Kuota kharma

Roger Hassenforder

Minded towards a kuota kharma and would appreciate any comment from current/past owners. Fab looking bike, but should l buy or avoid?
Cheers folks

Roger Hassenforder

bump.
this money is burning a hole in my phoca peeps!

dermur

Saw one at a competition in China a while back...



Lovely bike. Get it. Get it. GET IT!!! Or spend the rest of your life lusting after it.

get on your bike

dermur wrote: »

Saw one at a competition in China a while back...



Lovely bike. Get it. Get it. GET IT!!! Or spend the rest of your life lusting after it.

I would've thought it a cracker

bad2dabone

It's......beautiful.......

Colmhayden76

a buddy has one with a chorus gruppo build and weighs next to nothing. That's my only problem with it it feals as if there is nothing there they use a really light carbon process . My own Cento Uno weighs 7.5kg which is light but feels more solid. His feels like a load of toilet roll inserts taped together!:D
If you are a little beefy it might not be the bike for you but if you are a whippet go for it!

PS I think Muckers who posts here has a karma

Roger Hassenforder

cheers folks, i get a little woody everytime i pass the shop its in!

ROK ON

Colmhayden76 wrote: »

That's my only problem with it it feals as if there is nothing there they use a really light carbon process . My own Cento Uno weighs 7.5kg which is light but feels more solid. His feels like a load of toilet roll inserts taped together!:D
If you are a little beefy it might not be the bike for you but if you are a whippet go for it!

IN terms of carbon, the Kharma is not especially light. The frame and fork has a claimed weight of 1.85kg.

I have a Kuota Kebel with a frame/fork weight of 1.5kg, and I weigh 91kg - I have not found the frame to lightweight or flexy in any way. I cant speak of te Kharma, but the Kebel is a bit too stiff for me if anything. Rolls well on nice smooth roads. But is a pig to ride on poor roads - the rear triangle in particular is unforgiving. What I mean by this is that on a few descents, I have hit a pothole or sudden change in the road surface, and the frame has fishtailed.

Gorgeous looking bikes, but to be honest I am unsure as to whether I would recommend them. Geometry suits me, it is fast and a reasonable weight. It is too stiff for my taste however.

Roger Hassenforder

feck, reckon its a problem with them all?

murf85

Roger Hassenforder wrote: »

feck, reckon its a problem with them all?

Iv got a 2010 kharma, beautiful looking bike, but as ROK ON said, it's a heavy carbon frame.

Iv been having arguements with myself over whether I like it or not, some weeks I do, others I don't... This week I do !

I don't think I could recommend it to someone to be honest...reckon you would get better value for your 2K with something like a planet x or with a few extra quid, a canyon!

Roger Hassenforder

murf85 wrote: »

Roger Hassenforder wrote: »

feck, reckon its a problem with them all?

Iv got a 2010 kharma, beautiful looking bike, but as ROK ON said, it's a heavy carbon frame.

Iv been having arguements with myself over whether I like it or not, some weeks I do, others I don't... This week I do !

I don't think I could recommend it to someone to be honest...reckon you would get better value for your 2K with something like a planet x or with a few extra quid, a canyon!

Cheers murf, but is it the weight u dont like? Im a fairly fat f##ker so that wouldnt bother me, tis the safety issue as per ROK i'd be worried

full gas

Roger Hassenforder wrote: »

murf85 wrote: »

Roger Hassenforder wrote: »

feck, reckon its a problem with them all?

Iv got a 2010 kharma, beautiful looking bike, but as ROK ON said, it's a heavy carbon frame.

Iv been having arguements with myself over whether I like it or not, some weeks I do, others I don't... This week I do !

I don't think I could recommend it to someone to be honest...reckon you would get better value for your 2K with something like a planet x or with a few extra quid, a canyon!

