Controlled chaos. Type two fun. Affordable mountain bike. These are just a few oxymorons mountain bikers have come to embrace over time. With the launch of the Surly Sorceress today, we can add one more to the list: modern hardtail. No, there’s nothing electronic on this bike, and the frame is made with good old-fashioned steel, and yet… the Sorceress manifests significant — and frankly, overdue — contemporary updates to the Surly mountain bike lineup.
Surly Sorceress key specs
- Double butted Chromoly steel frame
- 140mm front suspension travel
- Singlespeed compatible
- 2 bottle mounts inside front triangle, accessory mounts on top tube
- Geometry highlights: 65° head tube angle, 484.1mm reach (size large), 429mm chainstay length
- Price: $2,199 to $3,199 ($2,499 as tested). $999 frameset.
- Buy from Surly dealers
On the trail
I wasn’t planning to ride the Surly Sorceress in Pisgah. My test bike showed up the day before a planned mountain bike trip to the land of gnar, leaving no time for a shakedown ride. Besides, my ideal Pisgah bike has about 140mm of rear suspension travel, which is significantly greater than zero milimeters. I decided to throw the Sorceress in the truck anyway, thinking I could at least snap some photos of the bike against a lovely forest backdrop.
After slogging thousands of feet of uphill hike-a-bike the day before, our plan was to ride a gravel road to the top of Wash Creek and down the Spencer Branch trail. Given my tired legs, I figured the Sorceress would make the long climb a little more bearable, even if that meant enjoying the descents a little less. But as it turned out, such a tradeoff wasn’t necessary.
Pointing the Surly Sorceress downhill, the bike is incredibly stable thanks to its long wheelbase and generous reach (507mm on my size XL demo bike). The high volume, 29×2.5″ Teravail Kessel tires silenced güiro-like root webs and blunted rear-wheel strikes on chunky rocks hidden beneath leaf-filled chutes.
I’m tempted to say the steel frame deserves some credit for soaking up trail chatter, but honestly, I think the tires — and the surprisingly supple and capable SR Suntour Zeron36 fork — deserve most of the credit. The frame is certainly more forgiving and has a livelier feel than the carbon-fiber hardtails I’ve ridden, though compared to some of the aluminum bikes I’ve tested, it’s pretty similar. The look of smaller-diameter tubing is what really sells a steel bike like the Sorceress for me, even if that has little to do with performance.
Out of the box, the extra-large Surly Sorceress fits me better than any bike I’ve tested over the past several years, with the exception of a Yeti SB140, which came with a custom build. Among the extra-large bikes I’ve tested, all have much lower stack heights than the Sorceress, including the SB140. But that’s not all; the extra-large Sorceress specs a 38mm riser handlebar (smaller sizes get zero rise, or lower rise bars), and the kind folks at Surly kept the fork steerer nice and long to make room for a tall stack of spacers.
The upshot of a tall handlebar height is improved confidence on steep descents. With my center of gravity shifted rearward and over the bottom bracket, rather than leaning heavily on the front wheel, the Sorceress carves technical trails confidently. More weight on top of and behind the front axle means going endo feels far less likely.
Reviewer profile height: 190cm (6’3″) weight: 75kg (165lb) testing zone: Southeast, USA
A higher front end also lends itself to more comfortable pedaling on flat to uphill stretches. I felt less weight on my hands, and the upright position makes breathing less labored. Though Surly positions the Sorceress as a true trail bike, I’d happily take it bikepacking where an upright handlebar position is ideal.
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The one tradeoff to a tall stack and bar height is a front end that wants to wander on the steepest climbs, even more so given the 65° seat tube angle on the Sorceress. Fortunately, the steep-for-a-hardtail, 76° seat tube angle counteracts the effect to some degree. On balance, though, the front end is noticeably light and wobbly on the climbs. Ultimately, I swapped one of the spacers from below the stem to above it to lower the front end slightly.
Though I can’t speak to how other sizes of the Sorceress will fit shorter riders, Surly touts “inclusive standover clearance” for riders 4’9″ and up and boasts “best in class dropper length and standover.” Depending on the frame size, Surly varies wheel size, handlebar rise, and dropper post travel. Notably, even the size small frames are said to fit a dropper post with 200mm of travel!
It took me some time to adjust to the Surly Sorceress on tight, technical trails. The long wheelbase requires a little extra maneuvering when it comes to sharp turns, though thankfully the chainstays are slightly shorter than average at 429mm long, giving the bike a refreshingly nimble feel. On my local, unofficial singletrack trails, the Sorceress is a good fit.
The Sorceress is nice and quiet on the trail thanks to simple external cable routing that ties everything together nice and tight. The Hot Honey Bling finish on the Shimano Deore build literally sparkles, though in the shade, the bike has a dull, copper look that’s classy and understated. Trumpet-flared tubes give the bike a unique silhouette that accentuates the straight line formed by the top tube and seat stays running from the top tube to the rear axle.
