[Closed] Are Kona's really that bad?

Tony, everyone is different and as such different bikes suit different people. I've ridden Norco Atomic, Cove G-Spot, Specialized Demo 8 / 9 and Kona Stinkys. Out of the lot I prefer the ride of the Stinky, no question. The bike just fits and feels right. The others are all great bikes without doubt but they just didn't feel *quite* right.

What ever feels good is for you.

If you are in the market for a new ride then alas the Stinky is no more however the Kona Operator is a pretty sweet bike, handles well and is good for the money.

<awaits teh Kona haterz to come along and point out how crap they are>

Kona's 4 bar suspension system has never been that efficient, although I'm sure it probably works ok with modern platform shocks. It always seemed to be designed more to look like a FSR system than designed to work well, although that may have changed over the years, and the magic link seems interesting, although reviews are mixed. Their full suspension bikes have also always been quite heavy, and some of them have been extremely ugly, so they haven't had a great press.

I'm not sure a Demo 8 or Shocker would make much difference, angles may be different, but I don't think either of those are particularly renowned for their light-weight.

weight is only a small issue for me. i do find my stinkys rear end a bit heavy tho. not the easiest to kick out but i can only compare to hard tails. would an air shock make enough of a diffrence in the rear end ?

Got a Dr Dew, cracking bike, the one I mostly ride as it happens.

I guess it's not the kind of kona your referring to...

My big unit was great to ride but didn't last 6 months

Kona warranty was worthless, they assessed it off a few pics and refused to honour it.

Tube thickness is about half that on an old cannondale, I wonder why it failed?

storys like that make me want rid. but ive done some big hits and flat landings on mine and no cracks or anything yet

watsontony

this is the only dh bike i have ever rode so say if i was to get a demo 8 or cove shocker would it feel loads better.

If we are talking about a current DH bike vs an older freeride bike the angles and feel will be very different. But, they are DH race bikes, which in my opinion only feel like fun, only come alive so to speak at race speeds on the harshest terrain.

For you right now, if the stinky feels good then that's all that matters.

storys like that make me want rid. but ive done some big hits and flat landings on mine and no cracks or anything yet

You probably don't weigh what I do, nor is your frame a lightweight scandium piece of tin foil.

i like kona`s,they feel "right" 😀

Got two Konas (a Hoss and a Dawg) and can't fault either of them. No matter how much you beat the sh173 out of them they break.

Bike brakes end off?. And kona don't brake more than cannondale, sunn or even specialized.
Kona always had some "weeeee" factor put into their bikes. However they are suffering of the catalogue conudrum and being sold via halford/CRC.

If the bike feels right for you, just keep it. The stinky is a great little bike. Very capable.

Konas are like large ladies....
Sort of..

Kona make some great bikes. It's only the blinkered nichemongers that don't know that. Still, in my opinion, one of the most influential brands in MTB. I've had several, and Mrs PP has a King Kikapu that simply refuses to wear out a suspension bush.
There's not many Konas I wouldn't buy. 🙂

unless you ride near large mirrors all day, looks realy dont count for much.Its how it feels to ride that counts.I liked mine, It increased my bottom of trail grin thrice-fold 😀

Kona's 4 bar suspension system has never been that efficient

I guess you've got some evidence to back that up other than what you think? I don't own a Kona currently but have done in the past. There is a very good argument for having the pivot on the seatstay and not the chainstay like 'horst' link bikes.

I personally think they build solid if bikes that are a little boring.

See i had a soft spot for em in the mid 90s to early 00s but they stagnated ten went down a path of being heavy as hell , pandering to halfords and having a terrible importer (palicrap)

My mates 99 stinky delux was a thing of beauty and anothers 98 stab delux that looked pre crashed with its bendy down tube.

Latest experiances revolve around a mates kona kula deelux brand new frame at its first race while failed catastrophically and seriously injured my mate. The head tube tore off riding over roots with sids upfront.

Based on the way both the importers and kona them selves washed their hands of the matter ill never buy another

Shame as my old jake was a nice bike.

Good bikes and excellent value for money right now, the brand is suffering from being unfashionable at the moment.

