Singletrack
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Singletrack

jackfried
20.09.2017 Views

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Kona has also built the Honzo with a compact seat tube that offers plenty of standover clearance with room for an upgrade to a longer-travel dropper post. Other practical details include external routing for the rear brake hose, and liberal use of vibration-deadening rubber inside the rear triangle. The Ride Unanimous amongst all testers was praise for the Honzo’s riding position. It’s well proportioned with the tidy 45mm stem and 760mm wide riser bars keeping you stretched out like other cross-country bikes, but with a much more stable ‘we got this!’ vibe. Likewise, the ribbed ODI grips and KS Southpaw lever are welcome control-boosters for high-speed action. As expected from the lightest and most expensive bike on test, the Honzo requires the least effort to get moving. It’s fast and energetic, and acceleration out of the stiff carbon frame and tight back end is insanely good. The chunky treads mean it isn’t as quick as a traditional race bike, but a tyre swap is all you need to get set up for a weekend of cross-country racing. Once the trail gets loose and tricky though, the added traction is welcome and the Honzo digs deep to climb high. The static 75° seat angle is steep, and it gets steeper as the fork sags into its travel, helping you to push your weight forward for punching up the climbs. Steering remains steady even without a long stem and steep head angle. For my 70kg riding weight, I ran 18–21psi in the tyres. The wide WTB rims help to make lower pressures possible with less chance of casing roll through the corners, and overall comfort was very good from the carbon frame. Compared to the alloy Nukeproof and steel Trillion, the Honzo was the most effective at shearing the edges off sharp ledges on the trail. As for the Pike, I ran 76 psi to get me 30% sag while standing up on the pedals. I left the low-speed compression dial wide open for maximum compliance, and set the rebound two clicks slower than halfway. The Pike is, without doubt, a big performance enhancer for the Honzo, giving it an indestructible feel and arguably far too much confidence for sending it downhill. Its smooth sliding stanchions keep the front tyre connected to the dirt, and the chunky 35mm chassis sucks up the bigger showstopping hits very well – even when I hit full compression on multiple occasions. Due to the light overall weight, the Honzo does require some management when hoofing along boulder-strewn trails. At faster speeds the stiff back end bounces around like the needle on a seismometer, though as long as you’re pointing the bars in the right direction the rear wheel follows obediently. This animated ride quality can be a little disconcerting if you’re used to plush full-suspension rigs, but if you don’t mind a bit of heart-fluttering action, the Honzo will happily tap dance its way down the trail with you. Admittedly, much of our test time on the Honzo was on far rockier terrain than it’s really suited for. Ultimately, this is a bike born to thrive on hardpack and loamy singletrack set deep in the forest, weaving its way around tree trunks like a black mamba snake. And on these types of trails, the snappy response of the laterally stiff frame, compact rear end and low-BB make it an absolute scream of a ride. Combined with its flickability, jumpability and acceleration properties, the Honzo encapsulates everything that is good about a hardtail. Aside from a sticky KS LEV dropper post and creaky saddle rails, everything worked well on the Honzo. The SRAM Guide RSC brakes were brilliant, and easily the best on test with loads of power when required, but most importantly for a bike without rear suspension, sufficient control of that power to finely modulate speed. The 1x11 X01 drivetrain was quiet and efficient, and aside from the cassette coming loose on the first few rides and needing a quick tighten up, shifting was excellent. Overall There is no doubting that the Honzo CR Trail DL is an expensive bike. You could buy four of the Nukeproofs for the same price, and it’s even £400 more expensive than Kona’s brilliant Hei Hei DL full suspension bike I tested recently. But if you measure value by words and numbers on paper, then you’re never going to be the rider that considers the Honzo in the first place. What Kona has done with the Honzo is craft a wickedly fast, fun and responsive ride that bends genres. Initially I would have said it’s a ripping ride for an XC hardtail, but then it’s just a ripping bike full stop. Frame Fork Hubs Rims Tyres Chainset Rear Mech Shifter Cassette Carbon Fibre RockShox Pike RCT3, 120mm Travel SRAM 900, 110x15mm F & 148x12mm R WTB Asym i23, Tubeless Ready Maxxis Minion DHF EXO 2.3in F Maxxis Ardent EXO 2.25in R SRAM X01, 32Y X-Sync SRAM X01 11-Speed SRAM X01 11-Speed SRAM XG-1180, 10-42T, 11-Speed Brakes Stem Bars Seatpost Saddle Size Tested Sizes Available Weight SRAM Guide RSC, 180mm F & 160mm R Kona XC/BC 35, 45mm Long Kona XC/BC 35, 760mm Wide, 10mm Rise KS LEV Integra, 31.6mm Diameter, 125mm Travel WTB SL8 Medium Small, Medium, Large, X-Large 11.3kg (24.86lbs) 53

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