After weeks of looking and careful comparison shopping I had finally decided to buy a Marin Wildcat trail. The simplicity of a single pivot suspension appealed to me. However, when I walked out of the bike shop I was the proud and nervous owner of a Kona Stab. Would I regret this last minute decision? Would the additional complexity of a four bar linkage make the bike less reliable? A summer of thrashing gave me the answer.

The Kona Stab is based on Kona's four bar linkage. This is very similar to other suspension designs out there like Giant and Cove's G-spot. The Stab frame is identical to the Stinky-six and the 2002 Stinky. The front triangle is made of Kona's Easton RAD clone tubing and is very beefy. I put a substantial dent in the downtube as a result of a fall and the bike seems to have been completely unaffected. The rear triangle appears to be equally strong. The polished aluminum, asymmetrical chainstays are stunning. I don't know why but polished aluminum makes anything look faster and more purposeful.

Before the bike left the shop a few changes were made. The cranks were upgraded from Truvativ Hussefelt to Race Face North Shore XS splined and the front Mr. Dirt chainguide was replaced by an XT front derailleur and Deore shifter.

The back suspension duties are handled by a Fox Vanilla R which I have always thought was a fine shock but the one on my bike is not the best example I have ridden. My biggest suspension complaint is the way the stock spring rates were set. The back end was set so soft I could bottom it out in the parking lot just by pushing down hard on the pedals, while the fork had stiff springs in it. The bike was completely unbalanced. My bike is a small sized frame so I could understand a soft spring rate for the back if the Kona product manager envisioned small sized people buying this bike but it doesn't explain the stiff springs in the fork. My friendly bike shop changed one front spring to a medium and changed the rear spring to something more suitable to my weight and riding style. At the same time they replaced the upper shock bolt (which had bent) with a a more heavy duty item

The brakes are stupendous. So much so that I was a little scared of them at first. An 8 inch Hayes in the front and a 6 inch Hayes in the back work flawlessly, reliably and in a balanced fashion. After riding with an 8 inch disk brake I now look at bikes with 6 inch brakes in the front and think, "How can they even ride with that puny brake?" An amazing transformation considering that at the beginning of the season I was riding V-brakes.

Other parts on the bike are less stupendous. My biggest complaint is with the wheels and rear derailleur. Both wheels were very poorly built. The front was a Formula QR-20 hub laced to a Sun Ditch Witch and it needed to be tensioned after every ride and finally tacoed on a fairly gentle fall. The rear wheel had the same rim laced to a Deore disk hub. This wheel in combination with the LX rear derailleur proved to be a horror. The wheel would flex and catch the derailleur in the spokes, ripping it off the hanger. I would go through 3 hangers on a single ride with no crashes. I would break a hanger doing a J-hop. Thankfully, the bike shop swapped out the derailleur with a short cage XT derailleur for no charge and that seemed to cure the problem. Two different Kona dealers I talked to said this was a common problem with the Stab. I eventually replaced the wheelset with a set of Mavic D321's laced to higher quality hubs and they have proven to be far superior to what came with the bike.

Other complaints about the parts spec include the Kona branded seatpost that came with the bike, it broke after a few rides, another common problem I am told. I replaced it with an Interloc seatpost (A Kona house brand) which works great. Why wasn't this post on the bike in the first place? The headset broke so it was replaced with a Chris King. Finally, the bike will not accept a seatpost quick release as it interferes with the suspension action. I found this out through experience. The suspension linkage plates are missing a chunk of aluminum where they were gouged by the seatpost quick release. The lack of a quick release is not an issue for downhillers or shuttlers but it makes Grouse a bit of a chore.

So the stock parts weren't great but does it rip? Oh yeah. My first few rides were soon after a large helmet breaking, confidence deflating crash. I rode like crap but it was obvious that this bike was superior to what I had been riding. The bike just loves to go downhill. Even in my poor mental state I was immediately riding steeps with more confidence and going faster to boot. The suspension works very well on the trail but six inches front and rear do make pedaling a chore. On the plus side hitting obstacles does not seem to affect your pedal stroke. The bike just sucks it up and you keep on pedaling. I do find the bike more challenging on skinnies because of the weight and extra travel but it is worth it for the launches and jumps. The bike is very comfortable in the air and does a fantastic job of absorbing the occasional miscue or rough landing. A lot of guys I know are praising freeride hardtails, but I am old and unskilled and six inches of front and rear suspension is perfect for keeping me comfortable and upright.

The frame, fork and brakes form the heart of any freeride bike and these are all spot on, but the rest of the bike falls short. I understand product managers need to make tough choices in order to meet price points but I think some poor choices were made here. For the money I would like wheels that stay tensioned, a $30 seatpost instead of a $20 seatpost and a rear derailleur setup that doesn't self-destruct. A FSA Pig headset is cheap but certainly stronger than what came on the Stab. Why wasn't a heavy-duty shock bolt on the bike to begin with? This is not a bike designed to appeal to beginners and the spec should reflect this.