Strengths: solid frame, the suspension works too well, the components can take anything thrown at them no reall big upgrades and I love the colors, can be pedalled up hill fast, travel just right
Weaknesses: the fork may be on the soft side in the parking lot, no 5th element shock for it,
Bottom Line:
It is amazingly sturdy and solid. It doesn't feel like an aluminum because its suspension does a good job of giving it a lively feeling. Can fit any rider from novice to experienced. I can pedal up hill faster than a friend on a Superlight so anyone who complains about its pedal bob needs to go to the gym. I am from the East Coast and frequent Japan which is the same, this bike can definintely take the East coast, those who think otherwise can't ride. This bike shouldn't be bashed because of the lack of bike skills from the rider. The bike is 50% the rider is the rest. Even the soft fork in the parking lot feels awesome on the trail, evenly balanced with the back once you get rolling. I never fear anything when I ride this bike. I'm tall and the large size works all too well. There couldn't have been a better bike if I had my way. Kodos to Kona
Similar Products Used: Specialized FSR, Mongoose NX 9.7, Tomac 204
Bike Setup: Selle Italia Gel saddle, Race Face Bash Guard
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Submitted by
Todd
a Downhiller
from San Juan Capistrano CA
Date Reviewed: July 19, 2003
Strengths: Very solid and well constructed, RC is great for uphill climbs great on moderate hills. Great weight for its strength.Z1 dropoffs a little to soft but they dont bottom easily. shifts nice, great turning radius very stable it takes what you throw at it.
Weaknesses: Not many the 8" rotor in the front rubs a bit, and the LX front derallier both got out of tune after some jumps, small drops, and technical trails.
Bottom Line:
Great bike for the price perfect for experienced riders or beginners can handle all types of terrain. overall its an excellent bike if your thinking about getting a used bike and see a dee-lux I would strongly recomend this great bike.
Bike Setup: Stock except for fox vanilla RC and shimano rear derallier.
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Submitted by
ryan
a Downhiller
from calgary, alberta, canada
Date Reviewed: June 22, 2003
Strengths: Great components, deore xt great, frame is awesome and the travel is really plush. Race face crankset was a good choice, umm, i dunno IT IS A KONA ofcourse its good.
Weaknesses: THE FORK..poor little single crown has no chance of survival when ur riding with your friends and droppin 10+ footers. Upgrade the fork to a juniour t or similar. too skinny of tires too. you will want to put a bashguard or chainguide on it so u dont mess up ur rings.
Bottom Line:
Its a great bike, just change the fork and do somethin with the sprockets and ur laughin....just member your bike will only treat you as good as you treat it so keep it maintained and in great working order.
Strengths: Very stable at speed, pedals very efficently, stiff, strong component selection, easy to keep a wheelie up (but see below)
Weaknesses: Standover... what standover??? I have never ridden such a sluggish bike, yes it pedals efficently, but when climbing i actually had to switch into the granny gear which is a first for me, most of my 9" travel dh bikes climbed better than this. Bikes geometry is probably great for the higher speed west coast trails but it sucks @ss for some of the extremely technical courses on the east coast, this bike is horrible in slow speed super-technical sections. It also seemed to divebomb off every drop i went off, no matter how much i torqued the pedals or pulled up on the bars the front end would drop violently toward the ground, i have never had ANY bike do this, and it was plain scary resulting in me dislocating my shoulder on the last occasion before i just sold the bike due to it's horrible characteristics. This may be due to it's geometry, probably the long chainstay and wheelbase, but still i've owned 15 or more dh and freeride bikes and never had this problem. Rear suspension isn't progressive enough, you make the rear stiff as hell yet it still bottoms, and the fork tops out like a mutha... Don't like the bar linage either, has a ton of brake jack because of it, and is basically a single pivot bike with a linkage to the shock since the wheel is mounted right on the swingarm
Bottom Line:
I read rave reviews on this bike not only on mtbr.com but in a few magazines and for the first time in my life i listened to what everyone had to say and bought the bike that was "the best freeride machine ever". That was a huge mistake. I don't care what great things anyone says about this bike anymore and how much negative feedback i'm going to get for posting a negative review for this bike(like when i dissed the boxxer), at least i know what i'm talking about. If you want a bike for the east coast i don't think this is the right one, it may be pretty good out west but they have completely different conditions than we do here. Bottom line is this bike was scary to handle, it didn't feel like i was in control whatsoever, and i had my shoulder blade up near my neck and $1700 worth of hospital bills to prove it. If you want a freeride bike that doesn't "divebomb" try a real 4 bar linkage like any company who uses the fsr linkage, a bullit, or even a san andreas dhs, they ride much better, they actually can go up a hill like a freeride bike should, they have something called standover(my stinky DL was a 18" i'm 6'...), and the look cooler too :)
Similar Products Used: Iron horse G-Spot Iron horse SGS-DH Nolan one-off dh Specialized Palmer Edition FSR-DH Mountain Cycle Shockwave Mountain Cycle San Andreas GT lts-dh Specialized enduro fsr thaose are a few i've owned but i've tried many more...
