Kona

[Iainj837]

I have just been looking in the Kona cataloge, under the headings Road,cyclocross trail etc what is Asphalt ?
Has anyone come across the Kona UTE ? and is it used for deliveries ?

 

[Moodyman]

Kona is Canadian/US company. Asphalt is what the North Americans call road. A bit like us calling it Tarmac. So the bikes under that category are designed for the road.

The UTE is a utilitarian cycle. Has a large load area at the back, so if you do pizza deliveries or are a courier it would be ideal. You can, of course, run it as your everyday bike and many buyers in the US/Canada do. You'd look a little odd over here though as they're not that common.

Kona are a high quality bike company and you get more for the same money as you would from their counterparts.

 

[Iainj837]

Thanks for that Moodyman, it would be brilliant for me as I work as a part-time distributor for a well known home cataloge company and I use my bike for dropping/collecting catalogs and deliveries.

​

 

[mickle]

I have my reservations about the Ute. It's available in 18" frame size only and (unless they've changed the spec for the 2010 model year) has the most ridiculously high bottom bracket height. And why on earth did they build a cargo bike with 700 wheels?

Buy a Yuba or even an Extracycle before a Ute.

 

[e-rider]

Kona is Canadian/US company. Asphalt is what the North Americans call road. A bit like us calling it Tarmac. So the bikes under that category are designed for the road.

The UTE is a utilitarian cycle. Has a large load area at the back, so if you do pizza deliveries or are a courier it would be ideal. You can, of course, run it as your everyday bike and many buyers in the US/Canada do. You'd look a little odd over here though as they're not that common.

Kona are a high quality bike company and you get more for the same money as you would from their counterparts.

I would disagree with that on 2 counts. Many of their cheaper bikes are now made in cambodia and thailand and are very poor quality - they are also not very competitive on price with their competitors.

 

[Baggy]

Chuffy road tested a Ute - the review is here. He loved it!

 

[RedBike]

Kona are top notch when it comes to MTBs. Their Cyclo-x bikes (Jake) are held in very high regard too. However, they've never really made an impact on the road market.

No idea about the UTE though. I've never ridden one.

 

[g00se]

I would disagree with that on 2 counts. Many of their cheaper bikes are now made in cambodia and thailand and are very poor quality - they are also not very competitive on price with their competitors.

Sorry - would disagree with that to a degree.

Nearly all bike manufacturers use the same far-east factories. Kona use Fairly and Hodaka in Taiwan - who also do Giant and Bianchi among other. Unless it's changed in the last year.

See: http://allanti.com/articles/where-was-my-bike-made-pg328.htm for who does what.


As for price, their expensive bikes tend to be less well component spec'ed compared to rivals but they are known for build quality and longevity. A few recent reviews have said that specs are now similar. At the bottom end, they do seem equally if not better equipped. Kona Dew Plus vx trek FX7.3 vs Sirrus etc.

 

[Baggy]

As [/FONT]for price, their expensive bikes tend to be less well component spec'ed compared to rivals but they are known for build quality and longevity. A few recent reviews have said that specs are now similar. At the bottom end, they do seem equally if not better equipped. Kona Dew Plus vx trek FX7.3 vs Sirrus etc.

I agree with this, my road bike is a 2009 Haole - but the 2010 has a much better spec for around the same price. That said, managed to get a £600 discount on mine so it was a bargain anyway No complaints about the build quality at all.

 

[g00se]

Sorry - back to cargo bikes - might get some info from here:

http://www.practicalcycles.com/

No particular recommendation - it's just I seem to have ended up on their mailing list and get the occasional email from them.