To All the Konas We've Loved

This isn’t an obituary. Bike Mag should know better than most not to make premature declarations of death. Hopefully this is just a pause for Kona, a reassessment, an opportunity to find a new home, a new lane. But regardless, it’s a good excuse to celebrate these bikes that have had an outsized impact on our lives. Recently Andrew wrote about all the Konas he’s loved , now it’s time for the rest of us to chime in.

Cy Whitling

I don’t have any “good” photos of any of my Konas, no staged, clean, prepared images meant to celebrate those bikes.

Instead I have a lot of photos I’ve snapped while I was bonking, falling apart on rides but trying to enjoy the view. I have images taken while immersed in a hot spring deep in the woods with my friends. I have pictures of my Konas weighed down with mud and gear, being ridden hard. That’s what I remember most about all of those bikes: the ride.

I rode my first rock roll on my brother’s blue Scrap. The spring-side stanchion of the Marzocchi Dirt Jumper 3 fork slipped out of its clamping bolts and stuck, fully extended through the crown on the compression. I rode it for the rest of the day like that.

I lusted after Jakes and Stinkys and Coil-Airs for years, while my budget brought a succession of not-Kona Craigslist bikes.

My Sutra gave me the best miles-to-mechanical ratio of any bike I’ve ever ridden. Lord knows how many rides it pulled me through, running on hope and basically zero maintenance. Never a flat, rarely a creak, just a willingness to eat up rides where most folks would reach for a suspended bike. I still regret selling it last year, but the guy who bought it immediately rode it to Mexico, so I’m happy it’s still out there getting after it.

I’m going for a spin on my Honzo ST after this. It’s filthy, with a weird hodgepodge of parts and a workhorse demeanor. I’ve never had a bad ride on it. I doubt I ever will. Here’s to everything that made Kona so special.

Eric Davis

As you can see from my email address, I have a thing for Kona bikes. It started in ‘98 as a student at Western Washington University riding the trails at Galbraith. I bought my ManoMano used from one of the reps, built it up and I’ve kept it going all these years. I had another project bike, Cinder Cone, that I sold shortly after finishing it. Then came the Stinky 6.

When I met my wife in 2002, her online profile was Konagirl. Even though she never owned one she always liked Kona bikes. We joked for years about false advertising and 20 years after our first date I presented her with an excellent condition ‘99 ManoMano.

I hope the brand can recover and have someone bring it back to what it should be, quality fun bikes for all over the mountain trails.

Zane Craft

Love is not something I throw around willy nilly. I can say, unequivocally, I truly loved my beautiful green 2021 Kona Process 153DL (aka The Super Pickle).

My Process was the first full-suspension mountain bike I ever owned and I knew it was the one for me the first time I saw it. My Process took me to some increadible places, bike parks in Vermont, rogue trails in the Adirondacks, and many, many laps around my local North Shore/ Cape Ann gems. My Process helped me, a middle age man, get better on jumps, improve my riding technique, get faster. Daring me to roll or drop pretty much anything we came across on the trail. My Process happily accepted drivetrain, brakes and wheelset upgrades, all of which only made it ride more like a Process.

My Process has a new home now, helping it’s next rider get better, faster, and daring them to hit bigger jumps and drops. I still think about my Process often and all the joy it brought me.

Of course I sold my Process to my brother-in-law so if he ever stops riding or decides to sell it I can buy it back from him. I’m wicked smaaht.

Virgil Roger

This might seem overly emotional but I'm plain sad about this.

I started out riding just like anyone else in France, by abusing a 24" Decathlon bike to it's death (which was surprisingly slow to come).

But this very Kona Stuff 2006 in all it's bright green glory was my first ever proper mountain bike and my dream bike at the time.

And I was sad to let it go so many years later. Shouldn't ever have really.

This thing was bombproof and put as much pain in my legs crawling uphill as a grin on my face on the way back down.

Great bike. Would ride again !

Even if my current bike, a handwelded steel mullet hardtail, surpasses it in every imaginable way, but that's another dream bike for another story.

