Reinventing the hardcore hardtail - Kona

Reinventing the
hardcore
hardtail
Kona Honzo £1,600
get more!
For an interview
with Kona’s
product manager
Chris Mandell,
scan the QR code
Curved seat tube allows shorter chainstays
Words: Danny Milner Photos: Sterling Lorence
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Britain’s passion for hardcore,
go-anywhere hardtails has long
been recognised by the rest of the
world, but rarely understood by any
mainstream manufacturers. With,
perhaps, one notable exception.
In the US Pacific North-West, there is
an affinity with what is, otherwise, a very
British affair. Kona’s home turf around
Bellingham, Washington, and Vancouver’s
North Shore has spawned a riding scene
that demands a bike that can be pedalled
up long, gradual climbs then pointed
down intensely technical descents that
are almost entirely composed of rock and
root. Throw in a relentlessly moist climate
and you can see why robust, simple bikes
are the weapon of choice for local riders.
It’s almost as if the Cascade Mountains are
34 mbr.co.uk may 2012
twinned with the Lakes, the Peaks and
the Pennines.
Traditionally, one of the main problems
with the hardcore hardtail has been that
running a fork with enough travel to cope
with technical terrain can create handling
headaches and wide variations in geometry
through the travel. But the 29in wheel, with
its shallow angle of attack, can get away with
less fork travel and still feel very capable.
For Kona’s Chris Mandell, this changed
everything. “Personally, I had ridden my
Kula 29er a lot on the North Shore with a
suspension fork and a rigid fork, and from
that experience I had a pretty good idea
what those wheels were capable of, even
with a 71° head angle. For me, thinking
of what the 29in wheels could tackle and
bringing those two worlds together with the
Pint-sized chainstay yoke
lower bottom brackets and the slacker head
angles, we really started to see that there was
the capability to have a bike that could do
everything better.”
It was this experience that led to the birth
of the bike you see here; the new Kona Honzo.
A bike that Kona is pitching as affordable,
simple and designed to take abuse day after
day, year after year.
angle finder
(Claimed, 18in model)
Seat tube
(centre-top) 18in
Top tube length 24in
Head angle 68°
Seat angle 74.5°
BB height 12.2in
Wheelbase 44.1in
With all other geometry
held constant, it rides
better with the
415mm chainstays
Business at the front,
party at the back
While big wheels help deal with the rough
terrain, they can also bring stretched
wheelbases and elongated chainstays, which
can make a bike feel unwieldy; exactly the
opposite of what Kona had in mind for the
butted chromoly Honzo. “Chainstay length
is critical. It’s the most delicate, complicated
balancing act that you play on a 29er. You
have the chainrings in the way, you want to
run the biggest tyre you can possibly run,
and that gets in the way. Then you have
the front derailleur and perhaps the chain
guides, and they get in the way. So getting
that chainstay yoke area right is critical.”
“The original prototypes had 425mm
chainstays because, looking at the 2D
drawings, that appeared to be the shortest
we could get and still obtain the tyre
clearance. But when we got the physical
prototypes we realised we had more space
than we thought. So we were able to make
a couple of changes to the chainstay yoke
and chainstay tubes and get the bike down
to 415mm. Having ridden a bike with a
425mm chainstay and a bike with a 415mm
chainstay, with all other geometry held
constant, it rides better with the 415mm.
It fits that bike and it fits the head angle and
the bottom bracket drop.”
Our mountain bike courses are
super fun, they are run
by fully qualifi ed coaches
with a maximum of 6 riders
per group. Courses available:
Back to Basics
Singletrack Skills
Drops & Jumps
· Event/Race Masterclass
also:
Private Lessons
· End2End Challenge
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Course Details
Venue
Crowthorne Woods,
Berkshire
Time
9.30am till 4.30pm
Dates 2012
15th April, 20th May,
17th June, 19th Aug,
16th Sept, 21st Oct
Cost £99 per course
(inc goodie bag)
www.dirtdivas.co.uk

Kona Satori: nirvana could be a pedal-stroke away
44ID head tube takes tapered steerer
The Kona
Honzo may
have redefined
the hardcore
hardtail
Single-minded spec
There are a few clues as to how Kona has
achieved this ultra-short back end; the single
ring, chainguide and bent seat tube being
the most obvious. As you can see from the
close-up photos, the chainstay yoke is also
an incredibly small and intricate piece of
work. Coupled with the 32t chainring and
E13 LS1 chainguide is a nine-speed 12-36
cassette, which should suffice for most
ascents. Sensibly, Kona has specced a
31.6mm internal diameter seat tube to give
consumers the widest possible choice of
dropper posts.
To help make up for what it lacks in
springs and dampers, the Honzo gets big
volume Maxxis Ardent tyres; 2.4in up front
and 2.25in out back. These are fitted to
23mmm internal width rims to ensure a
stable platform for the bead.
Accommodating the tapered steerer of
the 120mm-travel RockShox Revelation RL
Dual Air is a 44ID head tube with external
lower cup. Further aiding steering accuracy,
the fork is specced with the 20mm Maxle
thru-axle.
Should you really want to run a minimal
set-up, Kona has specced horizontal rear
dropouts. This gives you the opportunity
to run the Honzo singlespeed and tension
the chain without ruining the lines. Anyone
retaining the nine-speed set-up can also
utilise the dropouts to adjust the length of
the rear centre.
With the Honzo, Kona may have redefined
the hardcore hardtail. For Mandell however,
it’s very much a personal triumph: “this
bike is near and dear to my heart and an
extension of my personality,” he says.
www.konaworld.com
36 mbr.co.uk may 2012
Kona Satori £2,850
With 130mm of travel, and a gravity-biased build,
the Kona Satori is designed to unlock a new realm of
terrain to the 29in wheel. Short chainstays help keep the ride
playful, while bolt-through axles front and rear aim to stiffen
the chassis. Satori is the Buddhist term for enlightenment, and
Kona is hoping the Satori will provide the big-wheel epiphany
to convert a whole new group of riders.
130mm of travel to soak up the hits
Also
new
Bolt-thru axles
SRAM X9 rear mech
RockShox Revelation RLT fork