I won’t say too much about Kona here, you know, avoiding duplication. ‘New Year, New Unit’ has been a feature on MEATengines for a few years now. Plus, I doubt if even any Kona employees have written as much about the Honzo as I have since I bought my first MY2012 Bluezo. Both of my custom Waltworks rigs are based on an amalgamation of my experiences with the Units, Honzos, and the Explosif which were my go-to bikes for years.
There’s a piece this morning on BikeMag.com/Gear called ‘To All The Konas I’ve Loved‘ (an ode to fun bikes by nice people). Check it out if you have a chance. There’s a call out (top and bottom) for folks to submit their own Kona memories for a guestbook of sorts that Cy is building.
The reality is that a lot of folks, including a lot of folks who write about bikes, are sentimental about Kona, or Kona bikes that they’ve owned, and, for better or worse, reams of copy are going to be created this year about those bikes and the brand. Case in point, I’ll have a more personal piece up next week talking about the Kona Bikes recipe.
*Cover photo by John Herring / KONA COG.
This is ‘Selling Out,’ where I disclose all the other awful, underhanded, and conniving things I’ve been up to recently in the name of a paycheck and it’s been a while since I put one together, so I’m going to keep it mostly to bold titles and links.
As per usual, if you have any questions, concerns, or comments please feel encouraged to drop me an e-mail, or join us at r/MEATengines.
FVMBA
KAPOW! I can’t help but feel like I missed out on an experience by not volunteering with one of the FVMBA’s legendary ‘That’s What She Said‘ events. I took my Honzo to some of their grassroots enduro races and had the best time in the fun-heavy, race-light environment but TWSS was obviously a bit more wild.
The above link takes you to a short piece I put together for the FVMBA as part of a series of 20th Anniversary & Stuff pieces that I’m helping out with this year. I love the trails at Bear & Woodlot, and beyond, and my extended family appreciates Thornhill so much, and I’m stoked to be able to help out in some capacity.
SuspensionWerx
There are now a couple of pieces up on the SWerx site and we’ll keep at it tossing up one a month. It’s nice to help Pope Jimmy tell the story of his business. James has helped me out with a pile of teardowns over the years and we’ll have some more stuff coming to BikeMag.com/Gear this year.
A quick note for any readers who own a Lefty, or have a friend with a Lefty, that it’s the last chance for gas in terms of getting that strut serviced at SWerx. It’s first-come-first-served while parts are available so if you’re suspension setup is completely one-sided then reach out.
BikeMag.com/Gear
I’ve seen a lot of stuff I’ve written go live since Selling Out (Part. 3) hit MEATengines. Apparently, Cy’s not (yet) sick of my endless attempts to turn everything I write into mild propaganda for mountain biking on rigid single-speeds?
I’m most pleased with the first hit of Tilting At Windmills, about Mountain Bike Sizing, even if every single mountain bike media outlet had some take on small riders getting out-Reached by current sizing trends. Will all the premium bike companies offer eight stock sizes in 2025? No. Will any of the premium bike companies offer eight stock sizes in 2025? No. That doesn’t mean that the conversation is valuable to have.
Anyway, here’s the whole litany of links for those who’ve asked me to share on MEATengines when my stuff is showing up other places:
- Tilting At Windmills – Mountain Bike Sizing
- A Personal Look at Flat Pedal Value – Featuring the $55 Trek Line Elite & $200 Wolf Tooth Waveform
- Tested & Launch: Project 321 G3 Hubs
- Four Ways To Single-Speed Your Hardtail
- Wonderful Widgets #1
- Technically About Derailleur Clutches ( But Mostly About Our Relationship with New Tech)
- Introducing the Trek TireBackTM Radar Rear Sensor System
- To All The Konas I’ve Loved
I’ll leave you there, I need to go glue-and-wire a fresh pair of iridescent purple ODI Longneck SLX grips onto an anodized purple Chromag bar. You know, typical Andrew stuff, answer the big questions in mountain biking like “Is there such a thing as too much purple and/or pink on a bicycle?”
As always, thanks for reading and engaging.
Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this piece please consider buying me a coffee. Any questions, concerns, or comments please feel encouraged to drop me an e-mail, or join us at r/MEATengines.