KONA KAHUNA
£1,199 A sorted ride for bridleway-bashing and trail centres
Kona’s Kahuna is another bike that’s been around for decades and continually refined. The geometry and design intentions of this latest iteration lean towards XC/trail efficiency, but its low-slung shape means you can chuck it about a bit, too.
THE FRAME
Back in the ’90s, Kona’s bikes always rocked compact front triangles, and, over time, the rest of the industry caught up. It’s easy to see why – the Kahuna’s sloping top tube keeps the frame out of the way when you’re standing and leaning to aid steering, or using body manoeuvres to absorb bumps and maximise trail speed.
This latest version has a butted (ie. the tubes vary in thickness along their length for the best balance of strength and weight) aluminium frame with a big, curvy down tube and a reinforcing gusset at the seat tower. The rear stays splay out wide for good mud clearance, run in line with the top tube and feed down to a Kona-branded forged dropout area. This is the only bike on test with a QR rear axle. It’s less stiff and secure than a bolt-through set-up, but most riders will struggle to notice.
THE KIT
The 12-speed Shimano Deore drivetrain feels super-solid and smooth-shifting, with stiff cranks and a broad gear range for all types of climbs. Aside from weighing more, it’s hard to tell that you’re not on the brand’s pricier XT kit (found on bikes costing up to £10k). Shimano supply their budget MT410 brakes, too, which also trump the others on test. These have tons of power, but not so much grab that the wheels lock up unexpectedly, and long levers that give newer riders plenty of options to position their fingers.
While the Kona handlebar looks weird, it put your hands in a sweet spot, in terms of sweep. It also provides a good steering balance with the longer stem, which contributes to a more stretched-out riding stance. This puts your head further forward for a more urgent, attacking pedal position that well suits the overall Kahuna vibe.
Bad kit points are the old-school, skinny (135mm) QR rear axle, plus it’s a shame that the Kona’s standover clearance isn’t maximised with a dropper post, to get the saddle right out of the way. Frame ports are provided for one, though, and you can pick up a decent aftermarket dropper for not much over £100.
THE RIDE
Jump on the Kona and it’s easy to ride, and zips about with a really lively feel.
There’s excellent acceleration when cranking hard, and the alloy frame is just about smooth enough to maintain speed over the kind of bobbly surfaces with small embedded stones that are typical of mellower off-road trails. Steering is sharp but wellbalanced for XC-style riding. There are no quirks or surprises when darting through trees or teetering across tricky passages, and whether we were standing up and looking ahead on skinny singletrack or cruising on longer seated rides, we didn’t suffer any of the aches and pains that some hardtails dish out. The Kahuna climbs fast, too, even on loose dirt, where the spiky Maxxis Forekaster rear tyre finds traction on grass and slime where other test bikes started to wheelspin.
Venture somewhere more adventurous and the tyres still have your back, gripping consistently on all surfaces, right up to quite muddy or churned-up earth. This is a major bonus in the UK, and means the Kona will work well in all weathers, and all without a serious dent in its rolling speed. One thing to be aware of is that because the Kahuna handles so well, it eggs you on to start trucking along at GT Zaskar-like speeds, and you can get in over your head. It does still have quite traditional geometry and a longer stem, and experienced testers soon found its limits – particularly those of its 100mm RockShox Recon Silver RL fork, which smashes through all of its travel with a clunk if the wheels leave the ground for too long on drops or jumps.
If you like to test your fitness on blue trails or just enjoy getting out in the great outdoors, the Kahuna looks and rides great. It’s just not that optimised for more aggressive downhill terrain or the best bike for a gung-ho teenager looking to be the next slopestyle star.
Kona have nailed the ride quality, and the good brakes and low-slung frame boost confidence if you’re feeling frisky