win the bike. Leading up to the fair, we’ll be be revealing the bikes entered in the Best Bike in Africa. First up today is the MercerBikes Hungry Monkey II.<\/p>\n

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Usually we use our own words but when the man who designs and builds the bike gives you some text, it just feels wrong to paraphrase. So here’s what David Mercer has to say about his Hungry Monkey II:<\/p>\n

\nThe beating heart of the Hungry Monkey is its handmade steel frame. Fillet brazed from a selection of double butted steel tubes from Columbus and Dedacciai, the Hungry Monkey frame is built one at a time in the tiny Cape Town workshop of MercerBikes. It\u2019s a labour of love. And it shows \u2013 the fillets are sanded by hand to give seamless tube junctions and flowing lines. In an era of mass production, the Hungry Monkey stands out as something unique and special.<\/p>\n

The frame is designed to accept long travel forks (140 \u2013 160mm), 650B wheels and is equipped with sliding dropouts. The head angle is a relatively slack 66 degrees and the top tube is on the long side. The bottom bracket is lower than the norm to make a stable ride at speed and the chainstay length can be adjusted from 420 \u2013 445mm. A 1x specific design, the Hungry Monkey also has cable routing for a stealth dropper post. The Hungry Monkey is a very versatile frame that can be set up for almost any intended use. Steel\u2019s longevity and liveliness are legendary \u2013 this should make the Hungry Monkey a frame for life.<\/p>\n

This particular Hungry Monkey has been built with out-of-bounds trail riding in mind. It rolls on wheels from South Industries \u2013 their bombroof AM Carbon rims laced to Tune hubs with double butted DT Swiss spokes and shod in Onza rubber. The Pike up front needs no introduction: 160mm of controlled plush has never felt better. A 1×10 drivetrain with SRAM\u2019s GX cranks turning X9 oily bits provides propulsion and SRAM\u2019s incredible Guide brakes help reign in the madness. The saddle is a custom covered Flite Titanium from Velobrien in Cape Town. Stem and seatpost are both from Thomson and a smattering of BX components round out the build.<\/p>\n

The Hungry Monkey aims to be the bike you reach most for. It\u2019s fun, involving and rewarding. It\u2019s a bike with soul.<\/p>\n

Feed it.\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Specifications:<\/h2>\n