Kona Fire Mountain

Advantages: Quick, nippy, lightweight bike.
Disadvantages: Ride it too hard and it will break.

Kona build some brilliant bikes... freeride, downhill, cross country, road and recreational. The Kona Fire Mountain is recreational also marketed as an entry-level Cross Country mountain bike. I bought the 2005 model for £450 in Halfords but I've seen the 2006 model for just £400 online at Evans Cycles. Older models can still be bought brand new from various suppliers and get knocked down dramatically in price. Now, I've owned this bike since May ...
...the bottom end of the Kona range. The brakes are disc, which is good, as it gives great stopping power, but these are not fluid control brakes... they're cable controlled and brake 'cables' do have a tendency to stretch and will therefore need adjusting from time to time. The handlebar supplied, I felt, was not quite long enough (...I'm 5'11" so shorter riders may be fine with it) and had to be changed for a more controlled ride. The frame is lightweight, ... Read review

Advantages: exelent value for money, very strong can take some abuse
Disadvantages: the overall bike is quite heavy, and has bad saddle

I bought the 2005 model Fire Mountain in the beginning of last year. I rode it XC for a good 3 months after purchase. The bike performed well, has a good gear ratio (has capability to go extremely fast, and get up the steepest of hills). But the comfort was not great, especial on longer rides. I found myself having to stop not because I was tiered or out of breath, but because I was in so much pain I had no choice. In the summer I rode some slightly ...
...trails the bike seemed to handle it ok. The only part of my bike that didn't was my bars when I stacked it going to fast and bent them. I've gone back to Xcing now and all the components are still going strong. componaents: the fork make this a smooth ride for the price but the adjustability is not efective the disk brake do not need much wearing in and can still lock my weels today no matter how fast im going, and I've still not changed the pads. ... Read review