Video: Fast and Fun XC in Hawaii

Feb 18, 2014
by Kona Bikes  
2014 Kona XC Race Light

by konaworld
Views: 33,498    Faves: 114    Comments: 31


Last November we took a handful of Kona Team athletes, a trio of carbon XC Race Light bikes, Sherpas Cinema and Sterling Lorence to the jungles and beaches of Maui for a little high speed fun. While our XC Race Light bikes are designed to compete on the world stage, it's virtually impossible for us to make a cross-country video that isn't an ocean full of fun at the same time. With bikes like the Hei Hei Supreme winning the BC Bike Race numerous times, and the King Kahuna placing on the podium of the US XC National Championships, there's no arguing our bikes go quick. But mountain biking isn't just about winning. There's all those sweet training rides with friends, on rad trails in stunning locations. This edit is all about just that.

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Kona Enduro ripper Matt Slaven does XC real good too, rocking the new 2014 Hei Hei Supreme. Photo: Sterling Lorence


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Sarah Butsch on the new Kona Hei Hei Deluxe, a full carbon dual suspension race bike at a great price. Photo: Sterling Lorence


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XC short track star Spencer Paxson's go to race bike, the 2014 King Kahuna. Photo: Sterling Lorence


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The gang getting busy in the West Maui Mountains. Photo: Sterling Lorence


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Surf anyone? Photo: Sterling Lorence


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Photo: Sterling Lorence



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84 Comments
  • 107 5
 Awesome! That looked dangerously close to what some might call All Mountain or Enduro. But clearly they had the wrong helmets, head angles, and travel. I've got an idea for a new discipline. We could call it "Mountain Biking"!
  • 48 5
 They weren't wearing goggles with their open face lids, so this is clearly XC.
  • 5 3
 lol
  • 13 0
 All Volcano!
  • 3 3
 lol
  • 5 2
 They all have visors. Can't be xc.
  • 8 4
 no spandex, no XC. Smile
  • 5 0
 No no no, that was trail riding, but it wasn't serious.....
  • 19 0
 Those sneaky SOBs at Kona think they can get away with using one bike for multiple formats.
  • 5 3
 Its bloody marketing is what it is Wink
  • 3 7
flag tjet (Feb 19, 2014 at 6:03) (Below Threshold)
 I'm confused, but unless "fun" means wearing baggies and not lycra, I must of been doing it all wrong, since my XCing do not have a third of the DHilling in this video. Nice Ad trying to sell trail bikes to the XC crowd.. I guess everything that's not classified as a category automatically fall in the "XC" category...
  • 3 0
 Sounds like some Aggressive Trail/Light All Mountain to me!
  • 4 0
 Hmm 29ers
  • 2 3
 Visors, loose clothing, shaved legs, and carbon 29ers? Something fishy here. It just doesn't add up. Plus it doesn't really look fun anyways.
  • 6 0
 ^ That's because you don't know what it's like to be in good cardio shape. XC is incredibly fun and you don't need a truck or lift ticket to do it! Amazing!

