Kona has been the world leader in supplying the best mountain bike parks in the world since we kicked things off with the Whistler Blackcomb Mountain Bike Park back in 1998.
Since that time, Kona bikes have descended millions of vertical feet each year and with stood punishing conditions no matter where in the world you are. The UK has 2 Kona Bike Parks, The Hub in the Forest in Scotland and Skyline Cycles in Wales. Both trail centres have world class facilities and a great selection of Kona hire bikes and equipment. For more details visit:
www.konabikeparks.com

Kona Clump Jam - The Track, Cornwall - Slopestyle Invitational

Where: - The Track, Parc Erissy Ind Est, New Portreath Road, Redruth, Cornwall, TR16 4HW.

When: - Saturday 13th - Sunday 14th September 2008

The Kona Clump Team, The best UK talent & other pro's from around the world. More details to follow on the event keep posted here for news and event details.

Competition: Kona have teamed up with Dirt magazine to bring you this exclusive comp. Design the ultimate slopestyle feature to win a Kona Bass and the chance to work with the Kona Clump Team on the construction of the permanent slopestyle course at the Track in Cornwall.
Entries NOW CLOSED - The winners will be notified here in a couple of days
Prizes: Kona Bass Signature Bike, Kona Clothing and Pro-Tec Gear.

Keep posted at www.dirtmag.co.uk & www.the-track.co.uk for more details.

The entries are coming in, view them HERE>>

The winner of the Dirt competition will need to keep the 13-14th of May free to come down to the Track in Cornwall where they will meet with Chopper and collect their prizes from Kona dealer the Bike Chain Ricci. The winner will be announced on the 1st of May.

What Mountain Bike - May 2008 Issue 82
Biggest Bike Test EVER 7 £1500 Full-Suss Bikes.

Out of the 7 bikes tested the Winner is... The Kona Dawg £1375

Excellent all-round trail fun in high-value, upgradeable package 9/10

Ride a Kona Dawg at your Kona Demo Dealer - Find a Dealer.

Kona has made some big changes in the way it has joined the dots. For a start, it has moved scandium alloyed tubing from it's race bikes and into its trail bikes, which means significant weight loss from the frame.

. By changing the whole cockpit leverage, it gives a real vitality, lightness of touch and speed of steering. The slack head angle and long top tube mean the short stem doesn’t cut into high speed/steep descent stability or breathing space on climbs either. Kona offsets most of the easily charted wonders of linkages and altered wheel paths just by getting the shock tune right. Add the generous top tube length and fast rolling tyres, and the Dawg was scrabbling up the banks far better than it should. You can still get the Dawg to pull it’s back wheel off the ground when sprinting out of corners, or smack hard off the face of bigger blocks, while pedalling through rockeries, but that’s a good sign.…..the Dawg feels totally sorted for the technical riding, right from the off.

Apart from setting the sag, and checking the tyre pressure, we didn’t do anything else to it….with the Kona, all we had to find was our favourite bit of singletrack. The great thing about the Kona is that we wanted to absolutely thrash it as soon as we got on it. Because we didn’t need to flick the lockout lever on, we didn’t forget to flick it off for descents. The simple truth is that it [the Dawg] is good fun. Enough travel to really let rip, not so much weight that you’ll die on climbs, and so much fun on the best bits of the trail that we just wanted to ride it again and again. Despite having the lowest price tag here [out of 7 bikes], there’s nothing that screams for an immediate change, although there’s bags of upgrade potential for future investors.

What clinches the win though, is the totally sorted handling balance that you just can't help thrash, launch, sprint and slide through the singletrack all-day long.

We know it's corny, but this time man's best friend really is his Dawg.

The Lake District National Park have chosen to purchase Kona Blasts in order to allow their National Park Wardens ability to use MTB when appropriate rather the motorized vehicle. This is a new initiative under going trial to see how it works. They chose the Blast over other bikes because of its total suitability, value and ease of maintenance. Scott Henderson, National Park warden and keen MTB advocate collected the new bike from Kona Dealer Keswick Mountain Bikes on 28th April and intends to start using it immediately for his work. All of us at KMB hope this is just the start of much wider use of bikes by organizations like the National Park, National Trust and local Police forces.

Good Times, Bad Times in Madrid - CLUMP Superstar Andreu Lacondeguy Throws Down For First - KONAWORLD (May 5, 2008) –

Over the course of last weekend Madrid, Spain dished out first-place medals and first-class crashes to members of Kona’s CLUMP and Factory Team riders. Competing in the heart of the European city, Andreu Lacondeguy showed off his hard-to-compete-with-talent at the Nissan Qashqai Challenge – blowing all other competitors out of the aqua en route to seizing the top prize.

