Singletrack

KONA
HONZO CR TRAIL DL
Price:
From:
£4,399.00
Kona Bikes, konaworld.com
Kona is a brand that has been doing the hardtail very well for
a long time. It’s delivered some cracking entry-level bikes and
top-flight cross-country race machines over its 29-year history,
but the brand is better known for its approach to producing
capable hardtails that place the primary focus on fun, rather
than on price or weight. And with a knack for reading the
mountain bike market like a tarot card, Kona has also made a
bit of a habit for setting wider industry trends in its wake.
Take the original Honzo that was launched in 2012 – a
burly steel 29er hardtail that was anything but cross-country.
The Honzo wasn’t quite the first rad 29er hardtail to hit the
market (the Banshee Paradox and Canfield Yelli Screamy
preceded it), but Kona did a lot to win over non-cross-country
riders to the big wheels. And boy did it bring the rad to the
29er party.
With its slack head angle, tight 420mm chainstays and
burly parts spec, the Honzo quickly became the benchmark
for other big wheel trail bikes. It was heavy and somewhat
under-geared with its 1x10 drivetrain, but it was mighty
tough and mega fun for ripping apart singletrack. Its addictive
ride quality set the bar for 29er trail bikes, and many other
brands are still trying catch on today.
For 2017, the Honzo is now exclusively produced in alloy
and carbon options. There are seven models in total (four
alloy and three carbon), and all are built around the same
geometry with a 120mm travel fork.
The black stallion here is the top-end Honzo Carbon Trail
DL. It’s the first Honzo to be made out of carbon fibre, and it
stands as Kona’s flagship carbon 29er hardtail.
The Bike
For a bike that is black-on-black-on-black, the Honzo is a
rather eye-catching machine, and one that confuses many
riders at first. With such a short back-end and burly fork,
it looks like it belongs at a slopestyle course rather than a
trailhead.
Having said goodbye to the traditional cross-country race
hardtail with the last King Kahuna model back in 2015, Kona
has instead decided that carbon hardtails shouldn’t be limited
to racing. The Honzo is lightweight and expensive yes, but it’s
a bike that’s been hard-wired into silly mode.
The gorgeous frame is full of sleek and organic shapes,
with svelteness where possible, and oversized chunk where it
counts. A 92mm wide PF92 bottom bracket shell provides
a stable platform for power delivery from the pedals, while
a gargantuan headtube junction ensures loads of frontal
stiffness. Like the BB, the headtube houses press-in bearing
cups.
The frame is built around a 120mm travel fork, which in
the case of the DL model is a RockShox Pike RCT3. There’s
Boost hub spacing front and rear, and the conventionally
laced wheels are built with WTB Asym i29 rims that use a
generous 29mm internal width. Those are matched up to a
burly Minion DHF tyre up front, and a faster-rolling Ardent
out back.
Along with the fork and wheelset, everywhere you look
on the Honzo CR Trail DL just bellows capability. Fourpiston
SRAM brakes deliver the power with a 180mm rotor
on the front, and Kona has specced a KS dropper post for
slamming the saddle out of the way when things get wild and
woolly.
Just like the original steel Honzo, the carbon frame is 1x
only. Along with the Boost offset drivetrain and low-hanging
bottom bracket, that’s allowed Kona to build in some seriously
short chainstays – 415mm to be precise. Outrageously short!
To achieve such a number, the seat tube curves around the
rear wheel to tuck it in as closely as possible. There isn’t a
load of mud clearance, and the frame is definitely not 27.5+
compatible. Apparently the geometry compromises weren’t
worth it for Kona’s designers, and so the Honzo is a purebred
29er.
Other numbers on the Honzo are similarly boundarypushing.
A 68° head angle relaxes handling at speed, while
each frame size is gifted a substantial wheelbase length that’s
delivered by a very roomy front centre. On the Medium
test bike, you’re looking at a 450mm reach, which to put
it in perspective, is just 5mm short of the reach of an XL
Nukeproof Scout 290. That is long by anyone’s book, and
particularly when we’re talking about a lightweight racecapable
hardtail like this. Short at the back and long up front?
You bet – and then some.
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