Strengths: Steel is Real, shocks, old Marz Z4 alloy is real good
Weaknesses: flat bar, tires, cranks
Bottom Line:
Great frame, steel is the way to go no matter what type of riding you are doing. The frame has be able to withstand hardcore biffs such as crashing of off 2 sets of stairs while hopping (totally my fault) and multiple other bad accidents.
I've had this bike for three years, and it's a great bike. It was my first real quality mountain bike. Since I didn't really have much experience I thought it was the ultimate steel bike and fairly light too. Since then however, I got an 853 steel Explosif. Now the Caldera feels pretty sluggish to me and I oly use it for a spin around the neighborhood streets. Funny thing is, the Explosif isn't exactly a lightweight. I'm wondering if I tried a lighter bike would I want to ditch the Explosif. I doubt it, I don't think I could handle the jarring aluminum ride. I'll still give the Caldera five stars cause not everyone can afford 853 steel. But if you can, go for it. After 853, cro-moly is just too heavy. I used to laugh at weight weenies, but no more.
Submitted by
Greg Espersen
a Weekend Warrior
from Houston TX
Date Reviewed: September 4, 2001
Strengths: steal frame, bomber fork, shimano components! all great but the real strength is in the frame, its so quick and agile, great climber, incredible in the turns.
Weaknesses: tires and wheels, i beat mine up some, but its mt biking! what did you expect?
Bottom Line:
incredible buy, kona rules! fast up and down hill.. great in the corners.. all around super bike. any bike can have problems if you dont clean and maintain it. I ride it stock and pass the treks and cannondales all the time.. no need to upgrade, unless you like spending $. its scary how fast the trees go by.. awesome bike!!! and now a hard frame set to find.. its a keeper!
Strengths: loved the fit, the components I loved everything about this bike except maybe the lack of beefiness
Weaknesses: small tube look to it. also I had a few problems with the LX cranks
Bottom Line:
A really good bike for the price. I haven't had any complaints except that once I started getting into bigger stuff I worried that the bike was out of its league
Submitted by
Trevor Beeson
a Weekend Warrior
from Valemount, B.C, Canada
Date Reviewed: July 6, 2001
Strengths: The frame is strong,great brakes, plush suspension good drive chain. Price
Weaknesses: Heavy short travel forks, weakrims, flat bars are no good had to change them and the grips wore out quickly seatpost broke too easily. The bike is not that light.
Bottom Line:
Great strong bike handles very nicely great bike for people just starting made for crosscountry but still strong enough for going big.
Bike Setup: flat pedals, rino lite rims, roox riser bars mostly stock.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Ian Parker
a Weekend Warrior
from PA but I'm in CO now
Date Reviewed: May 15, 2001
Strengths: Component set, all the Ritchey stuff, excellent frame, on the scale it weighs in at 25lbs...same as the rockhopper(aluminum frame) steel frame, hardtail, rims are decent, the bomber is nice, brakes check, i like the straight bar :)
Weaknesses: Tires suck, the seat could be better, like i said the rims are decent, bottom bracket is crap
Bottom Line:
Excellent bike for the price. Just read a review in a mntbk. mag of the 4 best bikes under a grand...they were all aluminum frame...sorry, steel is better when it comes to riding, not racing. if you find one, buy it, upgrade it, and you've got a keeper.
Strengths: This frame is great its strong, and it handles better than any bike I've ridden. The fork was the best deal in '99, and its still better than any of the rock shox offerings under 400 bucks.
Weaknesses: Disc mounts would be nice.
Bottom Line:
this is a great bike, the frame is worthy of upgrading so now I have a resonably light bomb proof xc ride. if you come across a steel Kona frame buy it, and build it up. some of their bikes have strange part specs, so I recomend getting a frame and custmizing your ride. The complete bike was a steel at 900 bucks in '99, I wish things equiped this nice now and only cost 900. Buy this if you want a nindestructable frame and you might want to race, not if ypu are somebody who lives to race, then get a cannondale, they are the best race bikes around. but for real riding the caldera can;t be beat.
Similar Products Used: Treks, Diamond Backs, GTs, Barracuda (yes Barracuda).
