Is this Kona a good buy?

widge34

Is this Kona a good buy. They only have an 18" frame but thats what i need.

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.p ... 1b7s2p1934

The Spiderman

If it fits thats a good buy. 8)

cooldad

Or for an extra £100 or so you can get bouncy at both ends
http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.p ... 1b7s1p1557

widge34

i Know you should try before you buy, but as this last years model and i dont think there are any bike shops nearby that sell Konas, will this 18" fit me? I'm 5ft 9" with a 30" inside leg.
My bike i have at the moment is 17". Will the geometry of the kona be ok for me at this size?

cooldad

I'm 5' 10" (never measured my leg) and have the Kona 4 I linked to in 17", but it's on the small side, and 18" would probably have been ideal. But that doesn't really help with the hardtail sizing.

The Spiderman

i`M

widge34 wrote:

i Know you should try before you buy, but as this last years model and i dont think there are any bike shops nearby that sell Konas, will this 18" fit me? I'm 5ft 9" with a 30" inside leg.
My bike i have at the moment is 17". Will the geometry of the kona be ok for me at this size?

I`m 5ft 11 and would normally go for a 19 in a Kona so an 18 should be about right.
But nothing like trying before you buy.

The Rookie

I would say with a 30" IL (that's on the short side, I know as I'm 5'9.5" and have a 29.5"IL) I would say you either want a 16 or an 18", you fall between the two on most makes as the 16" is about the right size vertically but a little short in the top tube, while the 18" tend to be long enough but a little tall. I ride a 16" as that is what I found at the right price, but unless you like throwing the bike around under you a lot, you'll probably find an 18" is fine.

Simon

lonzo

You can check the kona website for exact measurements of the bike albeit 2011 (I don't know if they have changed since 2009 but you can find old info on the web as well) - compare them to any konas you have already tried - the kona hardtails are all much the same (the cinder cone and fire mountain have a slightly lower standover (0.2") and slightly longer wheel base (0.1") but head angle is apparently the same (68.5 deg)

http://www.konaworld.com/bike.cfm?content=kula

From my experience of konas the 18 will probably be OK for you I have a mate around your height who rides the caldera 18". The only issue I can forsee is the standover clearance and the importance of that will depend on what you intend to do on the bike - everything else can be fixed by retro fitting different bits (generally inexpensively).

supersonic

Please read the What Size sticky.