Scoring the highest mark of the day after ripping off a Superman back flip, the young gun continued his final run by stomping a 360 on the step up, hitting another huge extended Superman and following that up with a clean 360 tailwhip. Fellow CLUMPster Grant “Chopper” Fielder also competed in the event but missed the cut for the 15-rider finals.

Kona CLUMP Riders Qualify For 2008 Nissan Qashqai Challenge
- Outstanding ’07 Performance’s Land Lacondeguy, Basagoitia and Fielder In Five-Series Event –

KONAWORLD (March 5, 2008) – Coming off an impressive 2007 season, Kona CLUMP riders Andreu Lacondeguy, Paul “Bas” Basagoitia and Grant “Chopper” Fielder automatically qualified for the 2008 Nissan Qashqai Challenge (NQC). The five-event series will take place from April through May at five different European venues with the Grand Final slated for London, UK.

Event dates 2008:
Saturday April 25th/26th Nissan Qashqai Challenge Open: Milan, Italy
Saturday May 2nd/3rd Nissan Qashqai Challenge Open: Madrid, Spain
Sunday May 11th Nissan Qashqai Challenge: Munich, Germany, 1 day event
Saturday May 17th Nissan Qashqai Challenge: Paris, France, 1 day event
Saturday May 24th Nissan Qashqai Challenge Grand Final: London, UK, 1 day event

Kona to Donate 1,000 AfricaBikes - In its third year, BikeTown Africa program sees increased awareness and more bikes -

KONAWORLD (February 20, 2008) – From its inception in 2005, the Kona BikeTown Africa program has had a simple, primary focus: provide durable, easy-to-maintain AfricaBikes to healthcare workers to assist in the treatment of HIV/AIDS patients.

To date, Kona has donated roughly 500 bikes, and will double their output this year for the project.

The scheme is simple; Kona donates one bike for every two purchased to BikeTown or other non-profit and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) whose missions include helping to improve the quality of life in sub-Saharan Africa.

Sparked by an idea from ‘Hank & Frank’s,’ a northern California Kona bike dealer, Kona, with tremendous support from Bicycling magazine and Bristol-Myers Squibb’s ‘Secure the Future Foundation,’ created the strict not-for-profit ‘Adopt an AfricaBike’ program. With roughly 2,000 AfricaBikes being sold around the world in the last year, Kona will donate 1,000 to the project. All proceeds from sales go into the production and delivery of AfricaBikes to Africa.

Kona Chief Jake Heilbron says “The idea that we can help in Africa has clearly hit a nerve in the minds of cyclists everywhere.” Making at least three trips to Africa in June and August, BikeTown representatives, volunteers and bike mechanics will be stopping in Mozambique, Swaziland and twice in South Africa to educate Africans about the bikes and lend support in their healthcare mission.

For more information about Kona BikeTown Africa and how to adopt an AfricaBike check www.konabiketown.com

Announcing the Kona Clump for 2008 - Kona Freeride Team Ready to Log Air Time in 2008

The team’s top two performers, Paul Basagoitia and Andreu Lacondeguy, both have their goals set on improving on their 2007 performances while dishing out some new aerobatics along the way.

In his fourth season riding for the CLUMP team, Basagoitia has his eyes fixed on the top spot of the Qashqai Series Overall title. “Bas” took second in the series last year with the chase for the overall win coming down to the final event – where he narrowly missed the crown. He’ll also be looking to make his way back onto the podium at the Kokanee Crankworx Slopestyle event – a comp that he’s won twice before.

Cruising into their second season with the team, the Lacondeguy brothers, Andreu and Lluis, are poised to have a breakout year. Andreu has been raising the bar ever since he exploded onto the freeride scene in 2006. His aggressive riding style, fearless mentality and array of skillful tricks go along with his larger-than-life personality. He has quickly become a fan and media favorite and has the results to match. Andreu took second at the Kokanee Crankworx in 2007 and first at the Qashqai Dirt event in Milan, Italy. Lluis continues to refine his tricks and riding style and is looking to improve his performance in 2008. He flows with confidence and excels during the video afilming sessions. Lluis is looking to makethat translate over to the Dirt Jump and Slopestyle Competitions in 2008.

Also in his second season with the CLUMP crew is Grant “Chopper” Fielder. Fielder makes the most of his riding season and puts some serious time in on the Animal Demo tour throughout Europe. He has demonstrated the ability to compete in the grandest of competitions and has the potential to put together his best year yet.

