2021 Kona Honzo DL Bike

(discontinued)

I bought this as a frame and have built it up with  Shimano slx 170mm cranks, deore drivetrain & brakes, wtb i29 wheels and a Z2 140mm fork, and 2.6 specialized butcher/purgatory tyres, superstar pedals & brandx dropper, Its just under 14kg.

Paint job is gorgeous too.

This is the 2021/22 bike , but frame is same for  2023/24 bike

Frame is well thought out, massive tyre clearance even on 2.6s thanks to nicely sculpted stays. Lots of standover clearance too. 

Its not as slack as the ESD, but Z2s ride fairly high and I find the reach & head angle perfect for descending, big tyres mean its comfortable all day,  I run the sliding dropouts almost all the way forward, tried them further back and just wasn't as much fun!

It accelerates quickly, whips round turns soo nicely, jumps well and is generally just a confident ride, encourages you to lean over/into the fork for maximum fun.

Climbing is fine, seat tube angle is decent, but downside of big tyres is the drag!

I got this to compliment my 160mm enduro FS , but i ride this way more than I thought I would, it handles so well and the stiff frame and forks with big tyres means it can handle most things as well as my big bike apart from big drops. Ive broken several PBs on descents I set on my full suss bike and its made me question whether I really need it!

Ive had this bike for 6 months now and its covered 100s of Km and not really found a single fault.