Kona Road Bikes
There are a number of pioneering American bicycle manufacturers, however one company that often stands apart from other companies is Kona. Creating bikes for every type of cyclist Kona have developed a reputation for being one of the best American bike manufacturers distributing their models throughout the world. Founded in 1988 by
Dan Gerhard and Jacob Heilbron the company was originally named Cascade, however it was quickly renamed Kona later that same year. The inclusion of Joe Murray as their first bike designer and production manager meant that Kona had a direction and quickly began to accomplish their aim of being one of the best high-end bike manufacturers.
Over the last 23 years Kona have achieved some amazing accomplishments, including their design group creating the first original dual suspension design – a unified, linear-rate design, which they labelled Sex (for suspension experience). Although Kona are not the largest bike manufacturer they still manage to create truly magnificent bikes and achieve some of the highest awards in the bicycle manufacturing world, including Kona’s Kilauea model winning the 1993 ‘Bike of the Year’ award from Mountain Biking magazine.
More impressive however is Kona design, construction and testing team. Kona undoubtedly possesses one of the most experienced and passionate teams in the bike manufacturing industry with the renowned rider Doug Lafavor joining in 1990, World Champion DH rider Cindy Devine joining in 1991 and Czech rider Kamil Tartakovic becoming a member Kano’s team in 2006, as well as a number of other experts.
This dedicated manufacturer continually produces an exciting range of cycling components and bikes each year and some of the previews of Kona’s 2012 range indicates that next year may be their best year yet. Kona’s 2012 range include an exciting number of new additions in Kona’s MTB and Cyclocross ranges as well as fantastic new models in their women’s and commuter ranges. But while Kona have introduced and improved every series in their 2012 range, a particular range that includes a number of new additions is their road range. Road cyclists can look forward to the 2012 Honky Tonk, dedicated to long-time Kona racer Erik Tonkin this fantastic model has been specifically designed to be comfortable and light, yet its features, including long-reach callipers, have been purposely selected to ensure this bike handles perfectly in the rain.
Other fantastic additions to Kona road range include the Zing series, which features the 2012 Zing a perfect, lightweight road bike for entry level cyclists who want only the best. The Zing Deluxe has been described by Kona as possessing the perfect balance between speed and comfort making it a fantastic choice for riders who want a reasonably priced bike, which will perform perfectly every time. Slightly, more expensive the Zing Supreme is a stunning carbon fibre bike that is guaranteed to enhance a cyclist’s performance. And lastly, the King Zing part of Kona’s high-end range this bike is responsive, lightweight and comfortable making it the must have bike of 2012.