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Reviews 1 - 10 (10 Reviews Total)
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Submitted by
eshew
a Weekend Warrior
from seattleDate Reviewed: November 24, 2010
Strengths: 1996 Kona Sex One: Have been riding this frame on & off for 14 years. Literally replaced every part of this bike aside from the frame. Bike parts dont last 14 years of evolution. Kona's frames do though :) Still my favorite bike!Weaknesses: The rear tire has some lateraly play. Thought it was the hub or the main pivot above BB. Its the lower bushings in the seat stay. They have wallowed out. Going to a machine shop to have sealed bearings fitted. This frame will never die.Bottom Line: This bike still screams down the trail. I placed 3rd in a friggen hill climbing competition with 35 riders. Absolutly love this bike. What makes me appreciate this bike the most is I bought it new in 96 and replaced parts bit by bit, almost forgot about it for a while after I built up my 2002 Stinky & Bear. But a disc brake & some drive train love has this bike sitting at the top of the fun XC list. I plan on compteting in a few local races on this bike against some well funded and skilled riders. I'll post if I kick some new bike butt!
Favorite Trail: Growlers Gulch
Duration Product Used: More than 3 years
Price Paid:
$1100.00
Purchased At: Out ofbusiness Portl
Similar Products Used: 1991 Kona Fire Mt, 1993 GT Richter 8.0, Kona 2002 Bear & Stinky. 2008 Kona Dawg
Bike Setup: 1996 Sex One frame(4 bar) 90mm stem, kona riser bars, 2001 100mm qr20 marzocchi Z3, SRAM x7 drivetrain, LX mega front crank, Sun Rhyno light welded rims,Panaracer 2.1 kevlar tires, hayes disc front brakes, 12-34 xt cassette, Fox RL rear shock 6.5" eye to eye, 1.5" stroke (standard size on this frame).
Overall Rating: Value Rating:
Submitted by
Morgan
a Cross Country Rider
from Richmond, BC, CanadaDate Reviewed: July 31, 2002
Strengths: Built like a tank.
The most reliable bike I've ever owned.
Climbs like a Billy goat.
Downhills fast.
Great handling (due to geometery?).
Weaknesses: Built like a tank. (Heavy)
Worn rear bushings.
Stupid plastic tube plug.
Kona Tires Suck for west coast ridingBottom Line: I bought the bike used for $1500 cdn. It had been riden only three times and then sat inside over a year. Great fun to ride. The best bike I've ever had! Amazingly strong and durable. Still looks great after 3+ years of heavy riding and abuse. Buy one, you'll love it.
Duration Product Used: More than 3 years
Price Paid:
$1000.00
Purchased At: Used
Bike Setup: Bomber Z-2.
Magura Hyraulics.
Clip-less.
After market cranks.
Pycho K and TT Tires!!!
Overall Rating: Value Rating:
Submitted by
ob
a Racer
from oak brook, ilDate Reviewed: July 14, 2001
Strengths: my bike is bumb proof, i never wash it, and i am mechanically un skilled so the only tune ups my bike gets is from my riding buddys. but every weekend it performs flawlessly.Weaknesses: the color. the bike is the color of cheese my riding buddys call me cheeseboy. but actually once i put on the bmx pedals ive had no complaints. rear suspension is getting a little sloppy.Bottom Line: im entering my first race at the end of the month. my bike will not let my down and cheese boy will bring home a trophy.
Favorite Trail: my driveway
Duration Product Used: More than 3 years
Price Paid:
$1600.00
Similar Products Used: trek 850 w/ manitou fork my friend put on for me.
Bike Setup: stock except for pedals and a cool gold water bottle.
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Stu
a Cross-Country Rider
from Ottawa, CandaDate Reviewed: December 15, 1999
Strengths:
Great bikeWeaknesses:
poor pivots
even worse customer serviceBottom Line: The bike is pretty decent. No longer cutting edge stuff but it holds its own. The biggest problem is Kona (Canada) customer service. They are the biggest bunch of tight asses going. They are absolutely no help at allThis spring, I noticed a crack in the main swingarm pivot block. The LBS agreed so we stripped down the frame and sent it back. They used a dremel tool and ground away until they polished over the hairline crack and then sent it back saying there was no problem. They didn't even repaint the area that they ground off! A little touch up paint and one ride later the crack reappeared. Had to strip it down again and send it back. They claimed not to have any more of that frame left but magically one appeared.Second problem is that the rear triangle is no longer aligned. I waited until the end of the season to send it back (given the hassle I had before). Again Kona claims that there is no problem, but the rear wheel is a least a 1/4 off center, and that everything is within tolerance. I can just barely get my V-brakes setup properly. Also, the shock pivot bushing is worn out and needs to be replaced. Kona doesn't have anymore and their answer - Too bad, not our fault. I'm not looking for warranty replacement or freebies, I just want my bike fixed but Kona (Canada) are being realjerks about it, again.For a bike with a lifetime warranty, they need to do better. I know that there is a problem and perhaps it really is a warranty issue and Kona is being too cheap to own up to it and figure that if they blow me off, I'll go away. Think again Kona.Kona you blew it bigtime. Stop acting like jerks and support your products. I am never
going to reccomend your bikes ever again. You get one chili only because you can't give zero.
