[Closed] Kona Rove - anyone got one ?

I retired my 2007 jake the snake frame last week after the replaceable derailleur hanger snapped, needed lots of other bits so not worth spending a load on. It's a bit shagged but perfectly usable. I also have a set of easton carbon forks to go with it - again a bit battered. It was my commuter so done about 40,000 miles.

Let me know if you're interested as I'll be in Aberdeen over the next 2 weeks so could drop off.

thats decidedly the bike i dont want gary thanks anyway- it would be a lovely bike for someone but i want project 2s- so i can stick on front rack mounts and a reasonably simple frame that can take full guards and a rack . I dont particularly want disks but i can live with them.... I looked at the sutra but im not particularly needing the ultra low gearing or the heavier wall tubing - half way between a sutras stiffness and a roadrats flex would be nice.

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This was mine but i had to leave it behind for the next chapter in the journey.

Never ridden one but the Steel version looks super!

[url= http://www.konaworld.com/rove_st.cfm ]http://www.konaworld.com/rove_st.cfm[/url]

Out of interest what's the difference between my frame and the one you want, apart from colour it looks the same to me.

you appear to be right ... for some reason i thought the jake the snake was a trimmed down hydroformed version (ala the new jake)

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that what yours looks like ?

Mine looks like this, or it did 9 years ago 🙂

But it is pretty shagged, one of the rear guard bosses has a stripped thread and there's a groove worn under the bb. Neither are what I would call major issues though.

Edit: just noticed you want rack and guard mounts, mine doesn't have both.

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haha thats bloody bright !

yeah like i said make a good bike for someone but its not the bike for me im afraid. Im not sure taking a 40000 mile old alloy bike and carbon forks around scotland loaded up is a great idea + id still need to find all the gear to make the thing into a bike - thats where the idea of the rove appeals as its not a terribly expensive bike for the service it offers and its ready to ride.

Id flog my road rat and my tricross anyhoo and it would almost pay for its self.

and it's retained its brightness 🙂

No worries, just thought I'd offer as I could have dropped off. I'll probably build it back up as a crosser at some point.

As you probably know the Croix de Fer meets your description

Claris and Sora don't have the button on the side

http://www.genesisbikes.co.uk/bikes/adventure/multisport/croix-de-fer-10

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Not remotely impressed by genisis bikes. Used to sell em , have a day one in the house. Wont buy another.

Plus its more pricy and more heavy and more steel.

So before I waste my money what should I know about Genesis bikes

If you don't want fork rack mounts the CDA is lighter and cheaper. But then again an Arkose is cheaper still

Finnish mate of mine has put some miles on his.

http://www.packgofind.com/slovenia

Drop him a line if you like. Very helpful chap.

I've not loaded it up with panniers yet but I'm very much a fan of the Trek Crossrip.

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nothing in particular ampthill....

i just think they are/were at least poorly finished compared to other bikes at the price point - they have more branded kit than other bikes at price point but at the expense of important parts.

Nedrapier - that blogs pretty good reading. Bike looks good too 😀

Yes on both counts! There's a bit of me in the Full Moon post. I found his blog when I was looking for long gravel rides when I was in Finland for work. Got in touch and he invited me along on the next jaunt.

I bought a Kona Rove last week, first impressions were mixed due to last weeks bad weather. I took it out for a long ride on Saturday and only fell off once in a farmers field (it came with slick tires and I was clipped in). On the road it's pretty quick (a lot faster without the head winds), feels stiff enough and the drive train seems OK for an entry level one. The brakes and tires are the first thing I'm changing, especially the brakes.
The thing is I'd wanted another Kona since my Unit was stolen, and fancied drop bars so it was an easy sale. Overall very happy with it.

what are you changing the brakes too and why ?

Seeing as we're all recommending what we have...
You might want to consider the Jamis Renegade series too.

I have the Expat and I'm very happy with it.

