[And, breathe]

This started as my yearly celebration of the Kona Unit, an out-of-the-box rigid mountain bike that still could almost be there and then quickly became a total sh*t show of a rant. It still has stock rims that are too narrow (i30), the $1650 + tax #1FG version might as well ship without brakes – saving customers from Alhonga-level disappointment and space in the landfill, and the new owners, Kent Outdoors, apparently don’t understand the marketing value that selling frame-only options has brought to Kona over the years. 

[And, breathe]

But, I look around at what else is out there, especially what is out there with sliders, and factor in the ‘steel tax’ and I suppose neither the Unit or Unit-X are that out of line price-wise. I mean, look at the Surly Lowside complete at $2200. A Stooge is somewhere around $1300 shipped for a frame & fork and I’m not sure what happens at the border tax-wise. A steel RSD Middlechild with their rigid fork will run $1350. The geo is conservative compared to the latter two rigs, but geometry is free, and quality-wise I’d say the Unit stacks up. 

So I suppose what I’m particularly put-off about is the lack of a frame-only option. Just last year $800 in Canuck-bucks bought a Unit frame and fork. ATB-ready geo or then add in a -2° angle set and the DH fun is just beginning. The perfect place to park spare parts or min-max your way to a unique rigid bike that you’ll for some reason want to ride more than your flash forward full-suspension setup.

For ’24, I was very much hoping that this year’s Unit-X would see a switch from a Shimano Deore M6100 12-speed HG+ drivetrain to a Shimano Deore M5130 10-speed LinkGlide (LG) drivetrain. Not that there’s anything wrong with HG+, but the LG setup is bomber and uses the classic HG driver, instead of Shimano’s new MicroSpline (MS) system. The drivetrain makes a lot of sense for this application, and the HG driver also makes for the easiest single-speeding setup. With the cost savings that Kent would realize in going M5130 one could even hope for a brake or chainwheel upgrade.

Buying the Unit-X and then single-speeding it improves the build and value and also opens up the option to run a multi-speed setup at any time. That said, Problem Solvers is now making a MicroSpline version of their Zinger single-speed carrier, and their 16-to-22t cog options are decent quality steel. With a Zinger, a chain, and the requisite tools (chain whip, cassette tool, quick-link pliers) it’s a five-minute swap with a bit of practice. 

As noted last year, I’d really like to see Kona ship the stock Units with i35mm rims instead of i30. The i35mm rims work awesome with any Maxxis 2.4″ WT tires, go-to +/- sized ATB tires like the 2.6″ and 2.8″ WTB Ranger, and rigid MTB friendly 3″ tires like Trek’s XR4. The current i30 rims are good up to a 2.6″ tire and then air pressure gets very finicky with anything larger. I don’t see how this swap would impact the price of the bike running the same OE-level WTB rims as now. 

Frame-only option aside. Rims width and HG driver changes aside. Campaign to bring back metallic pink aside.  I’d love to see Kona give the 1×1 and multi-speed units exactly the same builds – wheels, cranks, brakes, and all – with only the absence of a derailleur and shifter between them. Surely that will help simplify supply and de-Alhonga the #1FG bike at the same time?

So the Unit is obviously a bike I’m passionate about. New Year, New Unit has been a bit of a tradition at MEATengines. Kona’s Unit has long been a relatively accessible rigid hardtail option – single-speeded or geared – that has the versatility to be a relatively low-risk cycling experiment and the chops to be a custom-spec rigid mountain biking machine. 

I’ve written a fair amount about the bike in the past, as it’s always been a rig that spoke to me. Classic steel lines, balanced ride, solid sliders:

2020: My Dream Unit (a recipe for min-maxing rigid shore single speeds)

2021: New Year, New UNIT

2022/23: (Almost) New Year, New Unit (’23)

I don’t own a crystal ball, but here at the start of 2024, I think most folks who want to really step into riding a rigid mountain bike are going to want to go from a frame-up as opposed to buying a complete high-value hardtail and adding a rigid fork, or buying a complete rigid Unit and then trying to sell take-off parts. Aluminum is actual, but for folks I talk to considering a rigid project most are going real-steel.

The Unit and Unit-X have a huge amount of potential if Kona focuses a little more on min-maxing the spec. And please, please, please bring back the framesets. Geometry-wise I’d love to see a couple of degrees ditched out of the HTA and a Reach and Stack adjusted to keep the riding position similar. The chainstay length is good, the bikes are dropper-ready, the ride quality is quite nice, good to go. 

New Year, New Unit.