CRC always have some impressivley specced Konas on their website for peanuts.

[img] [/img]

tasty kona.... superlight , super fragile.

massive kona fan here

have had a [u]97 hahhana[/u] (my 1st proper mtbstolen)
[u]97 lava dome[/u] (bought off ebay about 6years ago- ride it to work every day 10miles each way still a joy to ride!)
[u]99 muni mula[/u] (snapped when i tried to land a double badly but the warranty was good then and i got discount on a new frame)
[u]2002 bear dee lux[/u] (brilliant bike, ridden xc, dh, enduro,24hr, 2 megavalacnhes- retired it last year its still in the loft)
2003 stab, (built up on the cheap as a dh bike, did a mega on it sold it to buy..)
[u]2006 stinky[/u] (done loads of uplifts, dh races and a mega, offset shock bushings to slacken the head angle,thrust bearings and a loco tune and it rides brilliant and just under 40lbs)
[u]2008 dawg primo[/u] (my current ambike burly build gravity dropper etc done 5 enduros on it his year and the last 2 gravity enduros with awesome 44 rc3tis its 30lbsish)

the suspension works great in my opinion! i use the platform damping for fireroad climbs on the dawg, they dont bob as badly as an fsr and ride better on the descents imo!

they suffered badly from being sold by halfords and the cheaper bikes they sold were heavy and cheaply specced so provided a good way for groms to get into the sport so snobs look down them

the new dh bikes operator and entourage are getting brilliant reviews and rated up there with the best dh bikes by dirt etc

i really wanna get a ride on the 3g magic link cadabra, i think that may be my next bike and the 2013 units look lush!

I have always liked the look of the kona 4 bar set up. It has a sort of Russian military / utility look about it.

I had a kona Four Supreme until a few months ago and absolutely loved it. My thoughts were that it was reasonably light, very comfy and coped with everything that I threw at it.........often thought that you'd never need more bike than that in 99% of situations!

Sold it to do the hardtail thingy, which was the worst decision I've ever made!

I've seen lots of old stinkies being thoroughly abused and loving every minute of it. They're tough. If there's a few broken ones out there then you have to take into account that they sold a hell of a lot of them. They did some gopping paint jobs, nothing that a bit of hammerite can't fix.

hopster - Member
There is a very good argument for having the pivot on the seatstay and not the chainstay like 'horst' link bikes.

What's the reason?

I had a Stinky Dee-Lux, 2001 vintage - awesome bike, loved it 🙂

Didn't love the (lack of) warranty back up from Paligap (Kona UK as was). Snapped a suspension bolt which then bent the rocker arms and they refused to warranty.

Replaced the rockers myself and I think the bike itself is still going strong under some young grom in the FoD 🙂

There's nothing wrong with Kona bikes, never has been. But they were sold at Halfords for a while (same as GT) and got stuck with the stigma of that. They don't break any more than other brands and never did. Warranty was/is as good as most brands (obviously some have great warranty - Specialized).
Ridden loads over the years and found their suspension platform to be as good as most. Sure they made a few dogs in their time and they were never the prettiest bikes, but how many other companies out there have bikes that look similar?

Haters gonna Hate whatever.

But then what do I know? I ride an Orange Alpine and everyone knows that all Oranges crack - guaranteed

I admit to having cringed at their name a few times mainly as the Stinkys and older DH bikes do look very old school, but I'm basing that on image alone, and actually when you see someone on a Kona they're usually a blood good rider!

They have a new 29er hardtail with aggressive geo, no idea what it's called but it looks properly nice.

edit, this bad boy, Kona Honzo

[img] [/img] first 29er I went 'ooo' at

I've got a Dew and a Heihei from 2007 when they were still 26ers.

I love them both, especially the Heihei. It was one of the earlier short travel FS XC race bikes I think, and a bit of a revelation to me. It's extremely quick on the ups as you would expect but it begs to be seriously hammered on the descents too. It's bumpy, of course, cos of the 80mm fork, but it only becomes a handful when it gets proper rocky. But then again it's my dedicated XC race bike so that doesn't come up much. I do wish I'd gone for 100mm though when I built it.

