Kona Kapu Road Bike 20-Gear

Wheely good bike! (Giant Defy 2.5 Road Bike)

Advantages: Light, Great gears, Good looks
Disadvantages: Uncomfortable saddle, not the greatest wheels

and I have yet to find a hill that can defeat the lowest gearing. The Tiagra system seems very reliable with shifts always finding their cogs. The lever system is based on the brake handles with a small inner lever being used to go up and the full brake handle being used for down (opposite on front cog). This soon feels very natural. Wheels The wheels provided are okay, I suspect that this is where the manufacturesrs have looked to save some money and they are the only part of the bike that I have since upgraded. For me they were a little on the heavy side and not quite free running enough. Pedals This bike was provided with toe clip pedals which I opted to have removed and replaced with some that work with cleats and proper road shoes. As I never saw the originals I can't really comment - however if you are ...

thejazzyj 18.09.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Giant Defy 2.5 Road Bike

Kona Kula

Advantages: Great handling, climbs like a mountain goat
Disadvantages: Can be a handfull on rough, fast decents

To date I've owned three Kona Kulas, spanning a perod of nearly ten years. I've ridden 100km marathons on one, ridden the trails of South Wales on one, and commuted on one, so from that you could surmise that I like the bike. Well yes I do, but as technology has moved on is there still a place for the Kona Kula in todays market place? When it comes to riding fast, smooth singletrack, either up hill or down, the Kula is superb. The bike climbs very, very well, and the twistier and tighter the singletrack gets, the more the bike excells. Fireroad climbs are eaten for breakfast, and the geometry of the bike is such that it can be thrown back down with gay abandon. However, once a few rocks start appearing, you'll need to sharpen up. There's no ploughing headlong through rock gardens on this bike. The back end will give you a swift kick ...

Greasylake 22.12.2006 · Read full review
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Review of Kona Kula

Kona The King

Advantages: Singletrack, Marathon Machine
Disadvantages: Don't try jumping on it

I already owned a Kona Kula, but the rocks of Glyncorrwg had finally wrecked my ageing body, and I needed a full suspention bike. I loved the sharp handling Kula, and so The King seemed the obvious choice. I wasn't to be dissapointed. I'm about 5'11" tall, and went for the 19" size. It fits like a glove. With "only" four inches of travel there are plusher bikes out there, but The King loves twisty singletrack, and that was the main reason for me going for it. This bike loves singletrack. There's enough travel to get you through the rockiest sections of Afan Argoed, and it climbs very well. It's by no means superlight, coming in at about 26lbs, but the bike rides light, and is a great marathon machine. I swapped the FSA wheelset, fo a Chris King wheel set I had lying around, and put the FSA set on the bike I ride to work. They ...

Greasylake 05.02.2008 · Read full review
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Review of Kona The King