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To Kona,
I’m DIGGING it! Two very sweet Kona 29ers came out on your Kona World blog. First is the Satori, A 130mm travel Full Suspension 29er and the second bike is the Honzo, a slack angle 120mm 29er Hard Tail. I love what you’re doing at Kona.

Kona Satori. 130mm of 29er travel. I really dig the RAW finish.

Why am I loving it? Because you’ve decided not to follow the 29er trends but to create your own and for that, I APPLAUD you. When many in the bike manufacturing world decided to come out with “me too” 29ers, you decided to push the envelope and develop a 130mm full suspension 29er and a slack steel HT.

A departure from Kona’s walking beam linkage, the swinging link gives Kona the ability to go 130mm

I know – but then again I don’t know – that designing a full suspension 29er is tough. I get that the bigger wheels take up more space, change the handling characteristics and, in general, have to be accounted for in every little design element. I like that you have the capable Hei-Hei 29er with 100mm of travel. Its a great bike and one I’ve recommended to a few people.

But, I am happy that you decided not to rest on your laurels and have pushed the envelope in developing the Satori. Changing from your traditional walking beam linkage to a swinging link design was BOLD. This shows out of the box thinking on your part, recognizing that there is more than one way to skin a cat. Going to 130mm is… WOW. With only two other production 29ers with 130mm of travel or more, this is really a great step to get in on the ground floor of where 29ers are going.

The Honzo. A slack steel 29er hardtail

The Honzo, though, is what really got my appetite going. When I saw it, my mouth dropped… lower than when I saw the Satori. And yes, the Honzo is what prompted me to write to you. The Honzo is VERY cool. Other companies have danced around the idea and a couple of small manufacturers have gone out and done slack 29er Hardtails, but Kona, you’re the first biggie to get behind the idea and announce it. The key features of the Honzo that caught my eyes are steel, ISCG tabs, short chainstays, SLIDING dropouts and room for 2.4″ tires on wide rims. I have already talked to a couple of friends who own nothing but boutique bikes and they are drooling over the Honzo.

Could that be a 2.4″ Maxxis Ardent?

Kona, you’ve done well. You are pushing and leading the way (raise for the PM’s?). As a 29er fan and advocate, I applaud you and wish you the best of luck with these new bikes… with all of your bikes.

Sincerely,
Jeremy, 29er rider

www.MtnBikeRiders.com

P.S. I really like that you showed the Honzo all dirty. GREAT touch.

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The Drift HD170 Stealth

Features:

* Full HD for creating crystal clear footage
* A playback screen for lining up shots and the ability to play back the footage right away
* A remote control to enable you to film what you want to record, not the boring stuff in between
* Easy to use mounts so you can use it whenever you want and mount it anywhere your imagination allows you. The shape of the camera and the mounts it comes with make it the easiest camera out there to use

Lucky for us, we get to test it out. We’ll report how the Drift does when we put it through the paces.

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When I first took delivery of the KHS XCT 556 a few months ago, I was pretty excited about trying its 30 speed drive train. The bike was redesigned for 2011 with swooping, hydroformed tubes and a bold color scheme. It’s spec’d nicely with name brand/model parts such as Rock Shox, Mavic, SRAM, Shimano, WTB and many more. The KHS XCT 556 was a direct replacement of its predecessor, the XCT 555, which we awarded the Editor’s Choice Award in 2010 for “Best Do it All Mountain Bike.”

Who should buy this bike?
-The KHS XCT 556 is perfect for the guy or gal that wants a bike that can do pretty much any thing he/she would want when riding. It can be ridden on an all day XC epic or for the weekend warrior who likes to race Super D. Downhill? Sure, places like Fontana’s Southridge and Telonics can easily be handled by the 556.

Rider shown-Team Racer: Corey Pond

Weight
-The test bike we have weighed in at 29lb (medium frame with pedals)

Price
-KHS’s MSRP is $2799.

What makes this bike stand out?
-The XCT556 is equipped with the Rockshox Revelation RL. This fork is pretty plush and was super easy to tune to the rider’s weight thanks to its air pressure chart that is located right on the lowers. It also has the ability to lock out. This option made climbing on the bike easier.

