2017 Kona Models Released

Nothing notably  new in the gravel dept different paint, prices. I like the new paint on the Sutra Tourer

http://www.konaworld.com/platform_rove.cfm
http://www.konaworld.com/sutra.cfm
http://www.konaworld.com/roadhouse.cfm

I know.  I was hoping to see thru axles on the Rove

<span>kdennan</span> wrote: I was hoping to see thru axles on the Rove 

Yeah me too, Kona is relatively new to the road bike market and a smallish corp. I doubt the Rove will be updated with modern specs anytime soon. Retooling,R&D and all that goes with updating the frame and fork is probably to costly for a smallish corp. Not to mention existing raw materials,inventory and production,delivery schedules.


 Nice bike though with the 1x,I had an aluminum rove when it first came out. I moved to a Raleigh Willard and am very happy. The Sutra tourer always captured my interest though.

The wheelhouse looks interesting in a compact type steel road bike. The wheelhouse and the Rove should merge leaving a bike that accepts wider tires TA's but  keep the Rove Geo. that wouldn't be hard to do since the rear drops,headtube, and fork are already in production. Just need to get Dr Dew involved to hammer out the frame details.
Kona can keep the current Rove and have the the RoveX as the flagship in the line priced at under $2k. It would sell.
The niner steel is very similar in geo to the rove as well as the steel jamis renegades

The Kona Wheelhouse looks fantastic for the price. 853 steel frame complete bike for $1600?  I can't remember ever seeing a bike like that at that price point.  

Thoughts on the Sutra LTD?

http://www.konaworld.com/sutra_ltd.cfm

Serious consideration based on tire clearance and 1x11 drivetrain + hydro brakes. Our dirt roads in the sonoran desert get washed out into a big sandy mess and often rise for miles with ridiculous grades going from low to high desert. I like my mtb for rides like this up to around 40ish miles, but am trying to replace a road bike with something versatile for both paved and non-paved long rides.

I can't speak for the Sutra LTD bike as I've only ridden one once around a dirt parking lot during a demo day.  But, for some reason, I've always liked them.  I do have something similar - a Niner RLT Steel and it's set up similar to the Sutra LTD.  It's running Force1/Hydro w/Easton EA70 XCT wheels and WTB Nano 40c tires.  For the hills around here I changed the chainring from 42t to 38t which helps a lot of the climbs though I sometimes run out of gears on the way down.  I use it mostly for trail riding when I don't want to take my mountain bike - and it excels at that.  But I've used it on pure road rides w/Schwalbe Pro-Ones @ 28c and it did ok.  That is, it's a bit heavy for road - so not exactly a fast, group ride sort of bike but good probably for about everything else.  So, for me, it won't replace my road bike.  I've also got a Ridley X-Trail that is used for mixed road/trail and long distance or hilly road rides.  So between the 2 adventure bikes and both a road and a mountain bike I've got most of the bases covered.  I think I'd be sure that 45c tires will handle the sand you expect to be riding in.  The 40c tires on the Niner do ok for short stretches of sand but are, I think, a little small if I were to be riding a lot of sand.  There are more than a few bikes out there than can run a 2.1 tire and a few new bikes that can interchange a 29er wheel with a 27.5 so you can use up to a 3.0" 27.5+ tire.  Anyway, there are a lot of options out there - narrowing it down is the hard part.

My take is, to me it seems like it's overpriced by the time you take delivery. A $550 frame with $1500 parts? I think one could build it up at a better price point and have it the way you want it. All depends though if you are willing to do the work and can get the frame. I couldn't get a frame when I was interested in the LTD

The new Salsa lineup is worth a look too. Sounds like tires and gearing are big factors and I would throw in a lightweight frame but I don't ride those conditions so I'm just guessing but sand is never easy anywhere. A bike that intrigues me is the Diamondback with the 650 b tires looks rather versatile.
http://www.diamondback.com/bikes-road-bikes-alternative-road-haanjo-series-haanjo-exp-carbon

I'll be rocking a Kona soon on the gravel. The Private Jake. Can't wait. Couple more parts to come next week and I'll be in business! But mine is a 2016 but no difference in the 2017 other than color.

I received my '17 LTD a couple of weeks ago and it's about all I've ridden since. Thus far, I've changed only a few things (part of the reason I bought this bike over many of the others... not many things to change). The wheels are now tubeless, chainring from a 36 to a 32 (the Alps are damn steep), Chris King headset installed (I had a new one laying around) and that's about it. Rocking my SpoK Werks Quickie bag on the front and will end up making a saddle bag for it at some point as well.

The bike rolls beautifully! It's heavier than I expected and I have yet to figure out where all the extra weight is coming from... best guess, the wheels. Another odd thing is that the rear der. cable on mine is routed under the bottom bracket and cuts across the space inside the rear chainstays to the cable stop in front of the rear der. which seems really weird. Something seems amiss there. I'm currently looking into it. Lastly, I've noticed that everything I've worked on up till this piont, seems to be devoid of grease... it's a bit disconcerting. 

Beyond that... I'm really enjoying the bike.

Nubster wrote:I'll be rocking a Kona soon on the gravel. The Private Jake. Can't wait. Couple more parts to come next week and I'll be in business! But mine is a 2016 but no difference in the 2017 other than color.

Congrats. I have a 2011 Jake. Pretty basic and not a "real" gravel bike. But it is so much fun to ride. I upgraded the wheels and had a wider cassette put on. Other than that, no changes and no problems with it. Only complaint is it has pretty weak low end canti brakes. But you won't have to worry about that as now they come with disc brakes. Anyway, the point is I think the Jake line is a great value.

pauley wrote:

Congrats. I have a 2011 Jake. Pretty basic and not a "real" gravel bike. But it is so much fun to ride. I upgraded the wheels and had a wider cassette put on. Other than that, no changes and no problems with it. Only complaint is it has pretty weak low end canti brakes. But you won't have to worry about that as now they come with disc brakes. Anyway, the point is I think the Jake line is a great value.

I have some decent miles on my Private Jake and I am absolutely in love with it. So much I'm tempted to pick up a back up frame...lol

 

Sweet! Don't think you'd need a back up frame though as that one looks like it will take quite a beating.

Probably...but my luck...it will break 5 years from now and the frame will be drastically changed or discontinued and I won't be able to get a new one. If that happened...I'd just send the busted frame to a custom frame builder and have them replicate it in steel or Ti...lol