Cheers murf, but is it the weight u dont like? Im a fairly fat f##ker so that wouldnt bother me, tis the safety issue as per ROK i'd be worried

I reckon you should just get the bike , it's what you want , if ya want to hear something bad about your bike, put a post on boards , very negitive views , or may be its the only the people who are not happy want to talk about it , have chatted to a few karma owners and I have not had a negitive view on them , do it do it ,

kennyb3

I plan to get a kebel when (or even if) I can get over my injury and back on the bike. Gorgeous bike - yes you can get lighter better equipped bikes for less money over the net but i'd rather have something i find sexy and that's a bit more unique

ROK ON

Roger Hassenforder wrote: »

Cheers murf, but is it the weight u dont like? Im a fairly fat f##ker so that wouldnt bother me, tis the safety issue as per ROK i'd be worried

It is not a safety feature per se. I would imagine/guess that many stiff frames have a similar response. The frame is pretty rigid and there is no give on poor roads. My other carbon framed bike is a Dolan Hercules, and is pretty flexy.
If have put both bikes on the turbo trainer, the flex (particularly around the BB on the Dolan is pretty astonishing - this is not the case with the Kebel).

So it dissipates a lot of energy compared to the Kuota Kebel. This is an advantage for me when descending on the pot holed covered excuses for roads in Kerry.

However the Kuota is a far superior ride on reasonable (or good) road surfaces. I notice this particularly on climbs, where the Kuota is a better ride. It feels as if the bike is stationary and that the road is being pushed bike (escalator like).

full gas wrote: »

I reckon you should just get the bike , it's what you want , if ya want to hear something bad about your bike, put a post on boards , very negitive views , or may be its the only the people who are not happy want to talk about it , have chatted to a few karma owners and I have not had a negitive view on them , do it do it ,

Fair enough - but I would find many bike reviews on Boards to be lacking any critical detail - the positives are accentuated IMHO.

ROK ON

kennyb3 wrote: »

I plan to get a kebel when (or even if) I can get over my injury and back on the bike. Gorgeous bike - yes you can get lighter better equipped bikes for less money over the net but i'd rather have something i find sexy and that's a bit more unique

I thoought the Kebel was pretty rare until I got one. Now I have seen them all over the place. They seem to be very very popular in Cork.

In a sportif last year, I stopped for a p1ss. In order to get back onto the group I ended up TTing with another cyclists - he just happened to be on an identical frame to mine. It felt like we were a team:D

Lumen

full gas wrote: »

if ya want to hear something bad about your bike, put a post on boards , very negitive views , or may be its the only the people who are not happy want to talk about it

Irony

hawkwing

get on your bike wrote: »

I would've thought it a cracker

I have this one,for a couple of years (obviously as it's the 2009 model). Grand on a good surface but on bad South Tipp country roads it's not the most enjoyable,then again some of the roads there are so bad no bike would be too comfy to be fair

Roger Hassenforder

cheers for the comments folks.
The one pissing on the Cork mans parade had to be from Kerry, but I appreciate the comments!

I was originally minded towards an SST3.0 but couldnt get to see one before ordering, and so gave up, which brought me back to the kharma, lovely looking bike, & not that common for when Im posing outside a coffe shop in Kinsale.

Seeing as going from something that i reckon is made from wraught iron filled with damp sand, i think i'll chance it.

Roger Hassenforder

also worldwide cycles in Clonmel no longer do them, they're pushing KTMs this season instead.

CptMackey

Roger Hassenforder wrote: »

also worldwide cycles in Clonmel no longer do them, they're pushing KTMs this season instead.

The edge in cork are doing fully carbon look bike for around 4k if ya want to burn some money.

I recently got a bianchi via neron
Carbon fork, rear stay and has ultegra/105 mix

Roger Hassenforder

Howya Mackey

i'd snap that Look bike in half, the first leg i throw over it!
nice bike though.

CptMackey

Roger Hassenforder wrote: »

Howya Mackey

i'd snap that Look bike in half, the first leg i throw over it!
nice bike though.

I'd say go for the kuota, they look good. What gruppo is on it ?

