Hey, Kona freaks! I mean Kona fans...
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Ran across this guy today. 1999 Kona upgraded with Manitou Markhor fork for 26" wheels and 100mm travel. Converted to 1x with XT cranks and 32T chainring. SunRace 9-speed cassette with 36T cog. 2.4" wide tires by dimpling the chainstay with a C-clamp. Green 1980's Selle Italia titanium Flite saddle.
He's a monster doing this climb with a 32x36. Like some of you here. I very much like my 22x36 for this climb. He was headed to Devil's Backbone which is a black rated trail of lots of rocks. He's nuts doing that on a hardtail, not to mention that 32x36 low gear. He's 24 years old so doesn't know about comfort. And good enough he doesn't need traction.
He gave me some ideas like getting that Manitou fork for my 1998 Stumpjumper with the elastomer suspension fork that's dried out to rock hard. I'm not otherwise a Kona fan but that fork upgrade and modern crankset was interesting to me. I knew of Kona in the 80's? 90s? and thought they were mainly kids BMX or low end or something, but not a mainstream bike brand.
...meh...
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Damn, I'm running 32x50 and wouldn't want less for some of the climbs around here.
Cool bike though!
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@vincentmalamute the absence of a dropper post too, downhills are much easier with a dropper.
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@functionoverfashion said in Hey, Kona freaks! I mean fans...:
Damn, I'm running 32x50 and wouldn't want less for some of the climbs around here.
Cool bike though!
@highlander said in Hey, Kona freaks! I mean fans...:
@vincentmalamute the absence of a dropper post too, downhills are much easier with a dropper.
The guy (the kid) was 24. He doesn't need any of that stuff! Yeah, forgot about his lack of dropper. Definitely useful on Devil's Backbone. As is rear suspension. To us old farts anyway.
I am in awe of people with that kind of power and skills. Rider, not bike. (While I go order more expensive parts so I can go faster).
My friend just got a new Polygon with the usual 1x drivetrain and 32x51 low. He swapped in a 2x crankset with 22/32 and manually changes the chain to the 22T chainring for some of the climbs here.
...meh...
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@vincentmalamute said in Hey, Kona freaks! I mean fans...:
@highlander said in Hey, Kona freaks! I mean fans...:
My friend just got a new Polygon with the usual 1x drivetrain and 32x51 low. He swapped in a 2x crankset with 22/32 and manually changes the chain to the 22T chainring for some of the climbs here.
Wait, he's using his hand for a front derailleur? I mean, I'm sure he stops and gets off, but... wow.
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@vincentmalamute said in Hey, Kona freaks! I mean fans...:
My friend just got a new Polygon with the usual 1x drivetrain and 32x51 low. He swapped in a 2x crankset with 22/32 and manually changes the chain to the 22T chainring for some of the climbs here
Seriously? I ride long steep climbs with a 34x50. Or a 32x 50, on my other bike. You Would barely move with a 22x51.
71 Datsun
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2006 Mazda -
@functionoverfashion said in Hey, Kona freaks! I mean fans...:
@vincentmalamute said in Hey, Kona freaks! I mean fans...:
@highlander said in Hey, Kona freaks! I mean fans...:
My friend just got a new Polygon with the usual 1x drivetrain and 32x51 low. He swapped in a 2x crankset with 22/32 and manually changes the chain to the 22T chainring for some of the climbs here.
Wait, he's using his hand for a front derailleur? I mean, I'm sure he stops and gets off, but... wow.
We've got one several mile climb for a few thousand feet at around 20% grade for lots of it. Yeah, uses his hand to get it into 22T chainring for the climb. Stops at the top and moves it over to the 32T chainring for the rest of the trail.
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@highlander said in Hey, Kona freaks! I mean fans...:
@vincentmalamute said in Hey, Kona freaks! I mean fans...:
My friend just got a new Polygon with the usual 1x drivetrain and 32x51 low. He swapped in a 2x crankset with 22/32 and manually changes the chain to the 22T chainring for some of the climbs here
Seriously? I ride long steep climbs with a 34x50. Or a 32x 50, on my other bike. You Would barely move with a 22x51.
I like my 22x36 for those long steep smooth climbs. If you throw any rocks in the way, I'm not going fast enough to balance and not fall off the bike. And all that crank spinning means I'm getting rock strikes.
You're right. He must not be using the lowest gears when he's in the 22 chainring. He has to be stopping at 22x32 or so for his lowest practical gear. 22x51 is not practical at all.
...meh...
