ADH – did I take that photo of you in the quantocks… that pink bike in the background looks familiar 😉
I loved Konas… my first full suss (manomano) bit after 98 and then a couple of retro ones and a Stinky that was brilliant at chicksands. Ridden and abused by many, refused to die.
The cliché that always gets trotted out about konas dated suspension design is just ridiculous. If it worked, why change it? and the people that come out with it are usually the same people that cream themselves over a single pivot from halifax that has seen way less innovation.
Comments about vfm are also wide of the mark since no one seems to sell konas at rrp (brand new stinky deluxes for around £1700 etc). The only problem kona has had in the last few years was some ropey graphics
always loved the old Kona’s, had a few of them and they all rode and looked the nuts! I agree with the guy who said they lost it with the big square fronted alloy frames, should’ve stuck with the great looking steel ones…..and as for that prototype thing? that has to be THE ugliest thing i’ve seen since susan boyle!
mazdarati- My father dumped my old Kona a few years ago after a long spell of idleness in the garage. (92 Fire Mountain).
🙁
Granted my ’92 fire mountain is now some considerable distance from anything like original spec, (only the frame and the seatpost remain) but it’s still ridden more than anything else I own, and it will be the very last bike I ever get rid of.
It’s done *everything*, raced, toured, commuted, been dragged around riding endurance events … it’s been variously geared and suspended in it’s life, but now, as a rigid, singlespeed it’s the most fun it’s ever been.
(Most recently photographed about a week ago, and no, that’s not my wall …).
Is the Magic Link any good? What does it feel like to ride?
What does the magic link actually do?
Well the link change the bike travel and geometry. Well pedalling uphill your weight goes (comes?) forward the travel shorten and the angle steepen. The going downhill your weight goes backward and the opposite occurs. Angles slacken and the travel increases.
As I said I have ridden one. It was last year model. Front end a bit to close and to steep for me (with the Fox 32). New models have fixed that, but you can get some “official bodge” from kona europe. But I kinda liked the rear suspension, “magic” bit is you can actually feel the bike going all racey when going up. Then when going down it feels quite bottom less. To be fair I’d love to try a 2011 one as I like slacker bike and this one was a bit disturbing. The transition along the “magic link stroke” is not perceivable there is no hard spot or clunky noise or anything. But you really have to set up the bike properly.
I hope this helps despite the horrible english