Roger Hassenforder

105

ROK ON

Roger Hassenforder wrote: »

105

If that is the bike in The Edge for €1950, then I feel obliged to point out that that is a very very expensive bike for the price.

I got the Kebel (one model up) with Ultegra (one groupset up) and Fulcrum 5 wheels for a similar price, albeit two years ago.

For 2K if you shop around you will get a helluva a lot more bang for your buck.

Roger Hassenforder

tis the same bike!
i might get a better spec, but could end up with a munter of a ride
couple of hundred yards down the road to Halfords gets the boardman team carbon for 300 less, but i'd end up riding the carbon regretting my purchase for purely aesthetics!
that karma is georgeous, i'd be going out to the garage at night when the wife is gone to bed to touch it:D
where did you get the Kebel?

ROK ON

Worldwide Cycles in Clonmel. Have bought two bikes from them. Great shop and fantastic service.
Bike was delivered to my door in Dublin.

Roger Hassenforder

Aye, rang them during the week was talking to a chap, seemed decent.
Theyve stopped doing Kuota for KTM. i was trying to get him to give a reason for changing to KTM, he must have been worried about being libellous, handnt a bad thing to say other than one or two of them cracked, and they wanted to freshen their stock.

whats the chances of the Edge giving me a lend of it for the weekend for a spin up Temple hill?

moch

I have a Kharma and I am very happy with it, bought the frame and all components seperate, as you will get better value this way. Put full Ultegra on, very stiff and responsive frame, delighted with my decision.
The most important is that the frame geometry suits you, so I would say to test ride one first. I have no negatives at all on the Kharma.

murf85

[/Quote]
Cheers murf, but is it the weight u dont like? Im a fairly fat f##ker so that wouldnt bother me, tis the safety issue as per ROK i'd be worried[/Quote]

I think i convinced myself at the start of the year that the bike was to blame for my poor start to the year... I now know it not to be the bike, but the engine that's probably at fault.
I picked mine up from the edge in '10, with ultegra for €2000 so I'd definitely push them hard and negotiate on the €1950 if your only getting 105!

hawkwing

Roger Hassenforder wrote: »

Aye, rang them during the week was talking to a chap, seemed decent.
Theyve stopped doing Kuota for KTM. i was trying to get him to give a reason for changing to KTM, he must have been worried about being libellous, handnt a bad thing to say other than one or two of them cracked, and they wanted to freshen their stock.

whats the chances of the Edge giving me a lend of it for the weekend for a spin up Temple hill?

Got mine in WWcycles too--brilliant shop,great service and very nice fellas.Trued a a badly buckled wheel that got damaged by someone falling on it at SKT2010 i got there for free--that's service! Nico's Kuota had a frame crack in the Tour also which was worrying.Still--happy with my Kharma:)

dave2pvd

Roger Hassenforder wrote: »

that karma is georgeous, i'd be going out to the garage at night when the wife is gone to bed to touch it:D

It seems odd to me that how the bike looks is your number 1 criteria.

If it were a car, I'd say fair enough, there are few cars out there with serious performance deficits anymore. With a bike, it's different. And the differences are significant - lets face it, the mechanical connection between bike and rider is somewhat direct!

It might be a good idea to prioritize function over form?

full gas

Roger Hassenforder wrote: »

Aye, rang them during the week was talking to a chap, seemed decent.
Theyve stopped doing Kuota for KTM. i was trying to get him to give a reason for changing to KTM, he must have been worried about being libellous, handnt a bad thing to say other than one or two of them cracked, and they wanted to freshen their stock.

whats the chances of the Edge giving me a lend of it for the weekend for a spin up Temple hill?

I guess there would be know chance of that , it would be 2nd hand after that , would you buy it if ya knew it had been taken for a few spins , to see how it felt !

Roger Hassenforder

dave2pvd wrote: »

Roger Hassenforder wrote: »

that karma is georgeous, i'd be going out to the garage at night when the wife is gone to bed to touch it:D

It seems odd to me that how the bike looks is your number 1 criteria.