Aside from the chainstay protector, the Sorceress doesn’t appear to have any external frame protection installed. The frame is ED coated, which should protect against water and dirt, though over time it will surely wear away, especially if you’re running a frame bag. For that reason, I’d invest in some additional frame protection, particularly since this is a steel frame.
With its double-butted steel construction, this is not a lightweight bike. My extra-large bike, without pedals, weighs about 15.2kg (roughly 33.5lb).
No joke: Surly finally has a UDH solution
Last year, on April Fools Day, Surly announced the “Detrackulator,” an adapter for running a Universal Derailleur Hanger (UDH) on bikes with horizontal dropouts. Though UDH seems like a fairly new standard, SRAM actually introduced it in 2019, giving bike brands like Surly plenty of time to come up with a solution.
Well, here we are nearly seven years later, and Surly has a solution: the DUH. The patent-pending design is quite elegant, and it allows the Sorceress (and presumably, future Surly bikes) to run UDH-compatible drivetrains like SRAM Eagle Transmission or singlespeed.
Surly is offering three different complete builds that showcase all the drivetrain configurations that are possible — singlespeed, Eagle 90, and Shimano Deore. Surly says framesets, priced at $999, will ship with the necessary hardware to run singlespeed or a geared drivetrain. Otherwise, geared bike build buyers can purchase a $34.99 DUH System Small Parts Kit separately.
I converted my demo bike to a singlespeed to test how it works, and the entire process is incredibly simple. The singlespeed kit includes a dropout insert, a set of bolts, and a thru-axle to convert the rear end. You’ll also need a singlespeed cog and a spacer kit to convert your wheel (sold separately). From there, just remove some links from the chain (or get a dedicated chain to make swapping back and forth easier), and you’re good to go.
Riding the Sorceress as a singlespeed is a lot of fun. Without a cassette and derailleur, the bike feels spry and airy. It looks damn sexy too, with an even cleaner cockpit and a classic early-29er vibe.
How does the Sorceress compare to Surly’s other trail bike, the Karate Monkey?
It seems like the Karate Monkey has been around forever. I actually bought one for my kids to ride several years ago, and it’s a super versatile mountain bike. Still, the extremely conservative — and by today’s standards, dated — geometry stopped me from buying one for myself. Just thinking about that steep 68° head tube angle has me grabbing for the brakes to slow down! The latest Karate Monkey builds, like the Sorceress builds, ship with a 140mm-travel fork, so clearly there is overlap between the two bikes.
The Sorceress brings long-overdue modern trail bike geometry and UDH to the Surly lineup, but that’s not all. Unlike the Karate Monkey, the Sorceress features an arrow-straight seat tube with zero impediments, which offers more room for a long-travel dropper post — even size small frames are said to fit 200mm-travel posts. Another change is that the dropper post routing begins at the bottom of the downtube, rather than the seat tube. It’s a small detail, but a smart one that ensures riders of all sizes can find a dropper post that fits.
A lot of friends have commented on the “upper triangle” between the seat tube and top tube on my test bike. A Surly rep tells me that only the size large and extra large frames feature this bit of extra seat tube bracing. If I were keeping this bike long term, I’d be tempted to sew a tiny custom frame bag to fit inside.
Gone are the Karate Monkey’s underside downtube water bottle/accessory mounts; in their place are a set of accessory mounts on top of the top tube. Current Karate Monkey builds ship with 27.5+ tires, while the Sorceress is a dedicated 29er with no mention of 27.5+ compatability. Given how close the nominal diameters are between the two wheel sizes, I suspect 27.5+ tires will fit the Sorceress just fine without any ill effects on the bike’s geometry or handling.
Which begs the question: Now that the Sorceress is here, what will the Karate Monkey become? The Karate Monkey is long overdue for a refresh, but with a new 140mm trail bike in Surly’s lineup, I’m not sure it makes sense to update the bike without making drastic changes to its intentions.
As of press time, a complete Sorceress with a Deore drivetrain is priced $100 less than a Karate Monkey with a comparable build.
Pros and cons of Surly Sorceress
Pros
- UDH- and singlespeed-compatible
- Generous seat tube fits long-travel dropper posts
- Trail-worthy component spec, especially for the price
- Size XL frame provides a better fit for tall riders than many competing bikes
Cons
- Heavy frame
Bottom line
A few weeks ago, I wrote an essay saying I wasn’t looking to let go of my six-year-old steel hardtail any time soon. Now, the Surly Sorceress makes it very tempting to eat those words. With modern touches, smart frame features, a good ride feel, and classic good looks, the Sorceress is certainly worthy of a long-term relationship.
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