Strengths: Stiff, light, fast, great handling, capable of producing a big S.E.G.
Weaknesses: None
Bottom Line:
This is an updated review of my original two and a half years ago. Every time I finish a ride I say to my friends, "Did I mention how much I LOVE this bike?" This has become my go-to bike for most every ride. I also have a full suspension/geared Turner Flux, and when I do ride it it just doesn't shine like it used to. I've made a few upgrades:
1. replaced the Avid BB7's (they were like having no brakes at all) with Magura Marta SL's. Now that I can stop the bike with confidence the downhills keep getting faster.
2. got rid of the Nevegal's, now running a Saguaro in back and Epiwolf up front. These lighten the bike even more, roll faster and don't get hung up on rocky technical uphills.
3. replaced the bolts and washers on the sliding dropouts with beefier ones.
4. got a non-derailleur hanger dropout for running it single speed
I've also run the bike 1x9 for races and it's super fast with gears.
I'm extremely happy with this bike, and would recommend it to anyone looking for a light hardtail 29'er that has the flexibilty to go easily from geared to single speed.
Bike Setup: Single speed: Reba, XT cranks, Magura Marta SL's, carbon bar, Thompson post and stem, King hubs and cog, Stan's ZTR 355 rims, Geax Saguaro on rear, WTB Exiwolf on front tires
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
espino2010
a Cross Country Rider
from Pasadena, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: May 13, 2010
Strengths: STURDY, RELIABLE, BUT YET LIGHT FRAME. GREAT TIRES 29'ERS
MAKES IT A JOY MOUNTAINING, OR ROAD.
Weaknesses: NONE
Bottom Line:
THE BIKE IS VERY VERSATILE, AND FUN TO RIDE. i DON'T KNOW WHAT SOME OF THESE PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT THAT THE FRAMED BUCKLED ON THEM...HMMM I DO UPHILL, DOWNHILL, ETC..YOU NAME IT I DO IT..HAVE HAD NO PROBLEMS WITH THE BIKE...ALSO LOOKS GOOD TOO!! BIG TIRES ARE AWESOME!!
Submitted by
ctribby
a Cross Country Rider
from Albuquerque, NM
Date Reviewed: May 3, 2010
Strengths: Light weight, a good compromise for not getting a full suspension, decent components- as I bought a new 2007 floor model in 2009. Kona downgraded the components after 2007, the brakes and fork at least, so I was lucky. Fast- 29er keeps momentum well, but requires a bit more push going up steep hills.
Weaknesses: The stock seat rails bent and Kona replaced the seat with a new top-of-the-line seat. A pleasant surprise!
Bottom Line:
I don't know if I would've paid the 2200 asking price, but for 1200 it is a great bargain! No complaints, definitely recommend. Buy if you're looking for a speedy cross country 29er. Doesn't seem as fragile as some reviews have stated, and yes I have ridden it fairly hard for over a year.
Submitted by
aksnow
a Cross Country Rider
from Anchorage,AK
Date Reviewed: May 27, 2009
Strengths: Hydro Brakes work well enough
Good Rear Derailleur
Vulpine Tires work well in 90% of terrain ridden in.
Weaknesses: Snapped the Frame on my 4th ride. Im a little over 6feet tall and weigh 160 .. propabaly the smallest guy on a 18 inch 29er and the frame failed going uphill. Believe it or not, but i cant stress how bad this experience was for me. I too had a problem dealing with Kona on it.
Quick Release Skewers are a pain, not sure what the idea behind the design was.
Bottom Line:
Components work well for this level of bike. I have them all on a steel Unit though. Ride the Kula Frame at your own risk and if you do wear a cup.Cheers.
Similar Products Used: Kona Kahuna, Novara Pondo 29er,Raleigh Mojave 29er, Many Surly's, Many 26 inch, and road
Bike Setup: Stock. Kona sent me a replacement frame, an old unit 29 from previous year as a replacement. Ditched the front shock for a Black Ops carbon fork. Dropped about 3 pounds. Tires are Vulpines and so far are an excellent tire.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
enu9
a Racer
from west palm beach, florida
Date Reviewed: April 15, 2009
Strengths: i am 6'1" tall and found the 16" frame fit me well. it was my first 29er and i found myself loving it once i got used to the way it rode. the 29" rear wheel didn't bother me on climbs but the bigger wheels were sweet on the downhills. i live in south florida so the big wheels were nice on the sandy crap that seems to plaigue every trail down here. i loved the way the drop outs could be used geared or ss.
