Kona are uncool?!

santahul

I've been out of mountain biking since the nineties and only got back into it a couple of years ago. One company that was popular back then was GT, I aspired for a Zaskar (with hydraulic rim brakes) more than anything. Another company was Kona, they were too cool for school, I was the envy of all my mates with my '98 Hahanna and I even had a matching Kahuna watch.

Just reading a review on the Kona 2+2 DL and it commented that they're uncool now? What happened!? Is there anything else I should know?

nicklouse

who cares?

they are common and I dont like them.

tom_howard

I'm with nick, who cares if the bike is 'cool', as long as you like it and it does the job?

Rigid 29er single speed bikes are 'cool' now (really) You want one? Thought not.

sandy hill

I have a Kona. A Caldera 2008. Fabulous bike.











Then I bought a Cube. The Kona hasn't left the house since!

santahul

Don't get me wrong, I don't give shit if a bike is cool or not, I just couldn't figure out why it was uncool. I'm hoping to get a Cube AMS 110 Pro from JE James for £1700 in a couple of months, but just noticed they had the Kona 2+2 DL knocked down from £3200 to £2000 so was checking it out.

Anonymous

Cool comes and goes.

ddraver

They ve had a reputation for a few years of doing solid but not particularly special bikes. Because they re Canadian and small they don't have the buying power of a Spesh or a Trek so they re not specced so well, but they don't have the boutique value of Yeti or Santa Cruz for example...

Anonymous

Meh, if it works and you like riding it, everyone can shove their opinion. Sure I ride uncool GT (partly thanks to Halfords association), but I don't care, it's a tank and copes with far more than my body does. Only reason I'm looking for another bike is change of geometry because of the stuff I ride now.

santahul

Anybody got any opinions on the Kona 2+2 DL vs Cube AMS 110 Pro?

I can only try them around the car park

tom_howard

deadkenny wrote:

Meh, if it works and you like riding it, everyone can shove their opinion. Sure I ride uncool GT (partly thanks to Halfords association), but I don't care, it's a tank and copes with far more than my body does. Only reason I'm looking for another bike is change of geometry because of the stuff I ride now.

I think my GT is pretty cool (trust me Halfords want nothing to do with mine, took it to my local one, just to see if theyd service it (for a laugh, I was riding by). The mechanic went quiet and told me to leave my details and hed get back to me (never did). Plus its a bit of a tank too

Raymondavalon

yeehaamcgee wrote:

Cool comes and goes.

Yea and Orange will always be cool to those who actually own them

Back to Kona, I had the 2006 Kula and it wasn't a bad bike bar the somewhat wooden Hayes HFX brakes

Saw a rider at Cannock today with the Stinky 2010. Quite a nice bike, but noticed single crown forks, Hayes brakes and no floating rear caliper. But he told me he paid £1200 for it, so for the money, not a bad spec at all..

Plus, if a rider owns a bike, it meets his requirement and makes him/her happy, it's a win result.

Anonymous

Tom Howard wrote:

I think my GT is pretty cool (trust me Halfords want nothing to do with mine, took it to my local one, just to see if theyd service it (for a laugh, I was riding by). The mechanic went quiet and told me to leave my details and hed get back to me (never did). Plus its a bit of a tank too

That IT1 is impressive!

Not surprised you never heard back. No one there would have a clue what to do with it.

sandy hill

SantaHul wrote:

Don't get me wrong, I don't give shoot if a bike is cool or not, I just couldn't figure out why it was uncool. I'm hoping to get a Cube AMS 110 Pro from JE James for £1700 in a couple of months, but just noticed they had the Kona 2+2 DL knocked down from £3200 to £2000 so was checking it out.

Its an AMS110Pro that has ended my affair with Kona.

matt@theforce

My 2006 Kona Caldera is cool/ace/fantastic

Why?

Because I bought it as a frame earlier this year and chose the spec & built it myself. It serves its purpose and gets used well..

Oh, and I enjoy riding it so it doesn't matter what other people say/think

I also have a Cube AMS125 which is also cool/ace/fantastic but will never replace my Kona as they are built for different purposes

Anonymous

If you say something of yours is cool, it means it's not. It's an unwritten rule.

santahul

I'm off to Cannock this Monday on a black 1988 Claud Butler Cape Wrath. Cool enough for me 8)

kinmofo

why is it so "important" how cool something is, is someone elses eyes. be different, build a bike

Ryan Jones

I don't think that the OP sounds particularly bothered by the coolness, just a question about why things have changed in that respect.