Keep up the good stuff. This one sure was.

Bill Wolfe

I really enjoyed Andrews write up about Kona. This is my daughters first Kona Honzo. Both of my children have Kona bikes. They love single track and downhill.

Scott Malcolmson

Almost 20 years ago I bought a kona cinder cone cross country bike, that thing taught me everything I know about mountain biking. Over the years I transitioned it to more of a freeride set up, fast and nimble. It's survived bails, wrecks, skate parks, peddle grinds and flat landings. She's still sitting in my garage, needs a bit of TLC, some new rims, bottom bracket. Other than that, almost 20 years later it's still a solid bike. I couldn't imagine owning anything other than a Kona, the mere thought of hopping back on that saddle in my 40's brings me an overwhelming sense if nostalgia and excitement.

Russell Tovey

I read your Kona story and thought I'd throw in my two cents.

I bought a Cinder Cone in the summer of 2000 when I lived in Yellowknife. I had an old Raleigh steel mtn bike and my girlfriend convinced me to get something better and aluminum. She was an extremely outdoorsy gal. I had it for months before I realized the grips & decals glowed in the dark.

I thought dropping $1K on a bike was nuts, (of course it happened again & again in greater magnitude) but the overall quality and dead-on geometry of the bike was - and still is - fantastic. 24 years later it's the go-to ride of my little fleet when i want to go for a short high-energy tear. Still have the Raleigh for locking up at the grocery store too.

In 2017 I picked up a used Jake The Snake to satisfy my road itch and I love it too, but for different reasons.

I always thought the graphics and colours of Konas were the most outrageous and nailed the demographic.

Sure hope they come back with some of their original style & flavour intact.

Dan Langevin

Much love for my Kona King Kahuna, which helped me earn my silver buckles on the 2014 and 2015 Leadville 100. It also got me through a handful of Whiteface Wilmington 100 Leadville Qualifiers and Vermont-based gravel races before I had a gravel-specific bike. It still might be the best choice for some of the hairier gravel races. Beyond all the great memories on this bike, I still love it for it's comfortable and lively geometry. Still a great XC option.

Larry White

For me Kona will alway be the Johnny come lately to the MTB world. It's all perspective.

In the early 80s I started to get interested in mountain biking, but all the MTBs were way out of my price range - Ritchey, Fisher, etc.

Then RMB was formed with Jacob and Grayson at the helm as a bike importer (most people forget that, and the Wikipedia article is terrible), and they collaborated with Ritchey on the Montare (canadian only), a sort of reasonably priced production MTB, which was gasp TIG welded. I was working at a shop then and promptly bought one. A few years later someone liked it more than me and I replaced it with an RMB custom in '87.

This is supposed to be about Kona, and I'm getting there. So in '88 when Kona was formed they were the brash young company on the block and it was the start of the day glow neon MTB period, they had loud marketing and loud bikes. I just started working in a real job (I avoided that all through University by working in a bike shop), and then my wife and I had kids and two new businesses. So no serious biking.

Fast forward to the late 2000 and cross was taking off in NA and I bought my first Kona - not an MTB, I always preferred drops. A 2009 Major Jake in white (Kona always did well for colourways).

This was a great bike, and was realistically a frame build becauseI am pretty sure there is not a stock part on here. We had a few other Jakes too - Jake the Snake and a team issue Major Jake -

A few years later I picked up in rapid succession, a Zing Supreme, Rove LTD (frame), Sutra LTD(debuild to frame), Sutra ULTD (frame), Zone LTD(frame) and finally a Kona MTB - a pink 2022 Unit(debuild to frame).

You are dead right that Kona's frame only offering and dream bike marketing were one of their keys to success. The halo created by these really cool bikes boosted the brand. Way more than a high end house spec'd offering could have.

I am not sure the mid level bike company will survive. The big ones have an undeniable cost advantage and the smaller ones can be cooler.

