Kona Hula 2009 or Marin Bayview?

apreading

Looking for a 24" bike for my son and have it narrowed down to these two, or possibly a Specialized Hotrock but I am not keen on twist shifters. Was going to get an Islabikes Beinn but the 2009 models have done away with the front derailleur and he wont accept the lack of gears (I had persuaded him he didnt need front suspension so he set his heart on the gears, even though I know he wont use them all). If I could get an older Beinn I would but they seem hard to find second hand.

So the above seem the best of the bunch. Seem to have extremely similar spec but the Kona has 7005 Aluminium as opposed to the 6061 of the Marin. Plus the Kona is £40 cheaper...

Cant seem to find any weights online but does this suggest the Kona should be lighter thus making it the obvious choice?

lovewales

One of our daughters has the Kona, the other Hotrock A1. The kona is fairly tough it came off the roof of the car at the end of last year, apart from needing a new rear wheel and rear mech it was fine (thankfully as it was only a week old) even the LBS were amazed that it was still straight. The A1 is better specced but also more pricey and also has a completly different frame shape - it was too big for the daughter who now has the kona. The kona is not too bad on the weight when comparing them to other bikes it was certainly lighter but slightly heavier than A1. I can't compare to the Marin as that was one we didn't try.

If you live near us in North Derbyshire you can bring him to try them both if you like but be warned the kona is in the pink and white colour scheme.

apreading

Blimey - I bet there were a few tears when your daughters bike fell off the car...!

Interesting that the Kona is heavier - the use of 7005 Alum suggests otherwise, but then this is not the whole story. I guess the extra weight could be from the wheels or front fork. I notice that the 2009 model has a different front fork.

The specialized does seem to be a bit bigger but I guess that means if it fits it should last longer. Was on the verge of discounting the Specialized largely because of the twist grip shifters as I prefer the idea of rapidfire shifters. How does this compare between the Kona and Specialized on your two bikes?

I am hoping my LBS will have all 3 for us to try when the 2009 models come in. Thank you for the most kind offer - we are in Reading so a bit of a trek but if we were local it would have been a real help.

Not looking to buy for a few weeks anyway as he has been told he will get it at half term if he works well at school. He is mildly autistic and struggles to settle into a new year with a new teacher and this has proved to be a good way to focus him on making a real effort.

He absolutely loves his cycling though, and it gives him a real confidence boost. We rode 24 miles along the Kennet canal last week on his 20" Giant MTX150 which is a good bike but I am sure this change will see a huge leap forward!

lovewales

The specialised is a bit bigger but a lot better bike IMO but as I said you pay for it. We had an interesting dilema when we bought both of ours. My eldest daughter who was a tall nine and now ten, was inbetween the 24" wheel and 26" wheel bikes. After a lot of umming and ahhing and some suggestions from the bike shop we bought the 24" knowing that she would be able to throw it around on red routes and not do herself an injury, they also suggested when she was getting a little to tall for it we could look at changing the stem and seatpost to get a bit more life out of it. The interesting thing is that now she has the seat at the same height as the handle bars and is far more comfortable and able to greater distances.

The other daughter was between a 20" and 24" wheel and because the cross bar was lower on the kona, and the fact that the 20" saracen hoax she was riding was way too small, we decided to go with the Kona (although I think the fact that it came in pink was also a deciding factor as it was the first bike she had not as a hand me down). The first week she had it she rode a number of routes in Scotland including parts of the red route at Glentress.

Re the grip shift - they are the proper shimano ones and have a light mechanism, you may have to check the size of your son's hands. On their old bikes we had to have the grip shift taken off and replaced by thumb shifters due the size of my daughters hands. It was not an expensive option if that is what you have to do.

Just as a point the hotrock we have is the more expensive A1 version that has the lock out forks etc:

apreading

Very hepful.

From what you have said the Kona is pretty much ruled out now, although the Specialized is back in the running again subject to being happy with the gripshifters. He has gripshifters now on the Giant but I find them very imprecise and he is never quite sure what gear he is in, although I assume that better shifters would not have this problem. My son is 8 1/2 and reasonably tall to should be OK on the Hotrock in terms is size.

Only ever considered the A1 version as the other is too heavy.

I need to get him to the LBS when they have the 2009 models in stock. Someone over on mtbr.com has posted that the Marin is lighter than all the others including the Specialized so definately want to see that. I think it has similar components so not much to choose from there.

Thanks again - it has been very useful to hear from someone who has both bikes.

theblender

Hi,

just stumbled across your posts.

I'm not you're local LBS, but I'm from a shop in Bristol, just off the M4, and I have the marin Bayview, and Bayview SE in stock, 2009 models.

Also, our other branches in Bristol have 2009 Hotrock 24s in stock in A1 versions too.

Pop down if you need to.

Cheers,

Jon
Zero G cycles, Bristol.

apreading

Thanks for the offer but my an LBS nearer to home has kindly ordered both the Bayview and the Hotrock A1 for me to compare side by side. The Marin came in today and the Hotrock is already built so I am going to look at them either tomorrow or Saturday.

I will post back my comparison as others have asked about these two and nobody seems to have seen both to compare.

apreading

Well - we have finally made a decision, although if it were up to me I would have found it difficult and may not have made the choice we did...

Berkshire Cycles kindly ordered both bikes for us to compare side by side.

The Marin Bayview had better components in my opinion and seemed generally better build quality - with one exception. The front fork was really too stiff for a child of this weight. I would prefer the rapid fire shifters on the Marin, the Shimano derailleurs on the Marin, the adjustable (and better quality) handlebars on the Marin and the more subdued colour scheme and stickers (I will explain why in a moment).

The Hotrock was really good and had a great fork which was set just right for a light child and could be adjusted and locked out. The twist grip shifters worked well even if they would not be my preference.

Weight wise there was nothing in it as far as I could tell.

So being in two minds (wanting the Marin but with the fork from the Hotrock) I left it up to my son to decide. There was never any question in his mind. The Hotrock was sooooo much more impressive (flashy) to look at from a childs perspecitve in the 2009 red colours. More than anything the big Specializzzzed logo on the tyres meant that it was a racing bike apparently because "all racing bikes have writing on the wheels" - something he has learned from motorsports I think...

I could have talked him out of it if I had really wanted but I could not decide myself to be honest and either bike would be just fine.

The other thing I liked about the Marin was exacly what made him like the Hotrock - the discrete colouring and plain wheels made it stand out less than the flashy Specz and I think that would probably make it less of a target for thieves. I prefer understated rather than flashy things in all aspects of life so I guess that is part of it too.

To anyone else looking at this choice, you wont be dissappointed with either but neither is perfect!