The fork was matched with a Rockshox Monarch RT3. I’ve been a long fan of the Monarch line because of its no non-sense usability. All I would have to do is air it up and set my sag at 25%, adjust the rebound to my liking and I was off riding!

The pièce de résistance with this bike was its 30 speed drive train. Truth be told when I first got on this bike, I thought that a 30 speed drive train was interesting. Then I saw its 36t cassette and thought that it was a bit of an over-kill. But during one of my test rides through a trail called Cholla, I quickly learned the benefits of the 36t cassette and all of a sudden I was able to clear some of the most technical portions of the trail. I couldn’t believe how well the XCT’s drive train worked.

However, there was a kink in the 30 speed armor. For some odd reason, when I would shift between the big ring (44t) down to the middle ring (33t) I would occasionally experience chain suck. This would also happen when I’d shift from the granny gear to the middle ring. I found this to be unusual because the bike is brand new.

Favorite part of the bike
-Other than the 36t cassette, my favorite was the Avid Elixir 5 brake system because it provides great braking power, and adjustable reach. Front rotor is 7″ and rear is 6″. No brake fading experienced. It comes down to this, when I pulled the levers, it wasn’t just on, but I could gradually feel the brakes engaging depending on how much I pull the lever.

How does it climb?
-Like a slow goat. The 36t cassette will help you get to the top, but at a slower pace.

How does it descend?
-Like a Boss. Plush fork, squishy rear shock that is complimented with its highly acclaimed Horst Link rear triangle. The XCT 556 soaks up small to large bumps, drops and jumps with ease.

Love/Hate
-Ok, hate is such a strong word. But I’ve got a dilemma here. I love the WTB Wolverine 2.2 tires, I think they are awesome! These tires are fast, and offer great grip…as a rear tire. For a front tire, I would have preferred something more aggressive like a WTB Prowler or even a Kenda Nevegal, then again that’s more of a personal opinion than anything.

The KHS XCT 556 may not be someone’s dream XC race bike due to its weight, but don’t be shy to race with it. Priscilla used it during the Knobby Time Series Race #2. She did well enough to podium

In conclusion
-The KHS XCT 556 is a versatile machine. It performs well as an XC rig and if you’ve got the balls to do so, it can handle Super D courses as well as the occasional dirt jumps. During the extended testing period we had with the bike, nothing failed on us. No signs of fatigue or wear. The only issue we had was the intermittent chain suck in which we’re not sure what caused it. Perhaps I was simply cross chaining it. Other than that, its a superb bike.

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This past Saturday was one of the best in a long time for me. For starters, we assembled a small group of guys to shuttle a trail called Santiago Oaks. If you’ve been there, then you know that shuttlin’ isn’t really necessary, in fact you can pedal up the peaks with out a problem. But we didn’t feel like doing that. For the most part we busted out our trail and DH bikes for this adventure. Once we got on the trail, it was a straight shot down to the bottom. Along the way we stopped to get some photos.

Here’s Art and Corey checking out a little drop off that they both hit.

Got Artie, The One Man Party getting some air.

We ended up doing 2 runs, but I gotta tell you, we had such a great time. There were some parts of Oaks that I’ve never been to before and I was pretty happy that we hit these trails. The Airborne Taka was my weapon of choice and that thing soaked up every obstacle the trails dished out.

Speaking of which. Below is a picture of my Taka equipped with “Ghetto Tubeless.”
This was a hot topic over the weekend between some friends on Facebook. Since I’ve been running Ghetto Tubeless on my wife’s bike, and 3 of my other bikes, I figured I might as well do so on the Taka. It’s pretty simple to do, all you need is a 24″ tube per wheel, and some Stan’s Tire Sealant. But all you gotta do is click on this link so you can watch the VIDEO to learn how to do it.

Then later on in the afternoon, Priscilla and I, along with some friends joined Fullerton Bicycles who was hosting a Family Night at the Bellflower BMX. We recently started getting into BMX and we’ve been having such a great time with it that we got 2 new bikes!