Anyway, there never was anything wrong with Kona as a brand (and often much very very right) they just got derided on here because young people would often buy Stinkies at Halfords and turn up at trail centres or DH tracks and not be cool with the middle aged Audi driving Commencal riding IT managers.

Nothing wrong with the 4 bar thing really either, in practical terms. I really lusted after a Four, it just looked sooo right for really fast general XC riding.. mmm nom nom.. love it.. but it's worth noting that Kona do a very large range of bikes with more diversity than most of the smaller outfits. Everything from DH to CX to road to load carrying utility bikes to top end road to some really really nice flat bar road bikes for high speed commuting.. damn I love those.

I really love my Kona Big Unit.

I reckon I've had it for a couple of years now and it gets used pretty much every day for mountain biking, road rides and commuting.

I've bought and sold a few bikes since then, but I can't imagine selling my Unit.

I'd be gutted if something happened to the frame 🙁

It's one of the few things that I've actually got attached to (Apart from my dogs.............. and the wife) 😆

unless you ride near large mirrors all day, looks realy dont count for much.Its how it feels to ride that counts.

So true. This has nothing to do with Konas though. I had a Lavadome which I loved but sold. Had a Kahuna and by god that was awful!!

Kona hardtails have always looked right to me, had a 94 lava dome nearly bought a couple more but both times ended up getting better deal on other frames.

Kona FSers never really inspired me dunno why.

Probably just as good as FSers from other well established companies.

Still got a Kona King(it's the old scandium tubed Leroi),bought it afew ears back off here secondhand.I was amazed how well it rode & how good that 63MM of suspension actually felt,like someone earlier wrote "it just felt right"....I've got a few bikes,FS & h/tails & it was the bike of choice for a fair few months & then it cracked around the seat tube ! Repaired it with a heavy duty job of fibreglass matting around the crack & it was fine again for about a year,then I decided to tidy my repair up & sand the matting down till it was barely visible....it then only lasted a few weeks till it cracked again.It's in the garage all sanded down ready to have another heavy duty repair done to it again,when I can find the time/be ar5ed to do it....

but yeah,great bikes.........

S'pose I could have just wrote that really........ 🙂

I've got a '95 Cindercone that I've ridden thousands of miles on, fully panniered up. Had a '00 Cindercone before that too for commuting. Also got an A for full-bounce fun.

And keeping with the Joe Murray allegience, I've owned a Voodoo Bantu and now have a Voodoo D-Jab too.

Love 'em all 🙂

Old Kona's never seem to die. I had a cindercone about 2005 vintage. The Joe Murrey designed one before they went to daft hydroformed tubing. It was luuuurverly. And its still going strong, in singlespeed guise, with one of the forum regulars

I also kept with the Joe Murray allegience with a voodoo Wanga. fantastic frame!

Kona Coiler here. 2005. Bought it off ebay just to ride the mega'. Liked it so much I still have it (4 years). It's a great bike.

Had a Kona Unit. Loved it.

Always liked Konas.

SB

I've had a few. Only one left is a Dr Dew. Great bikes. All of them.

I was looking at the catalogue in the LBS yesterday, they were a dealer for a couple of years, but they won't be stocking them again. Seem to be a little over priced compared to other brands and Kona seem to have lost their way a little. Some of the names and colour schemes are truely shocking. Kona have dropped the Humu from the range. VERY, VERY bad decision.

I like the look of the Honzo though.

tasty kona.... superlight , super fragile.

my Big Unit developed a fine crease on the downtube just where the butting finishes, no other marks on the frame, no crashes, not a mark to the top tube

got told it must have been an impact and the immortal "no known issues with the frame design",

no inspection by Kona, fobbed off repeatedly

I cut it up afterwards and the tube thickness is minimal and the fail is at end of the butt, probably not helped by having the seam weld running along the bottom of the tube and through the centre of the failure

I'd be gutted if something happened to the frame

It's one of the few things that I've actually got attached to (Apart from my dogs.............. and the wife)

hope you don't have a Kona frame failure, Kona warranty issue, or cracked Kona Big Unit

When I wanted to get back into DH (on a budget) it really had to be an old kona frame. they do the job just fine had a couple now and have found I prefered them to much posher bikes I've had in some ways.

