Marin ti & Kona ti return for 07

Thanks Scant.
Standby for a mini rant.
What the hell is happening around the bottom bracket?
Could they fit any more decals on it?
I'm Kona through and through (hell, it's my daughter's middle name) but they really seem to have lost their way somewhere. You only have to look at the 'over-priced for the spec, covering-all-genres-missing-all-of-them-sliding-drop-outs' Explosif.
Can only feel smug that I've got a '93 Kileaeau and '98 Hei Hei.

Phew, needed to get that off my chest.
 
weird.

I usually despise Konas, but that one actually looks OK. Decals a bit gordy, but deffo not bad. Kinda like the stays too. :?
 
drive side stay on the kona is ti plate. yeti were doing it on the arc a few years ago. normal stays 1 side, plate the other for increased chainring clearance & more resistance to chainsuck damage.
 
gump":3a4erzi1 said:
weird.

I usually despise Konas, but that one actually looks OK. Decals a bit gordy, but deffo not bad. Kinda like the stays too. :?

Despise? That's a bit strong isn't it? For a frame that loads of manufacturers have used as their template...

Why do you despise Konas?

:?
 
No idea Steve :D

back in the day my buddy had a blue splatter fire Mountain and I really did not like the way it rode or looked.
Ever since then I have struggled to like them. When I ride one, it reminds me of the old fire mountain. I don't really like the look much either. Don't know why, it just doesn't float my boat.
Also not keen on the 'its just an old bike, but its a Kona so it must be good' type approach. Maybe I am a bit OTT, but I look at the modern sus and hardtails, and don't like the decals and design. At leat the old ones had a good paint job :) Now they look like a bad cartoon sticker.

hey ho, sure they are great with so many around and the following they have, but I really can't like them.
Maybe an extended ride on a hei hei may convince me otherwise, haven't ridden a Kona for a long time, so not really fair.
 
Yup - horses for courses and all that.

I love em. My riding buddy back in the 90's upgraded his blue splatter firemountain over the years and it lasted for ages until he rode it into the back of a car. Despite the even steeper headtube angle (!) after that incident it still rode fine and he used it as a commuter. That was a well used and well loved bike and I remember even with Ubrake it rode well - inspired me to get the next years Lavadome that was my rider for so many years.


Dont want to sound like a broken record but...

Sloping top tube..
Short chainstays...
Combo cage....great idea...
Impact headset....great idea...
Fat tyre at front, thinner at rear...great idea..
Long headtube...
Forward facing extended seatclamp...
Straightblade rigid forks...
Several years ignored the trends and stuck thumbies as standard...
Good weight-to-strength ratio - they were never heavy bikes...
Sold well over the years...
Seem to do very well still on the second hand market (how many singlespeed ones to we see on STW etc?)...

But these are my reasons why I loved Konas. Obviously nowadays they are a very very different company with very very different bikes...
 
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