Kona Kula wheel upgrades for the road

agladman

I'd like to see what it would take to turn my Kona Kula (2009) into a road bike capable of long distances. To do that I'd like to buy a new set of wheels shod with skinny road tyres.

Can anyone recommend a set of wheels that would be light enough to make a real difference to the ride?

maddog 2

are you talking 700c wheels or just skinny 26 inchers?

agladman

I'm thinking skinny 26in wheels otherwise I'd have to change the front fork and hack the back of the frame up.

top_bhoy

I've the Kona Kula (2009) and its a great bike. Before you spend the money consider this. In my opinion, even if the wheels and tyres were changed to something more befitting a road environment, it would have little difference in the bikes capability to do long distances, primarily due to the suspension forks and the overall weight. Don't confuse capability to suitability.

The Kona Kula is intrinsically for single track use, it is not at all suitable for road/long distance use. A different set-up would make it marginally easier for long distances but I'm not sure it would be any more suitable. It all depends I guess on what you mean by 'long distance'.

For longer distance/road use, and a cheap(ish) option, if it was me, I'd look to buy a 2nd hand road bike and keep the Kona Kula for its intended purpose.

My 2p worth.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

maddog 2

I've toured and commuted on converted MTBs (and various Konas) and you can turn them into a decent long distance rig but you need to do more than fit slicks really.

The Kona Cinder Cone I took on the NZ and Morocco tours (mainly on-road) had rigid forks, a longish stem, narrow flat bars, bar ends, Conti slicks and a road cassette and did the job admirably.

Have a look for 1" Conti GP slicks for fast road tyres. Not sure if they still make them but they were skinny+fast. Any light MTB wheel will be fine.

I've also fitted 700c wheel to a MTB frame, which makes them even more roadiefied.

agladman

Top_Bhoy wrote:

I've the Kona Kula (2009) and its a great bike.
Good luck with whatever you decide.

I should have mentioned this earlier... I've tested a road bike and find it the most uncomfortable thing in the world. So then I figured on something like a Specialized Sirrus (a road bike with flat bars). Then before you know it, you have something which looks kind of similar to a mountain bike and I've got a good one. So I'm not going to be doing this long journey on a road bike. I can do 100+ miles in a day on my mountain bike so I'm looking to make it run more easily and be as light as possible without actually buying another bike.