I have a choice

2000 kona kuku
2000

or 2001 big kuku

basically the big kuku is longer at 5’8 what benefits would i get from the longer frame?

cheers

A longer frame will feel less cramped but will be less nimble for riding skateparks and the like. Are Kona BMXes any cop? If you want to use it as intended rather than just as a runaround you’ll probably get a much better modern one for your money from the likes of Fit or Wethepeople.

hmmm i dont think ill be the next matt hoffman so maybe the big kuku just for messin around on, hmmmmmmmm

stay away from the top one due to the one piece crankset! what’s your budget? wouldn’t look at Kona personally for BMX, and I’m a fan of Kona’s in general.

I remember Ride BMX mag reviewed the Kuku back when it was released – iirc the frame had a really long back end (fine for racing, as are the spec’d v brakes but not so good for freestyle) and the other parts were pretty heavy) . . . also as mike says, the one piece crankset will warrant an upgrade pretty quickly. As a long term Kona fan I owned a Mama for a while – bit lighter and shorter than the Kuku and fine for messing about on BMX tracks but certainly not a park bike and there’s probably a good reason why Kona never took off on the BMX side of things.

Have a look at customriders.com, alansbmx.com or bmx-shop.co.uk at some of the more modern completes. Most will now come with 3 piece cranks as standard.

the one piece crankset will warrant an upgrade pretty quickly

Or wait until it bends, then ride switch-footed until it bends back. I’m told this works, anyway…

Neither, they weren’t that good back then. Things have moved on dramatically in the years since then. Real changes and improvements, not just cosmetic stuff.

What budget, and what for? Ramps? street? nibbling about on race tracks? Brakes? brakeless? freecoaster?

At 5’8″ and presuming you’re not gonna do flatland or silly tech stuff, then look for 21″ ish toptube. 1/4 inch makes lots of difference on bmx. I’m running 21.25 on my race bike.

just the frames so components not a problem i was thinking maybe just kicking around jumps and stuff but nothing serious

maybe ill have a rethink

what i really wanted was one of these actually saw one a few years ago in a shop in germany and have been kickin myself about not buying it ever since….

I’ve got a (Federal) cruiser built largely from scrap and stuff lying around and I commute 25km every day on it. It’s surprisingly fast and good fun to ride. Conversly, my wife’s BMX (Jay Miron’s company….can’t remember the name of it at the mo…) is shi’ite at doing anything other than it’s intended purpose (getting rAd). So unless you are planning on driving to a bowl / track then a cruiser might be a better option. A proper BMX will pish all over a cruiser if you just want something for trails / jumps etc.

Those BMX’s loookshite – would steer clear and go for a proper BMX.

As with Rusty Trowel – What do you mean by “messin around”?

whats your budget? buy wisely ,buy once 🙂

don’t get blinded by TT length (it like HA’s on MTB’s everyone has an oppinion/favourite at the expense of every other aspect of geometry)

Mines 21.75, on a street frame! I’m 6ft with short legs, and it does feel different to other BMX’s, but not in a completely bad way, in fact some people ride it and go away scratching their heads and re-assessing their view of the ‘ideal’ length.

But yea, neither of those looks particulalry good. As a minimum you want 3pc CrMo cranks, CrMo frame, CrMo fork, CrMo bars, 14mm axels. Other than that its a case of the more you pay the lighter/stronger/better it gets.

21.75????? ****

Yeah – I thought 21 was big enough!