Really though, XC is one of, if not the purest form of MTBing because all you need is a mtb to do it.
  • 1 0
 Ya need a helmet too! haha
  • 1 0
 20 years ago their dh bikes were an xc bike!
  • 51 1
 I hate the idea that xc is boring. I think it comes from people drinking too much marketing koolaid, because as far as I know xc just means riding up a mountain and then down and enjoying both.
  • 8 0
 I agree to many labels. Bottom line, riding bike is fun!
  • 5 0
 yup! XC is just using lighter bikes all around to preform the same job down plus the uphill.
  • 10 0
 I like to think of it as earning your DH.
  • 9 0
 XC to me means that you enjoy earning the downhill. It's a holistic attitude toward riding. If the only thing I could do on a mountain bike was climb hills, I would become the best darn technical climber i could and enjoy every minute of it.
  • 21 1
 I always pedal up and then shuttle back down. Riding back down is just too downhill/freeride/enduro for my taste. Plus I run the risk of snagging and ripping my spandex on branches if I ride that fast. TWENTY NINERS FOR LIFE.
  • 6 0
 @uglyguy- That comment was brave!
  • 15 1
 The only reason to hate XC is not being in shape.
  • 2 0
 @uglyguy couldn't tell if you were making fun of XC or just making fun of most of pinkbike.
  • 25 0
 This is a very cool video. but, LOL.... I hate that the new standard is you only ride fast if it's a 6 inch+ travel bike. Or if the ht angle is 62 degrees lol. Let's be honest...fast steezy riding on any kind of bike is rad. End of story. Nuff said. Ride bikes and stop labeling everything.
  • 9 0
 But how do I direct my hatred toward another slightly different version of cycling that I don't take part in, without a clearly defined label for it? How am I supposed to know if I love it or hate it if I don't know what category it comes under? I think you need to think a bit more about your label-less ideologies!
  • 18 0
 So I jacked up my fork on my AM bike and was forced to take out my HT single speed. After 15 minutes of treating it like a piece of glass, I started to ride it like a 5" trail bike and had a frickin' blast.

Bikes are fun.
  • 16 0
 Pretty decent XC ad.
  • 19 6
 That vid was annoying it was cutting like every half second to a new shot...made my want to punch a hole through my screen
  • 9 0
 Yeah. Way too many cuts. Would have been awesome otherwise. The shots were fantastic but the cuts were out of control.
  • 4 0
 But the main thing is that it is great to see that Matt Slaven appears to be doing well after having been shot last summer.
  • 10 0
 i hate seeing this warm sunny weather... mid winter, this is just depressing
  • 2 7
flag AdamGarcia (Feb 18, 2014 at 17:43) (Below Threshold)
 My "Winter" is 70F when its normally 30F
  • 6 0
 Dude, you dropped your asshole card.
  • 8 3
 Call me crazy but some neon spandex could have made this a tad bit more rad.
  • 2 0
 konachina the name kona is from hawaii big island and there is little vog in maui. its on the big island were the lava is flowing and xc is just a name in moab some ride dh bikes for xc or freeride bikes, i ride a 6in bike for xc enduro freeride all mountain dh or what ever you guys what to call it. on the flip side the hardtail is fun for all of that as well.. its the rider not the bike.. ride your bikes
  • 6 1
 flowing lava in maui ???
  • 1 1
 hahaha I know right?
  • 1 0
 I have ridden in Maui a couple of times over the years. The riding is ok. I had a friend who lived their for a long time so he knew the good spots to go, which is not alot. Some of the single track is either on private land or runs through it, we got chased off some trails once that bordered a pineapple farm, they were chasing us in a John Deere Gator and had shot guns. We did not stick around to long that is for sure.
  • 1 0
 I've ridden in Maui a few times - but there aren't a lot of places to ride: mainly Skyline Trail and Makawao forest reserve. Are the trails in this video open to visitors? Just curious - but wanna be respectful of the local scene too.
  • 1 0
 Is anyone aware of WHERE good riding exists in Hawaii?

Been to Kauai a couple times, awesome place for hiking, surfing, and multiple other outdoorsy type stuff.

But is there anywhere in the island chain that has non-sensitive access to good (fast, fun) trails?
  • 1 0
 Nice images & great riding, but editing was annoying.
On another note: XC Riding doesn't mean XC racing. I have never raced, would probably get my ass kicked in a race. But I do enjoy climbing, riding along the mountain exploring new for me trails and bombing any downhill I find. I also love clearing technical climbs.
  • 4 0
 Konas are such bad ass rigs, BNB baby
  • 2 1
 Finally a video that has to do with the kind of riding I do. Super light AM/Technical XC wearing baggies on a HT 29er.

