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Magic Link, is it anygood?

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Magic Link, is it anygood?

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flag Chevria
Posted: Nov 19, 2012 at 9:38 Quote
Really considering a new bike sometime soon and with the magic link on a few Kona models I was wondering what it's like?

A worth while gadget or just a gimmick that is more trouble than it's worth?

If anyone has rode with it what are your opinions?
flag sebkrysz
Posted: Nov 20, 2012 at 6:23 Quote
I have 2009 coilair, here it is: https://www.pinkbike.com/photo/8835301/

Overall I would say magic link is more trouble than what it gives. from my experience: it takes time & effort to set it right, I feel there are too many moving parts that affect stiffness of suspension. I liked however magic link on enduro all day trips - suspension did not swing on uphill and the bike was overall soft and comfortable. However, when it comes to drops above 1m - it is easy to bottom the suspension. I even changed to a longer magic link elastomer, but still it goes down to easy, the magic link compresses and the shock hits the frame (I am 80kg). But probably this is my misuse of this bike to do freeride with it.

Apparently Kona is not expanding this technology, for 2013 there are less magic link bikes than in previous years, I think - so this probably answers your question.
flag kwtoxman
Posted: Nov 20, 2012 at 11:46 Quote
I have a 2012 abra cadabra with the air magic link. It works great and imo is a basic set up. It is so nice to maximize uphill pedal effort and still give good downhill performance. Very noticible.

It is a premium cost suspension so I understand why kona isn't putting it on more stuff. It still is on their am/enduro race bike in use by factory riders.

By adjusting the magic link you can really see and feel how differently the rear suspension can be set up.
flag gtrguy
Posted: Nov 22, 2012 at 8:54 Quote
I recently got a 2010 Cadabra and I'm loving it. The setup was pretty strightforward and the way the bike transitions is great. I'm super impressed with how it climbs and I'm going down over stuff better than ever before. I like it!
The new air setup looks pretty groovy and is directly upgradeable on the older bikes.. for the Cadabra anyways.
flag evomtb
Posted: Nov 22, 2012 at 8:58 Quote
ive demo'd a few with magic links and it felt horrible. the two stage compression feel to it is very apparant and i just didnt like it at all. also that theyre cutting down on it says a lot...

but it could be that if its set up correctly for your body weight it would be decent, their team still runs it i think. id give it a go before you jump in at the deep end and buy it Smile
flag gtrguy
Posted: Nov 23, 2012 at 9:39 Quote
evomtb wrote:
ive demo'd a few with magic links and it felt horrible. the two stage compression feel to it is very apparant and i just didnt like it at all. also that theyre cutting down on it says a lot...

but it could be that if its set up correctly for your body weight it would be decent, their team still runs it i think. id give it a go before you jump in at the deep end and buy it Smile

Definitely needs to be setup properly to work correctly... while the setup isn't difficult, it won't work right if it's setup for someone else's weight.
flag Chevria
Posted: Nov 24, 2012 at 10:05 Quote
Cheers guys, some sweet advice here. I'm going to try and demo a few and see what they're like. Sounds like spending some time setting it up well is a must.

With a budget of £1.5k - £2k for a full sus presents some difficult choices. There's far too many out there! Haha
flag evomtb
Posted: Nov 27, 2012 at 14:13 Quote
Chevria wrote:
Cheers guys, some sweet advice here. I'm going to try and demo a few and see what they're like. Sounds like spending some time setting it up well is a must.

With a budget of £1.5k - £2k for a full sus presents some difficult choices. There's far too many out there! Haha

if that was my money a kona would even be in line off sight i d seek out a nice used santa cruz or something equally pedigree haha. i think theres far too many advancments in suspension to warrant the magic link , but hey i dont design bikes for a living so i reckon they know what theyre on about :L
flag Chevria
Posted: Nov 27, 2012 at 14:26 Quote
evomtb wrote:

if that was my money a kona would even be in line off sight i d seek out a nice used santa cruz or something equally pedigree haha. i think theres far too many advancments in suspension to warrant the magic link , but hey i dont design bikes for a living so i reckon they know what theyre on about :L

