Kona

Long-ish travel, 430mm chainstays, and a lot of laps of any trail you want. One of the last fun mountain bikes and sad to think it will disappear with the dissolution of Kona. That said, it was arguably one iteration too far on the modern geometry for Kona's loyal fanbase and worse yet the price per spec was becoming harder and harder to justify, even post-covid and during the sales. Luckily, I got the Shimano spec of this bike but sadly... The wheelset is I guess about as low end a boost wheelset as Shimano sells. Not only is the rear hub reminiscent of the average Walmart freehub engagement...

I bought this as a frame and have built it up with Shimano slx 170mm cranks, deore drivetrain & brakes, wtb i29 wheels and a Z2 140mm fork, and 2.6 specialized butcher/purgatory tyres, superstar pedals & brandx dropper, Its just under 14kg. Paint job is gorgeous too. This is the 2021/22 bike , but frame is same for 2023/24 bike Frame is well thought out, massive tyre clearance even on 2.6s thanks to nicely sculpted stays. Lots of standover clearance too. Its not as slack as the ESD, but Z2s ride fairly high and I find the reach & head angle perfect for descending, big tyres mean its...