Troy Phillips

I’ve owned 3 Kona’s . Before Kona I’d ridden a Gary Fisher , Hookooekoo and Cannondale SV2000 .Then I road a 150mm 2001 Kona Stab . Game over for full suspension the Kona handled so much better. And became my 40lbs 150mm trail XC bike .I went through and changed things up . Dual chain ring up front instead of a 40t . A Pike spring fork instead of a triplet clamp. Better wheels and added disc brakes.Now I ride a 2013 Kona AbraCadabra that rips .I made it a 27.5er 170mm Lyric fork , More liner Rear shock . Dropper post ,Zipp Carbon Moto wheels , Hope enduro disc Brakes and much more .32 lbs 170/160 27.5 bike . It could be made lighter but I used parts I can ride hard and put away wet .

Ray Lovinggood

I bought my Kona Libre CR in 2020 to replace my road bike. I didn’t know I wanted a gravel bike, but I did know I wanted a road bike that could wear tires larger than 23mm.

We were deep into the pandemic and bike shops had mostly run out of product to sell, but my LBS said he could get the CR in my size in about a month.

I listed my Fuji road bike on Craigs List and had a buyer that evening.

Since I’m new to gravel, I’m still learning. We do have a little bit of gravel roads around and I do enjoy riding on them.

But what I really like are the voluminous tires!

The bike came with 47x650b WTB Horizon tubeless tires on WTB rims. This setup works well for me.

I then bought a set of DTSwiss CR 1600 rims and added Teravail Rampart 700c x 38 tubeless tires for my “road” riding.

The bike rides great and I’m a happy guy when I’m chugging along slowly on some gravel or moving a little faster on pavement.

Peter Tobey

Owned a Process 134. Just a real fun ride. Enjoyed the ride. Sold to a friend. Up graded some parts. It's still providing some great rides.

Sam Masson

I just read Andrew's eulogy-of-sorts, and wanted to share two vignettes from the era of the coffee brown Roast with wonky brake tabs...

I was sales manager at a baller Kona dealer around Y2K. As sales manager, I ought to recall if we were the number one Kona dealer in the USA and the number three Santa Cruz dealer in the USA... or if it was number one in CALIFORNIA of one, and number three in the USA of the other... but frankly, we were a fun-time shop, a good-time shop, and despite having national champions and world champions call on us, we were always between drinks and the legendary basement was always filled with smoke. Thick, dank smoke that the neighbor tenants would always complain to us about.

The vignettes are, one time my rep- who went on to become national sales manager, and then demoted himself back to rep- told me to buy an XL Humuhumunukunukuapua'a on closeout for $199.99. "These are discontinued, we're blowing them out, but they're sweet, you should get one," he said. It turned out to be the single most important smiles-to-dollars investment I've ever made! I sold it when I went full 29 all the time. For a singlespeed, maintaining inertia is so important, and I knew those little wheels were just going to be holding me back, so I sold it. I got a 4130 29er that I BMXed up, but I didn't LOVE it like I loved the old Humu. I glossed over an illustrious life with that bike, my first singlespeed race, taking it to the BMX track to learn skillz, accidentally campaigning in the geared class on it after a last minute mechanical- to a pretty good result, actually- and so much more. But, the guy I sold it to wasn't over the moon about it like I was, same as I wasn't over the moon about the bike I got to replace it. A couple of years later, I sold the replacement for what I got it for, and bought the Humu back from my bro, for the same amount I sold it to him for. Then, the frame and fork sat, unbuilt, on the roof of my shed for a couple of years, getting rained on, baked by the sun, and otherwise weather-beaten. And then, I built it back up, and it's been my favorite bike in the quiver ever since. Pic attached.

The second vignette was when a young man I'd never seen before came into the shop with his singlespeed aluminum Kaboom with P2 rigid fork and Magura HS22 hydro rim brakes. It was broken cleanly in two, just behind the head tube. Top tube and downtube sheared off. The only thing holding the two halves of "Herbie Goes Bananas" was the rear brake. The young man I'd never seen before asked me about the lifetime warranty on the frame...

"What were you doing when that happened?"

The young man looked me in the eye, steadily, and without mumbling or stuttering, he replied:

"Commuting."

