Alabama Mountain Biking Thread

good info thanks man! I like your bold statement, component choice does seem to be more of what I need to focus on and care less about the 27.5 vs 29. it does sound like you are saying you'd lean towards 29 if possible though, just not to necessarily rule out a bike if it's not a 29.

 

Bingo

 

alright, let's play a game.

you've got a ~$1500 budget and you are buying a hardtail.

which do YOU choose?

 

So if you look to DH as the future, shouldn't you we all be shopping for a mullet bike 29 upfront and 27.5 in the rear?

 

This is fun. But full disclosure my criteria are about more than the bike itself.
In my case I would choose the Honzo for the following reasons in order of priority:

• My local bike shop is a Kona dealer
• Kona sponsors a local pro here in Knoxville
• Konas are bulletproof. They aren't the lightest or prettiest bikes but offer excellent components (wide wheels, nice drivetrain) and built like a tank (oversized welds, larger than normal tubing)

With that being said; if you are going straight-up value, which sounds like is your priority, buy used. If you want new, look at Commencal, they are mail order bikes.

 

did you pick a Kona because that's what I shared, or is that your choice out of ALL BIKES? I'm not brand specific that's just the first ones I found, but if you recommend Kona anyways we do have an LBS that sells them.

 

Thank god that little experiment is already over.

Yeah 100%, I ride a Kona now for the same reasons. Hardtails are much more homologous -it becomes marginal gains very quickly when talking about hardtails so basically turns into brand allegiance. Now, full suspension bikes...that's where you can really get into the weeds of geometry and components.

 

well heck man that may have made my decision easy. I would love to support the LBS. I like the look of the Konas.

 

Can't go wrong. They are the workhorse of the big brands. Also just for clarification; the Honzo is sweet. Don't buy a Big Honzo. That 27.5+ shit is lame

 

yeah they don't seem to have the standard honzo on their website. I see it on the Kona site though. the regular honzo is a 29er

 

https://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/2633024/

 

what's a honzo st?

 

Steel is real

 

so steel instead of aluminum? why would you want steel?

I think at the price of the honzo from kona, I'd almost rather just by new and make the bike my own..

 

Steel tends to be more compliant (rides like a cadillac) at the expense of being slightly heavier. Yeah but you're right, support the LBS

 

I will, I'll get in touch with them when I'm closer to ready and see what they can do for me. I'm sure as a kona dealer they can get a honzo in.

 

If you pay cash they should be able to sweeten the deal a little for you ~5-10%

 

thanks for the help man, that bike does meet all the criteria I've been looking for that I said myself (29er, 1x, hardtail, air fork) so I like it. and I really like the green color lol

 

You need to make sure your main criteria for bike selection is inline with the type of riding you want to do. Most folks know they want to get into mountain biking and go in with a budget being their number one criteria. This can lead you into mistakes these days because of bike geometry. In the past, you could only get XC style hardtails with a low budget but now you can get hardtails that are slack and generally more "fun" to ride.

Now "fun" means different things for different riders. My brother didn't listen to me and bought an XC style hardtail when he has a background in motorcross. So he doesn't like his bike as much because he uses a bike designed for pedaling efficiency to hit jumps and it doesn't work out that well for him. You may like a "trail bike" the most.

 

well @honda50r knows my area and the riding I would possibly be doing, so I trust him to know more than I do on the geometry side of things lol