Excellent geometry, excellent fork, excellent (light) frame material

Perhaps only the saddle

I bought it earlier this year in a clearance sale.Been really surprised to realize the bike is much better than some newer bikes of its class. I ride it uphill, downhill, off-road and on-road. Now I am considering to buy another wheel set with 1.50 tire and 10 or 11 speed sprocket to cater my needs of touring,

I hope I will ride the bike until I get older (as written on its website: for life)

Great light frame with great geometry. Solid fork.

I was very satisfied owner of Kona Cinder Cone cc 2005/6, until it was stolen.
To my negative surprise this bike is not even in the same league with that one. All parts, except of frame and fork, were better and of greater quality on older Kona. Older Conder Cone was a very smooth and enjoyable ride.
This bike has really cheap feeling about it, everything feels “off”, maybe Croatian dealer was not able to put it together properly (they were not able to tune rear shifter with few attempts, so I went to other mechanic) . Parts are out of tune all over soon after tuning. Breaks are also cheap and pretty lousy. Parts are not on a level which should be for this price range, and everything should be upgraded which I plan to do next year.

Kona is obviously riding on a name and frame quality, but it is not worth the money any more, IMHO.

2014, Scandium Scandium Scandium!! This frame is super light, and looks awesome..and really stands out with it's plastic formed front end that almost looks like a carbon frame. The pictures are not flattering, and the bike actually looks ten times better in person than any of the stock photos, or dealer pics. The paint is Matte black with light grey on top and bottom tubes that does not show in pictures with a florescent green striping. It is simple, and yet very stealthy/racey looking. The bike looks mean when you see it in person. Rockshox XC30 air upfront are decent, SLX rear is good for the price as well, but overall you are really paying for the exotic frame..and of course the geometry is perfect. It is the best balanced bike I have ridden in a long time.

The thumb shifters for 2014 are Alivio and so is the front deraileur. I have had the bike for two weeks and I already ordered XT shifters, as the Alivio are the bulkiest blockiest looking things ever. I have a 10 year old Univega that came with Deore shifters...that are far better, and I couldn't have an outdated bike with better equipment than my new bike. I also ordered aXT front deraileur as the Alivio are very blocky, and large, and leave about 2mm clearance from the tire to the deraileur. if you change the tire to a more knobby one than stock, it will rub, or if you change wheelsets, or even inflate tires more..you run the chance of rubbing. It's quite noticeable, and obvious. Even the shop was perplexed when I pointed it out. So anyone who buys this most likely will want to swap those parts if you are picky or serious, and you probably should be in this price range..around $1100-1200.

This is my second Cinder Cone, my first was a '94 that I bought new when I was 14. With that said, I have had several bikes inbetween, and came back to Kona as the new Cinder Cone is just superbly balanced, and the build quality is top notch. My second choice was a Scott Scale 970, a very good bike. However the geometry on the Cinder Cone won out. It's hard to explain..you just have to ride it, it just feels good. The Scandium frame is lighter, and makes for some really interesting shapes, and joints. As mentioned above, the photos don't do it justice, the bike is soo much better looking in person. It's not as flashy as the Scott..but it does stand out, in the same way the new Batmobile does..it's tough looking. I have had tons of people be like..whao what is that? It's not a common Trek, Giant, Diamondback, or Wallygoose that's for sure. I only wish they had spec it with better thumb shifters, and front deraileur. I would totally have paid an extra $75-100 for that. I had to drop an additional $200 to upgrade these parts, but it's simple, and in the end will have XT, so I can't complain. Eventually I will swap the SLX rear, for XT, and it will be nearly perfect. The price is right, the bike is solid, and it is the perfect bike for customizing, and making your own. At least in Orlando, I have the only one so far (2014 as of June)..so you get some exclusivity as well. There are 8 Trek dealers in town, and only one Kona store. My girlfriend was so impressed she bought a Mahuna a week later.

Similar Products Used:

'94 Kona Cinder Cone, Univega Alpina 700, Scott Scale 970. Trek4900 (worst bike ever), Marin Palisades Trail. Marin TEAM CXR PRO. Specialized Stumpjumper Comp 29