Weaknesses: unfortunatly, there was one big weakness. the frame buckeled on me going off a 2.5 maybe 3 foot drop. though i am a larger guy i don't think the drop that broke the camels back was too big. it has now been a month waiting for kona to get back to me and i am starting to get annoyed. i have broken a couple other frames (gary fisher) and they were replaced right away. in the mean time i ended up throwing the fork from the kula on my felt virtue just to see what it would feel like as a 69er and i no longer find myself pissed at kona because had i not broken the kona frame i never would have tried putting the fork on my virtue. the felt is amazing set up as a 69er. felt should be selling them that way as it has the best of both worlds, in one. oh, the wheels the bike came with are total crap. they were wobbley after the first ride. my buddy had the same problem with his too.
Bottom Line:
this might be a sweet bike if it didn't break. i also might be a little more excited about it if KONA WOULD GET BACK TO ME!!!!! but i wouldn't buy aother kona at this point. maybe i am a little too big to ride this frame but they should have a weight limit on it if i am. many bike companies do these days as they try to go lighter and lighter. unfortunatly, it looks like i might be out a frame now.
Bike Setup: the only changes i ended up making was putting american classic wheels on it and changed the bars to shorter streight bars. the shorter bars made it steer a little better
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
jbike
a Cross Country Rider
from Jacksonville, FL
Date Reviewed: February 23, 2009
Strengths: Wonderful traction and the local trail's roots disappear.
Weaknesses: stock wheels suck
Bottom Line:
I've been very pleased with the bike, it does everything I expected, but with a lot more finesse than my GT 29er. I find myself riding it faster than I thought I would. I also like the Tora fork, it's too heavy, but it works great. The stock components were all fine, except the SunRingle wheels sucked bad. (four turds instead of five, because those wheels were such crap) My new DT's are so much stronger and weigh about the same.
I've always liked Kona and no one in Jacksonville has one, so it's a lot of fun to take these big hoops out on the trail.
Bike Setup: mostly stock, but upgrades include Easton 90 carbon bar, sette carbon seatpost, DT Swiss Onyx wheelset
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
KarlP
a Cross Country Rider
from Pttsburgh, PA
Date Reviewed: January 18, 2009
Strengths: Frame is awesome...
Weaknesses: Stock wheels, very heavy.
Bottom Line:
I've been riding this bike for nearly 2 years now and, for me, it's the best 29er hardtail out there. I've tried alot of 29ers out and the Kula has always felt the best for me. The stock wheels are worthless and there are a couple of other parts that need changed out, but beside that the bike is perfect. I highly recommend trying one out.
Similar Products Used: I've demo'ed Gary Fisher's 29ers, Niner, Specialized Hardtail 29ers, Titus 29er and probably a few others.
Bike Setup: 19 inch frame, American Classic Wheelset, XTR Shifters, Chris King Headset, Monkey Lite Bars, O.D.I. Grips, Thompson Seat Post, Blah, Blah, Blah...
Strengths: light, rigid, a real bargain, great handling
Weaknesses: None so far......
Bottom Line:
I demoed the complete bike. Geared... "Thanks Charles" Great frame, crummy components.. I thought... Its got potential. The sliding dropouts are great, I can really make a killer singlespeed out of this mess. So... I bought the frame only and built it up. Most Excellent.I am 6 foot 2 and I bought the 20" frame and built it up with a Reba, custom wheels but not insane and Thomson and Race Face goodies. She handles great, very fast side to side and a good climber. She goes over rocks, roots, stumps and what not just like you expect a 29er to do with very little climbing or weight penalty.Okay. Bottom line.... THE FRAME ROCKS!!!! The components suck!!!!!! Find this frame on Craigs List, South Park cycles, Mock Orange Bikes or good old E freakin' Bay and build it up. you will not regret it..
Weaknesses: Set screws for sliding dropouts blow huge chunks, bent and strip. The stock wheelset has Shimano M525 hubs, one of the worst around and the wheels have never been true.
Bottom Line:
This is such a great bike. I have ridden this frame for a full year now. I went from gears to ss and it just kicks ass. I have a good saddle and ther rear end flexes in a good way. One of my favorite bikes frames so far. For one, it's a 29er with great sliding dropouts and a light compliant frame. Ti would be better, can't afford though this year.
The simplicity with one gear and this frame is that it takes off when ask to do so. Very efficient, stable, and fast.
Similar Products Used: XTR and a lot of frames from Ti to Al to Scandium
Bike Setup: Currently 29 and single gear 32/24 with suspension fork locked out...really want to try rigid!
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
jminn8086
a Cross Country Rider
from Auburn, California
Date Reviewed: October 25, 2008
Strengths: Scandium frame; Reba SL fork; Easton components; small bump compliance and mid-range and up speed.
