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So Kona are not what they used to we all know that, basically they were bought by a big corporate company with no vision and are now sold in camping stores in the States.
I chatted to someone who worked there for over 30 years a legit OG Kona employee testing prototypes making cool shit going to the races, trades shows and so on and the new companies suits came along one day late last year and let everyone go just like that! The roots of the company are completely gone not 1 original employee and it’s not for being old or out dated it’s just become a typical money making business without having any soul!
Kona needs to pull a Marin and focus on the DTC entry level MTB market, commuter eebs, and roadie stuff for a while. Unfortunately, they'll need to trim some SERIOUS fat to make that happen. If you exclude the recent bogo sale, their component spec/cost, has been absolutely horrible lately (like worse than my recent post history on VitalMTB horrible).
Cross-posting from the "companies shutting down" thread:
Heard from a credible source that Kona is done. Employees told today, PR tomorrow. RIP
(Small chance a buyer will step in but not holding my breath).
sea otter pits 1 - https://www.vitalmtb.com/pit-bits-sea-otter-2024-day-1
Imagine not telling anyone until last minute… sending folks to Sea Otter,… releasing a new bike two days ago,…
What the heck?
Maxxis take notes. We want a 2C in DH and DH casing!
sea otter vid from today
That first bike looks sick.
Is it just me or are idlers getting lower and lower every year?
Goodness I ditched a pair of Kryptotals after two rides. The endurance casing has about as much grip as a Maxxis that was left in the sun for three years.
Only place I can see that endurance compound being useful is Moab.
@ Smelly, Sounds like a good compound for a rear tire in the Cali summer/Southern Europe conditions. Shaka!
Make that 3C MaxxGrip in EXO. That's what some of us want. Or a super soft Conti in trail casing.
yeah, Argotal and Kryptotal F both Enduro and trail chasing available in all 3 compounds, and the Rear Krypto and Xynotal in Both soft and hard compound,
That is actually coming?
I thought they already had EXO MaxxGrip though.
They need to make DH casing in anything but MaxxGrip…
As far as I've seen that's only valid for Minion DHF - it comes in EXO MaxxGrip and DH dual compound. And the Aggressor is also available in the later.
Maybe this has changed lately, but not sure about that. DD casing comes jn MaxxGrip, but it's so daft for all the companies - it doesn't make sense to have a heavier casing with softer compound only, if anything the opposite makes more sense. You put a softer tyre in the front which usually gets away with a lighter casing too.
The Assegai came in EXO+ MaxxGrip guise too for a while now. This is in addition to the Maxxgrip compounds available on the dual-ply variants.
I do agree 100% that softer compounds need to be on single ply variants as well.
thx, but this has been posted a couple of times now. FA has been seen on every shock and fork (except pike AFAIK) from RS.
Pike, Lyrik and Zeb were the OG Flight Attendant forks and the basis on which we saw the new Pike and Lyrik chassis and spring before MY23 forks were released if I'm not mistaken.
thx, wasn‘t sure about the pike.
FA isn‘t for me, but interesting development since it‘s going to be on their whole line.
XC always made the most sense to me, we’ll see how it‘s gonna fare in DH.
Oh, you mean like Minion DHF and DHR combo? We got ‘em: TB00144000 and TB00143900
I know the DHF comes in EXO and Maxxgrip. What about any other tread patterns?
is there a tire forum thread
https://www.vitalmtb.com/forums/hub/tire-chat-nerds-only?page=3#comment…
The DHR2 also comes in Maxxgrip/Exo. That's what Aaron was saying. Model number is TB00143900
Great news! The Assegai, DHF, and DHR2 are all available in a hard compound with DH casing. Maxxis calls it "Dual Compound." All three of those are available in 29 and the DHR2 is also available in a 2.5x27.5. So everybody gets a long wearing, durable rear tire. We just had this discussion (at great length) in the tire forum: https://www.vitalmtb.com/forums/hub/tire-chat-nerds-only?page=3#comment…
No shot. Since when? I gotta take a look!
There is also a DH Casing MaxxTerra DHR2 since not too long ago in 29 and 27.5
(That E50 Logo is just an allowance to use it on an E-Bike up to 50km/h, thats a legal requirement in Europe)
Yeah a bunch of the Forbidden riders have been running it on a Super Deluxe and Vivid. Released date is unknown.