KONA HONZO CR TRAIL DL Price: From: £4,399.00 Kona Bikes, konaworld.com Kona is a brand that has been doing the hardtail very well for a long time. It’s delivered some cracking entry-level bikes and top-flight cross-country race machines over its 29-year history, but the brand is better known for its approach to producing capable hardtails that place the primary focus on fun, rather than on price or weight. And with a knack for reading the mountain bike market like a tarot card, Kona has also made a bit of a habit for setting wider industry trends in its wake. Take the original Honzo that was launched in 2012 – a burly steel 29er hardtail that was anything but cross-country. The Honzo wasn’t quite the first rad 29er hardtail to hit the market (the Banshee Paradox and Canfield Yelli Screamy preceded it), but Kona did a lot to win over non-cross-country riders to the big wheels. And boy did it bring the rad to the 29er party. With its slack head angle, tight 420mm chainstays and burly parts spec, the Honzo quickly became the benchmark for other big wheel trail bikes. It was heavy and somewhat under-geared with its 1x10 drivetrain, but it was mighty tough and mega fun for ripping apart singletrack. Its addictive ride quality set the bar for 29er trail bikes, and many other brands are still trying catch on today. For 2017, the Honzo is now exclusively produced in alloy and carbon options. There are seven models in total (four alloy and three carbon), and all are built around the same geometry with a 120mm travel fork. The black stallion here is the top-end Honzo Carbon Trail DL. It’s the first Honzo to be made out of carbon fibre, and it stands as Kona’s flagship carbon 29er hardtail. The Bike For a bike that is black-on-black-on-black, the Honzo is a rather eye-catching machine, and one that confuses many riders at first. With such a short back-end and burly fork, it looks like it belongs at a slopestyle course rather than a trailhead. Having said goodbye to the traditional cross-country race hardtail with the last King Kahuna model back in 2015, Kona has instead decided that carbon hardtails shouldn’t be limited to racing. The Honzo is lightweight and expensive yes, but it’s a bike that’s been hard-wired into silly mode. The gorgeous frame is full of sleek and organic shapes, with svelteness where possible, and oversized chunk where it counts. A 92mm wide PF92 bottom bracket shell provides a stable platform for power delivery from the pedals, while a gargantuan headtube junction ensures loads of frontal stiffness. Like the BB, the headtube houses press-in bearing cups. The frame is built around a 120mm travel fork, which in the case of the DL model is a RockShox Pike RCT3. There’s Boost hub spacing front and rear, and the conventionally laced wheels are built with WTB Asym i29 rims that use a generous 29mm internal width. Those are matched up to a burly Minion DHF tyre up front, and a faster-rolling Ardent out back. Along with the fork and wheelset, everywhere you look on the Honzo CR Trail DL just bellows capability. Fourpiston SRAM brakes deliver the power with a 180mm rotor on the front, and Kona has specced a KS dropper post for slamming the saddle out of the way when things get wild and woolly. Just like the original steel Honzo, the carbon frame is 1x only. Along with the Boost offset drivetrain and low-hanging bottom bracket, that’s allowed Kona to build in some seriously short chainstays – 415mm to be precise. Outrageously short! To achieve such a number, the seat tube curves around the rear wheel to tuck it in as closely as possible. There isn’t a load of mud clearance, and the frame is definitely not 27.5+ compatible. Apparently the geometry compromises weren’t worth it for Kona’s designers, and so the Honzo is a purebred 29er. Other numbers on the Honzo are similarly boundarypushing. A 68° head angle relaxes handling at speed, while each frame size is gifted a substantial wheelbase length that’s delivered by a very roomy front centre. On the Medium test bike, you’re looking at a 450mm reach, which to put it in perspective, is just 5mm short of the reach of an XL Nukeproof Scout 290. That is long by anyone’s book, and particularly when we’re talking about a lightweight racecapable hardtail like this. Short at the back and long up front? You bet – and then some. 50
The Honzo frame is littered with sweet details including several neat internal cable routing ports. The seat and chainstays on the Honzo are beautifully formed. 51
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PREMIER DEALERS. Bike shops and bus
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