L
landotter
Guest
$400 bike, made over there, just like everything else, but a few
things of interest. Frame and fork are fully disk compatible, in case
you want to modify your bike for the local crackheads. They've gone so
far as to eliminate cable stops (idiots) and just run housing in the
hose guides, so you might want to put a teflon cable on the rear
brake. Otherwise the bike has a really nice bunch of braze-ons. Front
fork has eyelets on both the inside and outside of the fork, and rack
mounts. Rear drops are tapped two times for fenders and a rack.
If anybody from Kona is reading this: disc brakes are pointless for
your Dew series, except to move them from the sales floor. The braze
ons are ugly, and eliminating cable stops, as a customer might
downgrade to discs is absurd. The cheap Tektro brakes on your cheapest
Dew are more than effective enough, even for a fully loaded bike and
if discs are really so good for a road going bike, why aren't they on
your far more expensive Phd?
Things to pay attention to: the wheels are garbage, but salvageable.
The hubs are so poorly adjusted as to barely turn, so service them
first thing. The rims are tightly but wildly tensioned, seat those
spoke heads, retension, true, and bring them up a 1/4 turn. A half
hour of TLC will really pay off here. Mounting the rear fender is a
bit challenging, due to the bottom pull derailleur. I just drilled the
metal tab that usually hooks over the little chainstay crossbar, and
used a 4mm bolt as it's tapped, which has the fender barely touching
the front mech. Rack mounting was straight forward. No room for a
Greenfield if you're that kind of macho, unless you put a "cop-style"
stand on the back. For your own sanity, replace the bizarre front QR
first thing, and put some pedals on it that don't wanna make you cry.
All that done, front and rear racks, fenders, MKS pedals, and a Deore
in rear replacing the Altus, dialed in--you can't want for more
fetching ability. The geometry's nice, and the combo of cheap as dirt
EZ-Fire shifters and Deore rear mech shifts embarrassingly crisply
(palpably better than the OK Altus). Even the stock Velo saddle should
be fine for most folks.
I enjoyed the bike so much that as I was dialing in the drivetrain
last night, circling the block, I hit some gravel, and unused to the
leverage of flat bars, oversteered and biffed my face pretty bad!
Glasses and teeth are OK. Lip is grotesquely huge. Bike repels blood
great. Thank goodness for beer, or it would have hurt more. ;-)
Recommended? Meh, I bought it because that's what the LBS sells. If
yours sells Marins or Jamis bikes--I doubt the quality is much
different. At this price point, it's just a commodity. Dialed in, it's
pretty dang nice, as any $400 bike could be with some TLC.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1371/1412307915_15eb2ba681_o.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1020/1412307905_3461898541_o.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1109/1412307897_65023278fe_o.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1172/1412307889_4a43d9f642_o.jpg
Those are swing over Knog bags, btw, and for the person that asked:
it's one compartment, and it fits a big laptop just fine. The top flap
has some stiffening foam, so they keep your groceries nice and chill
on the way home.
things of interest. Frame and fork are fully disk compatible, in case
you want to modify your bike for the local crackheads. They've gone so
far as to eliminate cable stops (idiots) and just run housing in the
hose guides, so you might want to put a teflon cable on the rear
brake. Otherwise the bike has a really nice bunch of braze-ons. Front
fork has eyelets on both the inside and outside of the fork, and rack
mounts. Rear drops are tapped two times for fenders and a rack.
If anybody from Kona is reading this: disc brakes are pointless for
your Dew series, except to move them from the sales floor. The braze
ons are ugly, and eliminating cable stops, as a customer might
downgrade to discs is absurd. The cheap Tektro brakes on your cheapest
Dew are more than effective enough, even for a fully loaded bike and
if discs are really so good for a road going bike, why aren't they on
your far more expensive Phd?
Things to pay attention to: the wheels are garbage, but salvageable.
The hubs are so poorly adjusted as to barely turn, so service them
first thing. The rims are tightly but wildly tensioned, seat those
spoke heads, retension, true, and bring them up a 1/4 turn. A half
hour of TLC will really pay off here. Mounting the rear fender is a
bit challenging, due to the bottom pull derailleur. I just drilled the
metal tab that usually hooks over the little chainstay crossbar, and
used a 4mm bolt as it's tapped, which has the fender barely touching
the front mech. Rack mounting was straight forward. No room for a
Greenfield if you're that kind of macho, unless you put a "cop-style"
stand on the back. For your own sanity, replace the bizarre front QR
first thing, and put some pedals on it that don't wanna make you cry.
All that done, front and rear racks, fenders, MKS pedals, and a Deore
in rear replacing the Altus, dialed in--you can't want for more
fetching ability. The geometry's nice, and the combo of cheap as dirt
EZ-Fire shifters and Deore rear mech shifts embarrassingly crisply
(palpably better than the OK Altus). Even the stock Velo saddle should
be fine for most folks.
I enjoyed the bike so much that as I was dialing in the drivetrain
last night, circling the block, I hit some gravel, and unused to the
leverage of flat bars, oversteered and biffed my face pretty bad!
Glasses and teeth are OK. Lip is grotesquely huge. Bike repels blood
great. Thank goodness for beer, or it would have hurt more. ;-)
Recommended? Meh, I bought it because that's what the LBS sells. If
yours sells Marins or Jamis bikes--I doubt the quality is much
different. At this price point, it's just a commodity. Dialed in, it's
pretty dang nice, as any $400 bike could be with some TLC.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1371/1412307915_15eb2ba681_o.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1020/1412307905_3461898541_o.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1109/1412307897_65023278fe_o.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1172/1412307889_4a43d9f642_o.jpg
Those are swing over Knog bags, btw, and for the person that asked:
it's one compartment, and it fits a big laptop just fine. The top flap
has some stiffening foam, so they keep your groceries nice and chill
on the way home.
