Off-Road Bicycle Reviews for the Sentient Being
Well, it finally happened. As a reward to myself for getting a grownup job, I bought a shiny new bicycle. I hate the stictiony, hammocky feel of air shocks, so I knew I wanted a bike with coil springs at both ends. I had been thinking about a Kona, and in particular a Coiler, since my fall trip to Moab. I did a couple rides with Mike (??) from Poison Spider Bicycles, who rides an older Stinky. Poison Spider rents and sells Kona, and Mike assured me that the suspension linkage and pivots have a reputation for bulletproof reliability. I also followed him up a few hills, and I noticed no suspension movement (on a 6" travel bike!), and he seemed to be able to climb pretty well. I also liked the fact that Kona has stuck with and refined the same basic suspension design, rather than coming out with something new and different every year.
Ouch. This is the first bicycle I've purchased since leaving the bike biz. The employee discount spoils a fellow. Since the coiler is in short supply and high demand, don't expect any great deals any time soon. I don't live anywhere near any Kona dealers, so I called around, and no one in the state of Nevada even had one in my size. When I finally found one in Tahoe, I sucked it up and paid retail. On the other hand, this is pretty much a premium bicycle, with no cheap knockoff parts on it. If you compare the Coiler Deluxe to a similarly equipped Santa Cruz Heckler (another bike that was high on my list), the Kona is still a couple hundred bucks cheaper, and offers just as much cool factor. The only components I was a little nervous about was the Hayes brakes, because I've had bad experience with Hayes before (more on that later), but they must be super cheap as OEM parts, because almost everyone specs Hayes.
The nice fellows atBackcountry Bicycles in Tahoe gave me call when they got one in stock, and got it built up for me to test. After wrenching professionally for so long, I'm used to having to double-check other people's work, but the mechanics at Backcountry had this bike built and adjusted perfectly. I tested the standard Coiler too but I felt like I really wanted the extra suspension adjustability of the higher-end model. Also, the black color on the deluxe is way cooler. So I wrapped up my purchase, and took advantage of the knowledge and experience of the Backcountry's staff to pick up a few other odds and ends at the same time. Then I took my new machine to St George, Utah to have some fun.
Well, the first thing I noticed is that Kona spec'd a rear spring suitable for freakin' gorilla. To their credit, they spec different spring weights depending on the size of the bike, but even on a 20" bike suitable for 6 foot and up riders I think they missed wildly on the spring rate. It comes with a 650lb spring, whereas Fox and Kona recommend a 500lb spring for a 170 lb rider. Maybe there are more overweight mountain bikers in Washington or something. I would sort of expect a shop to take care of this, but I'll cut the Backcountry a little slack because a) The bikes are brand new, so they haven't fully digested the specs yet, and b) I didn't think about it until later. When I was selling bikes, I usually found them sprung about right for people my size or slightly heavier, and the 200lb guys were the ones that had to swap springs. With the right spring, the ride is much more reasonable. I really like being able to adjust both compression and rebound, because the stock settings are rarely what I like.
The Marzocchi Z1FR fork, on the other hand, feels just about perfect. I added about 5 psi of air preload, and I've been very happy with it in all kinds of terrain. It doesn't have a lockout, but I think lockouts are a bunch of marketing BS anyway. It does come with a fancy lever that lowers the fork about an inch for steep climbs. I played with it a little, but it didn't do much on the short steep climbs. I think it might help a little on longer steep climbs, where you stay seated more.
One of the great things about living in modern times is that stuff works better now. I haven't had to think about the drivetrain at all. I hit the buttons, and it shifts. Even cheap drivetrain stuff works pretty well these days, and the RaceFace/XT setup on the Coiler is flawless. I swapped the Shimano pedals for my customary Time units, and they work perfectly, just like always.
My only gripe about this bike is the crappy Hayes hydraulic brakes that come stock. Much to no one's surprise, they do exactly what the Hayes brakes on my hardtail do, which is rub and annoy the living f*ck out of me. The problem is a)they don't retract very far, and b) they don't retract evenly. No matter how carefully you center everything, one piston retracts more than the other, and there's so little clearance to begin with that it only takes the slightest, microscopic variation in the rotor for the brakes to rub and squeak. Sometimes I can fix it for a few rides, but eventually it comes back. I firmly believe that discs should be LESS trouble than rim brakes, and so far, that is not the case with these. I think the brake fairy may have to bring me some Hope brakes, that retract far enough to not rub, before I lose my mind.
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