KBDFans Mountain Ergo

Looking like a cross between an Alice and a tented ergo board, and using the same design language as their Blade 60%, this Mountain kit definitely has a striking visual presence - but that’s not why it has my attention.


This sort of board is usually comfortably outside of my wheelhouse, but I recently became aware that one of my old friends might benefit from something like this. I forget her title, but she processes medical cases and typing is a big part of her job. Apparently she cruises at 160 wpm on an ergo dome abomination of some kind - probably not the exact model but something like this:

I’d already customized a keeb for her bro a while back, and she gave it a try on a recent visit. While she didn’t care about the RGB, she did appreciate the Gazzew stem frankenswitches in it.

Since then, I’ve had my eyes open for a decent keeb that would be familiar enough to what she’s been using while also being a decent mech. I considered split boards, but ultimately thought that might be a little bit too much departure from comfortable territory.

Say all that to say this:

Ergo folks out there - how does this kit look to you?

I’ve seen KBDFans hit home-runs and absolutely whiff the ball almost back-to-back, and I know basically nothing about what an ergo board should be like, so I’d definitely appreciate the input of anyone with some experience in this corner of the keeb realm.

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When you post the pictures of these two boards side by side, the tent on the Mountain does not look nearly as a aggressive as the Microsoft…

The Mountain triggered the same Microsoft reference for me as well, but I didn’t notice the tenting until just now.

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This is a really nice design, if I have more cash and do not have a project at my back, I would have pull the trigger on it already. I personally have never try tenting before, but most people like it.

The different tenting angle on each side is something interesting as well, personally I have never see any design with such an implementation.

I’d buy that in a heartbeat if there was an ISO version. Oh well - I’m kind of resigned now to the fact that if I want a decent ergo in ISO I’m going to have to design and build it from scratch.

I wonder what was the insight behind having different angles between left and right side…

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I’m not exactly the example of a hard core ergo user, but I’ll say that I like ergo boards with some tenting and angle to them as they are more comfortable when gaming.

A guess is that you use the two sides differently(mainly mods) so a different angle on one side may make it more comfortable. :thinking:

I wish it was QMK-compatible

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I’ll just leave this here …

[IC] Type K - Tented Ergo keyboard (03/06/2021 - V4 PROTOTYPE ORDERED)

I’ve been lurking this board for a hot minute now. They’re on their 4th prototype. Anything worth doing, is worth doing right.

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If you ask me I will go for Mountain rather than Type K. KBDFans will able to deliver this much sooner then the Type K

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Thank you for the reminder on the Type K. Both look good but I’d rather not deal with KBDFans.

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yep. i’ve been watching this IC for a while now. Wish the spacebars weren’t 3.0 a bit because it makes it harder to find matching caps that a board like this deserves.

Mountain ergo is tempting for sure but it’s a tier below for still quite a premium price.

Type K will be considerably more expensive but, 400 vs 600 ish isn’t much of a difference to me. I’d rather spend more on something that I’ll be confident in, then a bit less for something that could be a hit or miss.

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The 3u spacebars can be split into 2u+1u on the Type K - but I prefer the KBDfans Mountain layout more. The Type K has a very limited bottom row. The Mountain has a super useable right cluster in particular.

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Personally, I feel that the point of tenting is the adjustable height angles. Having them built in for the Mountain Ergo and Type K wouldn’t allow that. But I suppose it’s only something applicable for split ergo boards

Comparing the two a good deal more, and still prefer the Type K significantly more.

The bottom right cluster of keys on the Mountain isn’t really a gain imo. It adds an extra modifier. You gain a modifier with the mentioned 2u+1u spacebar config. So you have 1 less modifier on the bottom right row on the Type K vs the Mountain. This isn’t a downside for me since I’m used to having 3 modifiers, including an Fn key.

Type K has the blown out left column of modifiers that is fairly nice too.

Both don’t have arrow keys which is a bit of a bummer but…is what it is.

Huge thanks for letting me know that the 3u spacebar can be 2u+1u…that changes things for me quite a bit =D

The Mountain wins the estetic battle!

My understanding is that lot of people use the three 1.25u keys and Shift in the bottom right as an arrow cluster. Obviously arrows can go anywhere on a layer, but it is rare for an ergonomic board to support it. Glad to help get you on the flex train with the spacebars.

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Ah… I didn’t realize that about the ergo users…(I haven’t had an alice before. (besides the skergo i just got)

So a very valid point indeed.
I’m torn.

That is a great looking board and in todays expensive market, the price seems pretty reasonable. Thank you for sharing this!

The Mountain Ergo is perfect for people who lose out on the Type K raffle