Singletrack

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)
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