Kona Bikes Creates Customizable Marine Themed Slopestyle Course

In January we reported that Kona Bicycle Co. was sold to Kent Outdoors (formerly known as Kent Watersports). While we’ve all waited to see how this partnership would unfold, the direction of the company has taken an interesting turn. Pinkbike has uncovered an application for a patent filed to Kona Bicycle Co. for what looks to be like a customizable marine themed slopestyle course, followed by an official press release from a company also owned by Kent Outdoors called Aquaglide that the two will pair together to release the Aqua Bike Park. Kona has obviously taken a page from their sister company, as they already make a similar product called the Aquapark, however the application to the bike industry starts to make a little more sense once you get past the initial shock of a giant floating bike park.


With the rise in popularity of ramps and airbags since Covid and the insane progression of our sport, it really doesn’t seem too farfetched for people to want a product like this. Athletes will be able to train for high consequence slopestyle and freeride events like Redbull’s Joyride or Rampage with minimal risk.




We reached out to Kona for more details and received the expected response: “Kona is known for its innovations over the years, and it wouldn’t be the first time one of our new ideas would make a splash. That being said, we don’t comment on rumors or speculation of what may or may not be coming down the pike.”

Clearly the concept is still in its infancy, as the patent doesn’t detail much more than what is minimally required to be filed but given the backing behind the project, we’re sure that we’ll see this spectacle popping up at a mountain bike event sooner than later. Who knows, maybe this will enable a future Crankworx Bellingham stop with a Redbull Buoyride event on Lake Whatcom.


What Makes This Possible?

Alright techies, listen up. This where it gets pretty clear where Aquaglide rolled up their sleeves and got to work.

Construction: Tubular and Double I-beam construction using RF and Hot-air welding techniques
Materials: 0.90mm (31oz) Duratex – 1000d, 20 x 26 polyester core
Valves: Integrated pressure relief valves (PRV’s) for over-pressure protection
Surface: Patented carbon/Kevlar weave Inflatable Composites provides an added thin layer of bondable, ultra-high compressive strength composite materials for inflatables. This layer improves resistance to bending loads by over 300%.




Figure 2 has a few features called out. C) is an anchoring system to ensure that the park doesn’t float away. F) points to a new technology in material that is specific to the bike park. Kona refers to the Anti-Slip material frequently as “Silicone and Linen Impregnated Polyethylene” (S.L.I.P.) for its “Sustainable Lightweight Impervious Durable Entity” (S.L.I.D.E.).







We are hoping to see different shapes of ramps, but so far only one has been listed in the press release. Maybe they are hoping that the Stackers will create enough variety, but a longer radius might be more appealing to high level athletes going for more rotations.

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