Submitted by
Charles Cundall
a Downhiller
from Denton, Texas, USA
Date Reviewed: April 17, 2006
Strengths: light, good for xc and light urban or skatepark.
Weaknesses: not designed for heavy drops or heavy DH
Bottom Line:
Lasted me about a year of heavy urban. Did massive stairgaps and stuff with them, but they finally snapped on a 4X20 foot gap. I wouldn't trust these if you are looking for a good DH handlebar that will take anything. But they are good for light xc and skatepark stuff if you are not too abusive.
Bike Setup: Le Toy4, Singlespeed. Rockshox Pike. GI street Wheels.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Scott
a Weekend Warrior
from Vancouver
Date Reviewed: August 20, 2004
Strengths: wide, light, stiff
Weaknesses: not much rise or sweep
Bottom Line:
I actually like the 'geometry' of these bars as long as I'm not doing any long XC rides (wich is almost never). These bars are super stiff on short stems and show no sign of stress or fatigue except for the crash marks. The regular DH bars I've used in the past are equally stiff but almost twice the weight
Bike Setup: 2x Kona DH Primo (the fat ones) bars on '03 Stinky Dee w/ 888 integrated stem, and '03 Norco Sasquatch Holzfeller stem.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Derek Manuge
a Weekend Warrior
from Elmvale, Ontario, Canada
Date Reviewed: July 26, 2004
Strengths: They are Black and made out of metal.
Weaknesses: Not 2-piece bars, too wide to be that thin, not enough back sweep, shift.
Bottom Line:
Kona should only make cross country bikes cause they dont know what people actuallly need. these bars blow. Do not buy unless you collect bad bars for a living and you like to go back to the same store to buy a different pair after you tried these. For $90 american you can get awesome bars. Bontrager Crow bar Comps are probably only $25 american and they are the best! Bontrager is a company that you can trust because they focus on few components and not bikes and everthing involved with bikes. Dont watse you rmoney.
Favorite Trail: Looking Around For Stuff On Peoples Property
Duration Product Used: Tested or demo'ed only
Price Paid:
$20.00
Purchased At: Kamikazee
Similar Products Used: Bontrager Crow Bar Comp (best in the world only paid $50 canadian brand new), Zoom Riser Comp Bars, Axiom Crap Bars that snapped.
Bike Setup: 2002 Diamondback Apex - 2002 Psylo XC with U-Turn, Not a single part stock on this bike all upgrades to the best.
Strengths: nice shape,feel,reassuring weight without being over built.
Weaknesses: not as strong as EA70s,stress patches can be seen after a while of doing big drops etc.not quite enough upward sweep.
Bottom Line:
these bars are pretty strong,dont worry about any breakages without warning. if these bars dont like what youre givin 'em,theyll let you know (the areas where they rise starts to develop dark blue patches). all in all:a reliable bar,you may want one as a subtle upgrade.
Strengths: im refering to the bars which come as standard on the '03 stinky here just in case. but yeh,good weight,stregnth and shape and its nice to see that this years ones have been shot peened.
Weaknesses: i havent done anything crazy enough to fully judge them yet but you can feel some flex in them.this can be a good thing and it doesn't mean that theyre weak so dont be too put off.
Bottom Line:
these bars are pretty nice.you can do anything on them and probably be ok and if they do break,then kona will send you a new pair or two (depending on how angry you sound on the phone). im realy picky about bars and these ones are not far from perfect.
Similar Products Used: various easton bars,24/seven dark angels,club roost,azonic,dmr.......
Bike Setup: standard '03 stinky.
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
brendan
a Downhiller
from dublin, ireland
Date Reviewed: August 14, 2002
Strengths: the bars are nice and wide, good rise, strong and black
Weaknesses: after 1 year my bars have 4 stress marks which dont inspire confidence
Bottom Line:
even though they are a bit knackerd at this stage i did get the bars for free from the bikeshop so i'm giving it a full 5 for value. however i haven't been riding as hard as i had been with the marin bars (the original) and they lasted 2 years, so the kona only gets 3.
you know why its good? coz azonic make it (its a re-badged single wall) saying that, ive seen a fair few bent/snapped pairs still, a great bar for standard equipment!
Submitted by
Blue
a Weekend Warrior
from JHB, South Africa
Date Reviewed: October 23, 2000
Strengths: Strong. Wide. Provides excellent control. It's got Kona written all over it! :-)
Weaknesses: None so far. The extra width sometimes makes navigating narrow spots a little tricky - but the advantage outwieghs the disadvantage.
Bottom Line:
OK - I've never had raised handelbars before - so I can't really compare. I've been riding for approx 18months on flat bars - upgraded last week - and can't believe the amount of new-found confidence in technical riding. Saved my arse in a couple of normally-would-an-endo situations this weekend. Great bars - got them at approx $26 (R200 less discount).
Favorite Trail: Anywhere that could possibly kill me!
Duration Product Used: 3 months
Similar Products Used: Brodie Riser, other cheapo bars
Bike Setup: 2000 Kona Stuff, InSnyc Elixer 565 (soon to be upgraded), Avid Single Digit 20
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Travis
a Weekend Warrior
from Nanaimo, B.C.
Date Reviewed: January 10, 2000
Strengths: Strong wide its kona
Weaknesses: none
Bottom Line:
These are great bars, they came on my bike when i bought it. I never had a problem with them until about 6 months ago, they started to creak. Then just 2 weeks ago they finally snapped, this is my own fault. You are supposed to replace your bars every 1- 1/2 to 2 years. In the time that i had them, they were the best bar i ever had, but remember to replace your bar every two years
Strengths: Wide for super stability, I haven't broken them yet!
Weaknesses: Wide for crackin' your knuckles on trees when the trail gets way narrow.
Bottom Line:
They're really wide, and that's great for stability, but they're a little wide if you're riding really tight North Shore stuff. They're strong too, so 4.5 (or 5) great balls of fire!
Hey, I was just wondering what a good first downhill bike would be for me. It would need to be able to jump well, and still take some rough DH runs. I was thinking maybe a used Kon Read More »
So I am wondering if anyone has one of these.. not much on forums with them. I want a hardtail I can throw around, do some single, light dh style riding.. I do not give a **** if i Read More »
I used to have a specialised enduro pro carbon 2008 but that just got stolen. I got £1500 cover on it, but they want to me to send them the details of the newer model, or a similar Read More »
So looks like I am finally gonna get a custom steel DH frame for my 7 foot 260 lb self...custom was a necessity for obvious reasons. Currently have an xxl kona coilair for kinda D Read More »
FYI,
CCCX XC Race #2 is now scheduled for Sunday, 19 February. Location of event will be at Fort Ord.
Also,
CCCX Super D series race originally scheduled for Sunday, 19 Februar Read More »
