The Radavist

Kona Ambassador Henry Cruickshank created this beautiful short animation:

“It’s all too easy to be disheartened by not having anything to look forward to, no events or races or group rides. But maybe we need to look to our canine friends, who need no reason to be fit and will run for the sheer love of it. We worry about our fitness, our training or lack of it, our pacing… dogs don’t care what size or shape they are, never worry about keeping up with their faster friends and will attack every hill with gusto, not caring if they have enough energy to make to the top.

Dogs are always ready: a simple play bow is all the invitation they need to race around.

Be more dog.”

Yep. You read that right! The team at Kona is looking to expand their brand ambassadors for 2021 and all ya gotta do is:

“To apply, please send an email to ambassadors@konaworld.com and answer the following questions:

Really, we’re looking for what makes YOU unique and what you’ve done to create a cool little niche in your biking world. So tell us anything you think we need to know about you and what makes you awesome.”

See more at Kona!

It’s amazing what a single night in the woods with friends can do for one’s psyche… This new video from Kona has all the vibes from a S24O.

With the Libre being a relatively new addition to the Kona drop-bar lineup, it was surprising to see a complete geometry revamp this morning when the new model was announced. The best news is, while these changes apply to the higher end build kits, the lower end Libre model packs all these updates, at an unbeatable pricepoint of just $1799. The aluminum Libre features flat mount discs, Apex build kit, and a revamped geo, nesting it inside the Libre lineup quite well. Head to Kona to see more.

Jake Hood takes the Honzo ESD out for a casual rip around his local trails in the latest video from Kona.

Finally! Kona hinted to us that a “new Honzo” was on its way a little while ago but this is not what we were expecting. The Honzo ESD hit the internet today with a 150mm fork, a 63º head angle and a 77.5º seat angle with 62.5mm bottom bracket drop and 417mm seat stays, the Honzo ESD looks to be a very modern hardtail. The complete will set you back $2699 and the frame just $665, one dollar off from really raising hell.

Specs:
-Frame Material: Kona Cromoly Butted
-Wheels: Race Face AR 30 on Shimano SLX Hubs
-Front Suspension: 150mm
-Fork: Marzocchi Bomber Z1 Grip Damper 150mm
-Crankset: Race Face Aeffect R
-Drivetrain: Shimano XT/SLX 12spd
-Brakes: Shimano Deore with 203mm front/180mm rear rotor
-Seat Post: Trans-X Dropper +RAD Internal w/ Shimano Lever 31.6mm
-Cockpit: Race Face Aeffect R 35 Bar & Stem with Kona Lock-on Key Grip
-Front Tire: Maxxis Assegai EXO TR 3C 29×2.5″ WT
-Rear tire: Maxxis Minion DHR II EXO TR 3C 29×2.4″ WT
-Saddle: WTB Volt

See more at Kona.

Remember that funky Sutra ULTD we teased a few weeks ago? Well, Kona has all the details on this drop bar touring bike up on their site now, including pricing and build spec. To start, if you just wanted to build one of these up yourself, the frame will set you back $599. Or a complete would run you $2399 with the specs below. The Sutra ULTD will fit a 29×2.25″ tire, comes with a Trans-X +RAD dropper installed and ready, as well as SRAM Rival 1 flat mount disc brakes. It dons a 69.5º head angle, a long wheelbase for added stability, and either a 74mm or 72mm BB drop depending on the size. All in all, the Sutra ULTD looks to be a very funky, yet highly functional touring bike from a brand that knows how to put together rad bikes. See more at Kona.

Frame Material: Kona Cromoly Butted
Fork: Kona Project Two Cromoly Disc Touring
Wheels: WTB KOM Light Team i27 TCS 2.0 29”
Crankset: SRAM NX
Drivetrain: SRAM Rival 1 11spd
Brakes: SRAM Rival 1 with 160mm front/160mm rear rotor
Seat Post: Trans-X Dropper +RAD Internal 31.6mm
Cockpit: Kona Road Bar/Kona Road Deluxe Stem
Front Tire: Maxxis Recon Race EXO TR 29×2.25″
Rear tire: Maxxis Recon Race EXO TR 29×2.25″
Saddle: WTB Volt

… and it brought back the Rove LTD, which features GRX 810, the Rove Verso flat-mount carbon fork, butted tubing and more. The whole Rove lineup has a breakdown at Kona, so head on over to check it out.

Kona shared with us their new Sutra ULTD 29r, which looks like the most beastly Kona drop-bar bike yet. 1x drop bars, dropper post, massive tire clearance. This looks like quite the trail ally! There is much more info to come but right now, I’m excited to see where this is going!

We love a good hardtail shredit and Connor Fearon knows how to take the right lines, the hard way…

Kona-rider Chris Hornbecker made good use of his quarantine time with this fun video:

“A quick bikepacking trip with the goal of getting back to and reconnecting with nature. Making the best use of my time during lockdown. I decided to embark on this journey with some old school movie magic. Well, not quite magic – more of a projector and some complimentary lighting. With those ingredients in place I just needed to add some stock footage to complete the journey. Now that we can actually venture out again, let’s go reconnect with nature and slow down.”

Spencer and Donny have two different styles and preferences when it comes to riding bikes. One is the ultra XC hardtail guy and the other loves downhill. What could bring them together after such a schism has formed?