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@vincentmalamute said in Hey, Kona freaks! I mean Kona fans...:
@highlander said in Hey, Kona freaks! I mean fans...:
@vincentmalamute said in Hey, Kona freaks! I mean fans...:
My friend just got a new Polygon with the usual 1x drivetrain and 32x51 low. He swapped in a 2x crankset with 22/32 and manually changes the chain to the 22T chainring for some of the climbs here
Seriously? I ride long steep climbs with a 34x50. Or a 32x 50, on my other bike. You Would barely move with a 22x51.
I like my 22x36 for those long steep smooth climbs. If you throw any rocks in the way, I'm not going fast enough to balance and not fall off the bike. And all that crank spinning means I'm getting rock strikes.
You're right. He must not be using the lowest gears when he's in the 22 chainring. He has to be stopping at 22x32 or so for his lowest practical gear. 22x51 is not practical at all.
I kind of get it now. We just don't have long steep smooth climbs. It's all too technical. I don't even use my 32x50 all the time, a lot of times I want the next gear up for speed (ahem, SPEED AND POWAH)
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@vincentmalamute My coccyx hurts from looking at that seat.
"I drank what?" -- Socrates
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@aremmes said in Hey, Kona freaks! I mean fans...:
@vincentmalamute My coccyx hurts from looking at that seat.
That Selle Italia Flite Ti s a classic and one of my most comfortable seats. Light too. For it's time anyway.
...meh...
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@vincentmalamute I will allow that it's comfortable for some people. My needs are more... ample.
"I drank what?" -- Socrates
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@functionoverfashion said in Hey, Kona freaks! I mean fans...:
@vincentmalamute said in Hey, Kona freaks! I mean Kona fans...:
@highlander said in Hey, Kona freaks! I mean fans...:
@vincentmalamute said in Hey, Kona freaks! I mean fans...:
My friend just got a new Polygon with the usual 1x drivetrain and 32x51 low. He swapped in a 2x crankset with 22/32 and manually changes the chain to the 22T chainring for some of the climbs here
Seriously? I ride long steep climbs with a 34x50. Or a 32x 50, on my other bike. You Would barely move with a 22x51.
I like my 22x36 for those long steep smooth climbs. If you throw any rocks in the way, I'm not going fast enough to balance and not fall off the bike. And all that crank spinning means I'm getting rock strikes.
You're right. He must not be using the lowest gears when he's in the 22 chainring. He has to be stopping at 22x32 or so for his lowest practical gear. 22x51 is not practical at all.
I kind of get it now. We just don't have long steep smooth climbs. It's all too technical. I don't even use my 32x50 all the time, a lot of times I want the next gear up for speed (ahem, SPEED AND POWAH)
Where are you located? I'm Colorado's Front Range next to the Rockies. And you're younger with way more power. Power and speed really makes those tech features easier. I just don't have power and I simply wouldn't be able to spin a 32T chainring on most of trails here. If I got a new bike with 1x, a 26T chainring would give me the same low gear as I have now. That's a big difference between us!
...meh...
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@aremmes said in Hey, Kona freaks! I mean fans...:
@vincentmalamute I will allow that it's comfortable for some people. My needs are more... ample.
ah! Gotcha! Yes, the Flite will only fit a certain segment of the population
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@vincentmalamute Someone said kona freaks!?! I have been summoned
That looks like a killer build. But probably pretty tricky on descents without a dropper, yeah. I can't imagine riding MTB without one at this point. Do keep in mind that ~3" less wheel diameter means that 32/36 low gear will feel a lot lower than the same gear on a modern 29er... but he's still crazy. Just in a good way
Also FWIW, and I'm absolutely a fanboy here, but kona kinda pioneered a lot of tech that's become standard including 4-bar suspension. They definitely were doing kids bikes and BMX stuff but their specialty has long been dual squish at high speed:
Ben | observer of rocks | VW Alltrack and many bikes
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@vincentmalamute When I see Kona, I think longboard.
Jagroen fan & custodian of camellids. GT86, Octavia VRS, Pajero, Leaf
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@vincentmalamute Interesting. I'm in New Hampshire, so the hills are smaller but the trails are rugged, many of them just being hiking trails. We also joke about all our trails being only up then only down, but even so, a long climb here would be like 45 - 60 minutes. I think I could walk it in almost the same time at a fast hiking clip.
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@distraxi I usually think of
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@vincentmalamute If the trail supports a hardtail, a lightweight bike like this with 100mm is more than enough to kick ass on the climbs. My race bike has an 80mm fork but weighs 19.7 lbs and I can climb technical climbs better on that than any other bike I've ever ridden. I wouldn't want to do any rocky trails with it, but if the trail is smooth and its a lot of ups and downs...its pretty great.
