Quote Originally Posted by pink monkey View Post
pinkbikes, how did you like your kona ht? I am really excited about getting my bike, but a little nervous because i've never ridden a kona and didnt get to try it out beforehand. I've never ridden a full suspension either! I'm hoping for a smoother ride too - where i ride it is super rocky and there are a lot of downhill portions. I feel like i'm getting jerked around a lot. (P.s. i'll def. try riding it first before I make any purchases. I think i just have pre-jitters! haha )

I am looking for major weight differences, like wheels and cranks. I dont really have the money to waste on upgrading small tiny-weight saving things. I think I am most worried about reducing weight because where I ride, there is a portion where it's completely uphill for about 8 miles. This is where I have to work to keep up with the main group. I just dont want to drop to the back! I think with my new bike I will be adding on a couple of pounds of bike weight.

Starting with the wheels would be a good idea. Can anyone recommend a set to get for a reasonable price?
Hi pink monkey.

I really enjoy my Kona Lisa HT. I had always been a dedicated roadie and didn't see myself enjoying the "inefficiency" of MTB. I think this is because I'd only tried riding my DH's Mongoose dually which was as heavy as lead and like riding a tractor, not to mention way too big for me since he is a neat foot taller than me!

So when I actually decided to try MTB (I watched a 24hour race that looked like just WAY too much fun) I wanted to make sure I got a bike that was of a decent enough standard that I would find out if I really wouldn't like MTB or if it was just the equipment that was putting me off.

I spent time riding a few bikes and kept coming back to the Lisa because it just fitted like a glove (was the first time I'd ever tried a WSD bike) and felt great. But it was really a very "in your face pink!" And I've never been so much a pink kind of girl! So I circled it a fair bit before my head finally overcame my heart and I bought it anyway.

I liked that it had a decent level of components and I just loved the ignitor tyres (not actually why you'd buy a bike but just got lucky with first tyre choice) and I lived with the pink. It was a great bike to learn on and people just rave over the colour. I must say, at the time (almost two years ago now) there was very little pink about bikes and it was really easy to find it when you parked it in a big pile of bikes! Now - not so easy!

Of course since then I have another pink bike (my dually is a 2009 Specialized Era Marathon in anodised pink) so I have turned my Lisa into my commuter bike. I still enjoy using it to ride to work or meetings around town. The only thing that I'm not that fond of is the seat. I used to really like the WTB Speed She but since I have been riding the Spesh with the Ariel I just can't seem to get comfy on it anymore.

You will probably notice the smoother ride a lot since you ride in rough areas. Our area has some rocky descents in particular and I find the rear suspension really gives me a lot more confidence in zipping down them. I did a 24hour race on the Lisa in April last year and then another in June after I bought the Spesh. I did similar number of miles in each race but found there was just no comparison in how my butt felt at the end of each race! Dually wins hands down!

As for which wheels? Not really sure what you can get or what price tag you're going to be looking at for them over there! I DO know anything is expensive by the time you mail them out to us in Oz!

The Spesh came with some nice light DT Swiss XT 4.2D rims and DT Swiss hubs and spokes. I have no idea where they fit in the spectrum of "nice wheels" and no idea of what they sell for retail. All I know is that they are damned light compared with the Sun Black Eyes that came on the Kona (even when I put the tyres from the Kona on them) and I really noticed the difference in how well I could climb on them. Since climbing is definitely going to be where you want your gain - I definitely think the wheels are most worth pursuing.