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 The Kona Mash Up 2009 13th June Wales UK.
Over 400 competitors made their way to the 2nd Kona Mash-Up and joined the relaxed atmosphere on the trails surrounding the Glyncorrwg Mountain Bike Centre in Afan Forest, Wales. The event was blessed with superb sunshine and dry weather, which all added to the festival atmosphere out on the hillside. This relaxed style race day was the first ever of its kind, with a format of 6 different timed sections, and chill-outs between each run. Read the full Event Report HERE & View the Results HERE.
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 The Kona Bristol BikeFest 2009 6-7th June Bristol UK
Challenging conditions, according to the met office a month worth of rain on Saturday night, yet the usual relaxed atmosphere welcomed almost 2000 riders to the Kona Bristol Bikefest 2009.
The weather leading up to the event was perfect drying out the trails nicely but then on Friday night it decided to brake the 6 year stint of perfect riding weather and add a further challenging aspect to the Kona Bristol Bikefest 2009.
Read the full Event Report HERE
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 KONAWORLD (May 27, 2009) – What are you doing in mid-August? Oh, that’s cool, mowing the lawn, getting a root canal and watching re-runs of The Bachelor. Hopefully not. So, we’re giving you the perfect chance to change your late summer itinerary and get up to Whistler’s premier Bike Park and ride with us.
KonaWorld Travels and the world-class Whistler Mountain Bike Park have teamed up to offer you a kick-ass, six-day travel package to get you on the trail and breathing fresh mountain air.
Focused around this year’s Kokanee Crankworx – the world’s greatest mountain bike event – your “best vacation ever” starts on Aug. 12 and runs through Aug 19. Enjoy an extreme week of watching the sport’s best athletes compete, while exploring 150 miles of buff singletrack and 5,000 vert of lift-accessed, gravity-fueled Bike Park runs – with classic’s like A-Line, Crank It Up and Ninja Cougar. To top things off you’ll be surrounded by five-star cuisine, alpine vistas and free live music.
 Crankworx runs from Aug 8-16, so you’ll be getting the best of both worlds - the crazy pulse of freeride mania along with the more relaxed pace of a few days post Crankworx to enjoy Whistler Blackcomb, the Bike Park, the Peak 2 Peak Gondola and Whistler village. The six-day package includes: daily lift tickets with Bike Park guides and instruction, rental of a Kona Garbanzo or Stab bikes, helmet, gloves and armour, a welcome reception, VIP seats for some freeride event viewing, a celebrity ride with a Kona pro, meal discounts, BBQ and more. You don’t have to eat, sleep and breathe mountain biking either - there’s something super-fun to ride for all skill levels and enough entertainment options within shouting distance to keep you occupied.
For more than six years, Kokanee Crankworx has continued to make its mark as the most ground-breaking festival of its kind bringing in thousands of mountain bike enthusiasts and backflippin’, 720 huckin’ athletes each year.
KonaWorld Travels works in tandem with local Kona partners to promote cycling adventure in rewarding destinations around the globe. Where in the Kona World are you going?
For more info CLICK HERE and to take a peek at a detailed itinerary CLICK HERE.
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 Kona Dealer of the Month.SUNSET Mountain Bikes
With 0% finance available and being part of the Cycle Scheme, Sunset are your one stop Kona shop. The mail order specialists stock the entire Kona range and their product knowledge is second to none, rest assured when choosing your new Kona that your purchase will be backed up with expert advice and service. Contact our chosen Kona Dealer of the Month at: www.sunsetmtb.co.uk
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 Ride the 2009 Kona MTB Range at a demo near you:
13th and 14th of June, Grafham Cycling Demo Weekend, www.rutlandcycling.com/Article/329/Grafham-Multi-brand-Demo-Day.html
Featuring the following test bikes:
five-0, 18" - Bass, Medium - Coilair Supreme, 17" - Minxy, Medium - Hei Hei, 18" - 120 Primo, 18" - 120 Supreme, 17" - 120 supreme, 19" -
120 supreme, 19" -
Lisa 120 Deluxe, 16" -
Dawg Supreme, 15" -
Dawg supreme, 17" -
Dawg supreme, 18" -
Hei Hei 29 Deluxe, 19" -
Shonky, M
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Kona Team Rider Joe Smith. Joe's first two races in the Elite Downhill Category have been a great success. The Welsh 18yr old flew over to the first round of the Maxxis Cup in Portugal and ripped his way into 15th position - not bad for his first Elite race.
