Curiousity, but I have a 2007 Kona Kikapu which i brought for a good price (i think) but it was for sale for ages on pinkbike with no real interest, it did need some tlc but it was kitted with old talas forks, and avid sevens and the bike comes with a rp2 as standard and yet no one bit? and now i have it i have become more brand aware (coming from a specialized, which are everywhere) and i haven’t seen one similar on here and really only see the older generation of Konas in threads on here. Now i finally have found the time to give this one the tlc it needs and took it out and it felt great, really plush and i truely am glad i took the gamble on it, i hired an orange 5 for a day at glentress and would say theres nothing major different in quality, apart from this feels lighter. But is there a reason for the apparent lack of konas? i know the kikapu was discontinued (i dunno why!) but still!

the 2009 paint jobs are ugly

Kona are still awesome.

I like the look of the One20 too.

I’ve got my Caldera just the way i want it now with Avid 5s, and Rebas being the main upgrades.

I am running reinforced 2.4″ tyres for Spain, and when I get back to the Uk these will change to 2.1″ probably, but apart from that it is just so sweet now.

I think the frames are great, but yeah, I have not been attracted to their current colouring scheme, and I think they may be slightly underspecced? I bought mine in the 2005 sales so feel I got a good price for it and see no reason to change bikes for a long time yet.

To be fair, this place has a disproportionate number of bikes from niche/boutique manufacturers.

I’ve had a couple of Konas in the past, I’d still take a good look if I was in the market for an off-the-peg bike and you still see plenty on the trails. I was looking at a Caldera a few years ago but the colour that year was rubbish so I started looking elsewhere, found On-One and later got a Dialled PA.

I think a lot of their appeal was they were one of the few manufacturers designing bikes for mud rather than dusty Californian trails. Their geometry was arguably ahead of it’s time as well. These days there seems to be more british-designed stuff that’s been penned by people who understand the kind of riding we do – hence less of a need to look elsewhere.

i love the ute or what ever its called just watched the test vid a min ago

They lost it about 10 years ago.

I think you may have had more luck selling it here then on pinkbike, that place is full of kids with a preference for freeride type things.

They’re ok bikes but nothing special i would say, I had a 2004 kikapu, it was ok but when i changed that to a specialized FSR I could feel a big difference in the quality of suspension.

They’ve tried to get innovative with this magic link thing, not to sure about that though.

the suspension is interesting, as they have the single pivot thing, but the style and location of their suspension seems to have been back then what specialized has only moved to now?

yeah but that doesn’t really affect the quality of suspension, just allows full seat post movement and keeps the shock out of the way of the mud, it may also allow the designers to play with leverage rates and stuff but i know **** all about that.

Kona full susser here (4″) and much prefer it to the Spesh it replaced. They sell off excess stock at good discounts, which may put some off (got about £650 off mine, brand new)

Kona have still got it – I can remember splatter paint job explosifs from 1989’ish – I have had 4 kona bikes altogether and I’ve loved all of them. Maybe not boutique chi chi exclusivity, or even particularly exciting but reliable and pretty cool. Still see loads of them on the trails and at events/races. I like them. Like the ute – If I had the spare cash I’d have one.

Oh I dunno, guess Im just getting old and grumpy, but they seem to have gone over to the yoof market. Or is it that I’m just out of touch ( rose tinted spectacles of Joe Murray geometry steel HT’s, long n’ low cockpits and Etto helmets).

I loved my 05 Kikapu Deluxe. Loved it even more when I upgraded the forks to Revelations. Only sold it because I wanted a racier bike for XC and already had another ‘trail’ bike. My ‘racier’ bike is a HeiHei. Kona are the perfect for me who is on the small side but doesn’t fit women specific bikes as they go down to a 14″ frame. I don’t think they’ve lost it.

I really like my 2006 coiler/coilair and also really liked the 2000 roast that preceded it. Bear in mind most on-ones I believe are based on/similar to Kona geometry so a lot of people ride bikes that are similar to Konas.

For daring to suggest Kona had become stagnant I was accused of being obsessed with marketing and a dreamer who thought “x piece of technology” would make me a better rider.

In Konas defence people mentioned the magic link, a ti hardtail and a 29 er as proof of their technological evolution. They are over priced, under specced and unremarkable in their performance imo.

Think they missed an opportunity when they stopped making Ti hardtails.When i started in the mid 90s the only bike i really aspired to was the Hei Hei or Kahuna.At the time had a steel Caldera that was a great ride, but great frame low rent bits as usual with Kona.Had to settle for a Hummer now!BTW got a Four Supreme that i bought 2nd hand just as a frameset.Got my own choice of stuff on there.At first couldn’t get my head round the full suss thing but it’s coming together nicely now.The thing that surprises me is the number of people who make positive comments about it.Got used to it with the Hummer didn’t expect it with the Kona for some reason.

I must admit I have seen some fairly underspecced bikes in recent years under the guise of “Deelux” or “Primo”. In fact there is one occasion where I was considering a Dawg deelux but gave it a miss because it was underspecced/overpriced…

This appears to be a relatively recent trend.

Still like Kona though…

I was just looking at a dawg supreme 3.5k! think id rather have an orange 5 SE to be honest. The dawg deluxe at 2.5k – similar spec to a trek fuel ex8 but thats only 1700.

They just seem so expensive for what they are and i find the graphics somewhat childish.

The 09 decals look horrendous, so they’ve definitely lost something.

I really love the old jungle style graphics, especially the really early ones from 97/98.