Duration Product Used:
more than 3 years
Similar Products Used:
Marin Bear valley
Rocky Mountain Hammer
Marin Pine Mountain
Giant XtcDS1
Bike Setup:
All XT
Flite Saddle
Kona DH risers
Marz. Z3 lite
Conti/Michelin tires
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Roger
a weekend warrior
from SeattleDate Reviewed: December 2, 1998
Bottom Line:
This is an addendum to the last review I submitted. If you feel you have a legitimate warranty problem...write letters. To the company Presidents and assc.departments. After doing so, I got a call from Kona. They have come around and are going to warranty the frame! They have restored my faith in them as a customer interest company. Like I said before...I LOVED the bike, not the warranty policy. To Kona's credit, my wife rides a SexTwo and we haven't seen any problems with it.
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Roger
a weekend warrior
from SeattleDate Reviewed: November 23, 1998
Bottom Line:
I've got a Kona SexOne (heavily upgraded) loved the bike till a recent bought with Kona's warranty policy. Firstly, do not, ever, change the paint on a Kona frame...it voids the warranty-period! (even a properly stripped and hand polishing will void it). Anyho, the main pivot behind the bottom bracket developed play. I replaced the expensive bushings, twice! Finally realized the pivot hole in the frame had ovalized. (something a Kona rep told was a defect in the frame, but Kona says they are unaware of the problem
The long and short of it is this. Cosmetically changing a frame has NOTHING to do with it's mechanical workings. But be warned, KONA will find any loophole to avoid warranting their product! (oh, by the way...the warranty reads if the FRAME has been altered or modified it is void.) Doesn't mention paint...WARNING-This pivot design is the same one on ALL 99' Kona suspension bikes4 chilies on ride
1 chili for GRAY AREA warranty policy
4 chilies for customer service dept that sent FREE frame decals after frame was polished!
0 chilies for not standing up behind there product
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Dave Macki
a cross-country rider
from Ottawa, CanadaDate Reviewed: November 15, 1998
Bottom Line:
I submitted a posting at the beginning of the year and this is just an update
on the review after a full season of riding.1 chili - for the crappy plastic plug in the rear triangle tube
1 chili - for the poor cable routing for the front and rear der.
5 chilis - for the its technical cross country prowess
5 chilis - for Kona 's customer service
2 chilis - for its bucking charateristic on downhills and ruts
0 chilis - for its short lasting and expensive bushings
5 chilis - for its climbing abilities
0 chilis - for the Curve cranks
5 chilis - for the magura brakes
1 chili - for the front hub claim of having an oversized axleAverage ~ 3 (when coupled with my first rating a 4 chili is what is warranted
for this bike)Still quite like the bike though there are a few things that they should change
(and I think they have on their 1999 line up)
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Dave Macki
a cross-country rider
from Ottawa, CanandaDate Reviewed: January 17, 1998
Bottom Line:
In general I really like Kona bikes because of their frame geometery. They are superb climbers and are very good for hardcore riding. It feels very natural to ride the bike. I have tried other F.S. bikes and found the geometery akward.The full suspension does not pose any problems when I ride (i.e., pogoing or loss of rear wheel traction). In fact I felt that I rode much better this year with the F.S. then I did with a H.T. last year. I was able to handle much rougher terrain with this bike than my H.T. and also able to climb much better (even with a Z1 on the front).The Components on the bike are quite good - magura brakes, XT R der., Sach front Der and Gripshift 600's - except for the shitty Curve cranks which squeaked after 4 months of riding. The threads on the cranks also stripped. The magura brakes are very good except that the brake levers were nylon(?) and one of them broke after 4 months of riding. I have since upgraded the levers. The front shock was initailly a Qaudra 21r which is okay except they're pretty flimsy. The rear shock is a Fox 4 without the rebound damping. I have had some troubles with getting thrown forward on the bike due to the rear suspsension.A few beefs;My biggest beef with the bike is the shitty little plastic plug that they put in the URT seat tube. For 2000.00 (CdN) I would expect that they could have put in something better that isn't going to fall out after 2 rides. Also the seat tube of the main frame had a pretty rough internal weld which made it hard impossible to get the seat down. Lastly, the black cable housing to guide the cables between the URT and the main part of the bike were too short which caused the front der. to shift to a lower gear when I would hit a large rut. This also caused some chain suck which ground up some of the metal on the bike. The cable routing for the brakes could also be much better as there is alot of rubbing agianst the frame. Kona has given me very good service over the web. Highly reccommend the bike.Should really give it 4.5 chillis but I can't.
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Viking
a racer
from Mesquite,TxDate Reviewed: January 10, 1998
Bottom Line:
The sex too full suspension design makes for good all around riding. the unbroken chain line is the only way I'll swallow full suspension . Don't mess with
my chainline. Other bike with unbroken chain lines like the Swinns lockout the
rear suspension when you stand off the saddle. But that's when you need it most
(what do you do when you come accross some rough stuff at speed, you stand
off the saddle} thats because the pivot points are too far from the bottom bracket. The arguement against that: they climb better. Only if you climb out of
saddle, which is a bad idea anyway. If you need to have such a stiff frame out
of saddle, you need a hard tail. I hope to one day get the top-of-the-line, the
Sex doggie-style.
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
bret
a racer
from floridaDate Reviewed: July 7, 1997
Bottom Line:
I wish I could describe how much I love this bike. it was the second best purchase I ever made(1st was my first mountain bike)It weighs about 26 pounds and climbs and descends very well. It has a semi-unified rear suspension which is the best balance in the world. Its favorite thing to do though is to completly tear apart tight singletrack. Muddy, Rutted, Rooty, Rocky mess can't send it off of its line. It is truly an amazing machine that has brought me out of the woods alive when I would be dead on any other bike. Today is its 1 year anniversary. Thanks for the memories.
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