Finally, CLUMP team manager Cowan will continue to offer his sage advice throughout the year to all riders. He has been a solid force and excels in Dirt Jump and Slopestyle events. With competition days behind him, “Uncle Crusty” hasn’t lost his touch and always finds time to show the youngsters he can still pull off some nasty tricks when the mood strikes. Cowan will be a stabilizing figure for the team throughout the season.

Kona Athlete Tracy Moseley & SONY
Kona Factory downhill racer Tracy Moseley is featuring in Sony's latest advertising campaign, featuring her Kona Stab Supreme, Tracy has been using Sony's Vaio range of laptops to update her blog and keep her in touch with her family and friends on her world tour. Tracy will be travelling out to New Zealand in January and racing in the national series, getting her up to speed ready for the first round of the Downhill UCI World Cup in Maribor.

Moseley Wins National Points Final – Innerleithen.
The UK National Points Series final was held in the mountain bike mecca that is Innerleithen on 14th October, and was won by Kona Les Gets rider Tracy Moseley. A new track was being used at the venue, along with a new format with no seeding run. This was all or nothing on one final run. Tracy ruled the course and took the win. Despite only doing two rounds Tracy won both she entered and claimed 2nd place in the series overall.

The final round of the Nissan Qashqai Urban series has just been staged in La Villette, in Paris. Everything was still up for grabs for Kona Clump rider, Paul Basagotia. The points were tight with 2nd place man, Darren Berrecloth, and with a total prize fund of 100,000 euros, all the riders would be fully committed in this, the deciding round.

As with all the other rounds in this Nissan Qashqai series, a different discipline was on the menu, and this time it is maybe the most spectacular; Big Air.

The course was set out with an enormous wooden roll in ramp and two consecutive doubles, the first had a 35ft gap, and the second was 22ft. These were huge jumps, even by today’s standards. The course was finished off with a quarter pipe and wall ride combination.
Rain came into play again and forced the first day to be cancelled. This left just one day for the riders to get the jumps dialled and compete for the finals.

With UK rider Lance McDermott failing to make the final that meant Kona’s Paul Basagotia had just one competitor who could knock him off the top spot, Darren Berrecloth.
Pauls first run saw him hit up a huge x-up to no foot can over the 35ft gap, a clean flip with a late table over the 22ft gap and a super stylish boost out of the quarter pipe. Berrecloth hit back with a run featuring an Indian air, 360 one foot table and an air out of the quarter.
Bas’s second run saw him sky-high flip the daunting 35ft gap, one foot table over the 22ft and a tabled air out of the quarter. Berrecloth donned his full face helmet and went all out on his second run with a huge 360, overjumping the first and an attempted opposite 360 over the second, but he under rotated and came up a little short.

No one really new who had won, and how this would affect the overall. When the judge’s marks came in everyone was surprised to see Paul Basagotia down in fourth place. With Berrecloth taking the win Paul slipped from the top spot to miss out on the overall win by just one point. Still second place was good enough for a 25,000 euro prize. Kona Clump rider Andreu Lacondeguy also made the podium in fourth position overall.

Look out for the Clump team taking the CrankWorx event in Whistler by storm, on the 21st and 22nd of July.
See footage of Paul’s run on www.konaworld.tv

Paul Basagotia Continues His Lead of the Nissan QashQai Challenge.
Kona Clump rider Paul Basagotia continued to show his endless versatility with a third place in the ‘Park’ round of the series. Bas is the only competitor to have claimed a podium at every single round of the event so far.

The ‘Park’ round was based on skateparks, but was certainly mountain bike size. The course featured a roll in drop, huge spine ramps, quarters, flat banks, wall rides and a massive jump box.

The competition was strong, with some specialist skate park riders thrown into the mix. Bas threw down a varied run which started with the big kahuna’s move of the event. Bas dropped some 30ft from the top of the roll in onto the transition of the quarter pipe below. He stuck this epic move and continued with a flowing run of flips, tailwhips, flairs and 360’s, using every part of the course in the process. It was a momentous run, but not enough to dislodge skatepark specialist Lance McDermott from the top spot and all rounder Darren Berrecloth from the second step.

Having already claimed 2nd place on NorthShore, 3rd on Dirt and 1st on Street, the Kona rider is now in a strong position for the series title overall with just one round remaining, the Big Air in Paris on 22nd and 23rd of June.
See footage of Paul’s run on www.konaworld.tv

Paul Bas Wins QashQai - Round 3 Madrid
Paul Bas was again residing on the top step of the podium at the latest round of the Nissan QashQai series, held in Mardrid.
The Spanish venue was host to the Street competition of the multi discipline event, and a mighty impressive course was constructed. Stair drops, wooden jumps and concrete obstacles were all thrown into the mix with the possibility of multiple lines for the riders to show their imagination, as well as their skill.

