Submitted by
Jack Slade
a Cross Country Rider
from Knaresborough England
Date Reviewed: April 15, 2005
Strengths: Great sweet bike. Climbs beautifully and screams downhill.I have riden this bike cross country and raced it ! So sweet to ride. A testimony to Kona!!!!
Weaknesses: Hard to say. The Ball Burnished finish is looking tatty now but hey it`s travelled over 7000 miles off-road !
Bottom Line:
I love this bie but it`s getting old and I honestly don`t know what I could replace it with !! Maybe just ride it till it dies !!!! (I`ve always fancied a Santa Cruz Heckler though !!)
Similar Products Used: Marin Pine Mountain. Proflex Animal. Specialized Rockhopper.
Bike Setup: XT mechs. XTR Brake levers. Avid V Brakes. Pace RC36 Suspension forks. Mavic 217 rims. Total weight 22lbs.
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Submitted by
Dean
a Cross Country Rider
from Edmonton, AB
Date Reviewed: July 4, 2002
Strengths: Good components, sweet geometry, good welds, good 'feel'.
Weaknesses: weak rims and hubs
Bottom Line:
This thing flys. If you want to ride recreationally or seriously, this is a great choice, with big bang for the buck. I've entered it in everything from log pull contests to x-c races. Plan on three this summer. Climbs all day, allll dayyyy...and then it climbs some more. Swing behind the seat and it drops down hill pretty good. All in All, 5 out of 5 steaming cowpies
Weaknesses: Factory saddle Kona riser bar Marzochi z4 fork weight
Bottom Line:
Great ride. Gives a sense of security on trail, strong welds. Nice choice of components. Upgrade the Z4 and Mavic 221s and you have a VERY agressive ride. Works well with 9 speed, very fast. Lower the seat for the trails and fooling around, raise it for some fast action. Tires are better than I expected. Works well when you have the rear tire set in cross country (reversed). Great overall price for the bike. Made in Taiwan? Ain't everything?
Similar Products Used: Schwinn Homegrown '97 XT Specialized hardrock
Bike Setup: Bontrager Race Lite Ti Seat Replaced pedals to Ritchey WCS Ti pedals...someone said that it gets hard to clip into pedals in mud??? Doesn't every clipless except TIME and the other exotics...BONK! Replaced sad lookin and feeling Kona grips to CODA grips
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Submitted by
Bilbo
a Cross Country Rider
from Florida
Date Reviewed: July 7, 2000
Strengths: Rides great, good component mix, well priced.
Weaknesses: Stock tires arent the best, ritchey pedals dont work well in muddy conditions.
Bottom Line:
Well designed frame that is fun to ride for tight technical riding. Well priced - good value.
Bike Setup: 99 Muni Mula, 00 SID XC, Crosslinks, IRC Mythos XC (rear), Panaracer Fire XC (front), Titec bar, Raceface post + bb, xt f. derailler, xt cassette, Selle italia saddle, Bontrager stem, Time ATAC alium pedals.
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Submitted by
Simon
a Weekend Warrior
from Townville,Queensland,Australia
Date Reviewed: July 6, 2000
Strengths: Looks great, Good mix of components, Lightweight frame.
Weaknesses: Fork is a little soft for me (6'2", 200lb). I wore the tyres out fairly quickly but may be due to some rocky and rough downhill terrain that I was riding.
Bottom Line:
Fantastic bike, fast, light and good price. Perfect for budget XC racer or Weekend Wannabe (like me). Gets plenty of stares from the crowd.
Bike Setup: New Tyres (Hutchinson Python), New Pedals (Platforms), New Grips (due to a major stack - OURY), Otherwise Standard.
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Submitted by
Philippe
a Weekend Warrior
from Jacksonville, Florida, USA
Date Reviewed: June 18, 2000
Strengths: This bike is incredibly fast and quite light for the price. I feel like I'm in a ferrarri when I accelerate and like I landed on an aircraft carrier when I use the excellent Avid 40 brakes. The welds are the best that I saw of all the bikes I looked at. The components are excellent. Frame and paint quality are top notch. The fork is great too.
