Kona / Saint Supreme Operator from Kona Bikes on Vimeo.

To show the diversity of our 2012 Shimano Saint equipped Supreme Operator, we figured the best way to show the incredible range of the bike was to document both extremes. Lucky for us, we have some of the most talented gravity riders on the planet to take us there. Enter the 2012 Supreme Operator microsite presented by Kona and Saint…

Armed with the exacting standards of Saint components, coupled with a suspension platform that’s tough but light, plush but quick, and laterally stiffer that a skyscraper in a windstorm, the adventure documented in the video starts where clocks and race tape rule the roost. It ends up where no one is watching, save the ravens.

At World Cup stops in Leogang, Austria, and Fort William, Scotland with Kona Team Rider Mitch Delfs railing muddy, rider beaten courses full of technical turns, roots and rock drops, the Supreme Operator turns technical gnarl into flow.

It’s our out-of-the-box, World-Cup-ready race bike currently tearing up the DH circuit, thanks to The Kona Team’s Mitch Delfs and Connor Fearon. Using a refined Kona Walking Beam 4-Bar Linkage with oversized axle pivots, low standover and a modern, balanced riding position, we’ve taken everything we’ve learned from our World-Championship-winning Stab and created a bike that speeds into a new era of downhill riding. The Supreme Operator is extremely easy to maintain, with incredibly supple rear suspension and ride characteristics engineered to last. Have we mentioned that Dirt Magazine called it “bang on”? To make it even better we shortened the rear chainstays by 12mm.

This week’s readers rides focus is on team Maverick Cycles rider Kelvin Purchase. A Pietermaritzburg local who has been a dominant force on the local South African Downhill circuit over the last few years…

How is your year going so far, on and off the track?

Its going really good, on the track I feel like I’ve been riding good with the time I have having to work and such but I definitely have a whole lot of fun riding my Kona Supreme Operator and Kona One20. Off the bike I’ve been working hard, putting in some extra hours to get all the things done that I need to do to get qualified, which should be happening really soon. I also recently got engaged to Macheila which is really awesome so we’ve started to get some wedding prep going as well.

Did you reach your goals at the World Cup in PMB?

After crashing in the qualifying run in 09 and missing out by only 3 places, my main goal was to qualify and have a clean race run. I was really stoked to qualify and I had a good race run, I even got to sit on the hot seat for a bit which was awesome. So I’d say that I reached my goals. The whole experience was really cool and I can’t wait for the World Cup next year and World Champs in 2013.

Why Kona?

I’ve been riding for Maverick Cycles for the 3rd year now and they bring in Kona so it’s part of the deal I ride Kona. The Konas are really awesome though I have the Supreme Operator which is my DH bike and a One20 Deluxe which I use for XC and any other riding. Both ride super good and if I had a choice of any DH bike I’d still choose my Supreme Operator.

Has the Supreme Operator made a big difference for you?

It definitely has I feel a lot more confident on it and feel like I can go way faster, the Supreme Operator can handle anything you throw at it. Everyone that has take. It for a ride will tell you how good it feels.

What are the big differences from the Kona Stab from last year?

The whole bike has changed thats why the are no longer called Stabs. The head angle is slacker, BB lower, chain stay shorter, the whole bike is lighter and all the weight on the bike is all low down so it feels super stable and light to move around. It’s also really smooth and quiet. It’s easily one of the smoothest bikes out and the best to ride.

What have you changed from the box stock bike?

The Supreme Operator comes with really awesome specs so there isn’t really any reason to change anything. The only changes I’ve made are changing the pedals to clips, I put a direct mount stem on as well as other bars and I now ride a Fox 40 fork also.

Why did you make the changes?

The Operator comes with flat pedals and I like to ride clipped in mostly so that’s why I put clips on. The direct mount stem gives a stiffer feel so that’s why I put one on and I changed the bars because my Operator had 750mm wide bars and I like wider bars so I now have 785mm bars. There is quite a long story behind the Fox 40, so here’s the shorter version. The Supreme Operator comes with a Boxxer World Cup which is a great fork and I rode with the Boxxer until one day I crashed and snapped the lowers and there where none in stock, with a national being only a few days away Conrad made a plan for me and managed to build up a Fox 40 so that I could ride. I really like the feel of the 40 so decided to keep it on my bike. Thats basically the story. Ha ha.

What training do you do for DH?