Series leader Paul Basagotia stomped a clean and varied run, seeing him 360 then tailwhip the double stair drop right at the start of his assault on the course. Onto the wooden transitions and Bas threw in a no foot can over the first jump-box, an extended footplant on the wallride and then a stretched superman over the second ‘box. Onto the final section and a no foot transfer onto a staircase landing and some full on cranks to get enough speed to pull a perfect flip step up onto the ‘box to 360 off, finishing with a super smooth flip over the final jump. His varied run, with imaginative use of the course and his usual fluid style gave him a convincing victory.

Paul’s dominant consistency keeps his in the lead of the event overall, and he’s looking like he is going to see the series out with the same faultless style.
Skatepark is the theme of the next round on 25th and 26th May in Cologne.
See footage of Paul’s winning run in it’s entirety on www.konaworld.tv

Qashqai Urban Challenge - Round 2 Milan
Kona Clump Rider Paul Basagotia Leads The QashQai Urban Challenge.
Milan was host to the second of the five series, five discipline QashQai Urban Challenge. Dirt was the flavour of the day and a course of three huge dirt jumps was constructed in the Stazione Centrale, with a back drop of classic Italian architecture.
Kona Clump rider Andreu Lacondeguy was the top qualifier, and held on to that position in the first run of the three run finals. The highlight of the competition, and the highest scoring runs all came in the second, with Andreu pulling a no hander flip on the first, 360 on the second and an insane superman flip on the last dirt jump.

Fellow Kona Clump rider Paul Basagotia claimed 3rd position with a run which featuring a flip, a 360 table and a perfectly executed 720 on the last. The positions stayed the same after the third run with Kona Clump riders Andreu Lacondeguy in top spot and Paul Bas. in third.
Combining the scores of rounds one and two means Bas now has an overall lead in the series. Next round is in Madrid on the 18th and 19th of May and is will be street riding.
www.rasoulution.com

Qashqai Urban Challenge - Round 1 Newcastle

Kona Clump Riders take 3 of the top 10 places at the First Qashqai Urban Challenge
25 Riders and 10,000 spectators alike were absolutely blown away by the elevated level of riding in the finals of Newcastle’s Qashqai Urban Challenge.

THE FINALS
Finalists were given two rounds to put down their best riding in front of the judges and an extremely crowded Centre Of Life in Newcastle. The first runs of the finals were exciting, but the second round was out of control.
Kona Clump Rider PAUL BASAGOITIA – STUCK THE FLIP WHIP
Tension was high as Paul Basagoitia, stepped onto the starting platform with his Kona Stuff ready to attempt to dethrone The Claw. Basagoitia began his run with a perfect tailwhip, into an amazing 360 onto a platform that was no more than four feet wide. Basagoitia over-rotated the 360 a little bit, but somehow was able to save it and bunny hop transfer over to a landing and continue his run as if it was totally planned out that way.
“The new geometry on the Kona Cowan bikes is really paying off at times like that,” said Basagoitia who went on to find a new step-up line and also a new landing, a transfer which he no-foot canned, and finished his run with a perfect flip-whip!
The 10,000 spectators in the Newcastle Centre of Life were going absolutely insane after Basagoitia’s run, and the judges were shaking their heads over the nearly impossible task of sorting out the riders’ results. Even Paul Basagoitia and Bearclaw admitted that they had no
idea who would take the first title of the five-stop Qashqai Urban Challenge series.

Riders and spectators milled around while the judges deliberated the results. Everyone slapped high-fives and shook their heads at what was undoubtedly one of the craziest final rounds in the history of freeride mountain biking.

Paul Basagoitia took second place and Kyle Strait held on to the podium in third place.
Champagne was uncorked and the riders celebrate their victories thru the night.
Grant “Chopper” Fielder the hometown favorite Kona Clump Rider put on a great show for his hometown crowd and finished an impressive 6th.

Kona Clump Rider Andreu Lacondeguy deserves mention for his 10th place finish just a few short weeks after tearing ligaments at the Sea Otter event.

The next stop for the Qashqai Urban Challenge is Milan, Italy, where riders will be tested on their dirt jumping aptitude.
www.rasoulution.com

Kona and Whistler continue relationship started 7 years ago and continues to drive evolution of sport

Whistler, BC (Wednesday 17th May, 2006) – For the seventh straight year, the Kona Bicycle Company will be the official supplier of mountain bikes to the Whistler Mountain Bike Park in Whistler, B.C., building on a relationship that continues to push the envelope of what a mountain bike park, and mountain biking itself, can be.

As the official bike supplier, Kona will furnish the Whistler Mountain Bike Park with 210 high-performance, special edition Garbonzo series downhill bikes...MORE>>