Next up was the 2nd round in Spain (Vigo) and more success. This time a 12th position, and more time aboard his Stab Supreme means that Joe is getting faster and faster... Keep up-to-date with Joes progress at: http://www.konaworld.com/09_factory_js.htm
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Kona & the Coastal Trail Quest Series
Award winning bike brand, Kona, has teamed up with Endurancelife to support their brand new series of Coastal Trail Quest events for mountain bikers and cyclo-cross riders.
Coastal Trail Quest brings the exciting sport of bike orienteering to the coast. The unique series of seven events will showcase the UK’s finest stretches of coastline and take riders on an exhilarating journey inland, along bridleways, tracks and green lanes packed with charm yet full of challenge.
Each Coastal Trail Quest event will host a short score (3 hour) and medium score (5 hour) race with both races open to solo entries or pairs. Armed with maps of the area, participants in each race must cycle to as many checkpoints as possible within the given time period. Good strategy will be needed as well as pace to carry riders through to the top ranks.
Two brand new Kona mountain bikes are up for grabs over the course of the series. The series winner of the 5hr solo category will take home a fantastic Kona Cinder Cone. Meanwhile, anyone entering a Coastal Trail Quest event will automatically be entered into a prize draw to win an award winning Kona Blast.
The Coastal Trail Quest series will take in seven spectacular locations over seven months kicking off with Dorset’s celebrated Jurassic Coast on November 9th 2008. The series then moves on to The Gower, Portland, South Devon, Pembrokeshire and West Cornwall before rounding off on Exmoor in May 2009. Each event is limited to 200 places and early booking is recommended.
For more information and bookings go to www.endurancelife.com
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 Kona Coilair Magic Link is now available in Kona dealers.
What is the Coilair Magic Link? - Climbs like a short travel XC bike & descends like a long travel DH bike. The new 2008 Kona Coilair range uses the new Magic Link suspension technology to bridge two worlds. On the climb the head and seat tube angles are steep, 6 inches of rear travel remains stiff, channeling all your power into the up. Go downhill and the bike’s geometry becomes more slack, the travel increases to a plush 7.4 inches, and the wheel path becomes more adept at dealing with descending, braking & big bumps. The magic part? The 2008 Coilair is designed to react to terrain and riding forces all by itself, automatically finding the right suspension set-up for the job at hand. Instantly, instinctively... Read more & find your nearest Kona dealer HERE>>
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 MBR - DIRTY DOZEN TEST - JULY 2008
12 of the best entry level hardtails
The overall winner is the Kona Blast
10/10 - SIMPLY THE BEST, WITHOUT FAULT
Bringing us neatly to this year’s top dog from Kona. In 2007 the Blast impressed us
enough to award it a 9; for 2008 it supplies the same effortless performance on
the trails with minor hidden refinements to the frame & finishing kit.
And thanks to the arrival of a Deluxe version, it's a whole £65 cheaper, hiking the Blast up to a victorious 10.
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 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.
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 Kona & The Track Announce 'Digger of the year 2008'
West Country Dirt Jump spot ‘The Track’ have been busy digging for the last 12 months, well actually for the last 4 years but who’s counting! A total transformation of the site has taken place and this was only possible because of one group of lads – the digger crew – who give up their evenings and weekends to keep the place riding so sweet.
As an incentive to their digger crew, KONA donated a 2009 Cowan Jump Bike for the hardest working member of the crew.
Steve Tonkin, Owner of The Track said: “It was great to give the team something to work towards and some sort of reward for the hundreds of hours of effort the team put into the place this year. I’m really grateful to KONA for helping to give the crew a much needed boost this year”
The deserving winner was 16yr old Sean Herman, who battled high winds, rain and even broken bones to be crowned this years Digger of the Year.
