Sunday 27 July 2014

Some thoughts on the 2015 Kona lineup

Obviously, I am basing this off of the information on the Kona website, but with my years of experience with Kona bikes, I am reasonably sure that what I am about to say makes at least some sense.

So here goes!

Prices have all gone up. Boo Hiss. But this is not a big surprise really since there is this thing called inflation and bicycles are not free of that either.

On the mountain bike front, the biggest thing worthy of note is that the 26in wheel seems to have suffered a total death. No more basic bikes with 26in wheels. They have all gone to 27 1/2. This is, I think, a very good thing and increases the value for the money in the basic line up.

Beyond that, I have nothing to say about their mountain bikes since I am not much of a mountain biker any more.

On the road bike front, there are some delicious things happening.

First, my beloved Sutra has been given a bit of an overhaul. First of all, and most significant in my view, the saddle on the bike is now a Brooks B17 saddle. I find this amusing as I did this exact thing to mine. I find it even more amusing that I gave up on the Brooks saddle since I could not get it comfortable no matter what I did. Otherwise, the bicycle is basically the same as last year's model. The front rack is gone though. So is mine...

Second, the endurance line up of bicycles is changed completely. Good. What is there now is more affordable, and better. Scandium frames, better parts, and general all around goodness abound. The top bike is so good and priced so well that I would not consider a new Jake the Snake unless I really needed a cyclocross bike. For how I ride and what I ride on/over, the top bike in this lineup is a better choice.

Third, the top end road race bicycle finally looks to be closer to a top end road race bicycle than was previously offered. The components are better, as is the frame. What took Kona so long?

Fourth, the Minute is back. I thought that ditching that bike was a dumb move. Good to see it back. It is back on my must get list. Mid sized cargo bikes make a lot of sense. The Ute is no more though.

Fifth, the Dew line-up has been revamped. Not sure if this is a good thing, but the basic bikes are still what they were and that is a good thing.

Sixth, the classic road bike line-up has a new king, the Kapu. It is a well specced classic steel framed bicycle.

And Seventh, the free range line-up has been puffed up with some new variations on the Rove including a less expensive aluminum one, and one which looks like a Dew on steroids.

Overall, the line-up looks good. We shall see what they look like when they arrive in the shop.


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