If it were a car, I'd say fair enough, there are few cars out there with serious performance deficits anymore. With a bike, it's different. And the differences are significant - lets face it, the mechanical connection between bike and rider is somewhat direct!

It might be a good idea to prioritize function over form?

If I wasnt as vain as I am, probably! Theres too many soul less similiar bikes out there though, so looks are important. I could pick up ultegra for around the same price, on a frame I am not mad about. So would I be looking at other bikes in a year?( I know I'm supposed to!) My biggest concern is getting launched out of on a pothole if its very stiff, not that it might be a few g heavier than x or y.
Were looks not a consideration in buying your bikes?

Roger Hassenforder

full gas wrote: »

Roger Hassenforder wrote: »

Aye, rang them during the week was talking to a chap, seemed decent.
Theyve stopped doing Kuota for KTM. i was trying to get him to give a reason for changing to KTM, he must have been worried about being libellous, handnt a bad thing to say other than one or two of them cracked, and they wanted to freshen their stock.

whats the chances of the Edge giving me a lend of it for the weekend for a spin up Temple hill?

I guess there would be know chance of that , it would be 2nd hand after that , would you buy it if ya knew it had been taken for a few spins , to see how it felt !

Do any bike shops let u have a spin or is it a myth?

Murph100

I just might have the answer to your dilemma, providing the bike is the right size and your location suits. I was over in iBike in Beaufort near Killarney last week and saw an immaculate Kuota Kharma will full Ultegra, only the bar tape gave me any clue it was secondhand. Well worth a call to see if its still there and what size, and being secondhand, might be easier to get a spin on it.

www.ibike.ie and the owners name is Peter.

Roger Hassenforder

Murph100 wrote: »

I just might have the answer to your dilemma, providing the bike is the right size and your location suits. I was over in iBike in Beaufort near Killarney last week and saw an immaculate Kuota Kharma will full Ultegra, only the bar tape gave me any clue it was secondhand. Well worth a call to see if its still there and what size, and being secondhand, might be easier to get a spin on it.

www.ibike.ie and the owners name is Peter.

interesting!!
cheers Peter

Redjeep!

My brother had one for a few years as his main bike, commuting every day on it. His commute is about 15miles each way and very hilly. I assume he's still got it.

Loves it. I only rode with him once, (including the longest continuous climb in the UK )but it seemed a really nice bike. Don't think he's had any problems with it and it's been used fairly hard.

paulo6891

I think that a bike's look is way more important than how it functions, but that's a personal thing, everyone looks for different qualities! At this price point, they're all going to be good bikes anyway, so why not get something that you'll be proud to ride!

Roger Hassenforder

& its not like im going to start making a living out of the thing!

Roger Hassenforder

right, end of thread.
Im getting a Fuji SST3
thanks for all the comments folks

fat bloke

Ha ha ha. After all that.

Good choice though.

This guy loves his Fuji:

ROK ON

Thats a girl.

fat bloke

........<sigh>

Roger Hassenforder

fat bloke wrote: »

........<sigh>

Couple of pints...

Stokolan

Roger Hassenforder wrote: »

Couple of pints...

Bottle of whisky more like it!

Phatfarmer

I bought a kuoto kharma frame last year,I transferred everything over from my previous bike.To date I have 1200km on various road conditions,all weather's and I weigh in at a portly 104kg.I hammer the bike and wouldn't be happy with less than 27+kph.The frame has been a match for me anyway!

templer27

A few months back I saw a giant TCR for 1800euro in Victorria cross cycles. Ultegra everywhere, not sure what the wheels were. I think it was size medium large, now thats a bargin. If only I saw this bike a year ago:mad::mad::mad:

Special Red

I have a Kuota Kharma, 2011 model. Love the bike, great bike, highly recommend it. I know of someone, not me, who is in the unfortunate position of having to sell his one. Think it's a medium frame. PM if you want to know more.