Word up to our overlords, this is actually good, entertaining, non AI content. I enjoyed reading it. It’s almost as ‘Down-Home’ as Dirt Rag.
This Is JUST Like A ‘Bike’ Mag Article, Circa 2004 or so.
- Thread starter rideit
- Start date
Nice!
Its a cute looking back at the good old days and I have personally been a big fan of the brand and have owned several Kona's but I wonder if this going back to the good old days is realistic in today's market. I still have a softspot for the brand and got a excited when I saw a girl on a retro Kona from my favourite years that she had made into a cool city bike. Picture for reference
My NuNu was the metallic goldy yellow color, it was awesome!Its a cute looking back at the good old days and I have personally been a big fan of the brand and have owned several Kona's but I wonder if this going back to the good old days is realistic in today's market. I still have a softspot for the brand and got a excited when I saw a girl on a retro Kona from my favourite years that she had made into a cool city bike. Picture for reference
It was my first proper MTB, my previous bike had one of those "Not For Offroad Use" decals.
I added a whole bunch of downgrades to it, Rolf wheels, some Funn stem(STS?) that twisted beyond what would seem a safe amount and added the big 100mm Judy XL.
I ruined a good thing.
Until December 2023 that was my last complete new bike, everything has been frame only since the NuNu.
Man, I miss Dirt Rag. I tossed a whole pile of them into the recycling bin when we moved. They were still awesome. I still have two Dirt Rag pint glasses.
I’ve never owned a Kona, but the first full suspension bike I ever rode was a 5” travel Kona (Stinky Deluxe I think?) at White Ranch on a demo day. I was blown away by how fast and smooth it felt bombing down Belcher compared to my hardtail. Over the years I’ve always kinda snubbed my nose at the brand (primarily because they were historically such “simple” bikes) but they totally had their place. And it wasn’t at the bottom.
Right around the time I joined RM I had just bought my '01 Stinky. Things escalated quickly from there, but that was a solid first "freeride" bike. Just before I bought my first disc brake setup.
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Great thread. Kona will be missed. They'll likely be sold to some Pacific mega-brand, turned into bullshit for 5 years, then re-emerge as something decent like Marin and so many others. I always liked how goofy and honest their bikes were- others were "110% efficient" and kona was just out there for fun, at least it seemed.
Fro-riders
The Starfish and Stinky logos/histories really told people where there heads were at…the ‘Anti-Ellsworth’ sentiment in full effect.