So we were drooling over the 09 Kona catalog as I stopped by the LBSfor coffee

On Sep 3, 8:35*am, Woland99 wrote:
On Sep 2, 10:01 pm, landotter wrote:



On Sep 2, 9:54 pm, Chalo wrote:

landotter wrote:

[something about road bikes]

It's a really fun catalog this year, have a browse, much better color
palate than last year, which was too tropical. ;-)

I noticed that there's no Ute this year. *It was a nice-looking cargo
bike at a very appealing price. *Maybe next time they go out on that
kind of limb, they'll have the sense to make it in more than one
size!

http://www.konaworld.com/09_ute_en.cfm

Still one size, but a nicer bag.

And a fun little movie:

http://www.konaworld.com/09_dewfiles_ep1.htm

This is NICE! You can do serious shopping with this bike.
Disk brakes - sth I miss on my Randonee when it rains.
Any idea how much Ute is? Is that one bag or two?

One, but the other side takes a good three panniers if ya squeeze them
in tight. About $900--same price as a ****ty used scooter, but far far
more badass.

On Sep 2, 2:04*pm, landotter wrote:
Some fun stuff, like the neato "Dew Drop":

http://www.konaworld.com/09_dewdrop_en.cfm

Should list for $700. Alu frame--nice and rigid. Tour on it, commute,
whatever. Fun stuff. The componentry qualifies as good enough to bang
around town or *ride across the country. Don't know if I'd trust the
hubset to go all the way to Timbuktu.

No racks, no fenders, disc brakes makes both difficult, No eyelets
anyway. City bike maybe altho even commuting w.o fenders makes that
tough.

But the one I like most is the Honky Tonk:

http://www.konaworld.com/09_honkytonk_en.cfm

$1K. Look ma, downtube shifters! Was designed for the Portland market--
funny, if I made a bike for Portland--I'd make it *aluminum*, duh. ;-)
Still, it's very handsome with the skinny tubes and it's pretty much
what 90% of what road bikes should look like on sales floors.

Few things in the last 2 decades have actually made cycling better.
One was lever mounted shifting. DT shifting is a fringe market and
would actually take people out of the already flat bike market. Fender
eyelets(good) but not for a rack.

It's a really fun catalog this year, have a browse, much better color
palate than last year, which was too tropical. ;-)

Just my opinion but it seems to cater to fad and fashion rather than
utility.

On Sep 3, 9:14*am, Qui si parla Campagnolo wrote:
On Sep 2, 2:04*pm, landotter wrote:

Some fun stuff, like the neato "Dew Drop":

http://www.konaworld.com/09_dewdrop_en.cfm

Should list for $700. Alu frame--nice and rigid. Tour on it, commute,
whatever. Fun stuff. The componentry qualifies as good enough to bang
around town or *ride across the country. Don't know if I'd trust the
hubset to go all the way to Timbuktu.

No racks, no fenders, disc brakes makes both difficult, No eyelets
anyway. City bike maybe altho even commuting w.o fenders makes that
tough.

My LBS pushes Dew Pluses with discs out the door with fenders and
Topeak racks quite often. It's a great setup. The Dew has a P2 fork
with double eyelets on both the inside and outside of the fork for
fender and lowrider mounting options, plus mid fork rack screws.

With the strong and cheap Topeak racks plus Kona's nice complement of
braze-ons--mounting racks and fenders isn't a big deal.

I run vees, but having seen some of the rigs S. and D. have easily
built up around disks the past few weeks--the anti-disc argument, even
though they might indeed be a fashion argument to some degree, are
gone.

Here's the Topeak Explorer rack that's the mass market solution to
disk woes:

http://www.outsideoutfitters.com/p-1...disc-rack.aspx

I've been doing more coffee with D. and having seen more real life
wheels in the truing stand this week, eesh--the way people treat their
poor tires and rims. Maybe discs are a damage control option for some
goons.

On Sep 3, 9:14*am, Qui si parla Campagnolo wrote:

$1K. Look ma, downtube shifters! Was designed for the Portland market--
funny, if I made a bike for Portland--I'd make it *aluminum*, duh. ;-)
Still, it's very handsome with the skinny tubes and it's pretty much
what 90% of what road bikes should look like on sales floors.

Few things in the last 2 decades have actually made cycling better.
One was lever mounted shifting. DT shifting is a fringe market and
would actually take people out of the already flat bike market.

Nahhhhh, Here's the deal, it got great with SIS. It got awesome with
hyperglide. STI for non-racing roadies? Not so much. From an aesthetic
standpoint, it's frickin' UGLY! DT shifters are a small small price
to pay for super clean aesthetics--it's not like Kona's going full
bore faerie Grant Peterson and wrapping **** with twine. ;-) Also--for
a guy like me who's used to running Nitto bars and cruising in the
drop flats, reaching a hand down for a rapid downshift on a climb is
really not slower than whacking a brifter when you've been doing it
for 25 years.

Kona's gonna sell a good number of these--the gear got easy enough to
use years ago, thank goodness folks are having some freaky fun again.

in article
, Qui si
parla Campagnolo at wrote on 3/9/08 15:14:

On Sep 2, 2:04*pm, landotter wrote:
Some fun stuff, like the neato "Dew Drop":

http://www.konaworld.com/09_dewdrop_en.cfm

Should list for $700. Alu frame--nice and rigid. Tour on it, commute,
whatever. Fun stuff. The componentry qualifies as good enough to bang
around town or *ride across the country. Don't know if I'd trust the
hubset to go all the way to Timbuktu.

