What difference does 9 years make?
I have just brought a new bike, replacing my ’95 Marin. Yip 9 years between bikes. So what has changed? Apart from all the model number stuff, the main changes are from fixed frame to hard tail, the gearing from 21speed to 27speed, the brakes from V-brakes (originally cantilever) to disk brakes, and weight (but I have not been sad enough to measure it… yet). True there are differences in the headset, shifters, etc, but they play more of a part longer term with the life of the part. How can I compare the differences in shifters when there are two additional rings on the rear cluster? The different sizes would make more difference.
So on a cross country ride (forest type ride with sandy soils) what is the difference? Heaps! Yip and that is not just because one bike was seriously tired and the other new. I would have thought the front shocks would have made the biggest difference – and handling wise they probably did, but I felt the biggest difference overall was in the gears. Yip, those two extra rings mixed things up a lot and I found I could always get the right gear and my shifting dramatically reduced. Whereas before I was either too low or too high gear wise and constantly shifting. This makes the whole ride more enjoyable and I feel contributes more (on this particular track anyway) to a faster ride.
Yip 100mm of travel in the forks is sweet as. You do not have to avoid as many obstacles and have far greater control in the rough. Brakes are important to me – at 105kg at 30km/hr you need some braking power. The disk brakes rock for this, which psychologically gives you a greater edge as you feel more comfortable coming into corners faster knowing you can brake comfortably, and hence your over all ride is faster.
Marin over Kona? Who knows? I have only had the Kona for a month. The Marin had 2 years of regular off road riding, then very sporadic off road (although plenty of on road riding) and in the last year and a half more regular off road riding. I am actually guessing in the market range I brought in that the quality of the “basic” but very key components like the bottom bracket are probably not as robust. But then I probably cannot compare as I am 15-20kg heavier now than then (if that makes a difference) and I am doing more regular off road riding in sandy soils earlier in the Kona’s life than with the Marin. I am just taking that off the fact that the bottom bracket is only now stuffed on the Marin, and I have not read great reviews about the bottom bracket in the Kona.
Summary
The Kona rocks! Is it the best in its category and price range? I don’t know and don’t care. Stepping up from a 9 year old bike was a dream come true.
14. November 2004 »