@trail_rat
I was going to either put BB7s,or the TRP spyres. I live in Sheffield at the top of one of the steepest hills and the Hayes brakes that came with the bike are a bit underpowered (I'm over 100kg) compared to the Deore Hydraulics on my rigid 29er that I've been riding for the last 18 months.
I've had a couple of "almost" crashes due to not being able to bleed off speed quickly enough, although that's likely my poor riding not the bikes fault.

Well The Rove Al goes on my list of "maybe" bikes

I will want lower gearing if I tour. But as almost all bikes of this type are sold with a compact then I'll need to swap some bits whatever I buy

I cycled the length of the South Island of NZ on a Kona back in the day

Here is a picture of it earlier in the trip in the gold old USA

[url= https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2502/4175497947_576d5b79d0_b.jpg [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/7mYw4V ]america0024.jpg" target="_blank">https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2502/4175497947_576d5b79d0_b.jpg [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/7mYw4V ]america0024.jpg"/> [/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/john_clinch/ ]John Clinch[/url], on Flickr

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Am hearing ya . Me n mrs did christchurch to invercargill then back up to cape reinga on the north of north island on a jake and dew disk. Very capible and. Versatile bikes ..... Even managed a 9th place in the bannockburn classic mtb race on the jake en route.

Ampthill, desert photos of old rigid steel mountain bikes with yellow camping mats and red Karrimor panniers always stoke up my memories...
🙂

[url= https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1586/24853337242_e336dc5193_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1586/24853337242_e336dc5193_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/DScRhw ]Dead Sea 1990[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/8308384@N06/ ]Richard Lowerson[/url], on Flickr

😀

My rove al will be here a week on friday after i took mrs t-r for coffee in ballater and just happened to pop into cyclehighlands for a browse.....

Anyone want to buy a cotic roadrat alfine or spesh singlecross.

Both large.

well i bought one - a 2016 AL and promptly ruined it with a rack , full metal fenders , a brooks and some wtb 700 x 40 nanos....

done about 100km of mixed riding on it.

First up due to the slacker HA and longer rear stays its considerably more stable than the roadrat it replaced - and my panniers dont have to be hanging off the back to clear my heals.

second up - the nanos have plenty clearance in the frame i even managed to get a set of fenders in there PDW full metals to be exact and they are how ever tight to the tire leaving barely enough room for tread detrius but enough.The nanos are fast on road but have enough volume and give to let you nip on off road - lets me carry on much faster than my cross bike used to let me for sure (spesh tricross on 700x35 Conti CX)

The 8 speed claris is actually really good - its clunky in a campag kind of you know you shifted kind of way - how it wears is to be seen but given the cost for a replacement claris gruppo im not going to cry. Biggest point on this being the joy at not having sora style buttons - only downside to it being its got side exit gear cables - oh well.

In short its everything that on paper the roadrat should have been - but didnt deliver. the RR can ride trails on fat tires but it didnt do it well. the RR can take panniers but turned into a flip flop when loaded. The kona is how ever a bit slower on the road but i can live with that.

so far im happy with it - its as i remember my jake to be and feels like my 29er with the fat tyres on.

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bottom line - at 599 i think its quite a lot of capable bike for the dosh

Is this a good thread to ask about the Kona Sutra LTD?

I started out looking at Roves, then found the Sutra LTD, then Genesis etc ... just keep coming back to the Sutra LTD.

Anyone got one/ridden one?

what you wanting to do with it ?

i got up to the dizzy heights of the sutra but then realised i didnt really need steel & sure as hell didnt want a single front ring , or hydro disks.

the sutras also 10mm longer in the chainstay again than the rove.

it does have a full compliment of bosses - both fork bosses , three sets of bottle bosses and a decent length of headtube and spacers there in and most of all - the baby blue colour is lovely.

baby blue colour is lovely.

Yeah that's mostly it.

what you wanting to do with it ?

Dunno really - just fancy something a bit different. Buy a bike and ride it, innit.

