New Bike! Kona Smoke!

[Pax]

I hear ya Knot, I'd LOVE to ride my roadbike to work but the idea of chaining her up on a communal bike rack filled with UI student's trashed out bikes makes me shudder.

I like the look of your Kona, I need to see if they sell 'em in Chicago.

[KnottedYet]

I like the look of your Kona, I need to see if they sell 'em in Chicago.

Who knows, you too might be blessed with a SQUEAKY TYRANNOSAURUS HEAD. (or a sumo wrestler, or a lady bug, or a fish, or a rubber ducky. random chance at work in the bike-horn universe. wonder how many new Smoke owners keep their Mystery Horn?)

The Maxxis tires max inflate is 80 lbs, which makes a very nice road-ride. When I took Mitzi out for my test-ride I deliberately rode over bumps and such on the bike trail that I knew knock me around on Flossie or judder me on the Commutermobile. Just mild bumps on Mitzi.

Those juicy tires do make for a slower bike, though. But not too much slower. And the gearing is awesome for commuting and for (someday) hauling an Xtracycle.

(and at $350, if she gets stolen or vandalized, while I will shed a tear, I won't be devastated.)

Oooh, gotta add her to my National Bike Registry.

[Pax]

...(and at $350, if she gets stolen or vandalized, while I will shed a tear, I won't be devastated.)

My Honey said "go ahead and buy that Breezer Uptown you want", but like you I balk at the idea of having a $1000 bike stolen from the rack at work.

I'm going to look at the Jamis Coda in Chicago next week, and see if I can find a Kona dealer for a comparo!

[dex]

Ooo...I almost bought a Smoke last week for commuting purposes. It was just so cute and loverly (and the squeaky horn cracked me up).

I ended up with a Bianchi Boardwalk (because it was last year's model and on sale...and, um, I loved the color), but I do still think fondly of that cute little Kona.

Yay for you!

[KnottedYet]

commute number 2 on Mitzi.

This is a nice commuter!

Very soft ride compared to the Dew, but also less zippy ride. Today I was a bit more used to her ways, and pushed her a little. Did a lovely skid-out, but the bike stayed under me.

I thought the gigantic platform-and-peg Kona Jacksh*t Pedals would be annoying, but actually I really like them. Pedalling with them in my sandals feels like pedalling in bike shoes because of the huge area of the pedals. They really support a lot of your foot!

I also thought my feet would slide off the platform (those little pegs?!?!) and I'd want to change to bear traps to keep my feet in place, but no problems at all. So far. We'll see how it goes in rain/wet.

I did switch out the stock saddle for the semi-dreaded Serfas Niva. As soon as I win the lotto, I'm getting another Brooks saddle!

[uforgot]

Congrats on the new bike! I visited the Kona website and really like it. Hope you have a new job to go with it! I always thought this would be a fun bike to have for a commuter.

Bianchi Rollo