Similar Products Used: KHS Dominatrax, Sisntesi Bazooka, Haro MX-2
Bike Setup: Not much left from the original. DaradoDH, 24inch Intense Mag30 rims, Hadley Hubs, Sapimi CX-ray spokes, Raceface cranks, Easton carbon Handle bar, Break Therapy Floater kit and 5th Element Rear Shock.
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Submitted by
Guess? Who
a Weekend Warrior
from Shaolin Isle, New York
Date Reviewed: January 6, 2003
Strengths: Everything, quality components, corners and pedals well for a bike with 9 inches of travel.
Weaknesses: I guess just the Fox rc because it was too plush and caused brake jacking.
Bottom Line:
For a complete bike you can't go wrong, especially if your into big drops, downhill, and stair gapping. The weight really doesn't bother me, I actually made it heavier with the Brooklyn bars and Shinburger pedals but it's now a no joke hardcore hucker and downhill bike. If weight is an issue and if your a serious downhill racer don't buy this bike and change all the parts to make it lighter, it defeates the purpose of buying a complete bike. It would be more cost efficient to get an Ellsworth Dare or just buying the frame. Also keep in mind Tracy Mosley always has podium wins on her heavy stock Stab Primo.
Similar Products Used: Test rode a M1, Brooklyn TMX and Small Link.
Bike Setup: Stock except for Brooklyn 4" riser bars and shinburger pedals, Hopey steering damper, heavyduty springs in the Shiver, Avalanche Dhs rear shock, 24" Trailpimp with a 3" Gazzi in the rear, Tioga seat, and dropped down to a 42 tooth RaceFace ring for easier pedaling.
Weaknesses: Chain line is poor if you use the large cogs a lot. Bike will not back pedal in larger cogs with 118mm bottom bracket, 34T cog, 40T ring. Bike needs chain guide mount. The boomerang sandwiched between the cup and frame isn't so great. I've experienced a lot of loosening.
Bottom Line:
Solid bike! Handles the switchbacks like a champ, sucks up big hits. I am not a good enough rider to take full advantage of this bike's capabilities. I am a big fan of Kona's 4-bar bikes, but they do need to correct the chainline and braze on a chainguide mount. I feel more solid on this bike than on my Yamaha 250cc.
Strengths: its a monster, with tons of smooths travel. The kind of bike you wan to be on. Its bullet proof tank and stylish design. Still it pedals well.
Weaknesses: a few pound extra but no problem for strong riders. Weight = solid, so is it a weakness? yes wen you are racing! no when your not!
Bottom Line:
I can make that monster move around, I will take it in technical trails, fast downhill, anywhere as long as its not uphill! I used to be a freerider, I'm 6' tall and almost 200 pounds so I like to think its my new freeride bike. I wanted this bike from the beginning and its great I finally had it. I was tired of the headache you get after a few hours of downhill because the bike has not enough travel. I cannot really compare this bike with anyhing else. First I had never tried the Shiver before, Its THE fork. My last bike was the stinky, I liked it a lot but when I first went up some steep steps with this bike, I could not believe it, the Shiver is hungry for anything. The stab feels much much more solid and stable. When you get these downhill bikes, its hard to complain. Just look at the kids with their big eyes, they want the bike so hard. You pay a little more but you get all you want. I would not recommand this bike for someone under 175 pounds. If you are strong, want to beat the trail, want to go fast and reliable, this is it! IF you are a little girl, go get a cannondale a speche or somme fancy babycycle.
Similar Products Used: GT DHi, Balfa BB7, Speche big hit, stinky, Beast They are not similar but can compare somehow!
Bike Setup: Shiver = lot of great travel. 42T chainrig, stock.... Just perfect!
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Submitted by
Kaku Ito
a Downhiller
from Setagaya, Tokyo Japan
Date Reviewed: October 9, 2001
Strengths: Strong every where, smooth suspension, very attractive looks, good geometry, turns very quick
Weaknesses: Heavy, chain being stuck in the device during continuous rough surface, drop off screws get loose easily, not much choice for the seat post because of the angle.