Weaknesses: Shimano 525 / Sun wheelset is heavy relative to the rest of the bike @ over 11 lbs for front and rear with tires, tubes, and rear cassette. This is the single biggest weakness as a lighter wheelset would transform this bike very good to great.
Bottom Line:
I bought this bike to dip my toe into the 29er craze to see what all the hype was about. I'm mostly impressed with the 29er format especially on small bumps but there is no mistaking this is a HT ... It takes more effort to get up to speed versus a 26er, but once into the mid-range, it rips!
This bike offers good value for the money - with a higher end wheelset, it would be outstanding.
I really like the 29er Wheels. I'm fairly tall 6'4". The big wheels and 22" frame fit me great. Climbing does feel better b/c I stay in the saddle more. The 29s rolls over the med/lrg stuff no problem. I was looking at dual susp bikes until I tried this 29er. My riding is done mostly single track lots of ups and downs with twists and turns, no real long up, down or staight aways. The Kona is a champ on them all. I broke a chain and it scarred up the bottom of the frame pretty badly and the front brake line has rubbed the finish off the front of the frame and the fork. These appear to be mostly cosmetic problems. Although I am worried it will wear thru the brake line eventually. It squeaks sometimes and I'm not sure where or why. Back brake is noisy. All in all a great bike. Its the most expensive bike I've ever owned and no regrets. I've ridden it pretty hard and so far just had to true up the back wheel and get a new chain. If you're over 6ft try the 29s! You'll like 'em.
Strengths: Light weight, rides bumps better than any 26er, climbs like a dream, and goes downhills great. Better rear wheel clearance than most 29ers
Weaknesses: The Hayes Nine front rotor is too small as stock. Relatively heavy wheels and rubbish hubs.
Bottom Line:
This bike is great as stock, but with little extra tweaking it is a truly awesome race machine. It handles great, you can throw it around with ease. The big wheels ride bumps really wheel and its very stable. Goes dwonhill much better than people think.
It short this is the best hard tail 29er out there, well at least I know mine is. At race days everyone is asking me about it and wants one. If Kona spec'd as high as I have you'd be paying $5000+ remeber I'm in the uk so the dam thing retails at $2400.
Bike Setup: I'm 6ft. Running a 16" frame, Reba SL's 80mm, raceface deus XC crankset, Xtr shifters, XTR front and rear mechs, Hayes Nine carbon lever brakes (203mm front rotor, 160mm rear, Ti bolts, Stock wheels (sun rims, stainless spokes crap hubs) soon to change, KCNC SC bone 600mm flat bar, KCNC SC wing stem, FSA orbit headset, KCNC bar ends, KCNC prolite seatpost Ti bolts, KCNC Ti skewers, Bontrager carbon bottle cage, Flyte Ti saddle, KCNC seat post Ti bolt seatpost clamp, Bontrager jones tubeless tyres, ODI lock on grips, Crank brother candy Ti pedals, 3m Bike tape and pace carbon armour, I-link alligator gear cables.
Total weight saved 1.5Kilos over stock.
New wheels will save 0.5kilos over stock.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
mtbdee
a Cross Country Rider
from Providence, RI
Here's a review I wrote a while ago for a local MTB magazine (NEMBA's Singletracks). If you can't tell from reading the below, I really like the bike.
From a company well known for producing bikes built to handle big air and “hucking the gnar” came a big wheeled XC machine that landed at my LBS in June of 2007. How it came to join my band of rigid 29ers is part of a long story. It’s one that involves an older frame of mine, a worn out headset cup and a hasty decision. Fortunately that decision paid off quite well as I’ve enjoyed the last 12 months spent riding the Kula. It had been almost two years since I had ridden a bike fabricated from anything but steel. I was more than a little curious to see if the Scandium frame would live up to the hype. In case you missed it, Scandium has been touted as the wonder material du jour over the last few years. The main selling feature of Scandium is that it can deliver the feel of steel while being lighter than most aluminum frames on the market.
While looking for a new frame I knew I wanted some flexibility with regard to drive train choice. I appreciate a hassle free switch between geared and singlespeed modes, and the sliding drops with built in tension screws were a nice touch. The option to run V brakes was another feature that appealed to the inner tinkerer in me. Flexibility is a good thing when it comes to deciding what gears to run, or what brakes to choose. It isn’t such a good thing if you’re discussing the ride quality of a frame made for the XC racer geek in all of us. On that note I’m happy to report the frame is stiff, seriously stiff in all the ways a MTB frame should be. There are a million tired clichés to describe a bike that climbs and tracks as well as the Kula 2-9. Flip through your stack of bathroom archives and insert your favorites here. Suffice it to say, the bike can climb and stays on line extremely well. Maybe it’s the Scandium, or maybe it’s the big wheels, but the bike seems to live up to the hype when it comes to smoothing things out while still allowing for a very immediate response to hard accelerations.
