Kona vs. Specialized???

drjeff · Jul 6, 2009

Okay, so I'm going to take the plunge and get a hardtail to cruise around the trails in my town forest and ride with the kids along the local rails to trails path. Went to my LBS and the two main brands they sell that the owner was talking up to me were Kona and Specialized. I was wondering if any of the mtb "pros" here have any reservations about 1 or the other??? Right now I'm planning on pulling the trigger tommorrow on a Kona Fire Mountain as I liked the fact that one of the techs that worked there (the only primary MTB'er there - the other 2 are roadies), who was of similar size to me rides a Kona, because as he put it, they've got a beefier frame than the Specialized. Thanks in advance for the advice

bvibert · Jul 6, 2009

The beef of the frames will be more than adequate on both bikes. I'm guessing that the Hardrock is the Specialized that you were looking at? I'm not all that familiar with the Kona, but both bikes look to be pretty similar entry level hardtails, I don't think you could go wrong with either. In the end pick the bike that fits you the best. I assume they're letting you at least take them for a ride around the block??

drjeff · Jul 7, 2009

bvibert said:
The beef of the frames will be more than adequate on both bikes. I'm guessing that the Hardrock is the Specialized that you were looking at? I'm not all that familiar with the Kona, but both bikes look to be pretty similar entry level hardtails, I don't think you could go wrong with either. In the end pick the bike that fits you the best. I assume they're letting you at least take them for a ride around the block??

Thanks B

Yup. the Specialized he showed me was the hardrock, and yup, I'll be getting my butt into the saddle for a spin on both, the tech even joked that I could huck the roughly 6 foot drop from their front door off the bulkhead the shop is on down to the parking lot if I wanted to

My wife quickly reminded me that I'me wwaayy closer to 40 than 30 when she heard that

:lol:

hammer · Jul 7, 2009

Purchased a Hardrock Sport for my son last year, and my wife and I each have Hardrock Sport bikes we bought in 1993. They mostly get used on the occasional rail trail ride but we have no complaints.

bvibert · Jul 7, 2009

My wife has a Hardrock from a few years ago. The fork is pretty crappy, especially if you're on the heavier side, but aside from that we have no complaints. It appears that the Hardrock now comes with a fork that has the ability to swap out springs to suit rider weight though, as does the Kona. Both forks are probably pretty comparable.

RootDKJ · Jul 7, 2009

I don't know much about either, but I notice a lot more Specialized bikes out there.

Either way, you'll enjoy it and feel like a kid again. Don't forget to get a brain bucket.

Gremf · Jul 7, 2009

What Kona are you looking at? My preference is Kona over Special-Ed any day.

My next bike will most likely be a Kona, the Smoke 2-9, to replace my family duty bike.

mondeo · Jul 7, 2009

RootDKJ said:
I don't know much about either, but I notice a lot more Specialized bikes out there.

Either way, you'll enjoy it and feel like a kid again. Don't forget to get a brain bucket.

Going by what I see on the road, Specialized and Trek are probably the two biggest brands. But that doesn't really mean they're the best, they just have the most name recognition and get sales because of it; especially Specialized with the role they've played in the US bike industry. Probably a lot of it is brand loyalty.

drjeff · Jul 7, 2009

Gremf said:
What Kona are you looking at? My preference is Kona over Special-Ed any day.

My next bike will most likely be a Kona, the Smoke 2-9, to replace my family duty bike.

The Kona I'm looking at is their basic starter hardtail, the Fire Mountain

Based on the t-storm that just rolled across my area, I'm guessing that I'll get to see how both the Kona and the Specialized do in the wet when I go for a test ride on both a little later on today

drjeff · Jul 7, 2009

RootDKJ said:
I don't know much about either, but I notice a lot more Specialized bikes out there.

Either way, you'll enjoy it and feel like a kid again. Don't forget to get a brain bucket.

Brain Bucket - check
Gloves - check
Padded Mtn Bike Shorts - check

Even contemplating making myself a mouthguard as I've spent a bunch of hours recently in the office rebuilding the front teeth of 2 of my patient's who've gone over the handlebars and decided that breaking their fall with the use of their front teeth would be a good thing

Greg · Jul 7, 2009

Let us know when you're up for a ride!

marcski · Jul 7, 2009

I ride a Kona Dawg Dee-Lux. It's about 5 years old already. I love it!!

My buddy has a specialized...(a fs with that epic brain shock) and he likes that a lot as well.

I think...IMHO (which might only be worth the paper this is written on

) that as those guys in the shop mentioned....I think specialized excels more at cross-country riding, whereas Kona should be better in the all-mtn, trail riding categories. However, with a hardtail...probably won't make much of a difference...and as others have said...it should boil down to fit first and then compare the component mixes.

Good luck. I got out for a nice road ride this morning before work.

jarrodski · Jul 7, 2009

my kona has been abused roughly 3 times a week from april to october for the past 5 years and the only thing i don't like about it are the brakes (which i'm changing) and the weight (not that big of a deal)

i've dropped it, i've ghosted it off jumps by accident, i've cartwheeled it down ski trails, i've smashed into trees.... its taken a beating..

i've done little to no maintance on it, and would buy another when the time comes.

Talisman · Jul 7, 2009

drjeff said:
Even contemplating making myself a mouthguard as I've spent a bunch of hours recently in the office rebuilding the front teeth of 2 of my patient's who've gone over the handlebars and decided that breaking their fall with the use of their front teeth would be a good thing

Having played hockey with a mouth guard in the good old days when only goalies wore full face helmets or masks and spat out several bloody teeth, mouth guards don't work very well to protect teeth or your lips from being shredded by the hockey stick or the sharp stumps of your shattered teeth. If your concerns for your teeth will be a worywhile riding, consider a full face helmet.