I’ve got one and think it’s great but in general I think overspecced/overpriced is a fair assessment. I got a relatively decent discount when I got mine 2 years ago but still could’ve got more for less.

i’d never buy a new kona full bike, just too expensive for what they are. i have, however, got a 2nd hand A, which is a laugh, and i got a discounted kula 29 scandium frame, which was worth the money… would never pay full price for them though.
fortunately the graphics on mine aren’t all that bad…

Although I don’t have one at the mo’ (having owned several in the past) I must admit I still have a soft spot for tiny Konas. Not keen on the last couple of years’ x/c range decals but I quite like the 09 Dawgs.

See the thing tha puzzles me is, this kona bike i brought was for sale for ags… like an ice age and no one was interested, and it just seems weird, almost expect if it would have been a halfords special it would have sold quicker.

got to rememeber its a cross country bike too, most people want an all-mountain/freeride lite 🙄 bike.

dunno, i never liked the high BB/slack angles, felt like someone had taken a perfectly good bike and bodged a suspension fork in there.

Are Kona past it? Yes.

In recent years they have definetly been overpriced and underspecced and the fact that CRC bought a couple of containers from the Swiss distributor and then sold them at much larger discounts than anyone else pretty much put Paligap back a bit with their potential sales.

I got a new Kikapu frame from the US in early 07 for £200 🙂

Built it up with Reba’s for the Dyfi

Now running Talas 100-140 forks

Not perhaps the most tech suspension system around and I fitted an RP3 shock to it at some stage but it still works OK

Ever since I was into mountain bikes (even the first time round in the early 90s!) I have thought Kona were cool. Notice the past tense. The last couple of seasons has seen that God-awful bend in the top tube that makes them look like shopping bikes. I hired a Dawg Deluxe in the Austrian alps and have no complaints on the way it rode tho’

Liked the Kona of old, but not the new stuff.

They lost it about 10 years ago.

Couldn’t agree more, they can’t seem to work out who their market is.

i never liked the high BB/slack angles

That’s cause they canadian geometry, not a real use in 90% of england.
Same way that if you give a brant bike to a riders in whistler he’ll just throw it back on your face due to steep angle and low BB.

Kona have always been a bit on the FR side. They are like any other “major” brand, specialized, giant, trek, commencal, lapierre and so and so, not much different.

At the end of the day:
A bike is still a bike, and the market is overcrowded with too many brands.
Weather you love it or hate it as far as the on who rides it is happy it does not really matter does it?

in reference to the question – konas have been going downhill since the glory days of the late 90’s, the decals are crap and they’re overpriced with no real benefits. its a shame because the steel explosive, cindercone and original Ti Hei Hei were iconic bikes.

i think the switch towards the ‘freeride’ scene and there clump team riuned them for me and they’ve never recovered. i hop they recover as they are one of the first northshore co

I wouldn’t say Kona are past it, some say their better bikes are too expensive, but I don’t get why considering the spec’s, I mean I got my 2008 Kona Dawg Supreme brand new for £1800:

Fox Float RLC140 – £500
Fox Float RP32 – £300
Mavic Crossmax wheels – £500
RaceFace Deuce chainset – £200
RaceFace Deuce seatpost/bars/stem – £150
Shimano XT Brakes – £200
Shimano XTR Shadow mech – £100
Shimano XTR front mech – £30
Shimano XT Shifters – £50

Total = > £2k with not all the bits listed!

And the above prices are being very generous, the XTR Shadow mech in 2008 was £169, Chainset £250 etc…

OK, Its not going to win any beauty contests. BUT… if you compare two bikes side by side, with similar components, are you really going to go for one over the other because it looks cooler? No, You buy the one that rides the best – and the Dawg rides like a dream; I’m a big guy and I felt very squashed in on a lot of other 5″ all mountain bikes, The Dawg has stacks of room, comfortable and strong. Plus it weighs next to nothing for a 5″ bike.

Anyways, I like Kona’s, I don’t think they live in the past – their suspension is proven and it works well – Orange still use the same old single pivot swingarm system (which I think looks horrible) they were using donkey’s years ago – yet no-one is moaning they are outdated just because they are British!

They lost it about 10 years ago

Phew! My ’99 was before they “lost it” I hope 😉

I’ve ridden a few Stinkys over in Canada and indeed once was lucky enough to own one over here for a while. They are good bikes, nice to ride and very confidence inspiring. I would agree that they are quite under-specced for the money and if I was to by another then it would probably be from the sales and would be either a Coiler or a Dawg.

nice bike BlingBling, and yes your right, just in time 😉

They are over priced, under specced and unremarkable in their performance imo.

I’d agree on the first two points, and I’ve never liked their FS bikes, but their 90’s hardtails are some of the best handling bikes on the planet IMO.

Times, travel and tyre clearance might have moved on, but even now, my yardstick for whether I’m going to get on with a bike is if it handles in a kona-esque fashion in the singletrack.

Hopefully everyone hasn’t lost all interest in them yet!
I’m hoping to get a few hundred for my 2004 Kula in the next couple of weeks, once I’ve got it built up.
I rode nothing but Konas from 1990 to 2007 when I got a Heckler to replace a Dawg, and now with the arrival of my Anthem X I’ve no real use for the Kula.
I’d love a hardcore hardtail from Kona but the 5-0 seems too jumpy and the fork and drivetrain are far from inspiring. Marin Rocky Ridge seems alot better.
Still got a Dr.Dew for getting to work though.

Do they still make the Explosif?