2009 Kona CoilAir Deluxe opinions?

santahul

Hi guys, looking for a new all mountain bike, particularly one that suits alpine riding. JE James are selling the CoilAir Deluxe 2009 for £1400 but the salesman put me off a bit (poor answers to some questions) and I've noticed it hasn't had such great reviews, but these are obviously based on the £3000 original price. The spec looks good: Fox, SLX, XT etc, but I'm just not sure.


I went there to buy a 2011 Stumpjumper FSR Comp that they had on for 1500 but they didn't have my size. I explained that I wanted something for going up and down mountains in the alps as I'm planning on moving there for the summer, but I'd like to do XC, long distance riding etc. Basically a durable all mountain bike, but I'm concerned the CoilAir has too much travel and weight behind it.

rockmonkeysc

CoilAir is terrible. Weighs as much as a cow with geometry & suspension that doesn't really work for anything. For alpine stuff have a look at the Giant Reign or Reign X, Specialized Stumpjumper or Enduro or Trek Remedy. I have got the Reign X which is great for everything from cross country to downhill though with 170mm of suspension & 31lb it is a little heavy for cross country but I seem to get on ok. The standard Reign would probably be spot on for what you want.

santahul

Thanks RockMonkey,I suspected as much, just needed to hear somebody else say it.

Those bikes are a bit much, I was hoping to spend around the £1500 mark. LaPierra Zesty 214 is £1600, any opinions on that?

rockmonkeysc

Zesty is ok but you are paying extra for the styling & name plus it's more of a cross country bike rather than an all mountain bike. You could get better than the Zesty for the money.

This is far better value http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/giant-re ... 64012.html

santahul

This is the other thing that caught me out. I want it on the 0% finance they do (sick of buying crappy second hand bikes and breaking them), but you can only get current models on it. If you get a model on sale then its 16% interest, which I'm not paying.

Bloody complicated this new bike lark.

rockmonkeysc

Shop around. I got my Giant Reign X reduced from £2500 to £2000 with interest free credit for two years. There are deals around, you just need to find them.
Other option is 0% interest credit card.

santahul

I'll look into it RockMonkey, thanks for your advice

phil_pompey

How about this;
http://www.hargrovescycles.co.uk/produc ... ain%20Bike

1mancity2

Have a look at this,

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.p ... 1b4s1p2817

Beast of a bike for the money!!

Interest free card then transfer balance to another, pain but doable.

rockmonkeysc

Beast of a bike other than the self destruct Marzocchi forks.

santahul

That Cube looks very interesting, I'll certainly look at it closely. The Giant looks like it has a bit too much travel for what I need though. JE James sell the Cube and will price match them, many places selling them at 1650 which is cool, as 1800 would be a bit too much for the slightly better spec.

It's all on hold at the moment though. I was putting off replacing my cheap-piece-of-crap commuter because I wanted a mountain bike more, but the crank snapped on the way home from work the other day and almost threw me into traffic. Gonna spend a few hundred and get a decent tourer, but that will be my deposit out of the window. As long as I get one by summer though I'll be happy.