Back when I was in shape (around 24) I could do all but the biggest climbs here in my middle ring with a 32 tooth my largest rear cog (32x32). Hell to the no anymore.
Some kind of sentient rodent - Overland Curator.
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Geometry on that bike looks super awkward....wheelbase looks way too short for the height. When I was riding I had to get damn near the biggest frame available to fit me in any way and not have a stupidly twitchy ride
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@vincentmalamute " I knew of Kona in the 80's? 90s? and thought they were mainly kids BMX or low end or something, but not a mainstream bike brand."
Funny, I've always thought of them as a good sized, primarily mountain bike focused company and one with a product line that goes from good quality "affordable" bikes up to fairly high end for mass production - and I never heard about them ever making BMX bikes!
I've had a Kona Major Jake cyclocross bike since 2007. It replaced the 1992 Cannondale M800 that was the first bike I ever bought as an adult. I probably would have been better off with a cross bike back in 1992 but they weren't readily available back then. I did make an attempt to buy a Bridgestone XO series bike at the time but there weren't any dealers in Canada as far as I could tell, and both Bridgestone's USA dealers and Bridgestone itself resolutely refused to sell me anything because I wasn't in the US - if I recall correctly the XO's sold so poorly they had lots of them in the warehouse years later... To paraphrase Basil Fawlty "If they don't like selling bikes why don't they get another job? Composing violin concertos or something?"
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@spacekraken said in Hey, Kona freaks! I mean Kona fans...:
Do keep in mind that ~3" less wheel diameter means that 32/36 low gear will feel a lot lower than the same gear on a modern 29er...
Good point. I was thinking of you with all the mods this guy did to bring it up to modern specs.
yeah, I've run into some nutty people including a few pros as well as one international pro. The guy riding a single speed on the same trail I'm on with my 22x36. Some people are great no matter what the equipment.
@spacekraken @nowhere
Kona must've come onto the scene after my big interest in biking passed in the 70's and 80's. My bike knowledge fell off in the 90's and I was out of the scene during the 00's. I completely missed SunTour's departure from the market.I remember the Bridgestone XOs. Thought they were unique at the time. Didn't know they didn't sell.
...meh...
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@vincentmalamute It makes sense you not having heard much about Kona then - they weren't even founded until 1988.
The XO's were unique and people who liked them seemed to really like them but it jut wasn't too many people. Same thing happened to the rest of the line but to a lesser extent. I have wanted to take the frame building course Paul Brodie does out here (you make a fillet brazed steel frame in the course) and and XO frame is what I would likely have built if I had ever had the time to take it. My other choice would be a look alike of Joe Breeze's coaster brake Repack klunker - but I would bet that the curved frame and double top tube would make it out of the question for a beginner's class.
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@vincentmalamute said in Hey, Kona freaks! I mean Kona fans...:
@spacekraken said in Hey, Kona freaks! I mean Kona fans...:
Do keep in mind that ~3" less wheel diameter means that 32/36 low gear will feel a lot lower than the same gear on a modern 29er...
Good point. I was thinking of you with all the mods this guy did to bring it up to modern specs.
Indeed! Very much reminds me of my build, though I kept the stock forks.
yeah, I've run into some nutty people including a few pros as well as one international pro. The guy riding a single speed on the same trail I'm on with my 22x36. Some people are great no matter what the equipment.
I wonder what the gearing on the singlespeed is. 30x22 or 30x25 is pretty common which wouldn't be bad at all... but I like the fine control I get spinning at full speed in 22/23 or 22/30.
@spacekraken @nowhere
Kona must've come onto the scene after my big interest in biking passed in the 70's and 80's. My bike knowledge fell off in the 90's and I was out of the scene during the 00's. I completely missed SunTour's departure from the market.I think so. Late 80s and early 90s... they make some pretty cool stuff honestly. Love love love my kona gravel bike.
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@nowhere said in Hey, Kona freaks! I mean Kona fans...:
@vincentmalamute It makes sense you not having heard much about Kona then - they weren't even founded until 1988.
The XO's were unique and people who liked them seemed to really like them but it jut wasn't too many people. Same thing happened to the rest of the line but to a lesser extent. I have wanted to take the frame building course Paul Brodie does out here (you make a fillet brazed steel frame in the course) and and XO frame is what I would likely have built if I had ever had the time to take it. My other choice would be a look alike of Joe Breeze's coaster brake Repack klunker - but I would bet that the curved frame and double top tube would make it out of the question for a beginner's class.
Frame building would be cool for sure. I mentioned somewhere else, I bet I wouldn't have the patience though.