My first instinct was to ask if his daily commute involved a loading dock, a big-to-flat non-transition transition, or any other kind of Ryan Leach trickery.

My second instinct was to take this young man at his word and begin processing the warranty. "He was just commuting on it," I told the Kona warranty guy. I sent it in. They looked at it. "Guy said he was JRA," "guy from the shop said he said he was 'commuting.'" With a bike clearly not meant for trialsing, that had very clearly been converted specifically for trialsing.

And they warranted it. And then I hired that young man to be on the team.

Andy McCaughren

I started mountain biking in the mid 90s and was obsessed with it. I used to travel miles to go to a bike shop just to look at bikes I could never afford. I marveled at the new V Brakes when they came out. I spent all my pocket money on shiny bits of trick to make my bike cooler. I know what a DCD is.

Back then the bike catalogue ruled supreme. I used to collect these and pore over them at school with my friends, and look in amazement at the new carbon bikes, and insane downhill machines with 80mm travel.

Of all the bike brands though Kona was always the coolest. The decals changed in 97 and I always lusted after the 95 classic block decal hardtails; I would have been happy with a Lava Dome, a Kilaeua in my wildest dreams. But then there was beyond wildest dreams. A Hei Hei- not the model that arrived later, but the OG, titanium baller. And most majestic of all, the US made Hot, stars and bars paint job. Never seen in real life, but rumoured to exist.

I've always wanted a hardtail to go along with my enduro rig and until last year that was a Chromag Root down. Very capable bike for all I can throw at it each week on the North Shore of Vancouver. Then I had the chance to get an ESD for a great deal. Didn't hesitate and sold the Chromag. It's the only bike in the current line up I like, that's true to the core of the brand I've known for such a long time. Not the bland Honzo, the extra slack dude, the retro steel tubed hardtail with a 63 degree HT angle I can hit anything with.

The decline of the brand had been coming- but I'm so happy I got what may well prove to be one of Konas last proper bikes.

Jerry Craft

Rode my Kona Dew XL from Nashville to Tucson via the Gulf. That bike was a beast. Fit me like a glove.

Robin Blume

In the late 90s working as a messenger in the city of Manchester,in England. Many cycle couriers would swap vehicles including bicycles. Some of the trusty old names in mountain bikes like Kona, Marin, Cannondale would get urban hammered daily. We were regulars of local bike shops because we had to almost constantly fix or repair the bikes components on a daily basis. I was eagerly juicing my Kona up with Shimano XT and XTR parts when funds came available.

I had a gold colour Kona Cindercone/Explosif which on one day of work snapped, right on a chain stay, of all places on the frame . A simple weld in a friendly garage and it was back on the tarmac, out delivering art for local marketing, business administration and modelling. The friendly geometry of the Kona frame became pronounced in my brain for city cycling enjoyment. I ended up with buying a Kona Lanai frame nearly 20 years later. Sadly that was stolen outside my evening college. The joys of having Project Two forks fitted with XT disc brakes short-lived. (Life as a courier with V brakes was insane, rainy winters would see Mavic wheel rims literally worn through with the inner tubes poking out).

I think it's time for a road bike at last. Whilst not theft proof, it could be less attention grabbing than "spoiled up" Konas in the city.

All the best Kona to you,

David Emanuel

Since 2019, with the exception of 2020 (covid), I've been bikepacking and touring the world with my Kona Unit X 2018. It's amazingly comfortable. I can ride all day and other than feeling my leg muscles there is not other issue whatsoever. No lower back or shoulder pain. It's a keeper...

prior to the Kona, I rode my self constructed bamboo bike. First ride was coast to coast, West to East in the USA and Japan.

in 2019 I switched to the Kona. I made some modifications to the original configuration of the bicycle. It now has a 2X11 grear setup and all Shimano breaks and gears. This configuration makes it easier going up hill on the 26 chain ring and faster on the planes of the mid west with the 36 chain ring.