Bike Setup: i sold it, but it was stock except: odi intense lockons, maxxis high roller 50d 2.5" tires
Strengths: This bike not only looks great it handels superbly. Front and rear suspension works verry well together. It feels verry robust and gives you confidence the it gets a bit rough.
Weaknesses: 30mm seatpoast. Why? I can't se any reason to use a diameter no one else use. If they have to use that tube diameter then offer a setbeck alternative.
Bottom Line:
Bought this bike when someone stole my DDG. Had been looking at the stinky line for a while and used the insurence money to buy me a Stinky Dee. First thing I noticed was the short cocpit but I slided the seat all the way back and are comfortable now. It also felt a bit heavy on the climbs the first rides but you adapt verry quick to the heavyer bike.
It took about a month before I started to get the suspension setup right and getting used to the feel of the bike. The Tiogas slide a bit more than the Gazza duals I used to run. But after the first month I loved the bike. I'm about 140lbs and the zocchi is perfect for me. I normally run it with no preload. Thats on normal trails with no big drops butt some nice rocky parts. It bottoms out occasionally.
This bike is for someone that has grown tired of all wheight watching and love when the trail goes down hill. It's not for endurance recers allthough I will ride it if I decide to do the Moab 24 next year.
5 chillis for value as the components are good. 5 chillis overall as its a great bike.
Similar Products Used: Intense tracer and DDG shooter. Not verry similar but I rode them a lot.
Bike Setup: Stock accept gripshifts, race face bash guard and gore ride on shifting cable.
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Submitted by
clay
a Weekend Warrior
from orono, me, usa
Date Reviewed: November 5, 2002
Bottom Line:
this is in regards to my previous posting on the chatter from the shock. It was just the reducers wearing out from impacts and the screw threads! Now it's a sweeeeet, tight bike!
Submitted by
clay
a Weekend Warrior
from orono, me, usa
Date Reviewed: November 2, 2002
Strengths: very plush rear end, fork is plush also(with stiff springs) and soaks up everything. Big hits are very smooth, wheelies easily, very stable in air and when riding with no hands. VERY stiff frame, no lateral flex whatsoever. 8 inch rotor is incredible compared to six inch for power and riding endos.
Weaknesses: chatter from the rear shock, fork clangs sometimes, but not sure what either noise is. It's a used bike, so it's not perfect. 17" is cramped for me(i'm 5'10.5), so i got a 100mm shorty stem, feels great now.
Bottom Line:
sweet ride, next bike is '03 stinky for sure. I am a Kona rider for life as long as the stinky is around! I just wish I knew what the sound was that's coming from the rear end, it's very annoying but does not affect the ride.
Submitted by
Mike
a Cross Country Rider
from Pawcatuck, Ct. USA
Date Reviewed: October 12, 2002
Strengths: Amazing climbing ability for its weight Burly frameset Sealed bearing pivots Great component spec for the price
Weaknesses: It didn't come with a big bag of cash.