Anyone interested in getting their hand on a 2009 Kona bike should visit their nearest local Kona dealer (our is Bike Chain Ricci in Redruth - www.ricciltd.com)
For more information on The Track visit the website - www.the-track.co.uk
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 Kona Mash-Up 2008 - Afan, Wales. An exciting new development in Mountain Bike Racing.
Glyncorrwg Mountain Bike Centre, 30 August 2008.
Headlining the UK 2008 events calendar is the brand new Kona Mash-Up. Stirring a two wheeled culture clash we’ve laid down the ultimate challenge to unite riders across the board. From XC whippets to the most technically gifted downhill riders and every breed of trail warrior in-between this race breaks down traditional riding boundaries, encouraging a step out of regular comfort zones to go against the clock on seminal sections of Glyncorrwg’s trails. Read more HERE>> NEWS: Race Results online.
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Cornwall goes Slope Style with Kona
Legendary west country jump spot ‘The Track’ in Portreath,
Cornwall with Kona’s backing is set to become the first official
‘Slope Style’ park in the UK. Kona bring their ‘Groove
Approved’ bike park expertise to the already established dirt
jump, national 4X and Olympic standard BMX track backbone.
Kona will put the international experience of Slope Style Clump pro
Grant ‘Chopper’ Fielder to good use with invaluable input
during ‘developments of ‘The Track’. Utilizing the
blue prints of jump box, wall ride and other woodwork features from
our overseas Kona bike park comrades, such additions will not only
complement the flood lid, foam pit and sound system prepped environment,
but take this infamous site to the next level.
Incorporated within ‘The Tracks’ Kona treatment is a fleet
of Kona jump bikes available to hire. Not only benefiting the established
schools programme, jump or indeed mountainbike virgins from kids through
to pensioners can grab a ride for the duration of their airborne visit.
‘The Track’ will also host round 7 of the King of Dirt
BMX series on August 4 and 'Tonkins Backyard Jam' on July 28th. Check
out www.konaworld.uk.com and www.the-track.co.uk
for more info and updates on continued Kona led developments. |
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MBR Dirty Dozen Group Test -
Kona Blast 9/10
"Fifteen years ago Kona designer Joe Murray started the
whole sloping top tube thing. Ever since then, the firm's hardtails
have been some of the best-shaped bikes around and this Blast is no
exception..."
"All in all, a solid, splined chainset/bottom bracket
junction, nine speed drivechain and the most balanced geometry on
test combine to make a very, very well rounded performer that's much
better than the sum of its parts."
VERDICT: ..."as it stands the Blast was the the boxfresh
bike any of the test crew would be happy to ride round the woods for
hours. For the money, it would be difficult to get a better overall
machine"
You can order one of the award winning Kona hardtails (Caldera,
Cinder
Cone & Blast)
from your local
Kona dealer. |
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Kona
Hei Hei Supreme Review: Kona Reigns Supreme.
The Hei Hei Supreme is unlike any bike I've ever ridden. It had to
be torn from my hands at the end of the race. I can hardly get on
another cross-country bike now. I occasionally dream about the bike
at night. Lust is a terrible thing. I can't concentrate.
Read the full review HERE>> |
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Kona Paddy Wagon is Cycling Plus magazine ‘Bike
of the Year’ fixed gear Category.
Kona’s Paddy Wagon has won ‘Bike Of The Year’ award
in the fixed gear road bikes category. The ‘Wagon has always
been a firm favourite with everyone who has tested the bike, and this
award is testament to the unbeatable ride quality of the Kona bike.
View the Award Winning Paddy
Wagon HERE>> |
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Kona BikeTown Africa
The Kona Bicycle Company has always designed bikes for specific riders'
needs. In partnering with Bristol-Myers Squibb and Bicycling Magazine’s
BikeTown Africa, Kona has embarked upon the design of what could be
the most important bicycle the company has ever developed. The site
(www.konabiketown.com)
will track the design, development and delivery of more than 200 Kona
bikes, designed specifically to assist health care workers treating
HIV and AIDS patients with the delivery of home health aids and services
in two Botswana cities, Bobonong and the capital city of Gaborone,
beginning in late March 2006.FULL
Story>>
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