In 2019 I cycled from Boston to Nevada in a big Zig Zag thus completing all 48 states of the main land of the USA. In 2021 it was easier to enter USA than other countries so I cycled from NYC to the Summit of Mount Evans in Colorado. 2022 it was the British Isles (England, Wales, Ireland, Northen Ireland, back to England, Scotland all the way to the Shetland islands.
2023, down under to New Zealand, Tasmania and a bit in Australia.

So this year, in just under three weeks on May 17th, as I am 66 years old, it is back to the US to cycle from Santa Monica to Chicago on route 66!

You can check my web site for links to the live map of my trip, the photo album and my FB page. In addition, my previous trips and my bamboo bike can be viewed on my website.
https://emanuel.org.il

"Thelma Viaduct"

My favourite bike was and still is a 1993 Cinder Cone. It's the only bike that fits like a glove. The ride is almost telepathic, obviously I don't use it off-road anymore, but it still serves a function as a great bike to ride on the prom on, with slick tyres of course. It can be easily flicked about, the Stella frame and forks offering a degree of robustness you can't find in carbon, or aluminium.

The dual tone paint jobs they used on the '93 Konas still look great today, the bottom, middle and top range bikes all looking equally as good.

If I win the Euro millions, I'll buy the rights to Kona and move production to the North West of England. The range will be simpler, less expensive, but they will all share the shape, style and colours of those 1993 bikes. Steel for the workers and titanium for the dentists. Thanks Joe Murray and Kona.

Ian Parker

The first bike I had a real relationship with was a 1993 or 4 Cindercone. I loved that bike. Later, I bought a Jake the Snake frame with a red and navy blue sparkle paint job. Built it with parts from the bin, started a love affair with CX bikes, and now I lust after this Ouroborus thing they've made.

I hope the Kona brand I bought by a company that will keep it going with the same nice bikes.

Gavin Robinson

I've always loved the Kona brand. From back in the late 80's/early 90's, they were the "coolest bikes on the block". But for me, my favourite era, favourite style were from the early 2000's. The tow truck style swing link suspension. Which is why I bought and built up a 2006 Coiler Supreme. A beast of a bike which still turns heads to this day. Maybe a return to those days of simpler, solid looking bikes rather than expensive over engineering.

Robin Vandenbergh

I still have 4 Kona's. Sold 1.

I’m 45, and know the Kona brand from when I was about 15.

I’m from Belgium, so for Kona at that time, it was kind of special I guess. A ‘small’ brand from over the pond in between all the Specializeds, Treks and Scotts…you didn’t see a lot of them at that time.

-My dad bought his first Kona, a Kilauea in ’94 in a bike shop owned by an ex pro cyclist. He knew his stuff. All of my dad’s road bikes came from that shop. Look up Somec, Rossin and De Rosa for example, and you’ll see that the shop didn’t have your average bike brand.. When the shop owner said there's something special about Kona, he was probably right.

I inherited that Kilauea about 20 years later, when the derailleur pad got bent, and turned into a single speed pub racer..

6 years ago I bought a brown Kona Hahanna from ’95, after my dad's Kilauea got stolen. I was gutted and so angry, the first month when I rode around the city, I was still looking for it.

All of a sudden, about half a year later, I passed it in the street. It was just standing there, unlocked. About 1 km from my house. I took it back home, laughing out loud all the way back, in complete disbelief.

I bought my first Kona in 2012, a Kahuna Dl. Loved the 29er wheels. It was a simple bike, but I started to ride more and more gnarly and tech stuff, so I took it up to its limits.

I had to rebuild it after almost half of it got stolen. When I came back from doing some errands, only my back wheel and the frame were left locked on the pole I locked the bike onto. (long story, but I live in Antwerp: things get stolen a lot over here). I made a reversed mullet out of it. No kidding: kept the 29" in the back and put a Surly 27,5+ fork in the front with a 2.8 tyre, threw on some old mechanical disc brakes and it worked like crazy on the singletracks here in Flanders. (Pic: Mr.Hyde, my reversed mullet Kahuna)

I didn’t have any squish now, and my riding kept evolving, so I bought the infamous 2016 Process 314Dl. This bike is something else. Everybody always talks about the 111, but the 134 still is my to go to Enduro bike. Okay, I bumped the fork to 160, and put in a different shock (CC DB Air), and okay, I slackened the HA by 2° to modernise it. I have it now for more than 8 years, so it deserved a bit of paint and some new decals.

