Submitted by
John Pooley
a Weekend Warrior
from Canberra, ACT, Australia
Date Reviewed: March 23, 2008
Strengths: -Frame continues to hold up after 6 years with no issues. -Truvative cranks are still going with no real work being required. - Alivio shifter just keeps going! - EXR now on my girlfriends bike has had no issues.
Weaknesses: - Wheels finally gave up with a hub cracking about 2 years ago (does that qualify as a weakness). - SDG saddle was no good for XC riding.
Bottom Line:
With some upgrades over the past two years this bike has continued to prove itself as one that is in it for the long haul. I now ride mainly XC loops and find that for a dirt jumper the bike performs fairly well. The bike really has cost me very little over the past 6 years and still enjoys a bit of abuse. It definitely likes going down compared to up. I think a larger size frame would have helped me, but the reason I bought the bike was for street, jumps and some DH.
With recent news of dirt jumps being built near my home, the Stuff will find its next stage in life as a single speed jump bike. This bike has been so good to me I don't think I could part with it.
Strengths: first of all i need to say i have an 06 model... where do i start... lets just say if you run it over with a car you can pick it right back up and ride it
Weaknesses: the seat's a pain in the ass (no pun intended)
Bottom Line:
GREAT BIKE for the $. i recomend it to anyone who is a freerider dirtjumper or downhiller... it even handles well on the trails. although i got a great deal on mine you can find it retail $1000-$1100.
Similar Products Used: i havent used anything like it
Bike Setup: stock... except i put a better seat on it
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Submitted by
craig milner
a Cross Country Rider
from staffs, england
Date Reviewed: November 17, 2004
Strengths: value for money is great for what you get, forks are responsive, and frame is very stiff and groupset is bomb proof, wheels and tyres are top too
Weaknesses: breaks are crap!!! chuck some disc's on it and bobs your uncle.....makes such a difference.
Bottom Line:
top no-frills bike to just go out and thrash. Bin the crappy breaks and your laughing, easy to upgrade. also they area few years old now but some interent sites still stock them, so grab a bargin! i garuentee you'll break before the bike does!!
Similar Products Used: barracuda ghetto....orange aero......specalized p3
Bike Setup: magura julie discs front and rear, azonic grips, xt mechs.
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Submitted by
John Pooley
a Weekend Warrior
from Canberra, ACT, Australia
Date Reviewed: February 15, 2004
Strengths: Tuff Frame and Cranks. Excellent geometery and fit. Well spec'd.
Weaknesses: EXR forks not upto Big dropos or DH.
Bottom Line:
I'm 97kgs and the only part i've broken is the forks and bike shop replaced them for free no probs after that. I've taken this bike street riding, drops and full on dh with out any problems in fact its faster than dher's in the tight stuff. Upgrade brakes and everything comes up roses. Excellent value and performance for all. # Price in Australian Dollars.
Similar Products Used: Giant Rainer, Giant ATX 840, Schwinn Moab
Bike Setup: Azonic 2.5 bars, 2.5 Tioga White Tigers, Avid cable discs with dh pads. 15in frame nice and small.
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Submitted by
Luke Brown
a Downhiller
from Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Date Reviewed: December 15, 2003
Strengths: Bomb proof frame, splined BB, bars, stem, forks, everything pretty much. even this S**ty Tektro brakes have been goin strong and in two years of riding have always worked and never needed the pads replaced.
Weaknesses: seat comes loose occasionaly, tires are getting kinda balled after two years of riding, tires are also a bit thin, grips wore away after about a month, everyone says the derraileur but mine has been trashed and only needs the cable adjusted occasionaly.
Bottom Line:
This bike is indestructable. I am a harsh rider, this bike has been trashed and nothing serious has gone wrong, the rims occasionally need to be made true again, and the tires are looking more like roadie tires after two years. But this bike has been in a DH Race, i go downhilling on it all the time, jumping, street riding, DH, XC, trails, even trials this bike can take it all. brakes are worth about 20 bucks and i have raced with them and never changed the pads and i can still manage enough strength through them to do trials. crank is perfectly straight still, forks are working a treat, and ive only serviced them once, the frame is as good as it ever was. if you are looking for a do anything bike that will never let you down. then this is the bike for you.
Bike Setup: Stock, except Deore disc brakes and Intense tires
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Submitted by
The Reverend Grim
a
from Harry Potterville, Northumberland, UK
Date Reviewed: July 23, 2003
Strengths: Strong frame,good own branded components,do everything bike!
Weaknesses: Sync forks now in scrapyard[Marzocchi Z1s much better:)] v-brakes now replaced with discs,seat rails made from spaghetti, original tyres not confidence inspiring
Bottom Line:
This bike is a genuine do it all bike! I have raced XC,I have ridden DH, a friend actually raced it DH!Jumping,4x(!) The Kona Stuff does it all,even the glow in the dark transfers/grips still work.I have just noticed this is meant to be 2002 model review... mine is 2000 oops WTF!
Similar Products Used: I have ridden Orange Msisle, it sprints better(tighter rear end)
Bike Setup: 5" Bombers, Hope discs front and rear, Tioga Multi control seat,twin front chainrings(had42/32/32) bashring/36/22 various tyres!
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Submitted by
orangemog
a Weekend Warrior
from Dorset, UK
Date Reviewed: May 19, 2003
Strengths: s'very solid.
Weaknesses: doesn't come with disc brakes. the seat comes loose quite a lot.
