Kona Bicycles Winds Down: Brand For Sale: UK Distributor Continues To Import Stock

My old Stinky after it was driven forwards and backwards through the upgrade machine. Was a fun bike.

They really are the coolest brand, making such nice looking bikes, with lovely paint jobs. Surely one of the stuffier bike brands might take a look.

So apart from a bit of 90’s nostalgia, have they actually made a bike in the last decade that anybody wanted enough to buy?

Personally no but I’ll admit to not really following what the likes of Specialized, Trek, Kona, Giant are producing these days. There was the Canzo (?) which looked pretty cool and things like the Paddywagon but very niche bikes in their range.

1995 with the squared off Kona logos was peak Kona for me.

I hope the owners haven’t taken the decision to simply nuke the company/brand without consulting with the staff if there was the will to take the business on in some way.  It wouldn’t be a safe bet for sure but it would be a terrible shame to simply lose all the experience and know how.

So apart from a bit of 90’s nostalgia, have they actually made a bike in the last decade that anybody wanted enough to buy?

Yes – but probably not the same kind of Kona bike that I used to ride and race.   Now with needing to ride an ebike, riding hard or racing firmly off the cards – not so much.

The Electric Ute seemed a good bike, but I won’t buy more than one ebike.  I also wanted a Unit – but life had other ideas.

The Kona Process from 2015 (ish?) was the last innovative/good bike they did I think, chonky frame and build but relatively short travel at 130mm.

I also had a mid 90’s Kona that I loved until it was stolen, currently have a Unit and a Jake which were both just what I wanted at the time.  I’ll certainly miss them if they go, but if they do make it through I wonder if they should be a bit more Surly and return to some more niche bikes.

Need to go shopping for replacement hangers just in case…

It was 2007 that I bought my Kona Sutra. It was a bit “weird” at the time, with its 700x35C tyres, disk brakes and comfy ride but these days it would just be seem as yet another gravel bike.

Mine. ‘94 Explosif still a WIP. And yes, the Circuit FS, is technically not a Kona Sex One, but is in everything but paint.

^if that was last summer, there were some awesome bikes on that stand… nearly bought a mint GT Tequesta that I didn’t need.

My honzo ESD is a right laugh and is a decent spec for ~1800. At RRP it would not be. Not many mainstream brands are making bikes with that sort of geo and sliding dropouts as far as I’m aware?

So apart from a bit of 90’s nostalgia, have they actually made a bike in the last decade that anybody wanted enough to buy?

My 2016-ish Process 111 was excellent, and quite ahead of the game – LLS short travel 29er before that was really a thing.

Yep. 2014 Process 111 relit my MTB passion after dabbling as a Mamil for a while. One of the first mainstream LLS, that plus its 1x and dropper made it all click into place for me.

Need to stop using the misleading euphemism ‘let go’.  They are not being ‘let’ go.  They are being made REDUNDANT.  A loss of a job and income FORCED on staff, not something offered as a kind gesture of good will.

 

I’ve previously owned a 2016 Process 111 DL, at the time it was the longest, slackest, best fitting, best handling bike i’d ever owned.

How come so many supposedly financially savvy investors didn’t realise the covid peak was a blip, not the norm?

Most investment/business/financial management is just glorified gambling, Take away the MBAs and most of these clowns would be sat in a betting shop convinced they had a “system” for spotting winners.

It’s the difference between chasing profits having bought a company you don’t understand, and having some insights into the markets they operate in and recognizing when a situation is unsustainable.

The money bitches ruin everything, short term gain over long term sustainability. Capitalism is doomed, etc… 😞

The Kona Process from 2015 (ish?) was the last innovative/good bike they did I think, chonky frame and build but relatively short travel at 130mm.

They did the burly short travel Process 111 29er, which I had and was amazing.

And the 650b wheeled Process 135 and 153 – I also had the latter and that was brilliant too.

Both pedalled like shit TBH, but were progressive for the time and really well balanced.

My P153 in Finale:

Process 153 you say…

loved that bike, so much fun to ride, it wasnt a great pedaller but I did the Mega, couple of EWS at tweedlove (the 1st one was ridiculously long),

The next Gen Process was much more of an allrounder, but by then everyone was doing progressive geometry

I have a 1997 Lava Dome (semi-retired)

a 2002 Bear D-L (semi-retired)

a 2006  Dew DL that I got rusted to a standstill off ebay and now lives at Euston

a 2013 Dew DL that I use for commuting to the station every day

a 2014 Unit- Used loads for towing kids to nursery, family adventures, long off road treks

a 2018 Process 153 29 – ridden and raced all over the UK, getting a bit old now , but it has an angleset and suspension Ive got just right so seeing no need to change

a 2021 Honzo DL- I ride it more than I thought I would, 2.6 tyres and its insanely capable for a hardtail

That’s a decent collection Kimbers, have you considered buying the brand as well?

You’d probably do a better job than the recent owners who ran it into the ground (IMO).

In seriousness, I guess someone will pick up the brand and do a tighter range of gravel & trail bikes, a bit like Marin has been brought back as a credible brand.

This was the planned price list for 23/24, some of these not released yet

I know what bikes Id like them to make, but that doesnt necessarily relate to what turns a profit

Its cool that they make a fatbike like the Woo & Wo, or even the new Ouroboros bikes, but how many do they sell?

^ thats a huge range of bikes. And to think people were laying into Orange (me included) for their range being too confusing… 17 different adult hardtails?!

Seeing as we are doing the rose tinted history lesson – this was my first ‘proper’ mountain bike, an upgrade when I was about 15 from the various BSO’s after months of pleading and saving. Can still remember driving down to JE James and handing over £279.99, and staring for hours at the Marin B17 on the rack.

I went absolutely mad with the upgrades on the bike over the next couple of years – it ended up with Manitou X Vert Pros, Easton bars, Race Face cranks, Mavic D521 rims, Tioga Facotry DH Tyres (rear knobs trimmed off with side cutters to clear the frame), an XT parallel push rear brake and – behold – the very first XT 4pot hydraulic brake on the front (remember those? BR M750?)

Glow in the dark decals too.

And then I got it nicked off me at knife point in Leeds…. I still live in hope that all those enornous stoppies and jumping it off bus shelters were putting the strain on the headtube and that as the perp rode off, it snapped and implaed him to the ground.

 

thats a huge range of bikes. And to think people were laying into Orange (me included) for their range being too confusing… 17 different adult hardtails?!

That’s obviously a big problem, I think some of the models might be due to over ordering in the COVID boom and then not being able to shift them with the glut that followed.

Kona have a bit of a problem, what is their core product? is it quirky/ niche gravel / bike packing models like the unit or snake with iconic P2forks ?  Is it the freeride park bikes like the Stinky’s of yesteryear ? and everyone needs some ebikes in their lineup these days

and what do most brands sell the most of, sub £1000 hardtails with budget specs to hit the price point?

Id love to buy the brand of i won the lottery but its a tough market to crack and right now there’s some huge discounts on RRP out their,  my local specialized concept store was selling stuff at half price or better, big brands might be able to handle that, but smaller ones ?

So the G3 processes have appeared a year late!

Id like to try the 153 in mx

Video is good too

and RRPs on the new Processes are a fair bit cheaper than they have been for a while

https://www.konaworld.com/en-uk/pages/kona-processg3