As for the classic 90's steel frames you could say they were the starting point for many of the Steel HTs we seem to love in the UK still. My own is rigid and SS and the ideal grim weather winter MTB/tow path commuter.

Brand snobbery is really the primary reason kona have become less popular in recent years their newwer DH and trail bikes look pretty good IMO and are getting some positive reviews too I believe so they're not done yet....

("unless you ride near large mirrors all day")my 97 cinder-cone is beautiful 😐

I bought a 2009 Dawg Deluxe (6") frame cheap off CRC earlier this year. I transferred my Stan's Flows, Sektor, super-wide bars, dropper post and it's 30lbs. It's advanced my riding skills no end. The angles just seem to work perfectly and I don't notice the bob. If I do, I flick propedal on. Great bikes (for those that aren't ashamed to love the larger ladies).

Got a Kona Hei hei supreme(stupid name).. love it.. second best bike I've ever ridden.

I love my Cowan!!!!!!!!!!
Better than me in the air.
Goes round corners like nothing else.
Goes down anything.
Really awesome bike.

Haven't had one since about 1988 because it was the worst bike we have ever had in the house and we have had a few between me and her and 2 kids. It steered abysmally, the components were rubbish everybody hated it.
Having said this they could be wonderful now but the damage is done for me.

Take it out of the house and point it at some trails. You will notice a difference...

FOG - Member
Haven't had one since about 1988 because it was the worst bike we have ever had in the house and we have had a few between me and her and 2 kids. It steered abysmally, the components were rubbish everybody hated it.
Having said this they could be wonderful now but the damage is done for me.

eh?

Genuine LOLZ... Everything was rubbish in the 80s! I wonder how many new bikes Kona have designed and launched since then...

TBH they make so many products, in pretty much every niche, that you can't judge them all in one go. The XC bikes I've ridden have been pretty traditional but well executed, the recent Stinkies were bowfing... And there's everything inbetween. It's like saying "Are Specializeds any good".

Still have a 1996 Cindercone (was SS) & a 2005 Kikapu deluxe

Well I still have the frames but both have served well including The Dyfi and MM and I'm thinking about building the Kikapu up again with kit off a slightly trashed HT for winter night riding as it was so reliable and the 4" of rear sus might help over those hidden bumps?

he recent Stinkies were bowfing...

i dispute this!!

they are ace bikes,youll not find a bad reviewand everyone except northwind loves em 😉

'08 Stinky owner. It fits like a glove and plummets when pointed downhill. What more do you need? 🙂

would just be nice if it dident look like a industrial machine. anyone any any experience with 2006 gt dhi's? the one in question has 2009 boxxers and a dhx 5.0. would this be better than a stinky ? someone intrsted in swapping me

One of the many (if you'll excuse the smugness) nice things about living in Vancouver is that every second commuter seems to be riding a beautiful retro Kona, when they were still skinny steel. Fire Mountains, Lava Domes (THE Kona for any kid with their first 500 pounds to spend!), Kilaueas and Explosifs, all just pootling around on the street.

Better yet, living by Kitsilano beach, every second lovely retro Kona that goes past is being ridden by a bronzed honey in short shorts and a bikini top, I don't know where to look first... 8)

Better yet, living by Kitsilano beach, every second lovely retro Kona that goes past is being ridden by a bronzed honey in short shorts and a bikini top, I don't know where to look first...

You lucky barsteward.

Better yet, living by Kitsilano beach, every second lovely retro Kona that goes past is being ridden by a bronzed honey in short shorts and a bikini top, I don't know where to look first...

It's true, I have seen this. 8)

sorry for the darkside content. love my roady kona with carbon rear, sweet comfy light ride at climbs like a deamon. better than its rider!
it will be on my MTB list when i come to retire the Marin.

2006 gt dhi's? the one in question has 2009 boxxers and a dhx 5.0

I have had quite a few Konas in the past and it still remains my favourite bike make. They is something about a Kona that makes it fun to ride and response when out on the trail.

The full sus design maybe old but its tried and tested.