Viewing 8 posts - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)
  • Kona Abra cadabra magic link
  • rudedog
    Free Member

    Anyone had any experience with the Kona magic link frames – Abra cadabra etc? The idea sounds really good on paper but you don’t really hear much about them.

    Rorschach
    Free Member

    Cheap one off crc? I was really impressed with it when we had them in.Very unobtrusive transition when riding but a pretty marked difference between the two ‘modes’.A little time consuming to set up but not rocket science.If anything they would have been better with a bigger fork than a 32.

    armo
    Free Member

    I like the look of the new Kona but everybody gives them a bad rep, not sure why as my kona king kikapu 2005 is still one of the best bikes I’ve ridden and my other bikes are a Yeti 575 and a Cannondale Gemini so thats saying a lot in the Konas favour! I was considering selling the Yeti and buying a cadabra but not sure what to do.

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middling Edition

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middlin...
    Latest Singletrack Videos
    chakaping
    Free Member

    ST mag reviewed one, I think the verdict was sort of “getting there” if memory serves.

    lucien
    Full Member

    I’ve got a 2008 Coilair with a magic link on an air shock and yeah….it rides pretty well. I found going up needed to pro-pedal on and going down I couldn’t really tell if it was or wasn’t working other than the bike felt pretty stable. It’s taken some pretty big hits, so I’m assuming it’s done what it needs to.

    The only thing I would add is that the elastomer thingy that the spring butts up against makes a really squeeky rub noise when the bike is bobbing, took me ages to work out what it was so now have to put a silicone type spray on it and then that collects the dirt, which adds to wear etc – not ideal but solved the squeek

    rudedog
    Free Member

    Cheers for the replies, It was the CRC discounted frames I was looking at. I think I’ll hold off until I can get the opportunity to demo one – the lack of responses make me think that the resale price wouldn’t be great if I bought blind and didn’t get on with it.

    Mugboo
    Full Member

    My mate bought an 2010 coilair but soon broke a chainstay.

    The 2011 frame which replaced it is much lighter though so that was a bonus.

    The first one had various bolts that kept coming loose and the new one has just lost a bolt from the magic link!

    I have had one ride down a steep hill on it and my first impressions were that compared with my 160 front 100mm rear Hemlock, it felt like very soft. Having said that, on the new one I have seen him climb some pretty difficult stuff, so I’d say the magic link does what it’s supposed to do!

    Buy it if you are prepared to put some tinkering time in?

    Question is, did we need a magic link? Other bikes work just fine without it…

    rudedog
    Free Member

    No, we don’t need a magic link but you could apply a similar argument to all sorts of improvisations.

Viewing 8 posts - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)

The topic ‘Kona Abra cadabra magic link’ is closed to new replies.