…but then I start looking at Roves, that Sonder thing, Croix der Fers, Bogeynoses, etc, and get confused.

i looked at shand stoaters (very closely as a mate has one) and the sonder camino .... i bought the kona over both as i realised both were alot of money and were not going to do the job any better for me - the sondar would do it worse infact due to lack of rack and guard mounts on the front fork. - the shand is a lovely bike though i did like it and it had many neat features but not 1000 pounds worth of them 🙁

But mainy I want this [url= http://www.shandcycles.com/bikes/drove-rohloff/ ]Shand Drove[/url], for no particular reason other than it looks ace.

ah trail rat, those posts crossed over.

interesting.

yeah, my head says get a cheaper thing and spend the rest on other stuff or even another bike, for the price of a Shand ...

I did wonder if the Sutra would be a tad heavy, but I'm coming back round to the idea now

cant speak for the sutra but the "bare" rove as it came out the shop weighed 26lbs. - thats in a 59cm frame.

but its reassuringly heavy if you know what i mean - it doesnt flex like a flip flop with weight on panniers and the wheels are not spindly wee rims etc.

Certainly didnt bat an eye lid when i rattled it through the roots and the rocks the other night.

Cant see the sutra being much if any heavier due to better spec drive train and wheels and tyres.....

Tempted by the steel Rove.

Surly Straggler got me started on this, but I don't like the new colours.

I have a Kona Rove. He's blooming sexy (OMG he so is) rides sweet and smooth (like being carried by Barry White). My only complaint is that the badge on the bike is a stick on and not the cool real badge like on the website. Bar tape is to die for, but due to having a kitten i had to change it. Changed the saddle due to not wanting to break my lady-bits.

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Paid £549 in the Evans Sales last year 🙂

Tyres are PP blooming bomb proof

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Rove looks like it might be just the job to replace my ageing boardman commuter.

What size did you go for t_r?

59 andy. Feel free to try it after berts wedding

Rove or Straggler, Straggler or Rove … I can't decide, and I think it might come down only to how I get on in the relevant bike shops.

for anyone worried about the brakes off the back of the post above...

it struck me this morning as i was decending onto the railwayline just how bloody good the hayes brakes were now they are bedded in.

I wouldnt be rushing to change them even though i do have a set of bb7 roads sitting i nthe garage....

600km in , a few changes but i think im settled now on a bike i could ride around the world tomorrow if i so wished 🙂

still stuck with the hayes brakes which are damned good now and easy to adjust.

Ive swapped out both hubs - front to an exposure SP dynamo and the rear to a pro 2 40T

I Changed out the headset for a hope i took out of a bike before i gave it away to a mate (and put the konas one in that bike as it was a non sealed effort) I also robbed the bontrager racelite carbon post and brooks b17 from that bike too - just because.

ive fitted an IQ-X to the front , a toplight senseo plus to the rear on my Summit stainless rack and put a cycle 2 charge top cap on. Im in the process of putting together a switching box ala Ian Barrington.

i fitted a set of pdw Full metal fenders as they were the only guards that fit over a set of WTB nano 40cs and dont catch in use , could sit far enough from the tyre to allow mud clearance - i know this goes against the purists who feel a mudguard should hug the tyre as close as possible - but this isnt the 1970s any more 😀 an SKS 45 couldnt be set far enough from a 40c tyre in this frame for my liking and the wire stays moved too much it would contact the tyre so i had fear of ripping it off.

I commute on it every other day which is now 50% Non surfaced tracks atm and Ive had it out on a tour round skye - its much better at loaded stood up climbing that my roadrat was (and to be fair to the road rat it was never designed for that) but mostly with the 40c tyres on the rough roads around the coast were never an issue comfort wise 😀

certainly feels much less twichy and stable than my cross bike due to a slacker seat and headtube and while its no road bike - its no slouch either. I have a set of 32c conti gatorskins ill throw on and itll be a fine winter road bike for group rides.

most of all - eejits have stopped telling me my forks on back to front.