[outarange]

I have ridden a Trek 6800 hard-tail for a few years now. I am looking to upgrade to one of the FS bikes below. My price range is $1,200 - $1,700.

05 Kona Dawg ~ 1,400
06 Kona Dawg Deluxe ~ 1,600
06 Mongoose Teocali Elite ~ 1500

I know the 05 Dawg specs out almost identical to the 06 Dawg Deluxe so I'm leaning toward the 05 Dawg for $200 less.

Dilemma:
I have never owned an FS bike before. Unfortunately there are no shops in my area that demo bikes. I have read very good reviews on all of these bikes. I am having a hard time deciding on which one to pull the trigger.

Riding:
30% - cruise up and fly down fire roads, some pretty steep and very rocky, small boulder drop-offs, lose rocks and rock gardens.

70% - Twitchy/Winding/Steep single tracks, some more technical than others.

I want a bike that helps me tear this stuff up and gives me more confidence to try more difficult terrain. At my LBS the owner has recommenced the Teocali Elite. I value his advice but I am hesitant about spending that kind of cash on a Mongoose. Is there a lot of maintenance with the Teocali's Suspension? Are the Dawg's prone to pedal bob?

Any advice is appreciated...thx

 

[LeopardDog]

That one is easy

Personally I would go for the Dawg. You are right the 05 Dawg is closest to the 06 Dawg Dee-Lux. The Dawg's are a well proven and reliable design. Pedal bob is not a problem. The bike is rated practically 5 out of 5 on this site's user ratings. Ever read anyone here rave like that over a Mongoose? Then there are the company's behind those bikes. Hands down the smaller, focused group at Kona get's my support over the conglomerate that badges the Mongoose brand. Spec-wise I'm not so sure about the Rock Shox on the Mongoose either. I would favor the Fox/Marz setup as well as the HFX9's on the Dawgs. Read the reviews on the Dawg series on this site and by all means test ride before you buy.

 

[dogonfr]

Go Dawg!

 

[Kona_Dawg]

Kona has absolutly proven they make killer bikes, so, no question here. Get the Kona!

Dawg or Dee-Lux thats up to you. Both rock. Don't worry about bob.

Enjoy your new bike!

 

[outarange]

Okay, so what about the Iron Horse Hollowpoint MkIII Expert 2005? I've seen that for about $1700. How does that compare to the Dawg?

 

[chad1433]

You should look at some magazine reveiws for the Teocali. Every review I've seen has been excellent. The problem with Mongoose is more "business" than performance. The suspension design is similar to the Kona in that they're both linkage actuated single pivots, BUT, unlike the Kona, the Mongoose won't rely on shock technology to filter out pedal bob. What that will translate to is less pedal feedback on 70% of the trails you ride.

The maint. seems like it would be an issue with the complicated design but essentially it has the same number of pivots as the Kona. Like anything, keep it clean and keep an eye on it and it should be fine. The parts spec looks pretty good on that bike. The Revelation will actually have more adjustments than the Float R. The RP3 is superior to the RS product on the back.

Overall, both bikes look like good values. Performance will probably be about the same. I'd opt for the Mongoose in the end because of the suspension design. That type of design has been around in various forms for many years and works well.

 

[dogonfr]

Okay, so what about the Iron Horse Hollowpoint MkIII Expert 2005? I've seen that for about $1700. How does that compare to the Dawg?

Stop changing your mind go get a Dawg & roll around in the mud, when the mud dries you can go leaping off the lumps with a big grinn .

 

[FrozenK]

Okay, so what about the Iron Horse Hollowpoint MkIII Expert 2005? I've seen that for about $1700. How does that compare to the Dawg?

MkIII's are supposed to be nice bikes. The suspension is said to have less pedal feedback than the Kona's suspension (DW link vs Kona's "faux" bar), but keep in mind that a lot of FS bikes use a suspension design similar to the Kona and that even some Turner's are going to that design. Like gonzostrike likes to say it is how the suspension is incorporated on the bike, not which suspension system you are using (Horst, DW, faux bar, Maestro...) If I am not mistaken, the MkIII has a steeper head angle than the Dawg (70vs69).

On your price range I'd also check out the Giant Reign 3. If you are not too heavy, the Giant Trance may work for you as well.

I'd recomend that you test as many bikes as you can (even if it is just a parking lot test) so you can get a good fit. One thing about the Teocali: it comes with the i-beam seatpost, so you can only use SDG i-beam saddles. If your rear doesn't like the SDG saddle, you'll need a new post as well. All the bikes you are looking at are pretty nice options and, in the end, is going to come down to personal preference.

 

[The H]

Yes, I would consider the reign as well.

I am looking at the teocali v reign. See other post.

I have not read one bad report about the reign yet and the price of a reign 3 should be good with much scope to upgrade in the future. In saying this I have not read anything bad about the teocali either other than brand bashing poor old mongoose. If you are like me I am struggling to make my mind up. Everyone is suggesting the Reign and this might just push me to it. I wish I could just buy both then return one that I dont ride anymore after a month.

Good luck with your decision.