Bottom Line:
I bought this bike as an accomidation to an injury that nearly ended my ability to ride singletrack. My Adept XC bike is far too stiff and causes unbearable pain after less than 1 hour of riding, so I searched for a long travel bike that could still handle XC riding. The Kona, out of the other bikes I tested, rode the best and bothered my injury the least.
I mostly use this bike as if it was a real XC rig. Despite its 41.5lb weight, the 2.6" tires and Boxxer fork, it still rides amazingly well. I can climb nearly as quick as my friends who ride shorter-travel XC rigs, it handles the twisties as well as my Adept does, and descends so much better than anything I've ever been on. The two times I've been to Mt Snow on this bike have shown me what its capable of when I'm healthy enough to really start riding.
My modifications to the stock DeeLux were made because I got the Boxxer for an amazing deal and had the Chris King bits hanging around. The wider tires were put on because I got the pair for $45 and sold the stock Tiogas for $50. So far, the King bits are flawless and performing as they should. My Boxxer is leaking a bit of oil at the seals, I understand this is normal for the fork to go through seals on a regular basis. If I can't find better seals somewhere, I may replace it with a Marzocchi SuperT. The Kendas seem to stick to anything that isn't soaking wet rock. They corner very well in mud and loam and have great climbing traction on wet roots.
Overall, I'm extremely pleased with this bike. I'm only dissapointed that it didn't come with a huge sack of cash, because thats the only way it could be made better.
Similar Products Used: Giant AC1 Specialized Enduro Kona Stinky
Bike Setup: All stock except: King Headset King ISO rear hub 8" rear rotor Kenda Kinetics 2.6 tires and DH tubes RS Boxxer fork Time ATAC pedals Razor Rock aftermarket levers for the Hayes brakes
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Submitted by
Bolinas
a Downhiller
from Mill Valley CA Usa
Date Reviewed: September 30, 2002
Strengths: Gets every bump and soaks up everything. takes big hits and bust some E-Z wheelies. I'm in the downieville photos I the wee ladie and the wheelie king. This bike kicks ass
Weaknesses: Can't pedal up hill
Bottom Line:
Buy this bike its the best thing you'll ever do. I love this bike. This bike Kick as on downhill
Bike Setup: Stock parts except WTB weirwolf front tires and Mutano raptors rear tire WTB grips WTB speed v Saddle and WTB laser disc DH wheelset
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Submitted by
Jim
a Cross Country Rider
from North Bend Wa.
Date Reviewed: August 19, 2002
Strengths: The frame and suspension design make it very comfortable and secure. The componenet selection for the overall price is tough to beat, the tires are great, the engineering of the entire package is very well thought out for the intended use and even for uses likely not intended, like long XC rides.
Weaknesses: These cannot be considererd weaknesses but preferences. I needed a bigger cockpit for my "perfect fit" and Kona uses a 30mm seatpost diameter try to find a 30mm post! I did but it was not easy. Kona actually had to tell me it was Titec. Then it has to be special ordered from Titec. Nobody else has one! I prefer clipless pedals so I swapped them out too. The front fork seems soft but I also know it's soaking up everything it hits and you don't even notice it. Put a zip tie on and see how high it gets after a ride. I bottom out on occasion but I think it may be in the design to work that way?
Bottom Line:
This bike can climb some of the most rugged single track with logs rocks and roots and ruts I have ever ridden. No bike I have used so far climbs as well. As much as the complaints of the front fork being to soft, that is why this thing will absorb trail obsticals and just keep flowing. I have climbed hills with this bike I have tried on several others and never made it a single time.
This bike was probably never intended as a serious hill climber....... or was it? In the lowest gear you can sit and spin up long steep climbs as easy as any XC bike I have used. My longest so far is a 2.5 mile up hill with a 600 foot elevation gain on a loose gravel logging road. My 27 pound FS-XC bike would have bounced or spun the back tire and come to a stop a dozen times on that same road.