Weaknesses: The only thing I'm worried about is the Mavic 221 rims which I've heard horror stories about. The tires at first seemed low end, but once I got used to them they were fine. The cool Kona decals come off easily.Seat should be better and I plan on melting the pedals and selling them as trinquettes.
Bottom Line:
This bike has made my 230lbs 6'2" frame a better rider at everything.I got this bike for only 800.00 bucks at a clearence sale at Open Road Bicycles. I am totally satisfied with the bike. I plan on racing and having many long fast riding days with this rocket. This bike seems to be aimed toward the "gung ho" type of consumer. BUY A KONA!
Similar Products Used: Trek 7000 (nice but didn't have the feel i wanted), Specialized A1 rock Hopper Pro(ewwww), GT Avalanche(heavy as a tank,good bike) Fisher Big Sur(decent) Raleigh m800(P.O.S!!),Cannondale(lightweight yet disgustingly blah)Trek Y3(heavy,slow,not good),Jamis(sweet bike, but Kona stole my heart)
Bike Setup: stock for now. Going to install Mavic 521 rims and eventually install Marzocchi z3.5 80. cat eye enduro 2.
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Submitted by
Ole Amund
a Weekend Warrior
from Kristiansand, Norway
Date Reviewed: June 15, 2000
Strengths: Lightweight frame! Brakes are exellent! The gears are really smooth! Really cool design.
Weaknesses: Nothing much to talk about
Bottom Line:
I think the bike is best for those who use their bike just for the fun of it - and for them it is the best you can get! Still it's not a slow bike. The tires has a good grip both in tarmac or gravel and mud. Another great thing about this bike, is that you get this extream accelerating feeling when you want to. The bike has a cool image and I have actually experienced that other mountainbikers look at my bike as I pass them, and say "WOW LOOK AT THAT COOL BIKE" as I pass them. Comparing to the '00 Muni-Mula I think it does well. The most are the same, but the '00 has deore components instead of the deore LX that the '99 has.
Similar Products Used: Spanish brand frame (Boomerang) with mainly LX components and Marzocchi Z5 fork.
Bike Setup: I have switched the original pedals for Shimano 545, I also substitued the stem for a Diamond Back BMX/downhill one, I added a Specialized Comp bike computer and a Specialized seat bag, another change that I have done is the original brake pads for Kool Stop after some rides on the rain.
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Submitted by
Mika
a Cross Country Rider
from Helsinki, Finland
Date Reviewed: May 24, 2000
Strengths: Blastproof frame with good geometry, decent mix of Shimano LX/XT components which work very well. Poverful brakes too (Avid Arch Rival 40). The Marzocchi Bomber Z4 fork has strong construction, handles OK. And oh yes, I just love the blue paint finish...
Weaknesses: There aren't any REAL weaknesses in this bike. Fork is a bit on the heavy side, but then again it's a coil spring...and the tires didn't suit my riding style ;)
Bottom Line:
Very good value for money. Although it does look a bit like a freeride, it really is a solid xc machine. If that's what you're looking for, go get it. Nuff said.
Similar Products Used: Many rigid bikes, this is my first with front suspension.
Bike Setup: Replaced the original (too knobby) tires to Nokian Boazobeana S's. Other than that, as it came from the bike dealer.
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Submitted by
glen buckland
a Weekend Warrior
from victoria bc canada
Date Reviewed: May 15, 2000
Strengths: this bike handles very well and the price won't break the bank it will take you pretty much where ever you want to go.the brakes are great arch rivels 40.
Weaknesses: it would be great if it came with a four inch travel fork.
Bottom Line:
this bike is great for someone who wants to get out on the trails and doesn't want to have to spend a lot of money.I have not had any problems with this bike and would recomend it to anyone who would like to have alot of fun on the trails.
Submitted by
Marshal
a Weekend Warrior
from Victoria B.C.
Date Reviewed: April 11, 2000
Strengths: good shoks,brakes,cranks and compnents for the price
Weaknesses: rims and front hub
Bottom Line:
This is overall a great bike for the price I say if you have the money go for it. If you do get this bike I would reccomend a better front hub. I got this bike for $1300 and its good the only problems I've had is with the rims I'm not very heavy only weighing in at 130 pounds they keep bending. So I'm koing to give this one 5 flamin'Chilis.