Nowadays, when I see the Chromag Darco or the Yeti SB135 for example, my updated Process almost has the same geo numbers (not the ST angle, okay) and front to back travel..

It is SUCH a fun bike and can handle every trail I throw at it…. I will truly ride it till I break it.

Last but not least, 4 years ago I was able to buy a brand new Kona Honzo ST from 2015. The black one. It was standing for years in my LBS, quietly crying at me somewhere in the back.

. When the price dropped to 1200 euros, I had to buy it. Again: I will never get rid of this bike. Gave it the same treatment as my Process (140mm front, -2° HA), and I ride ev-e-ry-thing with it: from local jump trails over long distance XC tours to DH laps in La Clusaz in France… bike packing to Les Hautes Rivieres, pitching the tent, dropping of the bags and plowing down the French Ardennes with this nimble freight train. (Pic: latest update on the Honzo: the perfect Pike 140 in the front, somewhere on the top of a mountain in the Yorkshire Dales)

When I read the news about Kona, you can imagine I was really sad about it, because till now it was the only brand I bought. But at the same time, as hard as it sounds, I would never buy a Kona again from their line-up from the last 5 or so years. For me, they became a bit too bland. Too big. So many different bikes and almost none of them appealed me. The Honzo, yes, maybe the Unit.. The progressive, quirky side kinda disappeared.. and they got expensive..

I read somewhere that it would by so good for the brand if they could go back to the origin: 3 or 4 hardtails, experimenting with some gravity oriented full suspension bikes. And maybe 3 or 4 quirky trekking/gravel/commuter bikes…

That would be, like, awesome dude (enter the Kona Bigfoot sticker).

Dave Weatherall

I'm 45 and all I could afford as a teenager was a crappy GT aggressor with a no name elastomer fork so I yearned daily for those early Kona's- there was just something so mountain biking about them.

When I got back into mountain biking a few years ago, I bought a bought an orange Kona hardtail and rode it as often as I could. It was so nimble, such a great climber and so stable even on the steeps.

Last year someone stole it from my locked shed and it felt like I'd lost a part of me. Not dissimilar to the feeling I had when I heard the company was being sold.

With it, I feel like we're losing a connection to the origins of mucking about in the woods. Before phones, before strava, before $8k rides for noobs.

Mountain biking is teetering on a weird precipice like skiing where it risks becoming one of those elitist sports reserved for those with privilege. Kona always seemed counter to that culture and I will miss it most for that.

Brett Perchaluk

This was the most fun Kona I owned - a carbon Honzo that was like 26 lbs and just ripped everything. I worked at a Kona dealer from 1996 to 2014 or so and owned a ton of their bikes - a Munimula was the first and the most recent was a Process.

There’s still a special place in my heart for the Stinkys I had, or the Fabian Barel Stab Supreme, or the also teal Rove NRB, or the Hei Hei (no, not a ti one). Oh that bass boat red Dawg Supreme was pretty rad too.

I will miss you too, Kona. And that thumbs up logo.

Brian Berg

25 years ago I bought my first Kona MTB from the legend himself, Jeff Carr at the Cove bike Shop. That was the first of 20 Kona bikes our family has owned. While I have bought other brands and was even sponsored by another bike brand I always returned to Kona bikes. There was simply a “Kona feel” to them.

When I turned 50 the Singlespeed experience took over, several Kona SS bikes were built, and enjoyed. My favourite is my current Big Unit. My other favourite Kona is my Process 111, a bike so far ahead of it’s time. Kona was a local brand for me so it was not uncommon to see Kona employees out riding or racing their bikes.

Definitely a crew that loved bikes. Dik Cox was definitely the coolest most passionate bike guy I have met. Always stoked on bikes, that split over to the brand. Cheers to Kona and what they meant to do many of us. I sure hope things work out for the folks left at Kona.