All-City Cycles is a Minneapolis-based company that specializes in steel bikes. The company bills itself as urban-inspired, but it has a number of bikes that are off-road ready. It has been a few years, but we have looked at some of its steel offerings in the past.
The Gorilla Monsoon is All-City's newest steel bike that fits in the gravel and adventure category. With massive 27.5 x 2.4" tires, the Monsoon lives up to its name and invites the owner to go bikepacking, gravel grinding and mixed-terrain riding. However, it has a versatile design that can easily swap to other wheel and tire size combinations for your preferred type of riding.
The Gorilla Monsoon comes with monster 27.5 x 2.4" tires, but can swap to other sizes. A 700c wheel with a 38mm tire keeps the geometry neutral. All-City Steel Gorilla Monsoon Gravel / Adventure Bike. 2018 Sea Otter Classic. © C. Lee / Cyclocross Magazine
All-City introduced the Gorilla Monsoon in late February, but the 2018 Sea Otter Classic was its true unveiling to the public and it is now in stock. The Gorilla Monsoon frame is made in Taiwan of proprietary chromoly steel butted tubes using brazed lug construction and TIG welding and has an orange fade paint scheme. The frame follows the All-City ethos of building beautiful production bikes.
Nice details on the frame include an investment cast-lugged, double-plate crown steel fork, dropper post control line entry and dual threaded bosses on the front and rear fork ends for fenders and racks. There are even bosses for the Surly 8 Pack or 24-Pack front rack or low-rider pannier racks.
The double plate, lugged crown steel fork is elegant. It includes Surly 8 and 24-Pack mounts. All-City Steel Gorilla Monsoon Gravel / Adventure Bike. 2018 Sea Otter Classic. © C. Lee / Cyclocross Magazine
We looked over the geometry and it really is designed like a monster cross bike with a 71.5-degree head angle mated to a 47mm fork offset. The bottom bracket drop is 7.1cm with 43cm chainstays behind it that are bent enough to clear a 2.4" (60mm) tire. The slightly slack headtube and long chainstays yield a 103mm wheelbase for a 55cm frame that has a 56.5mm top tube length. With the low BB height those numbers ride a blurred line between a cyclocross or gravel bike.
The Gorilla Monsoon on display comes equipped with SRAM Apex 1 shifting, paired with an FSZ Comet direct-mount crank set. Hayes CX Expert mechanical disc brakes stop the bike with 160mm rotors front and rear. It comes with WTB i25 27.5" rims laced with 32 spokes to Novatec hubs and shod with WTB Riddler 27.5 x 2.4" tires. If you prefer 700c, a pair of 38mm tires will make the rolling diameter just about the same, which keeps the geometry—and thus the handling—stable and lightens the bike a bit too.
Low-rider front rack mounts are threaded through the blade of the steel fork. All-City Steel Gorilla Monsoon Gravel / Adventure Bike. 2018 Sea Otter Classic. © C. Lee / Cyclocross Magazine
The Gorilla Monsoon is $1,999 as shown, and it is also available as an $850 frameset.
See the photo gallery below for more on the All-City Gorilla Monsoon.
More info: allcitycycles.com
See more of what’s new in cyclocross and gravel in our 2018 Sea Otter trade show archives.
Photo Gallery: All-City Cycles Gorilla Monsoon
The 12mm thru-axle steel fork comes with double eyelets All-City Steel Gorilla Monsoon Gravel / Adventure Bike. 2018 Sea Otter Classic. © C. Lee / Cyclocross Magazine
