jonah, as ruddy says, we had a couple of Kern LT’s as our hire bikes last summer – in fact, they’re still in very good nick, so we’re keeping them on for this year.
Excellent bikes, I was really impressed with them. The kit spec is fantastic for the money, the geometry is great and the suspension feels very supple and active. Also very light considering the amount of travel (165mm at the rear, weight under 30lbs).
I rode one myself for a week or so while my own bike was waiting for a part and I really got on with it, to the point that I’d consider one for my next bike.
Only complaints would be:
The stem on the Large frame is ridiculously long (those whacky euros, eh?). Swap it ASAP for something in the 50-70mm range.
The OEM wheels aren’t great. The rims seem to stay true enough and haven’t picked-up any dings, but we were breaking spokes on them all the time. I eventually decided they were over-tensioned and backed all the spokes off a bit, which seemed to help, but it was too close to the end of the season to be really conclusive.
In short, highly recommended. Compares very well with other similar bikes I’ve tried (Orange Alpine, LaPierre Spicy, Heckler, etc.).
The frames come up a wee bit small maybe – at 5’11” I can ride either the medium or the large, but the large is the better fit.
The French arguably look at the Sunn Kern / Kern LT the same way we look at the Orange Five – no-one has a bad word to say about it, rave reviews in all the French mags.
