It's probably unfair to call them terrible bikes.
It's more that since Halfords started distributing them, the company lost a lot of prestige.
Back in the 90's, Kona were a pretty boutique manufacturer all things considered. Bikes like the King Kikapu were hugely revered and the company's overall reputation was faultless.
Nowadays you'll struggle to find many knowledgeable mountain bikers who'd say "I REALLY want a Kona!". I suppose it's a bit like owning a Vauxhall. There's nothing particularly BAD about them, but it's not really anyone's ambition in life to finally own one.
Due to Kona's Halfords deal, the company took a lot of stick from the biking community, so there's a fair bit of stigma attached to owning a Kona, with lots of joking about how fragile they are and so on.
The Supreme Operator is a nice bike. I'm not a fan of DH bikes really they're a bit of a one trick pony, but I can appreciate them for what they are. I can't think k of anyone in their right minds who would choose a Supreme Operator over an S-WORKS Demo 8 or a Santa Cruz V10c. Those bikes are just on another league altogether in my opinion.
Me? I'll stick with my custom S-WORKS Enduro 650b :)
I'm such a fucking bike geek...
(, Wed 13 Apr 2016, 23:48, Share, Reply)