Too many cuts in the video though. We want to see some riding.
  • 1 0
 Too bad there are no Lava Flows on Maui. And therefore no worries about VOG. Just Haze. I ride in it all the time. Pukalani ROCKS!
  • 1 0
 I'm heading to Kauai next month. Does anyone know any good trails or decent shops that have rentals? I've been trying to research it and haven't found much.
  • 1 0
 Same thing - I haven't found much either... I'm gonna try emailing some of the shops there.
  • 1 0
 I rode in Kauai about 10 years ago and was able to rent a Kona Stinky. There are a few trails there, but it doesn't seem like the best Island for riding. The guy at the shop told me I should just surf....A lot of the island receives a ton of rainfall. Waimea canyon state park is a huge canyon with a lot of dirtbike trails I remember. If you can make the trip Maui has really good riding, you can bomb down the volcano from 10k to about 3k with a good deal of freeride features and 3 different climate zones. Crater cycles is the shop there.
  • 3 0
 Well now I want to grab my board and go surf.
  • 3 0
 So the team go back to where the name origins. Nice.
  • 5 2
 yeap, to China!
  • 2 0
 We welcome all you guys come to ride in China!
  • 1 2
 Konas are always braking, but they luk kool and tern heds. I think the pinkbike community (primarily comprised of phd students and Rhodes scholars of course) should spend a little less time measuring their head angles and putting enduro stickers on their xbox 360s and a little more time cranking watts into a training peaks device. As zappa would say, shut up and ride yer bike. Sarah butsch, that chick rips!
  • 2 0
 Great video, plus it helped to have a great song too.
  • 1 0
 I'm going to Hawaii this summer, now I'm thinking about bringing my bike...
  • 1 0
 Touchy issue with access. Bring your roadbike. Winter is best. Not good to ride when active volcanoes. Sulfurous gas, particle air pollution called vog. Like breathing glass...
  • 1 0
 Judging by the profile of Molokai in the background, and the angles, I'm guessing that's Kapalua Point.
  • 2 0
 Breakfast at the Sea House pre-ride, body surf Napili Bay post-ride? I hate you people.
  • 2 0
 How about steel ridge single speed 26ers
  • 2 0
 I'd ride a Kona. They seem pretty dialed now.
  • 2 0
 Where can I get me some of those socks?!
  • 1 0
 Man. As a kiteboarder and a mountain biker I wanna pack my bags for Maui right now!
  • 2 1
 The video was awesome! My favorite part was when the camera changed rapidly to a different take.
  • 1 0
 Where I come from, we call this "Trail Riding". Love the video and yes, it certainly is a fun one!
  • 6 8
 the worst video ever, did not focus on a damn thing except jumping around from a bike, to lava squirts, to waves, to leaves, to spider eggs, to an eye of godzilla, to some more lava,..and that same rhytm times 45 or so takes.....really..all along pretending to be a commercial for kona bikes. terrible job. could not watch it all. was looking forward to seeing some riding in hawaii, as I lived there and rode in the late 90s. thanks. p.s. the picture of Sarah Butsch riding her bike is the best thing about this whole page. 'the picture' not the video.
  • 2 1
 I think the same about the video, I thought Sarah Butsch was a dude at first then I saw her name Frown
  • 1 0
 I was only saying Sarah riding a bike was the best thing about the article.
  • 1 0
 That Dakine pack brought back memories of my Trapper Keeper from the 90s...
  • 2 0
 GOD KONA SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • 1 0
 Anyone know what is the name of red helmet?
  • 2 1
 They're having fun, so it was not enduro for sure.
  • 1 0
 Bikes, beers, bikinis....in that order!
  • 1 0
 Whatever it is, sure looked fun
  • 1 0
 Kona cinematography always stands up
  • 1 0
 so, do hawaiians hate white people
  • 1 0
 too many explosions not enough riding
  • 2 2
 Hmm I guess XC doesn't suck after all...
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