Kona Operator Carbon

PB Forum :: Downhill
Kona Operator Carbon
Author Message
flag MainerH555
O+
Posted: Jun 8, 2016 at 11:28 Quote
Still loving mine.

Running stock, except for replacing the Avid brakes with Zee and changing the shock spring weight.

Learning to appreciate the MTX33 rims. They are heavy, but they stay true, haven't dented and are wide.

I had reservations about carbon frames, but it has held up nicely thru some big crashes that bent my seat and took chunks out of my fork lowers. But then again I might have been lucky.
flag bikebike69
Posted: Jun 8, 2016 at 12:49 Quote
This will be my second season on mine.
While I do love the bike. I still find the sizing a bit smallish to be a large.
Other than that no issues at all. I'm a pretty aggressive and 200lb rider.
Value wise it's one of the best deals out there for a carbon bike?


2014 Kona Carbon Operator large DVO just finished ready for Big Bear
flag RossGreen15
Posted: Jun 8, 2016 at 14:33 Quote
Im in love with mine, got it second hand about a year or so ago and its still going strong. Wouldn't swap it for any thing else. I have since upgraded from the stock RS Kage RC to a Vivid R2C, because the Kage snapped... The vivid has made a massive difference to the ride and feels incredible, I'm running a 425lbs spring and I'm about 80kg. I also swapped out the 2014 Boxxer for a 2016 because black stanchions look insane on it! Im now thinking about buying some lighter wheels because the stock ones weight a tonne. The bike is incredibly playful when you want it to be but is also great for bombing down big hills at max speed! All the frame bearings are extremely well sealed and are still running smooth even though they have never been changed.
flag hubsession
Posted: Jun 8, 2016 at 14:44 Quote
That's funny, the Kage coil snapped on my operator too, right where the shaft connects to the rebound knob. I really liked mine, and rode it hard for a season. As said earlier, the 450mm reach did feel a bit small for me, but I'm 6'2 and like big bikes. Great value for a carbon DH bike.
flag Buggyr333
Posted: Jun 8, 2016 at 15:23 Quote
Kage snapped on my Boss's operator too. was replaced under warranty and has been fine since, maybe a bad batch from RS made it onto the operators?
flag RossGreen15
Posted: Jun 9, 2016 at 10:51 Quote
FindDigRideRepeat wrote:
That's funny, the Kage coil snapped on my operator too, right where the shaft connects to the rebound knob. I really liked mine, and rode it hard for a season. As said earlier, the 450mm reach did feel a bit small for me, but I'm 6'2 and like big bikes. Great value for a carbon DH bike.

Thats exactly where mine snapped, unfortunately the bike was second hand so no warranty... Frown
flag MainerH555
O+
Posted: Jun 13, 2016 at 22:00 Quote
My RS Kage snapped today. Talked to the shop and he said all the Kages on their rentals (Rocky Mntn) snapped. They got replacements and they all snapped. I'm going to buy a different shock and see if I can get a warranty replacement to sell.
flag briceps
Posted: Jul 12, 2016 at 11:54 Quote
johnnyrider wrote:
Hello.
At first, please excuse my non-perfect english.
I'm 70 kgs and 1.80m high. My first DH bike was a Demo 8 size medium I bought on january 2011. I loved it. I own an Operator since june 2014. I swapped all the components from the Specialized to the Kona. I don't have the exact weights, but the Operator isn't much lighter than the Demo.

Kona Operator. 17.00 kgs

Specs :
Operator carbon 2014 size large
Boxxer team, medium spring, high top crown
Vivid R2C, 450 spring
Renthal fatbar, 38mm height
RF atlas DM, 30 mm lenght

Important : the stock headset on the lower end 2014 Operator is shitty and you could blow the headtube. I quickly installed a high end Hope which is a must have.
The room around the tire at chainstays and seat stays is tight and you could have mud problems in case you ride big tires on sticky mud. ( not every day, don't worry )
I did not have any issue of any kind since I got the Kona.

