NOT SO SPY SHOTS
Caleb Holonko's Secret Kona
About a week ago, Hailey spotted a new clip of Caleb Holonko doing rowdy Caleb things on the shore (h/t to Fraser Vaage at Snik who originally posted it). This is nothing unusual for Caleb, who is part of the third wave of Shore-born shredders that can do things on two wheels that defy conventions and set new standards.
What was unusual was that while doing a bit of frame freezing to check out just how Caleb and his Kona were making our jaws drop, something seemed a little different about his bike: it looked like there were welds. And bump stops. A bit of double-checking confirmed that, no, Kona doesn't currently have an aluminum Process X, nor one that's rated for a dual crown fork, and carbon Process X are all out of stock. Was this a proto? A mule?
I mentioned it to Deniz who straight up called Caleb to put him on the spot. The Kona kid didn't give anything away, though: "I can't say anything. The boss says you can take photos, but you can't ask questions. Actually, you can ask, I just can't answer". They met up the next day and Deniz came up with a cheeky frame for these not-so-spy shots. IYKYK.
New Kona looks burly
NOT a charging port cover
Nice lines to the new bike
Burly is an understatement on this mechanical bull
Flip chips in the seatstay pivot on the rocker link..
Caleb Cables
No actuator for the AXS Dropper. Just press the button on the saddle head twice
We had a rather funny back and forth about the spy shot issue a few years ago. PB and Vital published some shots of a bike meant to be kept secret, we railed against it, probably a bit too strongly, and we may have changed our minds slightly since then, but oh well, it was fun at the time.
This is an entirely different scenario. We won't speculate too much about this 'new bike' but the alloy frame plus bump stops - if that's how it ends up being released - would suggest a budget-conscious long travel Kona aimed at huckers on a budget or park riders. Who knows if we're right or not, but it doesn't feel right that you can't buy a true freeride-oriented Kona these days since they discontinued the Operator DH/FR platform a few years ago.
Here's hoping there are some Konas with dual crowns rolling around again soon.
Comments
vantanclub
10 months, 2 weeks ago
Seems like the Shore and Slayer have shown there is a decent market for these aluminum, burly, "freeride" bikes.
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ShawMac
10 months, 1 week ago
If Kona is jumping into this niche too, it makes me wonder even more why Banshee decided to drop the Darkside.
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Onawalk
10 months, 2 weeks ago
The phots are an excellent dig at yourselves, I can appreciate your softening approach, and the humbling admittance that maybe it was a bit too much.
I always love coming here for the excellent reviews/tear downs, and shots of the Shore. Is it just me, or has there been less tear down reviews, and more op-ed stuff recently?
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Cam McRae
10 months, 2 weeks ago
Thanks OAW.
I think you are probably right that there have been less teardown/mechanical articles lately. We're probably overdue. I have a couple of things brewing and hopefully Andrew does as well. It's great to have so many readers who like to do their own mechanical work. At least anecdotally that seems to be the case but we'll be working on some hard data there in the coming months as well.
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Moritz Haager
10 months, 2 weeks ago
Can confirm that this reader loves to do his own work, which often ends up in learning through error, and love the tear down articles, and maintenance articles NSMB has done in the past.
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UMichael
10 months, 2 weeks ago
It has external cable routing!
I repeat: it has external cable routing!
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Dave Smith
10 months, 2 weeks ago
That dig is some serious inside baseball. Well-played.
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Deniz Merdano
10 months, 2 weeks ago
It was a no brainer...
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TannerValhouli
10 months, 2 weeks ago
Could this be the thing that resurrects Kona? Last I heard they’d been bought out and laid off a good chunk of their staff. Not very core if you ask me.
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Dogl0rd
10 months, 2 weeks ago
I loved my Kona Process until I got a Canyon Torque and realized the Kona suspension just doesn't eat bumps. It felt harsh.
It's probably not fair of me, but I wouldn't buy another one with that suspension layout. Maybe they can tune the kinematic better, but for me the cascade link still didn't change thew way bumps felt. Had very much an on the bike vs in the bike feel.
Would love a test drive of this or the X to see if it's better.
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FullSend
10 months, 2 weeks ago
Kona going back to their roots! I love it!
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Lynx .
10 months, 1 week ago
OK, I'm not into the whole Freeride or DH scene/thing, so I don't know just how silly a question this is, but what's all the fuss about a DC fork these days? I ask as if the likes of Semenuk, Boggs and the like can use/run a Zeb on the stuff they ride/do, why can't the general public as well instead o f the very restrictive DC fork setups you're talking about?
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Deniz Merdano
10 months, 1 week ago
You are referencing slopestyle athletes who have to deal with single big impacts. (medium if they catch the landing right)
Dual Crown forks really shine in rough, repetitive hits , aka, braking bumps, unexpected compressions, ruts that want to twist the chassis and bind up the telescoping forks.
Good riders can ride a dirt jump bike on big air courses along with downhill bikes (aka Sam Pilgrim)
Hope this helps
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Lynx .
10 months, 1 week ago
Thanks for the reply Deniz, never, ever ridden a DC fork and don't expect I ever will, just not my thing, but can understand it as you explain for the torsional stiffness standpoint, makes perfect sense thinking of it like that.
Oh and sorry if I wasn't specific, but was more thinking along the lines of them using the single crown forks at Rampage and such.
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Mammal
10 months ago
Another reason why you see freeride athletes using single crowns in applications where a dual crown has always been used, is for bar spins and similar combo tricks that are the requirement for scoring well. Single crown forks have narrowed the gap in recent years, but dual crowns still have lots of advantages.
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Joseph Crabtree
10 months, 1 week ago
Looks like 27.5 wheels, how can he even ride that thing? ;-)
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