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I am looking for a long travel hardtail and was maybe thinking of a Kona jump bike and putting longer travel forks on it. anyone done this?
I was looking at a Kona stuff as I have been offered one at a reasonable price, and thinking of putting a 130 to 140mm forks on it.
Nooooo, anything more than about 120mm on a Kona jump frame would make it feel too jacked up. I bought a Cowan frame a couple of months ago to do just that - thought my Lyriks would be perfect, but even wound right down the bottom bracket height was waay too high. Built it up, rode it down the drive and promptly stripped it back down for eBay 😕 . I've owned several Kona DJ frames in the past (Roast/Chute/Scrap) and run them rigid or with 100mm up front.
Take a look at the Kona Five-O frames on CRC though - designed for 140mm forks - I run mine with u-turn Lyriks and it's perfect at 130mm (wound out to 140-50 for DH). Bought [url= http://s1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa441/mamadirt/Tiny%20Kona%20Fivo-O/ ]mine[/url] as a stop-gap frame a couple of weeks ago while awaiting a warranty replacement so it's now up for sale (complete with new Superstar headset and seat clamp, original packaging, manuals and receipts). Looking for around £130 posted. Let me know if you're interested.
mama DOT dirt AT ntlworld DOT com
I wanted a Five 0, but cant seem to find an 18in, all either 16 or 20. As I am 6ft the 16 may be too small. What size is yours? Looks too small for me, although does look well!
But thanks for the advice, may give that idea a wide birth then.
Mine's only a 14". I like low, slack bikes so didn't like the feel of the jacked-up BB on the Cowan at all, whereas the Five-O feels perfect. You may get away with 120mm on a Stuff but I wouldn't want to go any higher - at the prices that CRC are selling them for at the mo' though, it may be worth a try anyway.