Could be an option! I'll not be buying till May time I don't think so will keep saving and see what sorta stuff is on the market too. Got a friend who rides a Trek Remedy 8 and he rates that, plus the Fuel range took pretty decent too.
flag retroisthefuture
Posted: Jan 30, 2013 at 12:26 Quote
gtrguy wrote:
evomtb wrote:
ive demo'd a few with magic links and it felt horrible. the two stage compression feel to it is very apparant and i just didnt like it at all. also that theyre cutting down on it says a lot...

but it could be that if its set up correctly for your body weight it would be decent, their team still runs it i think. id give it a go before you jump in at the deep end and buy it Smile

Definitely needs to be setup properly to work correctly... while the setup isn't difficult, it won't work right if it's setup for someone else's weight.

It will definately feel wrong if set up incorrectly, but as already said, it's easy to set up. With it set up properly you can't feel any noticable "switch" in the suspension feel when the Magic Link is moving. It just feels "normal" but with less pedal bob than what you would expect, it seems pretty sensitive to bumps and generally reacts well to most stuff you might find on the trails.

The G2 Magiclink (2010 bikes onwards) is much better than the G1 Magiclink (original Magiclink bikes 2008-2009). I've had a 2008 G1 Coilair and now have a 2012 G2 Coilair and I absolutely love it, rides much nicer. The 2008 Coilair was good but the big long chainstays which go under the bottom of the frame introduce a lot of flex to the rear of the frame. The 2012 Coilair has a more conventional chainstay style and is built stronger in that area which makes it much stiffer than the 2008. The 2012 Coilair pedals really well (suprisingly well bearing in mind that its technically 200mm travel!) and I rarely switch propedal on when going uphill, with the 2008 I had to use propedal fairly often. Only major complaint I had with the 2008 frame was the spring/elastomer assembly which started sqeaking (annoying) and didn't have a proper damper on it, but the miniature Magiclink air shock on my new Coilair is much better and solves these problems: it's easy to adjust the spring rate and it has adjustable rebound damping so it can be set up to perfection... Though this mini shock doesn't cone as standard on a Coilair and is actually meant for the 2013 Cadabra I think. The 2013 Cadabra looks lovely, I really want to try one, I imagine it'll be like a lighter and sharper version of my Coilair.

I got the 2012 Coilair as a warranty replacement for my 2008 frame when it developed a couple of small cracks (Kona sent me the 2012 frame as a replacement about a week after taking it to the bike shop! :tupSmile . I've had the 2012 Coilair since August/September last year (I think), it's been great so far. In terms of customer service I'd say that Kona have been good for me, I've sent them tech questions in the past and they've always anwered fairly quickly too. It's always nice to know that the bike company will still be happy to help even after they've got your money, I think I'd buy a Magiclink Kona again.
flag gunners1
Posted: Feb 3, 2013 at 21:26 Quote
Just bought a 2011 Cadabra and upgraded the coil to the air shock which was a good move. It takes a bit of playing around to get it right but the bike has been a great choice. The rear tire hugs the ground on climbs, even more than my hardtail. Switch the pp off and you've got a great decending bike with about 6 inches which has been great. For the size of the bike the weight is decent too. Watch out for the brakes, but everyone knows elixer 5's rub and squeal. Component set is decent.
flag evomtb
Posted: Feb 4, 2013 at 6:03 Quote
gunners1 wrote:
Just bought a 2011 Cadabra and upgraded the coil to the air shock which was a good move. It takes a bit of playing around to get it right but the bike has been a great choice. The rear tire hugs the ground on climbs, even more than my hardtail. Switch the pp off and you've got a great decending bike with about 6 inches which has been great. For the size of the bike the weight is decent too. Watch out for the brakes, but everyone knows elixer 5's rub and squeal. Component set is decent.

just get some aftermarket pads, clean up your rotors and align it correctly and those brakes should be fine
flag jaseskiwi
Posted: Dec 16, 2013 at 11:11 Quote
sorry @ wrong person
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