Kona 1988-1997 – WTF Happened Then?

+1 for the Entourage. Me likey.

Oh yes Coyote, that Entourage has pushed me over the edge: I AM going to raw my Cannondale, because it looks so amazing.

kona have got back into dh with some young Aussie whippersnappers and the operator apparently holds its own against the other top dh bikes despite using ‘outdated’ faux bar suspension

Kona hasn’t really lost it to be honest. They just stopped doing much communication. Last year abracadabra wasn’t to bad. Actually it was a very good bike (I have test ride on enough ;)) A bit steep front end wise, but not too bad. They have corrected it this year, so should be the dog balls.
They use to be the brand to have, stinky, dawg, hoss. All are amazing bikes. I think that they shot themselves in the foot in the UK by being sold in halford. And lets face it, none of the nichmonger here want to be seen in halford.

And lets face it, none of the nichmonger here want to be seen in halford.

I think we have the truth finally.

If Kona made a newer version of the A they’d have my wife’s kidney in no time.

Shit bikes for sure!

i miss my 04 Kona stinky dee lux to this day, it was one of the best do all bikes ive ever owned and a real pleasure to ride (yea up hill too)i still kick myself for selling it … Kona are great bikes IMO

new uns look ok..

the spec on the bikes was typically not very good for the pricepoint

Have to say the new full-sussers certainly look pretty good (2+2, tanuki, abra). It’s funny that the like of Cotic/On-One/Ragley seem to be occupying what used to be Kona heartland stuff.

All about perception really. My father dumped my old Kona a few years ago after a long spell of idleness in the garage. (92 Fire Mountain). Great little bike that made mountain biking really fun and could outpace so much more expensive kit just by virtue of the small frame/snappy handling. Think the only thing for it is to see what ebay/retrobike turns up…..

original kona- cool steel hardtails with racy dropped toptube, and a reputation for being well specced for the money.

late 90s kona, completely synonymous with the birth of “freeride”, dig out an early Kranked etc and richy schley, andrew shandro etc are all on Stinkys.

later kona, spec went downhill and became less value, halfords picking them up lost the niche cognescenti image.

Still got my ’94 Lava Dome and Mr MC only sold his ’04 Coiler to buy his dream bike (which he owned and liked less than the Coiler…)

Konas used to seem somewhat exotic, in the era mentioned I would have been daydreaming about owning one while looking through magazines. Then i think the branding changed, the exotic was replaced by availability through mainstream channels. I remember seeing one a year or so ago with a black and White jaggy paintjob and naff red fonts on it. It looked like a toy. Regardless of how it handled or how well made it was it just looked cheap and more suited to littlewoods pay weekley than a serious bike. Comparing it’s looks to simular priced bikes from other manufactures it looked out of place, as though Kona had forgotten some of what they knew. However past succses shows when Kona try hard at something they get it right, the new ranges look great by comparison and I hope Kona continue to sell well regardless of the channels they use.

I’m so set in my ways, that I don’t like anything after 91, and you still can’t beat the original 88/89 Explosif (£699.99 in 1989) & Cinder Cone 😉

Coyote – nice video

here are my konas ile expect abuse as they are after 1997 😀

Are there other people out there who don’t like the pregnant downtube arrangement?

Was it a Giant DH bike that started that off? Rob Warner era?

I can see the need for shock clearance, but beyond that, why use more metal than necessary? Greater length of tube, and I’m sure it could be thinner gauge and be the same strength if if it was straighter?

Bikes look best good they’re purposeful. Most bikes are, and the best looking ones are purposeful as hell. Those 90’s steel xc hardtails for example.

Nice brace of Konas there Mr. Brightside!

I was born Into the Early 90s mb scene and Konas were the shizzle. I finally got my explosif 5 years ago and here it is.

I’m selling it at the moment. But half of me wants to find a quite corner for it in the loft – then build it back up for some classic single rack action.

But I also want a FS – I’ve got a long travel hardtail, an xc machine being built up at the moment and the Kona. Am I being greedy?

Don’t know much about the new ones but the steel frames are as good as you can get.

Do not sell it.

Even if you’ve been made an offer you can’t refuse, surely you’ll regret selling that? Early Konas just scream singletrack fun, especially compared to the Muddy Foxes of the era. I wanted a splatter Cindercone more than anything, but never got one.

It’s got Smoke and Darts on it! Don’t sell it!

ARRGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I”M SOOO CONFUSED

I want to keep it but – I also want a yeti asr5 or a cotic hemlock or pace 405

I’ve got a Klein Attitude race (building/updating to xc spec ) and a pace 305 at the moment (hardtail trail monster)

So do I sell the 305 frame and build the bits onto a FS or keep everything and have a angry wife – she’s not buying the – well you’ve got loads of bags and shoes analogy

Simple, change the wife…. Good explosif’s are hard to come by, and that looks lovely

They made some decent bikes in the late 90’s too – here is my 853 ’98 explosif – I bought it in 1998, and I’ve ridden it every week since then. I’ve owned a lot of machinery in the interveening period, the explosif still seems to get used the most, becuase it is so much fun:

Nasty nasty paintjobs these days IMO, which is shame because that and the pricetag mask some pretty good bikes, which never get the recognition of much more niche machinery.

I had a 98 explosif as well – it was too small for me really, so the wife – used it once or twice. Then I sold it to get the one above.

So she’s just told me to stop whining and sell it or keep it – just to shut up about it!

[b} Is that a win?[/b]

If I keep it the FS project will be delayed – but then I’m not riding much anyway as we bought a *project* so most of my spare time is spent on DIY.

Is it sane to have 3 mbs that you don’t ride much?

I have a blue 98 explosif frame for sale if anyone is interested, 17″?

sell the Kona and the 305 and get the Yeti.

you’ll miss them but its a worthwhile replacement

Over the years I’ve had;

Kona Muni-mula ’99
Kona kahuna ’03
Kona Stinky ’05
Kona Coiler ’07
Kona Smoke ’08

Loved them all (apart from trying to do XC on the stinky!).

Used to buy them in the end of year sales but they don’t seem to be as reduced now, currently running a Prophet as the frame was cheaper than any second hand Dawgs I could find. I would still like another one though.

The halfords thing is rubbish, pure bike snobery, I’m sure people buy maxxis / panaracer tyres, camelbacks, thule roof bars, wd40, Sony car stereos etc etc despite them being sold there… I would check all the bolts / qr’s etc on any bike I bought there before using it though!

I quite like the current dawgs but they are way overpriced. they do have an undestrucable feel and you see a lot of guides using them which must mean they’re reliable. i think a lot of it is fashion and marketing .

eyerideit dont sell the kona you will regret it and never replace it. In 5 years time there’ll be another cool FSer you like and I bet the ASR will never mean the same to you (whether you buy it or not) as the Kona.

Remember the n+1 rule. Tell the wife to google/wiki it.

So can anyone enlighten me as to how a bike co. producing metal as cool as a ’67 Alfa Spider Boat Tail turned into the Kia of the MTB world in 10 short years?

Wtf?

You ridden a new Kona or just looked at pictures online?

My 2007 Heihei is absolutely brilliant. Love it to bits.

Ignore the dozens of Stinkys you see being ridden by teenagers on uplift days. Much more to the brand than that.

I can see the need for shock clearance, but beyond that, why use more metal than necessary? Greater length of tube, and I’m sure it could be thinner gauge and be the same strength if if it was straighter?

You see, I agree with you nedrapier, I’m normally a fan of straight tubes, simplicity, purposefulness. Yet seeing that Kona, it instantly hit me as a strong awesome looking bike: it made me want it. It took me a while to work out why I liked it.

I’ve realised a big part of it is the raw, no stickers, no logos, plain metalness of it. If Kona (or any company, really) had the balls to keep their bikes like that, I think there’s a whole load of people out there who would be really drawn to that, and it would give a company that image of rough and ready bike-tool-gear, if you know what I mean.

gnore the dozens of Stinkys you see being ridden by teenagers on uplift days

no dont my stinky is brilliant on uplift days!

I still miss my Stinky. What a ****wit I was for letting it go.

I had a 88 Cindercone great bike but the U brake was shit why didn’t they put cantilevers on the rear, the U brake just collected mud.

Is it just that FS has moved on – either genuinely in terms of technology, or disingenuously in terms of hype – and Kona hasn’t? Either they haven’t updated their suspension platforms or they haven’t shouted about them.

On the hardtail side, I had a 2001 Kona HeiHei for 4 years and loved it; it was my first “proper” bike after a couple of GTs and secondhand Rockhoppers. But nowadays it doesn’t stand out so much – the skinny steel frames are kinda rare, and the geometry has been copied by everyone else.

Mr MC only sold his ’04 Coiler to buy his dream bike (which he owned and liked less than the Coiler.

+1 for coilers. Love my ’06.

Is it just that FS has moved on – either genuinely in terms of technology, or disingenuously in terms of hype – and Kona hasn’t? Either they haven’t updated their suspension platforms or they haven’t shouted about them

Er – did the Magic Link pass you by then? The most innovative suspension design in years and years…

Is the Magic Link any good? What does it feel like to ride?