Here’s Priscilla getting gnarly on her new Redline MX Pro-24.

Nick D. showing that smiling while riding BMX is doable! Nick has some great BMX skills, couple that with is endurance, he can go 100% all the way through the track.

Our friend Bryan D. trying to gap the first table top thingy.

A shot of Bryan D and I. He’s using Priscilla’s bike while I’m rockin’ the Redline Proline 24…I just love the gold, its so pimp!

More photos from Bellflower BMX

Overall, a great Saturday, tons of biking and we even capped off the night with some Sushi….it doesn’t get any better than that.

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Never heard of a Gilet…..?  I’m sure you know what a vest is and a Gilet is a vest but with a fancy name; technically it’s a sleeveless jacket.  I received this Rapha — www.Rapha.cc — Gilet some time ago and let me just cut to the chase and tell you…I love it!  Everything about this thing is top notch and well thought out.  Maybe we should start with, who is and what is a Rapha ???

Top quality packaging....

Rapha is an English cycling and lifestyle company that produces high end road cycling accessories and apparel.

Here is a quote from their website to help you understand their passion and purpose:

Rapha creates the finest cycling clothing and accessories in the world. Designed without compromise for the most discerning rider, Rapha products blend style with optimum performance. A passion for road racing means Rapha is more than just a product company. It is an online emporium of performance roadwear, accessories, publications and events, all celebrating the glory and suffering of road riding.

Everything Rapha does is informed by its passion for the glory and suffering that lie at the heart of the sport. From rides to events, from exhibitions to products, Rapha brings riders together to share this passion.

Drawstrings for a custom fit...

As you can tell from the quotes above, Rapha is a Passionate group of cyclists inspiring the inner cyclist in each of us.  What they have set out to do is change the way a product communicates to its owner – the product  becomes the channel for which the passion and culture of the organization is communicated to the rider.

The Vented strip and reflective piping....

The Gilet is designed for those days where “milder” weather is on order; presumably the English country side.  I wore the Gilet on several occasions and the first thing I noticed was just how warm it really was.  It is “windproof, water resistant and perfect for cool mornings”; for us here in SoCal, those “cool” mornings should be 60 degrees or less to really utilize the Gilet, it was that warm!

The Gilet is made of a highly breathable fabric and is not bulky at all.  It can easily be compacted down to just a few inches and stowed in the rear of a jersey pocket.  We rode SART during the past winter and the trail head was about 45 degrees and raining! – perfect conditions for the Gilet!

Small Pocket for keys, cell etc.

Let’s talk about some of the features.  Rather than type it all out and bore you (and wear out my fingers), I’ll just list my favorite features:

• Offset Zipper
• Reflective Piping – for the ride out of the mountains and back to home or coffee shop
• Fleece lined collar or “chin” – so your pretty face doesn’t get scuffed up
• Small front pocket easily accessible for keys, cash, phone and Chapstick in case you need to kiss while you ride
• Two rear pockets – but their deep so your goodies don’t fly out
• Waist cord so youzz can snug it up
• Dropped Tail with ventilated mesh stripe
• Understated style
• Verbiage on the inside – Rapha always throws some inspiration by way of words in their products.  This one speaks of the battle between Eddy Merckx & Luis Ocana after they crest the Col de Mente and the respect Eddy showed to his formidable foe afterwards; stuff of legends and lost in society today.
  

  The Rapha Gilet hanging out at 7500 feet...

So what are some things I would like to see change ?  Well for starters, this thing ain’t cheap. At $165 in this recession, it’s not for the faint of heart.  The zipper could be a little more user friendly.  I’m the sort of chap that will adjust my personal comfort level on the fly, no time to pull over and fuss with stuff, I want to do it on the bike.   Sizing seems to run a little small.  I’m a large in life but I had to go for the XL with the Gilet.

Rear Pocket and Vented strip....

Conclusion: get the Rapha Gilet

The Gilet can be found here:

www.Rapha.cc/Gilet

Merci, Au revior,

Ciseaux

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