Kona Honky Tonk.

coolbeans

Guys I'm liking this bike. Any thoughts? Would it be suitable for a seasoned commuting cyclist who's new to road bikes?The groupset seems better than average. Ami I missing anything? Other suggestions welcome.
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/kona/honky-tonk-2009-road-bike-ec017276

penexpers

This is one of the bikes I was interested in a while. Came close to buying it too. Nice frame and good specs for the money. Colour is nice too. Some people will probably say don't bother with downtube shifters but I'm a great fan of their simplicity.

coolbeans

OK...and what are downtube shifters?

blorg

coolbeans wrote: »

OK...and what are downtube shifters?

Like the name says, they are gear shifters on the down tube. See the lever just up the downtube from the "Kona" logo? That is the shifter.



It is the main reason the bike is so cheap, STI shifters (where the shifter is integrated with the brake lever on the bars) are quite expensive.

coolbeans

[MOD NOTE: THREADS MERGED]

I quite fancy a Kona Honky Tonk like this. Does anyone have any experience of them. I'd be using it for commuting and quite possibly training spins and even touring. Also would a 59cm be the right size for me? I'd 188cm tall with a 34inch inside leg. Are there any alternatives to the Honky? It's a tasty looking bike I'm sure you'll agree and will take a rack and muddies. Seems like the dream bike to me. Plus it's old school steel...I really quite fancy one mmm...

thebouldwhacker

When I hear Kona I think mtb so road bikes always make me look twice... go figure. Def a beut of a bike, I do like the look of a nice steel frame, maybe different bar tape though, looks a bit bleek, euro it up a bit:pac:

Lumen

Here

Vélo

I love Kona bikes. I have a MTB and road bike. The road bike is lovely to ride, this might have something to do with the steel frame.

I'd recommend buying one.

kona

That is a bargain. Usually konas road range are quite expensive all things considered.

That bike will last forever and take quite a bit of abuse IMO

Civilian_Target

I have one... and honestly I think I could have probably found something better for my money. It's not a bad bike: the frame is nice and it handles well. Like Kona says, I expect I will still be riding it in 5 years time. But I'm not a fan of the Sora gears attached, the brakes aren't sharp and I don't find the saddle very comfortable.

My feeling is that I would have been better to decide that either that I would stay on the road and take the Tifosi CK7 Winter, or spend a bit more money on a more solid touring bike.

[EDIT] Oh, and of course, the 2010 hasn't got downtube shifters, but standard Sora ones.

Civilian_Target

Oh, and I just forgot to mention, the frame isn't *quite* standard, so I had to hack the mudguards into place with pliers and a file... it worked in the end but I hadn't planned to spend my evening fitting mudguards!

blorg

Sora should be fine if properly adjusted. I had it myself on my first road bike (Trek 1000.) Yes, higher groupsets are nicer, but can you find them at that price point?

The Tifosi CK7 is also Sora incidentally. AFAIK it comes with 700x25c tyres and won't take 700x28c with mudguards.

Saddles are a personal thing and easily changed.

The Kona comes with long reach Tektro calipers. Long reach calipers in general are not as good as short reach ones but that is the price you pay for the wider tyres. I'm not sure what the Tifosi comes with but it may not be any better. If it comes with a Shimano caliper it probably is though.

I'm not saying that what you say on the Kona isn't justified; I don't have either bike. But the Tifosi may not be any better. I do have (several) wide tyre drop bar bikes, and I know compromises are involved especially with the braking. Not sure what you think you would gain with a "more solid touring bike" (I have one of these) other than the flexibility to fit much wider tyres for heavily loaded and light off road.