Kona Bass 2009 suitable for DH and 4X?

PB Forum :: Downhill
Kona Bass 2009 suitable for DH and 4X?
  • Previous Page
  • Next Page
Author Message
flag CustomNorcoBigfoot2006
Posted: Sep 18, 2011 at 15:57 Quote
So I am looking for a full suspension bike to ride PORC downhill and 4X (youtube if unsure.) I am looking for a bike under 6in travel front and rear frame only for less than £400. Three bikes I chose were transition bottlerocket, commencal furious or kona bass. The commencal and transition are way over budget, so i decided with the kona bass. After reading it was more a slopestyle/dj bike I was just wondering wether it would be a good DH bike. I dont want alot of travel as i am fairly small. Setup: 160mm rockshox domains, small kona bass frame with marzocchi roco air 100m travel, halo combat wheelset, front+rear hayes brake and 8 speed gears. Is this suitable for my riding type or is it worth waiting longer for a full dh bike.
flag gclarida
Posted: Sep 18, 2011 at 16:40 Quote
The bass is a slopestyle and DJ bike so it probably wouldn't be the best suited for what your looking to do. To be honest, all of those bikes are suited for 4X, and will get caught up in the rough stuff on the downhill for sure. My advice: Choose one of those 2 race classes and race it, and buy a bike that is suited for what ever you are riding, there is just too much of a difference between those to disciplines to ride a 4x bike on the dh, or even a DH bike on 4x, its just not supposed to happen.

choose one class and ride it. Also dont buy a kona, i was on one for the first time today, Ive never bad mouthed kona's, but my buddies 2009 stab rode like i was on a camel. No joke i got on it and thought "im riding a camel."


On another note, Why not buy a 4X/DH hard tail and throw some 36 talas on it? you can ride DH on hardtail alot better than a short travel bike IN MY OPINION. You could then adjust the travel on your forks for what ever you are riding and at least it will be more suited to both, Ive had a plan for a while to build up a transition bank with the most bomb proff parts i can then throw a talas on it and do the HT and then the DH in my local race series, then start doing 4x and bmx racing as well.

I dunno thats just my 2 cents
flag midwest-mtb
O+ FL
Posted: Sep 18, 2011 at 18:17 Quote
CustomNorcoBigfoot2006 wrote:
So I am looking for a full suspension bike to ride PORC downhill and 4X (youtube if unsure.) I am looking for a bike under 6in travel front and rear frame only for less than £400. Three bikes I chose were transition bottlerocket, commencal furious or kona bass. The commencal and transition are way over budget, so i decided with the kona bass. After reading it was more a slopestyle/dj bike I was just wondering wether it would be a good DH bike. I dont want alot of travel as i am fairly small. Setup: 160mm rockshox domains, small kona bass frame with marzocchi roco air 100m travel, halo combat wheelset, front+rear hayes brake and 8 speed gears. Is this suitable for my riding type or is it worth waiting longer for a full dh bike.
The kona bass is a amazing slopestyle bike and if your riding smooth pump track like downhill runs like a A-line for example yea your probably fine. The kona bass probably not best top of the line 4x bike but it would get the job done.
flag CustomNorcoBigfoot2006
Posted: Sep 18, 2011 at 23:57 Quote
I am riding a norco bigfoot with 160mm forks and just wanted a bit more travel on the back. There is no point spending 1k on a dh bike (bighit/commie supreme) as they are too big for me, so I am better off getting a small ttavel DH bike.
flag manicmastiff
Posted: Sep 19, 2011 at 0:00 Quote
CustomNorcoBigfoot2006 wrote:
I am riding a norco bigfoot with 160mm forks and just wanted a bit more travel on the back. There is no point spending 1k on a dh bike (bighit/commie supreme) as they are too big for me, so I am better off getting a small ttavel DH bike.

Too big as in frame size or too much travel?
flag CustomNorcoBigfoot2006
Posted: Sep 19, 2011 at 9:33 Quote
I rode a Small frame Bighit and felt too bouncy and i didnt feel in control
flag gclarida
Posted: Sep 19, 2011 at 9:37 Quote
CustomNorcoBigfoot2006 wrote:
I rode a Small frame Bighit and felt too bouncy and i didnt feel in control

your shock wasnt set properly.
flag CustomNorcoBigfoot2006
Posted: Sep 19, 2011 at 9:40 Quote
I have ridden more than one so it isnt the set up.
flag gclarida
Posted: Sep 19, 2011 at 9:41 Quote
CustomNorcoBigfoot2006 wrote:
I have ridden more than one so it isnt the set up.

More then one that you owned and had time to set the suspension up properly for your weight and riding style?
flag gclarida
Posted: Sep 19, 2011 at 9:42 Quote
You also realize that having a short amount of travel on a long travel course will slow you down alot more then it would help you due to the fact that your going to be constantly bottoming your rear end? Plus the fact that your are going to put your rear end and its components through hell?
flag CustomNorcoBigfoot2006
Posted: Sep 19, 2011 at 9:45 Quote
They belonged to other people, one set up bouncy another fairly stiff. However its not the shocks thats the issue, its the height of it. It didnt feel stable in the air or corners. Whereas the kona wouldnt feel like that, it would feel like a hardtail. There is no point getting a dh bike for another 2 years.
flag DARKSTAR63
O+
Posted: Sep 19, 2011 at 10:04 Quote
I ride a Kona Cowan DS for trail/jump/free-ride/general thrashing. The Bass is very much the same exact bike. I love it. Dont listen to the Kona haters who think they know what they are talking about because they rode around a parking lot on a Stinky. There are nicer rigs for sure but the Kona gets the job done and it versitile. Its only 100mm of travel so full on DH riding its not ideal. But it works great for 4x or slopestyle. I wouldnt go with a big fork though it will rake it out and feel unbalanced. I have a Rock Shox PIKE on there now and it perfect. Its adjustable from 95-140, I keep it around 120. The BB height is low on this bike, so it rails corners. With the wheelbase it its long setting its also very stable at speed so a skilled tech gnar technician could do a day of DH and hang. Go for it. My 2cents.
flag CustomNorcoBigfoot2006
Posted: Sep 19, 2011 at 13:54 Quote
I ride a hardtail so i have the skill on these tracks. The bass may go through hell but my bike is a xc bike with xc bb and riding Porc is perfectly fine, the components have held up. And that what suspension is meant to do anyway? Its not as if i will be riding insanely steep and tech tracks like Fort William or Llangollen; 4 inches of travel on the back is all that is needed on most trails i ride.
flag DARKSTAR63
O+
Posted: Sep 19, 2011 at 14:54 Quote
I have the Fox DHX 5.0 on the the back and ill tell you what it works great. I set it up really firm (about 190 psi) I weigh 165. That way it behaves like a hardtail on smooth terrain but opens up and takes off the edge on hard stuff. 5-6 foot drops and such I use 3/4 of the travel or so and harder hits will use it all up but never a harsh bottom out.
  • Previous Page
  • Next Page

 


Copyright © 2000 - 2024. Pinkbike.com. All rights reserved.
dv65 0.013160
Mobile Version of Website