I think I saw that same Kona up the chase too the orange one with white forks, which probably hints at part of the problem as kona's are too "in your face", and that's simply not the thing right now.

Raymondavalon

Ryan Jones wrote:

I think I saw that same Kona up the chase too the orange one with white forks, which probably hints at part of the problem as kona's are too "in your face", and that's simply not the thing right now.

That's the one. I was parked alongside the owner who was trying very hard to secure the said Stinky to a £50 Argos bike rack. I advised him to throw that rack away as it had between no and zero chance of securing anything other than a traditional bicycle.

Ryan Jones

I did spot it as me and my brother were discussing whether it was the coiler or stinky as the rider headed to the car park. It's definitely a marmite look, and clearly not a bike for people who like to go past unnoticed !

Brandon31737

i have a kona blast and it looks smart and it rides well

goldilocks

I ride a Kona Dawg Primo '07 and a Giant Revel that has been tarted up in places. They do exactly what I want them to (most of the time :shock:)
Races have neither been won nor lost on either, but they still get me back home at the end of the day and that's pretty cool as far as I'm concerned!

toasty

They've got some cool looking stuff for next year, I like their big wheeler full sus.

http://cog.konaworld.com/archives/7974

I still think they'd do far better if they just released a few old school style steel bikes, even their last few years of Exposif were a p take, made out of the cheapest chromo they could lay their hands on. I must admit, I was shocked how much fun I had on a Fire Mountain around Dalby not that long ago, but there's just so many similar brands doing the same thing without the price tag.

cooldad

Decidedly uncool, as I have one, but does the job well enough for me.

Raymondavalon

Ryan Jones wrote:

I did spot it as me and my brother were discussing whether it was the coiler or stinky as the rider headed to the car park. It's definitely a marmite look, and clearly not a bike for people who like to go past unnoticed !

I bumped into the Stinky owner again yesterday in the car park
He seemed to have got his bootlid rack sorted :¬)
One thing I did notice, the owner's quite tall, about 5'10 and his bike is a 15.5" :shock:
Unless some people just prefer smaller framed downhill rigs?

Ryan Jones

Sound unlikely he'd turned to to do a lap of the FTD then, shorter for chuckability is alright but that's taking the biscuit :shock:

lostboysaint

yeehaamcgee wrote:

Cool comes and goes.

Unless you have a Yeti

paulbox

SantaHul wrote:

Don't get me wrong, I don't give shoot if a bike is cool or not, I just couldn't figure out why it was uncool.

I know exactly what you mean, back in the 90's GT & Kona were very cool. It is strange how relative "coolness" shifts, but I suppose it's the same with all brands. I popped in to a branch of Sports direct a couple of months back, needed some shorts (not for cycling). I noticed that they sell Ocean Pacific gear. Now when I was 14/15 years old, Op was Ice Cold (and very expensive), now Sports Direct are knocking out T-Shirts for £6...

Raymondavalon

Ryan Jones wrote:

Sound unlikely he'd turned to to do a lap of the FTD then, shorter for chuckability is alright but that's taking the biscuit :shock:

He did do FtD both Saturday and Sunday, he admits that the hills are hard work, but informs me the Stinky is quite had home on anything that descends, although that beast really does belong on the DH track

tom_howard

Raymondavalon wrote:

One thing I did notice, the owner's quite tall, about 5'10 and his bike is a 15.5" :shock:
Unless some people just prefer smaller framed downhill rigs?

Seat tube height isnt everything, my Orange (see sig) is a 14" (im 6'1") and does the job for pretty much anything from XC to AM to DJ/street, just depends on tyres and seatpost height (i love my 410mm post )

Anyway back to the cool wall. Brands that seem to yoyo in the cool stakes? Saracen, Iron Horse, GT are making a bit of a comeback?

Ryan Jones

Iron Horse making a comeback ? Rocking horses perhaps have you seen the "bikes" getting that label now, sad times !

Saracen are looking a rising brand, just need to get rid of the argos bike image, which the new Zen's, Myst and Ariel are doing nicely. Otherwise if you're cool then you either buy a Lapierre or Orange 5 and run 800mm bars