My Heart says...... the Kona

Mr Bungle

Hi all

Last season (my first) I completed the Manchester 100K, Buxton Tri, and Oulton Park Duathlon. In order to do these I bought a £200 hybrid off ebay.

Now I have the bug and am looking to invest in a decent road bike, with a budget of £750, and the sorts of events I will be doing are the 3 mentioned here, although Oulton park is a bit of a red herring (I know you probably need a TT to compete here which I have no intention of getting).

AFter about 3 months of research (much of it reading the comments on here) I have narrowed it down to 3 (or maybe 4!)

Trek 1.5
Cannondale CAAD8

From what I can tell both are these are good bikes, not a lot to choose between them, but I am favoring the Cannondale.

But the 2 that interest me are 2 Konas.

http://www.cyclestore.co.uk/productDeta ... egoryID=50

http://www.cyclestore.co.uk/productDeta ... egoryID=50

The top of my list is the Honky Tonk.

I feel that if I am spending £750, then I need to love the look of the bike - and I love the look of this bike.

But the question is, am I being stupid letting my heart rule this one??

Any views on this one? - The spec seems pretty good although not as good as the Cannondale or Trek - but is it massively worse?

I am willing to sacrifice a bit of the spec for a bike I think looks the business, but I do not want to buy something whcih will be noticeably worse to ride, or not as upgradable etc.

Part...(actually all) of me wants you all to come back and say by the Kona, but I would appreciate you honesty!!!!

....just realised I havn't mentioned the Zing (the other Kona) - again this is my price range and something I am looking at.

Just off to my LBS now which has the Konas, so any views would be great........

jswba

See if you can have a test ride. A quick scan of the spec suggests that the Zing has a carbon fork, and the Honky Tonk an alloy one, which will impact on the stiffness at the front end.

Squillinossett

I have a Trek 1.5, and would go for the CAAD8 if choosing again methinks

KulaBen

Mr Bungle,

If you live anywhere near Altrincham, Bikeshak there have a Honky Tonk for £630 ish. There a good bunch too- i've have a few repairs and what have you done there and they're always very friendly.

Their website is:

www.bikeshak.co.uk

Other than that I can't be much help- don't know much about road bikes
Try before you buy!

Happy Shopping

Ben

Mr Bungle

Thanks so far

I do live near Allt... so I will check that place out

Been to the LBS in Congleton (Cheshire) and, I am thinking along the lines of the Zing now, as The Honky Tonk is a steel frame

They guy in the shop told me that The Konas are probably offering less value for money than the other 2, but providing they give a good ride I think I can sacrifice that as they do appeal more to me a lot more

I will give them a go and let you know......

greasedscotsman

Recently got the 2009 HK to use as a winter bike.

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12670741

The basic difference between the 2009 and 2010 bikes being the groupset. They have downgraded it to Sora to allow for the STI levers. But the frameset is basically the same, a steel frame and fork. Haven't had much of a chance to ride it, but it rides pretty much like you would expect from a steel bike. It's not light at all, but much more "solid" than a carbon or aluminium (haven't ridden Ti so won't comment on that).

To get back to what's best for you, as your looking to race I reckon the Cannondale or the Trek would be best. A steel bike like the HK is better for just simply riding! I don't think you can beat a good steel bike for ride quality, but if you want to go fast, at this price range, I would go for the Cannondale!

But as has been already said, give them a go and see which you prefer!

Mr Bungle

cheers greasedscotsman

...and thats a nice looking bike.


I was hoping you would steer me to the Kona, ...
but maybe it is a cannondale that I need, for the time being anyway

I would certainly love a bike like yours as a third bike.

Mr Bungle

cheers greasedscotsman

...and thats a nice looking bike.


I was hoping you would steer me to the Kona, ...
but maybe it is a cannondale that I need, for the time being anyway

I would certainly love a bike like yours as a third bike.

greasedscotsman

Hmm, not sure I should have said the Cannondale now. Think you should go out and look at all the bikes you have shortlisted and test them if you can. Pick which one you like best, think they're all good bikes!

Don't forget to post photos up when you've got it and the Kona HK that I've just got is my 6th

Tom_d100

I think for 750 quid you can do a lot better than the Konky Tonk.

My mate has a 2009 one. It is heavy, and I seem to recall has downtube shifters (although I know they've changed this for 2010). He basically has it for posing, because, as you say, it looks the business.

You shouldn't be paying 750 quid for a sora equipped bike. Think how much of a Boardman bike that would buy you. Or indeed a Ribble - my 09 Ribble Road alloy with full Veloce bits and carbon fork was only 750 quid.

But what do I know...

tri-sexual

agree with tom_d100
i wouldnt buy the konas for £750, there are better bikes for the money
personally i will buy a tri bike-even a 2nd hand better spec'ed one for the same money.
you'd end up buying one next year anyway

Mr Bungle

tri-sexual wrote:

agree with tom_d100
i wouldnt buy the konas for £750, there are better bikes for the money
personally i will buy a tri bike-even a 2nd hand better spec'ed one for the same money.
you'd end up buying one next year anyway

You are probably right

Im almost certainly going to get the Cannondale now - the only remaining question for me to answer is the CAAD 8 (as origionally planned) or the CAAD 9 for another £200

The Kona will remain on my "nice to have' list, but at the mo probably not my top priority.

Cheers for all your help.

Mr Bungle

tri-sexual wrote:

agree with tom_d100
i wouldnt buy the konas for £750, there are better bikes for the money
personally i will buy a tri bike-even a 2nd hand better spec'ed one for the same money.
you'd end up buying one next year anyway

You are probably right

Im almost certainly going to get the Cannondale now - the only remaining question for me to answer is the CAAD 8 (as origionally planned) or the CAAD 9 for another £200

The Kona will remain on my "nice to have' list, but at the mo probably not my top priority.

Cheers for all your help.

greasedscotsman

Review on Bike Radar if it helps...

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... 0-uk-35778

0scar

If you do decide to do tri and can use eBay (as I suspect you can) you can get a 2009 or earlier Cervelo S1 for about £750. The seatpost is reversible for road or TT positions and they tend to have better spec than Sora. It's sold as a frameset so the complete ones on eBay have varied spec, but usually 105/Ultegra or Campag Centaur. It has lifetime warranty for the original owner but if the previous owner hasn't registered it (which they should tell you) you can get the warranty. I reckon about two a month go on eBay so you might have to wait a bit, but in performance terms it sh*ts on a Sora equipped Kona from a great height - and it looks nice too.