Bottom Line:
ok. i'm not a hardcore biker, i just bought this bike cos it LOOKS nice. seriously. saw it in the shop and had to have it - i mean, it is TASTY!! just wanted to point that out, cos not many people mention it. sorry :-)
Submitted by
Bryan Jacobs
a Weekend Warrior
from Corvallis, Oregon, USA
Date Reviewed: April 3, 2003
Strengths: EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS BIKE IS GOOD.................. the frame the hardwear the peddles EVERYTHING the components
Weaknesses: saddle seems to come loose and start to raddle around some times and the tires wear down pretty quick, but i ant complaining about that. This bike is ill
Bottom Line:
Before this little gem landed in my life I was putting around on some “POS” specialized hard rock, and that bike sucked C**K . If I dropped of anything higher then what seemed like 2 feet, my rims would either be bent or thrown out of true. it seemed like a bunnyhop would even do the trick. And don’t even get me started on the black colored aluminum poles that Rock Shox decided to call suspension on that bike. The Stuff was what brought me back to life. Everything about it was just what I wanted. The beefy frame, the nice smooth suspension, the breaks. Oh Yea baby I was in heaven. If you are looking for a bike that that will do for you what ever you want and take all of the abuse that you can dish out then the Stuff is the only way to go. A deal such as this one cant be beat. KONA ROCKS
Weaknesses: Gold color????? I feel like I should be wearing this thing around my neck on a fat gold chain.
Bottom Line:
I weigh 280plus pounds,6'3", and beat the cr@p out of bikes. Urban and trails mainly. 3-6ft drops to flat, stair gaps, nasty/rocky eastcoast trails. It weighs a ton, but so do I so it feels lite, and easy to move when I'm on it. I didn't think this this frame would hold up that well but I have really been hard on it, and it just won't break, so buy it. Any questions e-mail me.
Bike Setup: 2001 stuff frame,2002 marz DJ1 fork, 454 cranks, 26" trialpimps, intense 2.7f/2.35r, mrp mini me, ultegra casette and deraileur, avid 8" mech, azonic shorty stem and headlock, px goliath bar, other tough parts.
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Submitted by
Edward Fleming
a
from New Milton, Hmapshire, England
Date Reviewed: February 6, 2003
Strengths: Great Frame, had some bad crashes and nothing serious has gone wrong with it. Wheels are really strong but I still have a small buckle in them. Grips are LUSH.
Weaknesses: Components are a bit crap, could of done better than alivio mechs, I upgraded mine when I got it to XT. The forks not that smooth and could be better for the money I paid for the bike.
Bottom Line:
Nice Strong bike that deserves to be ridden and jumped at the local trails or on the street doing trials.
Bike Setup: Magura HS333 for trials front and rear. XT mechs. Halo Knobler tyres
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Submitted by
archie
a Downhiller
from australia, canberra
Date Reviewed: January 10, 2003
Strengths: nice frame (very strong)...forks feel really nice with just the right amount of travel...wheels appear so far to be relatively ridgid, although buckles still occur, and how could i forget that very handy bash plate!
Weaknesses: seatpost bolts come loose if you land on it, chainset is too low spec'd for the bike (but not a major fault), tires are just plain useless - trade them in when you buy the bike, also... ive had a reccurring problem with chainsuck that manages to put great gashes into the metalwork. oh yeah, i dont know if anyone else has this problem (i think its the brakes i added) but one side of the rear frame triangle was actually being pulled in towards the wheel when braking! -but the aftermarket brakebooster fixed this minor glitch no worries
Bottom Line:
Despite all the weaknesses i mentioned, this is one hell of a bike! Stock, the bike would have cost me AUD$1499, but i feel the upgrades i made were definately necessary despite the fact that they pushed the price up to AUD$1750. As far as rideability goes, the Stuff handles like a dream. Its a great bike for jumping and general freeriding (what i use it for). So trust me... go out and buy yourself one!... you wont be dissapointed!
Similar Products Used: i tested a whole range of similar bikes before purchasing, including: kona roast, Specialized P3, Trek bruiser 2, as well as some avanti (cant quite remember the name but it was nothing in comparison to everything else). I would have liked to have seen the Orange missile, however dollars were of the essence!
Bike Setup: These are the necessary extras i added when purchasing: michillen comp DH 2.6 front tyre, ritchey 2.5 rear tyre, azonic double wall riser bars, shimano deoreLX V brakes front and rear, rear brake booster
Strengths: Good frame really nice plush front fork 4 inches. pretty nice rims, (ive rebuilt them umm 4 times?) and a very nice bar.
Weaknesses: well. Ive already replaced the front chain rings (for salsa cycles) the chain bent when the rings whent so i replaced that with a sram pc 68. i replaced the not so nice brakes with shimano discs. and whenerv the peddles got banged or hit..a pin fell out. So now i have azonic a frames. the brake levers went to. nowi have shimano deore. its a nice set up now..a real beast. however the tioga dh tires seemed to fail after a few hours of intense trails covered in rock (the yreads are NOT suppoused to fall off) so now i put on maxiss larsen tires.
Bottom Line:
this bike is a beast however I wouldn't go carrenning down a hill at 55 miles an hour with stock brakes. the tires hold for a while. I love the bike and it makes out of bounds riding a dream come true. Anyone loking ot bomb around trails but not wanting to have to worry about a fork so big you flip while going up a hill.