No racks, no fenders, disc brakes makes both difficult, No eyelets
anyway. City bike maybe altho even commuting w.o fenders makes that
tough.

The Dew Drop has eyelets for mudguards and racks. The P2 700c disc fork has
eyelets, but it is a bit of a pain to get long enough stays to bend around
the calliper- but you could use a spacer to move the eyelet, either outwards
or backwards. Above the rear replaceable drop-out there are clearly two sets
of eyelets. There are quite a few rack designs to clear discs now, and the
stays have eyelets too.

I have a drop-bar disc tourer with full mudguards, and it is the best
rainy-day commuter I can imagine. My fork has guard eyelets half way up the
fork, which is a good solution. The RoadHog Fork that comes with Cotic's
RoadRat can take mudguards as normal, because the calliper is on the front.

Ben

On Sep 3, 8:41*am, landotter wrote:
On Sep 3, 9:14*am, Qui si parla Campagnolo wrote:

On Sep 2, 2:04*pm, landotter wrote:

Some fun stuff, like the neato "Dew Drop":

http://www.konaworld.com/09_dewdrop_en.cfm

Should list for $700. Alu frame--nice and rigid. Tour on it, commute,
whatever. Fun stuff. The componentry qualifies as good enough to bang
around town or *ride across the country. Don't know if I'd trust the
hubset to go all the way to Timbuktu.

No racks, no fenders, disc brakes makes both difficult, No eyelets
anyway. City bike maybe altho even commuting w.o fenders makes that
tough.

My LBS pushes Dew Pluses with discs out the door with fenders and
Topeak racks quite often. It's a great setup. The Dew has a P2 fork
with double eyelets on both the inside and outside of the fork for
fender and lowrider mounting options, plus mid fork rack screws.

With the strong and cheap Topeak racks plus Kona's nice complement of
braze-ons--

I guess the picture doesn't show it well but I don't see any rack
eyelets on the 'dew' up on the seat stays nor any eyelets on the
fork.

On Sep 3, 8:49*am, landotter wrote:
On Sep 3, 9:14*am, Qui si parla Campagnolo wrote:

$1K. Look ma, downtube shifters! Was designed for the Portland market--
funny, if I made a bike for Portland--I'd make it *aluminum*, duh. ;-)
Still, it's very handsome with the skinny tubes and it's pretty much
what 90% of what road bikes should look like on sales floors.

Few things in the last 2 decades have actually made cycling better.
One was lever mounted shifting. DT shifting is a fringe market and
would actually take people out of the already flat bike market.

Nahhhhh, Here's the deal, it got great with SIS. It got awesome with
hyperglide. STI for non-racing roadies? Not so much. From an aesthetic
standpoint, it's frickin' UGLY! *DT shifters are a small small price
to pay for super clean aesthetics--

For new riders, not the fringe, function makes the difference between
buying and RIDING a bike and playing tennis.


it's not like Kona's going full
bore faerie Grant Peterson and wrapping **** with twine. ;-) Also--for
a guy like me who's used to running Nitto bars and cruising in the
drop flats, reaching a hand down for a rapid downshift on a climb is
really not slower than whacking a brifter when you've been doing it
for 25 years.

See above, new riders. The bike industry needs to attract new riders,
not just keep selling to those who have been riding 'for 25 years'.
Golf is growing, so is tennis and skiing and just about every other
leisure time activity...except cycling even considering the ADDED
utility of being transportation to some..why is that?

Because the industry talks to people that ride, not to people that
don't. Kona and all the other bike makers need to make a very
functional and useful bicycle that is fun and functional and
reliable.

Kona's gonna sell a good number of these--the gear got easy enough to
use years ago, thank goodness folks are having some freaky fun again.

On Sep 2, 4:04*pm, landotter wrote:
Some fun stuff, like the neato "Dew Drop":

It's a really fun catalog this year, have a browse, much better color
palate than last year, which was too tropical. ;-)


Not so much Mango flavor this year?

I guess the picture doesn't show it well but I don't see any rack
eyelets on the 'dew' up on the seat stays nor any eyelets on the
fork.

They are on the traditional location on the stays, the middle of the
fork, and also on both the inside and outside of the fork leg.

It's a swell little hybrid frame and fork--sort of like an F150 in the
sense that you can slowly customize it into all sorts of things as the
geometry is spot on for a lot of uses. I just got back from 70 miles
on mine in horse country and the Natchez Trace Parkway. Of course it
runs hand built wheels, non-stock bars, and some nice tires. :-P
Another person might want to turn one into a flat bar 29er trail bike,
another person might want to citify it more. Mine's more of a light
touring rig. Comfy for all day travel.

On Sep 3, 2:49*pm, Qui si parla Campagnolo wrote:

Because the industry talks to people that ride, not to people that
don't. Kona and all the other bike makers need to make a very
functional and useful bicycle that is fun and functional and
reliable.

A usenet contributor needs to look at the Kona site and realize that
Kona makes some ****ing practical bikes IN ADDITION TO MAKING SOME
SILLY STUFF BECAUSE IT'S FUN TO MAKE SILLY STUFF. (scream
intentional)

Geez you're a stick in the mud.