Riding :
The bike is pretty long and the cockpit is high, so the bike rides well on fast steep tracks. On flat and technical tracks, the bike isn't very playful. It feels like a race bike. More race oriented compared to the Demo.
On rock gardens, and destroyed tracks, the bike rides amazingly well.
Riding jumps, the bike is stable and predictable but the rear suspension feels pretty linear and it seems easy to bottom out on heavy landings, the reason why I use a quite hard spring. For comparison, the Demo feels more progressive. With a 450 spring, it's almost perfect.
There is brake squat, but not as much as I have expected. The bike does brake correctly, but is not as great as the Demo.
That said, I ride a long size, with a long reach and a long wheelbase.
A friend had a medium, broke the headtube ( because of the shitty headset ) then got a large. He quickly said the medium is super playful and fun, and the large is stable and predictable.

Overall, it is an awesome bike. Super stoked.

I'm trying to replace my headset on my 2014 DL frame (bearings are shot). I would like to put a hope headset in but I can't find a tapered integrated headset like the Kona site says it came with. Can anyone help with this?
flag pieeater
Posted: Aug 2, 2016 at 5:31 Quote
Just brought mine back from Hafjell Bike Park , Norway . Had to ride a Scott Gambler for a couple of days which felt like a tank. The Operator Carbon was damaged in transit and the replacement mech hanger was not the same - so on the last two days I rode the bike park chainless and was just as fast . Far more playful and stable back end compared to the Gambler .

Great Bike especially considering it was 50% off and brand new .
flag cari0ca
O+
Posted: Sep 13, 2017 at 13:16 Quote
Koper25 wrote:
I got my '14 Operator when it first came out. Still going strong frame wise. I'm not the fastest rider but I've done a few races on it, hit some decent sized gaps and had 0 issues. Almost nothing stock left on it apart from the frame and brakes and forks, even they've been upgraded with the charger damper lol.

2013 Kona Operator

photo

Mt. Buller International road gap.

Recently got a titanium spring and shock bearing for it too. Just need to get some fresh pics.

hello everybody, my first full bike is this model, my doubt is about the shock position, shock kage Rc came installed from the store in the position of the return button up! Can I use it in the opposite position as in the 1st picture above ?? !!

bikeee
flag tccrawfo
Posted: Sep 14, 2017 at 20:10 Quote
You can but it's designed to go upside down
flag JNZ
FL
Posted: Sep 21, 2017 at 21:39 Quote
Hi all, sorry not the best picture. Just purchased this new Kona Supreme Operator.

Kona Stealth frame, 26" Deemax Ultimates, Fox 40's, Stealth Vivid Air, Formula RO's.

Cannot wait for summer here in New Zealand

photo
flag MXViking
Posted: Aug 22, 2018 at 9:20 Quote
JNZ wrote:
Hi all, sorry not the best picture. Just purchased this new Kona Supreme Operator.

Kona Stealth frame, 26" Deemax Ultimates, Fox 40's, Stealth Vivid Air, Formula RO's.

Cannot wait for summer here in New Zealand

photo

Nice! Im putting something together with that frame. However the headset cups seems stuck!?

Another user posted this https://www.pinkbike.com/forum/listcomments/?threadid=172720&pagenum=2
ctbiker888 wrote:
Just picked up the Operator supreme frame... its rad, no doubt.

HOWEVER. i have one HUGE bone to pick with this thing.

Headset cups seem to be epoxied in... so i cant run a zero stack top cup now, WHICH also leads to my steerer being JUST that short that it cant reach all the way. so i have to possibly get a new steerer crown assembly and have to be stuck with sub par HS cups for the life of this frame

anyone got any ideas, experiences, anything? i cant find anything online so i'd figure i'd turn to the forums

Does anyone have a clue?
flag Buggyr333
Posted: Aug 22, 2018 at 12:24 Quote
Some of the Carbon operators have reinforced headtubes with a bonded in headset that cannot be removed. It was designed to use that headset and that one alone. You can tell if you have one of those if there is a carbon sleeve inside of the headtube between the 2 cups instead of the the plain open headtube you would see in most bikes.
I wish I had taken a picture but we just built up one of these for a customer. Had to source the headset through Kona.
flag tccrawfo
Posted: Aug 25, 2018 at 16:07 Quote
Yep, you can’t run a zero stack on this frame. Epoxied stock headset cups in. Think it’s because they had some extra reinforcing they did between 2014 and 2015 models. I ran into this on my 2015

 


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