Training is tough after working longer hours especially now in winter because it gets dark so early, but if I don’t work late I ride XC after work or if there is someone to shuttle (usually my dad) I ride some DH. Otherwise if it’s dark I hit the Gym or do sprints in my street where there are street lights. It pretty much depends on what the circumstances are that day.

What are your plans for the future?

I plan on always riding my bikes and want to race in the World Cup next year and also would really like to race World Champs in 2013. I’m also getting Married in January and plan on qualifying in the next two months. Macheila and I both really want to travel around the world at some stage as well so I’ll just have to wait and see what the future holds.

Is there any one you want to thank?

First of all the Lord Jesus Christ for all He has done for me in my life making all my dreams possible and blessing me so much.

My dad for all his time and effort he has put into my riding, coaching me, traveling to races, paying for most of the bills, shuttling up hills etc.

Maverick Cycles and everyone involved, they really have made my season even more enjoyable.

Sean Madden from Addidas for hooking me up with some sweet Addidas goggles, the best goggles I’ve ever ridden with.

Macheila for all her support, she always comes to the races and helps me out with a lot.

And my the rest of my family for all their support also. My mom, sister and gran come to most of the local races and are always so supportive.

Without all these people my life and riding would not be the same. Thanks guys.

Get the skinny on two entirely new models for 2012, the Honzo and the Satori in the latest installments of our Sneak Peek series of web posts…

HONZO

SATORI

Because we’ve always been an aggressive trail riding, rough terrain loving lot, we figured we’d apply our 29er design expertise to two models that push the limits of big-wheeled application. The Satori is a light, sturdy, quick and nimble aggressively-oriented 130mm dually that features a new Swing Link variation of our tried and true 4-Bar suspension platform. The Honzo is a burly all-mountain oriented Kona Cromoly hardtail with features like an oversized headtube that accommodates tapered forks, super short chainstays, ISCG tabs and adjustable dropouts. Both bikes round out a diverse and performance oriented line of Kona 29ers for 2012: an all-new King Kahuna carbon hardtail and a zippity quick Scandium 6069 Hei Hei 29 Supreme. Click on the photos of the Honzo and Satori for all the details.

Kona’s 2012 bikes are starting to arrive from the factory. Here’s a quick look at the first batch to run through our photo department. Some of the bikes you’ll see include the all-new Entourage, a shorter travel version of our burgeoning Operator downhill platform. Speaking of which, the new Operator, one of our most acclaimed bikes last year, stays on top of the gravity game with its incredible performance and great price. When it comes to going quick as a bat via leg and lung, take a look at our streamlined Jake Series of cyclocross bikes, and our all-new King Kahuna carbon fiber 29er hardtail. For more information on each bike, click on the photo below. Look for these bikes to be sparkling at a Kona dealer near you in the next few months.

Not too long ago we sent our in-house film crew to spend a few days with two of the top enduro racers in the world, Kona Team riders Matthew Slavin and Karim Amour. At the first race of the Oregon Super D Series, while blazing down fiery tracks outside of Hood River, Oregon, where the dirt burns red with speed, we dove into what makes enduro riding one of the hottest emerging racing segments in mountain biking right now. With Slaven rocking the Pacific Northwest and Amour the South of France, two of enduro’s longtime hotspots, riding our specifically purposed, Magic Link equipped Abra Cadabra 160mm discernable travel bikes, we give you the straight goods in this beautifully produced 3:30 minute mini documentary. Click on the frame below to watch. When you’re done watching it, grab the embed code or share the video with your friends.

Following the decision to enter the UK market directly, Kona Europe have appointed its highly experienced UK sales and marketing team. Andrew Butler will be heading up UK sales from July 1st, making his first order of business a visit to all current UK Kona Dealers. Butler’s experience with the UK bicycle market spans 25 years, having worked with Kona Bicycles for the past decade.”It’s an exciting time for the UK bicycle market,” says Butler. “With Kona’s established UK customer base, plus the benefits of dealing directly with Kona, dealers can expect a healthy future. Dealers will have access to the immense European stock holding and better margins for 2012.” The new 2012 range will be launched at Kona’s European headquarters in Geneva from the middle of July.

Andrew will have the support of Meriem Maher who will be running internal sales for the UK from Kona’s Monaco office. Maher will bring her 10 years experience with Kona to the UK market and will be joined by Richard Aelter who will be taking care of any UK warranties. Aelter has a wealth of experience from the World Cup downhill circuit where he has been a mechanic for Fabien Barel amongst others.

