My all-time favourite bike to write about has been Kona’s factory-rigid single-speed. The Unit. This has been a Kona model since 2003, so it’s fair to say they’ve been carrying the one-speed double-hardtail torch a long time. Over the years, they switched from 26″ hoops to 29’ers, to 27+, and back to 29″. Somewhere in there, Kona added, then retired, a couple of generations of the aluminum Big Units for faster, lighter-weight builds.
[Aside] One of the true beauties of the Unit, Big Unit, and, of course, Honzo has been the ready availability of budget-friendlier frame-only options. [/Aside]
More recently, we’ve seen the addition of the Unit-X, a factory-rigid multi-speed model using the same frame platform as the Unit. And, of course, we’ve all seen the unconfirmed early-release bent-for-bike-packing {it’ll look boss with a frame bag}, LinkGlide-equipped, Unit-Y.
Today. In this edition of New Year, New Unit. I’m not talking about any of those bikes, but rather another new Unit model. The Unit-Zo.
{All Photos: MEATengines unless noted.}
[Aside]
New Year, New Unit is an ongoing MEATengines series that I plan to continue yearly as long as Kona keeps making the Unit and, hopefully, expand as other brands enter the game of budget-friendlier suspension-corrected rigid bikes with sliding or swinging dropouts. Yep, it’s a tall order, but that’s why Unit is rad.
For past pieces, check out:
- My Dream Unit – 2020
- New Year, New Unit – 2021
- (Almost) New Year, New Unit – 2022/2023
- New Year, New Unit – 2024
- Same Year, New (thinking about the) Unit (‘24.5)
[/Aside]
{Above photo: Mr. Lungtastic}
This year, as with the past few years, I want to write about the idea of a Unit with a more aggressively appointed geometry chart. But, rather than asking again for a little longer and slacker version of the rad rigid ATB that it is, I figured, what better time to add another Unit model to the mix?
Actually, and I’ll admit straight up that it didn’t work out exactly as planned, I had this idea of repurposing a recently retired platform. Fire up ye olde Honzo ST* assembly line, all that’s missing is a colour-matched 510mm-ish axle-to-crown (a-to-c) rigid fork and a properly meaty 29×3″ front tire, and the Unit-Zo** will be ready to go.
Big brakes, long dropper, and an HG driver on the stock-build, that will presumably be multi-speed. Maybe with the Deore M5130 LinkGlide drivetrain and the matching 4-piston Deore brakes? Oh, the HG freehub is, of course, for straightforward, simple-speed conversions. Dare I suggest a stock CushCore Trail insert in the rear?
*{Yes, okay, maybe it needs a bit longer head tube? I’m a bicycle dreamer, not a bicycle designer.}
**{Honzunit, Unzo, Zunit?! Bonus points for anyone who has a better name.}
Yeah, so. Since my NIB ’23 Honzo ST touched down, even whilst I was running it over-forked with a -2° GeoShift headset, I’ve been dreaming of rigid forking it. A meaty two-wheeled argument for the more Funduro-esque Unit of my dreams.
Even with a 29+ front setup, my Waltworks V2 fork is too short a-to-c wise to properly make it happen. But, as if by magic, Pinner Machine Shop* had just restocked their +18mm lower headset cups, and that’s made up the difference nicely.
I’m running a size large Honzo ST, 40mm NSBillet Overlord stem, and a 75mm rise Hunter Smooth Move {by Nitto – Japan} bar for a contented cockpit setup. Much more experimenting to come, of course. Right now I’m running the rear-center fairly short with fast tires for a more {modern} XC experience.
*{Pinner-Pete produced a pack of pedaling pieces in Pemberton**.}
**{Say that five times fast.}
Certainly, the Unit-Zo is not as slack as my custom Waltworks V2 was, and that’s okay. None meaner. It also has a much shorter rear-center than my V1 or V2, and it’s even notably shorter than a Unit. Especially since my 30x22t gearing results in a wheel position that’s fairly tucked, or, with all fresh-ish drivetrain components, all the way long.
Set up all the way short, from my first steep & greasy rock-armoured descent, I’d have to admit that a stock Unit with a -2° angleset is probably the more stable machine. Wow, all this to go home and recycle any other annum’s New Year, New Unit piece, really?
Chill out, Mandrew. We all know that a new rig can take a bit of patience to properly push. I’ve owned a few Honzo frames, but this is the first time I’ve ever run one with a rigid setup. I also, usually, tried to balance gearing with the longer-est chainstay setting possible in the past, and there’s something ‘BMXy’ about the shorter-est stay build that worked so well on neighbourhood test rides, I’m loath to lengthen them.
I changed my ride plans, buckled down my attitude, and pedaled up to Pipeline for a moment of truth ride. Either the Unit-Zo is fun on my favourite trail, and we’ll go from there, or it could be fun elsewhere for other folks, but it’s not the bike for me.
What does that say about the potential of this upcycled Honzo ST production model that I sat down to push? Well, nothing really. Just because a bicycle is, or isn’t, for me doesn’t mean it is, or isn’t, a bicycle for you.
Cold and wet, I pulled on my Emotional Support Jacket (ESJ), pumped the Unit-Zo through a couple of circles, forced myself to smile, and dropped in. And, almost immediately, I discovered the truth of this bicycle in that it’s just capable enough to go anywhere I’d choose to take a rigid rig, and so much fun. If Kona doesn’t make this bike, someone should.
[Aside] The only negative, in our cold, wet winter riding conditions, is that I can’t run a rear fender on it. I mean, look at that BMXiness, I just can’t. It’s against some law somewhere. [/Aside]
I rode every feature just as if I were on my V2. A bit slower in sections, certainly, so the Waltworks would still be my first choice if I were entering a double-hardtail DH race {ha}. But for my Shore-to-Sky single-speed needs, this machine is delightful. The balance is nice, it’s fun, and easy to ride. And on more playful, less janky & gnarly trails, it’s grinducing.
And, I’ll leave it there for today. New Year, New Unit-Zo.
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