Bottom Line:
Very strong. I can go down fast with confidence. Since it's very heavy, my arms tend to get tired fast on single tracks but it does turns quick. It actually works very good with 24" wheels. 24" wheels give you the quick pick up in speed. I wish Kona makes it little lighter though. I guess I should change the heavy cro-mo cranks to XTR. I love the looks. I was supprised that Stab Primo was heavier than KHS Dominatrax.
Bike Setup: Changes the wheels to Mavic 24" Xr rims utilizing the original Hubs, IRC KujoDH, Shiver Direct Stem, Azonic PDW 1.5" rise, ODI gripps, Azonic Lounge seat.
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Submitted by
Jim Severt
a Downhiller
from Reno,Nevada,United States
Date Reviewed: October 1, 2001
Strengths: Very smooth throughout the travel.One of the easier bikes to pedal very predictable on the ground and in the air.Extremely durable. Very Turnerish in the handling dept.Adjustable rear end is good longer chain stay easier to manage on decents shorter chain stay corner like a W.C champ excellerate like a dragster. I like it!
Weaknesses: A little on the hefty side but that is all good . The derailure hanger / unit can't we get just the derailure hanger mount instead of the whole unit???
Bottom Line:
Probably your best bet to sheer enjoyment of DH.Go to a race and you will get results on this beast.A whole lotta fun on a little bit-o-cash, excellent in my opinion for anyone from Beginer DH to Pro World Cup racer and a whole lot of freeriding in between. Buy it and try to wipe the smile off of your face.Yee Haw
Similar Products Used: Karpiel Disco Volante,Intense DH,Turner DH,KHS Domanatrix.
Bike Setup: Keep it light on the components especially the forks.Profile cranks (or any cro-mo) lets get out of the ice age and into the world of cro-mo
Strengths: -Pretty much bombproof -Smooth travel -The Shiver is a beautiful fork and the smoothest of any top DH race fork -Comes with good spec The Primo sits into fast corners really well and handles harsh landings pretty well, the wheelset is nice and I like the geometry; head angle is perfect for cornering. All the spec'd gear is pretty pro.
Weaknesses: The goddamn weight! The bike is fine once it's up to speed and the hefty load actually works to your advantage in the fact that it just bombs everything. But really, it's not suited for a race bike; if you bog it down, you really lose some time, also whipping it round is a chore and a half. I think the bike is best suited for the mission master who just wants to cain around doing drops and doesn't really wanna race. Also what really annoys me about it is the fact that the bottom bracket spacing is like you're riding a horse. The crank setup is stiff and strong, but all you can run is that stupid bb width because anything else will wack the lower swingarm. The problem is so bad that the MR DIRT guide can't operate properly because you have to space it out so far to run it in the correct position; otherwise you have to run it totally incorrectly as shown on the kona website, with it rotated so far back that it would have more friction than a drum brake. The frame and shiver make a perfect combo, but Kona needs to revise it's spec if this is make a good race bike. For a start, make it so it's possible to run a NORMAL b.b. width and have a correct chainguide setup. Lighten up the parts and machine out some of the pointless aluminium and this would be a dream bike...
Bottom Line:
Don't get me wrong; I love the Primo, I think it just needs to be refined a bit more. If I didn't have to race this bike at nationals, it'd be my dream. It actually pedals really well, it's just the weight that makes it sluggish. I'm going to list what I think the perfect primo setup would be if it's going to make a race bike:
-Frame: Use the existing frame design, yet machine out the back end and lose some of that pointless alloy, revise crank and chainguide clearance -Fork: The shiver is perfect -Cranks: XTR DH's to shave some weight -Wheels: Sun Ringle Tomac DH's -Stem: Ditch the heavy chunk and put on a Kore B52 -Bars: Pro Tapers -Seatpost: Thompson - more weight shavings
Doing all this is what I want to do to my bike, but with the cranks the way they are, I don't see the point...
Bike Setup: No more Gazzalodi 2.6 (it weights a ton) I put Michelin tires, no more SDG Big boy saddle (same) I put a Tioga, no more Marzocchi Shiver (same + a lot of lateral flex) I put a Boxxer ... I'm planning a lot more little things ... perhaps the rims : 521 will replace 321, the cranks are really top class but I think a set of XTR would do ze job, + Handlebars & stem also too heavy, call me crazy but ther's a big diiference between a 22 kgs & a 18 kgs bike.