Communications in the UK will be handled by Ben Gaby, with 10 years experience with the Kona brand and the UK bicycle market, Gaby will be working with the UK press and dealers, working closely with Kona’s world-wide marketing group based out of British Columbia, Canada.

Maverick Cycles lent us their demo bike for the week to test and this is how it rides…

Reviewer: Nigel Hicks

The main eye catcher with the new Kona is the “magic link” system housed just above the bottom bracket. The new pivot design is not that different to Kona’s tried and tested 4bar linkage design which has been used with great success on all their models over the past years. The new magic link however gives the suspension a 5^th bar which allows the suspension to alter the travel from 6 inches to 7.4 inches according to the terrain. This design was developed by Brian Berthold from Brake Therapy (the same guy who produced Kona’s DOPE floating rear caliper system)

The lower shock mount which used to connect to the frame is now connected to a small spring-loaded bar. The spring in the magic link is pulled forward under pedaling tension which increases the head and seat-tube angles and keeps the suspension travel at 6 inches. However when acted upon by braking forces or bumps in the trail the spring link is forced backward, slackening the head-tube angle, lowering the bottom bracket and increasing the rear wheel travel to a maximum of 7.4 inches. This variation allows for a stable and stiff XC feel when climbing, with a more aggressive feel in rough terrain. The important thing to remember though is to give some time to get the bike set up properly to get the full use out of the magic link.

The demo bike was a medium but the Kona feels like a big bike with a high bottom bracket position during climbing. For taller riders the cockpit of the bike feels cramped on long climbs, but this short top tube length and short wheelbase allows for sharp and nippy cornering on the decents. The Marzocchi fork had tons of stiction in the initial stroke but opened up nicely on big hits on the trail. The multitude of pivots and linkages on the bike caused excessive flex in the rear end which could be felt on the fast off camber single track corners where the bike battled to hold its line. The bike really comes into its own on the rough descents however, and acts like very similarly to a true DH rig with the ample travel and low head angle allowing the bike to be forced into sections much more aggressively than other trail bikes with steeper geometry.

So is it worth it? Yes! The magic link on our test bike is still in its infancy so hopefully the 2009 bike will be stiffer and substantially lighter! But for an all round bike that you can take uphill with minimal suffering and then blitz down a downhill feeling invincible it is worth it.

Reviewer: Lloyd Ramsay

I rode the Coil Air just judging it by how it rode and felt. Crazy specs and shocks that travel back in time don’t matter to me. Right away I liked how well it peddled and the brown/gold paint job. Kona always have pretty rad colourways. The little tumblers in the brake levers where you can adjust the take were pretty handy and I had the brakes dialed in quick. I really liked the Kona peddles but since they are not stock you will have to sweet talk the folks at Maverick Cycles to throw a pair on. They are a thin profile with plenty of grip which I personally like.

Something which I did find odd on the bike is that that I could not feel the front end peddling up steep sections. It would feel like it was stuck in a wheelie so I would dab the bars left and right every now and again to judge what the front wheel was doing. Different bars and perhaps a different size stem should have fixed this. This did not ruin my ride but it was something I have never experienced on a bike before. Cornering is not a problem on the Coil Air and in fact makes it pretty easy to stay on your lines. Smaller rock sections are not too much of a problem either. Pushing the bike I felt some stiction on the forks but when you are on the bike you do not feel it all.

To finish off testing the bike I decided to see how fast I could pedal it down a long dirt road. I got up to a decent speed in no time and found some rain washed ruts to hit. Before I hit them I braced myself last second remembering I was not on my DH bike and trying to think if Maverick Bikes would be bummed if their Kona came back in 2 pieces. However the Coil Air made it over the ruts with no jarring at all. Some more rain ruts came up so I hit them even faster and the bike still glided over them. It definitely likes to stick to the ground. Catching air is not that easy on this bike but then again its not meant to be but I just had to try it.

Overall I found this bike to be fun. I would never use it for DH or any big hit jumps but it would be an ideal bike for training with or just having fun pedaling around. Kona’s to me are pretty weird looking bikes yet they always work a lot better than they look.

If you would like to ride the demo bike just drop by the Maverick store and arrange a ride. The Coil Air retails for R25 000 and is also available in a Deluxe version which is basically the same bike with better components and yet even one step higher is the Supreme model. More info on the bike can be found on their official website.

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