Only 17 years old, Leah Maunsell rides XC and Enduro for Kona and is the big young hope in Irish mountain biking. In 2016, she claimed first place in the U-21 category at the EWS in Ireland. Here she is riding the Big Honzo on her home trails.
Riding a hardtail means an unfiltered, raw mountain bike experience. No energy is wasted in the rear triangle, impacts are passed on largely unfiltered. This trains the rider's feel and encourages precise line choice. For many bikers, their first contact with the sport was on a hardtail.
But especially for the more experienced among us mountain bikers, a return from a fully to a hardtail can not only be eye-opening, but also a lot of fun. It doesn't necessarily have to be the rickety old 26-inch bike with quick-releases and a barely functioning suspension fork on which it all began. Although that also has its appeal, but that's another story...
Kona Big Honzo DL - Hardtail for rough terrain
The modern hardtail interpretation as a versatile fun machine with take-away qualities is more like a bike like the Kona Big Honzo. 27.5-inch wheels with 2.8-inch wide plus tyres increase traction and filter out more bumps than classic 2.25-inch tyres. When things get steep, the saddle can be lowered at the touch of a button, the fork with 120 millimetres of travel keeps the front tyre on track and should leave little to be desired. Even our testers could only detect minor differences in the limit range between the Rock Shox Yari fitted to the Kona Big Honzo DL and the much more expensive Lyrik.
The eleven gears of the 11-42 cassette are sorted by a Sram GX with NX shifter. The 30-tooth chainring makes it clear that the Big Honzo is not intended to be a fast race bike, but rather to provide sufficient small gears on steep ramps. If you want, you can customise the gear ratio of the Race Face cranks using direct mount chainrings. A neatly finished aluminium frame with a lifetime warranty and partially internally routed cables round off the overall package.
Geometry: Priority riding pleasure
The geometry of the Kona Big Honzo is designed for maximum playfulness. Due to the lack of a front derailleur mount and the Boost standard, the chainstays could be designed for a super short 415 millimetres. Together with the steering angle of a still moderate 68 degrees, the bike should be extremely manoeuvrable and can be pulled by the slightest shift of weight onto the rear wheel. The reach for frame size L is 475 millimetres, and to ensure the best pedalling characteristics, the seat angle is a steep 75 degrees. We do not have an official weight specification, but the Kona in size L should weigh a little under 13.5 kilos. Prices in Europe are around 2500 euros.
Click here for the
Website of Kona
for more detailed information on equipment and geometry.
Adrian Kaether
Editor