The weight, What weight? It's heavy on the scale at 34.5 pounds(18") but while pedaling I never can tell it's heavy. I rode a 32 mile epic trip on mixed single track and logging roads with several other XC bike riders. I never fell behind and was fresh and not a bit sore. Some of the light weight bike riders were beat up and had sore arms and backs, or so they said. I thinks it's easier to recover from being tired then it is from being sore! They took a beating in their arms and backs with the 80mm suspension 25 pound bikes they used. Not to mention they creeped down many of the downhill sections I just blew off and flew down. The level of fitness is part of the issue, but I'm over 40 years old, and everyone else was younger!
Now the part the bike was intended for! Going down hills and launching out of the waterbars and off other natural ramps is unreal. The landings and the total confidence you get on this bike is amazing. There are plenty of free ride stunts I cannot do but the bike is not what is limiting my ability. This Bike will do what ever the rider wants. Drops, jumps, or climbing hills. It has caused me to consider the investment in shin and elbow armour now.
It's almost as if Kona could read my mind and make the bike I had visions of. I would 100% without question buy this bike again!
Similar Products Used: I have rented and riddin quite a few bikes at various ski areas The plain stinky included
Bike Setup: Stock stinky deelux except for: Clipless pedals(one side platform the other clipless). I took off the Hayes Hydro's and replaced them with Avid Mechanicals using Avid speed dial ultimate levers, 8" front rotor. Titec 30mm 1" setback seatpost, Cateye enduro,
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Submitted by
Cube
a Weekend Warrior
from Boston, MA
Date Reviewed: August 18, 2002
Strengths: The Heavy-duty Frame transfers power well and can take abuse. The major components are first rate. Hayes Orange Disk Brakes, Z.1 Marrzocchi Drop Off QR20+130mm coil, Fox Vanilla R Rear Shock. The LX Shifters function like their XT big brothers.
Weaknesses: Only one water bottle mount on the frame. The Kona Platform Pedals were not effective for biking up hill as compared to clippless pedals. I also managed to warp one of the Kona pedals on the first ride. They lasted 29 minutes on the trail. I did how ever hit this big rock at speed and well you understand. Hilly switchbacks are cumbersome with long travel fork The bikes weight makes it a poor choice for the bike path, but that’s not what it designed for. The QR20 makes taking off the front wheel a pain.
Bottom Line:
Up Front the bike is Marrzocchi Drop off is buttery and effective. The Vanilla rear suspension socks up the hits with its six-inch travel. The suspension is balanced well between the front and the back. Five inches up front matched with six inches in the rear. This bike allows the rider to not pick a line but instead just ride over anything. The high bottom bracket clears many obstacles that a bike with a lower bottom bracket would hit. This bike is also an excellent climber. I can now power up over stuff that I would have considered circus stuff on my FSR. I was shocked that a big bike like the Stinky could be biked up rough hill trails no problem. The bike however is not in its element going up the really steep stuff. The front wheel wants to pull a wheelie but you can counter that. Once you get to the top of the hill you can descend like a cannon ball. This bike is built for drops and big hits so you can get down the hill in a hurry. The bike is fun and causes the rider to laugh hysterically while taking on drops, logs, roots whatever. I am able to ride so many sections that I would have had to hike a bike if I were still riding my out FSR. Speed builds up quickly while riding the Stinky. You don’t apply the break so much instead you just roll over and off drops. The bike can also take a beating and possesses its rider, forcing him to ride with a demon's confidence on rough trails. The price for this bike beats Intense and Turner resoundingly. Over all the bike is a blast and looks great.
Similar Products Used: Stinky, Stinky Primo, Stinky Nine, Stab, Bear Dee Lux, Intense M-1, Big Hit Comp, San Andreas
Bike Setup: Stock with the following exceptions: Profile cranks/bb, Azonic Bars w/Shorty stem, Black Spire bashguard with oversized 1st and 2nd rings (no big ring), soon to have a 2003 Super T...