On the Kona versus Specialized, I have a high mileage (~3,300 miles) Epic (FS with the brain) and other than wearing out chains and sprockets and a rear wheel it has been good mechanically. Kona makes good bikes and so does Specialized. I do know that Specialized is looked down on by some as too 'mainstream' or 'corporate'.

Will you be riding at Mt Sneaux?

JD · Jul 8, 2009

I think for entry level Aluminium HTs, the frames durability are basically the same. The biggest diference in ride quality will be fork preformance, and quality of the drive train components. Campare those two carefully, ask the shop guy to explain the differences in the shocks, or write down the names and reasearch yourself. Other differences will be stand over height. Most folks (myself included) like more clearence over the top tube of the frame, so more slope as the top tube goes from the Head tube (handlebars) to the seat tube will make it easier handle. Also, chainstay length from the bottom bracket (where the crank arms attach) to the rear axel has a dramatic affect on the characteristics of your bike on the trail. In general, shorter chainstays are prefered for New England MTBing due to the lower speed technicality of out trails, the draw back is your front wheel will tend to wander on steep, low gear climbing. Also, Bottom Bracket Height off the ground. Bring a small tape measure, measure from the ground to the center of the bolt holding the crank arms on. Less then 13 inches makes your bike "ride small" and increases your sense of control when cornering out of the saddle, the draw back is smacking pedals on rocks and other trail obsticals. A beginner will like the extra clearance, but as you evolve, you may prefer a slight lower BB height. Head angle. This is how chopped out you front forks are. Steeper Head angle is better for low speed twitchy singletrack riding, more slacked out HA is more stable railing turns at speed and lessens the chances for a OTB accident. Other nice things to have. Quick release seat post collar. Allows you raise the seat for road cruising or long climbs, and lower it for trail riding and technical descents w/o a tool. Lock on grips. They rule. Other difference may be grip shift vs. thumb shifters. I never liked Grip shift, always throwing shifts inadvertantly. Enjoy your new bike!

Marc · Jul 8, 2009

Did you go to Silver Bike Shop or somewhere else?

drjeff · Jul 9, 2009

Marc said:
Did you go to Silver Bike Shop or somewhere else?

Few miles further South, Danielson Adventure Sports

The Mastercard was put down for the Kona

Should be in for me to pick up when I get back from Florida in a few days

drjeff · Jul 9, 2009

JD said:
I think for entry level Aluminium HTs, the frames durability are basically the same. The biggest diference in ride quality will be fork preformance, and quality of the drive train components. Campare those two carefully, ask the shop guy to explain the differences in the shocks, or write down the names and reasearch yourself. Other differences will be stand over height. Most folks (myself included) like more clearence over the top tube of the frame, so more slope as the top tube goes from the Head tube (handlebars) to the seat tube will make it easier handle. Also, chainstay length from the bottom bracket (where the crank arms attach) to the rear axel has a dramatic affect on the characteristics of your bike on the trail. In general, shorter chainstays are prefered for New England MTBing due to the lower speed technicality of out trails, the draw back is your front wheel will tend to wander on steep, low gear climbing. Also, Bottom Bracket Height off the ground. Bring a small tape measure, measure from the ground to the center of the bolt holding the crank arms on. Less then 13 inches makes your bike "ride small" and increases your sense of control when cornering out of the saddle, the draw back is smacking pedals on rocks and other trail obsticals. A beginner will like the extra clearance, but as you evolve, you may prefer a slight lower BB height. Head angle. This is how chopped out you front forks are. Steeper Head angle is better for low speed twitchy singletrack riding, more slacked out HA is more stable railing turns at speed and lessens the chances for a OTB accident. Other nice things to have. Quick release seat post collar. Allows you raise the seat for road cruising or long climbs, and lower it for trail riding and technical descents w/o a tool. Lock on grips. They rule. Other difference may be grip shift vs. thumb shifters. I never liked Grip shift, always throwing shifts inadvertantly. Enjoy your new bike!

Thanks for the detailed info JD

I'm pretty quickly getting the idea that I'm going to be doing some tinkering with parts of the bike from a very early point of me being in the saddle on it

drjeff · Jul 9, 2009

Talisman said:
Having played hockey with a mouth guard in the good old days when only goalies wore full face helmets or masks and spat out several bloody teeth, mouth guards don't work very well to protect teeth or your lips from being shredded by the hockey stick or the sharp stumps of your shattered teeth. If your concerns for your teeth will be a worywhile riding, consider a full face helmet.

Spending all my hours at work focusing on OTHERS teeth, regularly has me obsessing on mine

Plus, with the literallt thousands of times I've recommended mouth guards for almost any sport, I'd be a bit of a hypocrit if I atleast didn't think about one for me

Talisman said:
On the Kona versus Specialized, I have a high mileage (~3,300 miles) Epic (FS with the brain) and other than wearing out chains and sprockets and a rear wheel it has been good mechanically. Kona makes good bikes and so does Specialized. I do know that Specialized is looked down on by some as too 'mainstream' or 'corporate'.

Will you be riding at Mt Sneaux?

The bike will be hanging from the rack on my next trip to Mount Snow in a few weeks - I've rented a FS a few times and played around on the lift served stuff before. What I'm looking forward to trying out a bit is the trails in the crosstown area off Handle Rd.

jarrodski · Jul 9, 2009

mouth gaurd comment...

how do you expect to breath wearing one of those? escpecially while getting in shape at the early stages of riding.

i find a full face a bit cramped and stuffy, let alone something actually in my mouth. plus, trail chatter will be pretty funny and mummbly no?

Kona vs. Specialized???

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