Bike Setup: 99 Caldera frame, 9.0sl system, Race Face cranks, sun rhyno light rims, other wise stock
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Konaboy
a Weekend Warrior
from america's heartland
Date Reviewed: February 9, 2001
Strengths: The whole f*cking thing.
Weaknesses: Cranks and rims, but even they're decent
Bottom Line:
All Kona's kick ass. Every once in a while I'll consider getting a different brand, but when I try something else I come back. The low sloping tube makes you feel in control, and even on the scariest trail you won't be damaging your "boys". The bike is awe inspiring and on down hills you feel in control. Those of you who feel you won't make it up hills with an extra pound or two may want to check your riding technique, that's the reason you're coming up short. Steel is so much nicer than aluminum,but if you want to finish your ride feeling like you just operated a jackhammer for two hours, be my guest. Strong as hell, yet feels light. Nice going Kona.
Submitted by
Chuck
a Weekend Warrior
from Little Neck, NY, USA
Date Reviewed: June 27, 2000
Strengths: Sweet steel frame LX/XT Zoke Z.4 Alloy Mavic 221 rims Avid brakes and levers Color
Weaknesses: Tires Could use a riser I don't like stock clipless pedals Stock grips are horrible
Bottom Line:
I love my bike. The ride is great, and the bike is quite. It has nice handling, and is worth upgrades (bar, cranks, tires and shock). The weight isn't a problem uphill, and the fork does well in the rough stuff. All around, this is a great bike, and worth the money ($800-$900).
Bike Setup: Stock except for Club Roost riser bar, ODI Lock-Jaw Ruffian grips and Avid Arch Rival 5.0 brakes with 2.0 levers
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
nigel
a Weekend Warrior
from vancouver
Date Reviewed: May 21, 2000
Strengths: everthing is good. its a kona! great deal for price i love the feel of the steel frame
Weaknesses: ok not everthing is good, the rims are ok for light xc but not strong enough to take anything too big. the straight bar sucked, it's long gone.
Bottom Line:
this is a really nice bike its a nice package for the price i'm gonna upgrade a bit and put on a whole bunch of race face stuff and some beefy rims but i've riden it stock since i got it and nothing serious has gone wrong. i really like the fact that its steel, i trust it a lot more than some aluminum piece of crap. i mean i can do stuff on this that i wouldn't do on aluminum. doing urban trials i can huck madd drops that my friends do with their big full suspensions. it sucks that kona made the 2k model aluminum.
Bike Setup: 2000 MARZOCCHI Z1 CR RACE FACE TURBINE CRANKS AZONIC BAR & STEM NOKIAN TIRES
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
clint
a Weekend Warrior
from richmond ky
Date Reviewed: April 10, 2000
Strengths: Great frame and a lot of good components. Fair price.
Weaknesses: Tires are pathetic, rims not that great either.
Bottom Line:
This is a great bike with a lot of great components, but some components suffered to keep it under a thousand. Still a great bike for the money. I recommend it to anyone wanting a quality bike. The only thing I would change is the tires, rims, and bottom bracet. Other than this a perfect bike.
Submitted by
TIm Smith
a Cross Country Rider
from Halifax
Date Reviewed: March 1, 2000
Strengths: fame, shimano drive train, the saddle rocks!
Weaknesses: crankset, wheelset, SEATPOST!( it WILL bend, tires
Bottom Line:
out of the box this bike really impressed me......even more once i started swapping some of the stock components for some beefer ones. i raced this last year stock and it really impressed me. with the atom bomb and a raceface crank, this baby handles everything you want to throw at it. the frame is very stiff and responsive yet felxable ebough to eat some big bumps. would reccomend this to anybody looking for nice priced bike......but the 2000 model doesnt look as impressive...... need a 1999
Submitted by
nw
a Cross Country Rider
from midwest
Date Reviewed: January 13, 2000
Strengths: frame, fork, lx, xt, avids
Weaknesses: tires, rims, seatpost and seat,chain
Bottom Line:
great riding bike, love the steel feel, rode the factory tires once and got rid of them. geometry is excellent and of course the bomber is super, although weighing in at 4 lbs.