Since taking receipt of the frame I’ve ridden it in both singlespeed and geared mode. The sliding drops worked just like they should, no slipping and no issues with dialing in equal tension. I did add a drop of blue Loctite to each tension screw as a precautionary measure. As a rigid singlespeed it was a blast to ride on smooth terrain, and it was light enough to allow me to run a 32:18 where my usual 29er singlespeed gear is a 32:20. Riding the Kula with a carbon rigid fork was great on buffed trails, but when things got bony the bike was more than a handful. I chalked some of this up to the lightweight of the bike as well as the large head tube that enhanced the solid front end. It quickly became apparent that the bike was capable of more, and that some suspension might help it to reach it’s full potential as an all around mountain bike I could ride at my usual haunts. I chose a Rockshox Reba Race in 80mm mode to grace the front end, and about the same time I added 8 gears in the back. This isn’t a review of the Reba, however it’s worth noting that the shock has been doing its job with no complaints for roughly 75 hours. With the suspension added and the wheelbase shortened by almost half an inch the bike rode much better in the rough stuff. Not only did it do an excellent job staying on line, but it also climbed better as well. While it added some weight, the fork really allowed the bike to reach it’s potential as an all day hardtail.
I went with a 19” frame due to both the ample standover height and the effective top tube length. Going into this I knew I wanted to try a 29er with a shorter top tube than I had previously ridden. The Kula sports a top tube almost half an inch shorter than both my Karate Monkey and my old Waltworks. I didn’t go looking for a bike that would ride more like a 26er per se, I just wanted a 29er that might be easier to throw around. Coupled with it’s relatively high bottom bracket, the Reba and the shorter chainstays the bike rides like a bigger wheeled version of some of the more fun 26” wheeled bikes I’ve owned.
Similar Products Used: Numerous aluminum 26" hardtails. Current stable is comprised of the following: Surly Karate Monkey SS, Niner Rip 9 and an On One Il Pompino SS/fixed 'cross bike.
Bike Setup: 1x8 with an 80mm Reba, King HS, FSA 140 stem, Salsa flat bar, Avid BB7s, XT hubs laced to Delgados, older XT crankset and UN72 bottom bracket, older XTR rear mech. and XT shifter, XTR cassette. WTB Nanoraptor rear and Motoraptor front tires.
Strengths: Light weight, nice components, big wheels & great handling
Weaknesses: none found yet
Bottom Line:
This is a very nice bike for the money! Unfortunatley I have to sell mine since I race for a store that doesn't carry KONA. This bike rides and handles great. I really love the big wheels! Buy this bike and you won't look back!
Submitted by
Adventure Dan
a Cross Country Rider
from Niagara, Ontario, Canada
Date Reviewed: July 6, 2008
Strengths: Geometry, components, out of box racing machine.
Weaknesses: Wheel truing
Bottom Line:
What a ride. I have been mountain biking since 1990. This is my 3rd ride, my first 29niner, and I am in love with the sport once again. Handles as well as a 26 inch, climbs better and descends like a rocket. At local races, I am always on the brakes coming up on competitors in the downhill sections. On a typical 45 minute race loop, I have sched at least 2 to 4 minutes.
Only concerned with wheels. I had them trued once in 3 months. Seems better now. I am a 175 lbs rider on a 18 inch frame, and about 5'8".
I was following the 29 versus 26 inch debate. As it has been said, just try them, especially with the Kona Geometry. I am sure you wont look back. I highly recommend this bike to any XC rider you wants an solid ride without the full suspension hype.
80 or 100mm? I picked up one of these frames and ready to get a sus fork. Heard the geo is for an 80, anyone notice much change running a 100? I am looking at a Reba and can save s Read More »
80 or 100mm? I picked up one of these frames and ready to get a sus fork. Heard the geo is for an 80, anyone notice much change running a 100? I am looking at a Reba and can save s Read More »
Anyone know of a bashgaurd to replace the outer ring on the FSA 2x9 afterburner crankset? I was contemplating just leaving the outer ring on and maybe grinding the teeth down... Read More »
Had a 08 Kona Kula 2-9 a few years back and loved it. Drank the 650b koolaid and sold it off to build a new bike. Really don't like the b bikes much. With the kula 2-9 out of produ Read More »
