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Kona Spotlight

Category: Featured Items

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Kona Bikes is one of the newest additions to the stable of bike brands we carry at Denman Bikes. Founded in Vancouver in 1988, they offer all sorts of bikes, from mountain bikes to e-bikes to road-bikes to cargo bikes and more.

In this post, we’ll be highlighting some of Kona’s most exciting offerings that we have in-store, listing why we like them and why you will too!

Kona Sutra
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The Kona Sutra is Kona’s answer to a touring bike. And what an answer! It comes kitted out with all the goodies that make a modern touring bike a dependable, stable machine that will take you anywhere your legs can handle. It has a wide-range, 27 speed Shimano gear train; powerful mechanical TRP Spyre disc brakes; wide, comfortable drop bars to allow for switching between many hand positions; and all sorts of braze-ons all over the frame for compatiblity with almost any accessory you could wish.

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Even better, the Sutra comes equipped with a Brooks saddle, renowned for their comfort even with ultra-long days in the saddle, as well as fenders and a rack right out of the box. Pair these with some high-quality bike luggage from Ortlieb or any of the other brands we sell and you’ll be ready to hit the road for an epic trip!

The Kona Sutra will get you into bikepacking and touring at $1899. Come down to Denman Bikes and try one today!

Kona Sutra LTD

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The Kona Sutra LTD may appear to be just an upgraded version of the Sutra, but that’s only part of the picture. Whereas the Sutra is made for long days in the saddle, loaded touring, and general enjoyment of the scenery, the Sutra LTD is a bit more. As Kona says on its website for the Sutra LTD, it is what happened when a “bunch of mountain bikers dreamed up something wild: a drop bar bike that felt like a mountain bike and rode like a mountain bike.” As such, it has been very successful in this amorphous category of bike, being featured in Bikepacking 2017’s Gear of the Year, as well as receiving further plaudits.

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So, what makes the Sutra LTD tick? As with the Sutra, it features wide drop bars, allowing for a variety of hand positions but plenty of control for more technical riding. It also features disc brakes, but these are in the form of Sram Rival hydraulic disk brakes for more power. The drivetrain does away with the front derailleur for simplicity, instead featuring a wide-range 11 speed cassette to give you the gear range you need. Finally, this bike is tubeless-ready, allowing you to have all of the advantages of tubeless tires: lower pressures, fewer flats, and lower weight!

The Kona Sutra LTD can be had for $2799. Come down to Denman Bikes and try it today!

Unit X

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What is the Unit X, exactly? The Kona Unit started out as a single-speed suspensionless mountain bike, built for fun and simplicity. It was a simple bike, made for simple pleasures, ripping around on pavement or trails, and generally recapturing the fun of your first bike, or BMX.

The Unit X changes the formula by adding gears, although just in the form of a rear derailleur, which I’m sure we’ll all agree is pretty essential in some parts of Vancouver.

The Unit X has a 1×11 speed Sram NX drivetrain, SRAM Level T hydraulic disc brakes which offer power and modulation, tubeless-ready 27.5″ wheels and high-volume tires, and a sturdy 4130 chromoly frame compatible with dropper seatposts.

The Unit X sells for $1699. Come down to Denman Bikes and try one today – we guarantee you won’t leave without a smile on your face!

Honzo

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The Honzo is the most mountain bike we sell, and it’s proved to be very popular. The Honzo was one of the first mountain bikes to adopt larger 29″ wheels, and helped spark a trend towards larger wheels on mountain bikes.

The Honzo features the same 1×11 SRAM drivetrain as the Unit X, Shimano hydraulic brakes, 29″ WTB wheels and tires, and comes with a TransX dropper seatpost right out of the box.

All this trail-riding goodness will cost you $1799. Come down and try one out at Denman Bikes today!

Dew City

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The Dew City and its other Dew siblings are Kona’s value-oriented city do-it-all bike. Although they’re intended mostly for pavement riding, they are well-suited for light trail riding, especially those with higher-volume tires like the Dew, Dew Plus, Dew City, and Dr. Dew.

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The Dew City has 700c wheels, v-brakes, and a 27-speed Shimano drivetrain. It’s available in a wide variety of sizes for all riders.

The Dew City is priced at an affordable $599. Come down to Denman Bikes and try one today!

Gravel Touring and Velo Orange Bikes

Category: Bike Trends

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Many have heard of touring bikes, but few have heard of gravel touring. It’s not quite road touring; it’s not quite mountain biking; it’s not quite cyclocross; so then, what is it exactly?

Gravel touring has a long heritage, stretching back to prewar Europe. In those days, off-road riding was necessary as road networks weren’t as developed as they now are today – a straight road bike would soon run into problems. Bikes developed by some of the best-known French constructeurs such as Alex Singer and Rene Hersé were the original do-anything bikes, kitted out with many features to facilitate long-distance riding and enjoyment of the cycling experience while still being light, capable, high-performance machines.

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Vintage gravel touring bike

Modern gravel bikes such as the Velo Orange Polyvalent draw directly from this rich heritage, while updating them with modern materials and conveniences. A recent build that we did for a customer features Velo Orange Grand Cru Drillium cranks – these feature many small drilled holes, which was a technique often used to lighten bike components and to add character.

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Velo Orange Grand Cru Drillium cranks

This bike also has a 1″ threaded stem and curved front fork blades for added classic bike chic. Like many multipurpose bikes, it is capable of fitting wide tires – in combination with the smaller 650b wheelsize, halfway between a 700c road bike wheel and a 26″ mountain bike wheel, these wide tires offer better performance on rough surfaces and off-road with stronger, faster-rolling wheels than an equivalent 700c wheel, while being faster than a mountain bike wheel. In addition, higher-volume tires can decrease flats, about which more will be said in a future in-depth blog post on wheel size and tires.

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The Velo Orange Polyvalent’s curved fork blades and 1″ quill stem

All these classic features are enhanced by the addition of modern bicycle technology. A 10sp rear indexed rear derailleur with road-style shifters makes shifting easy, predictable, and fast; modern polycarbonate fenders are light, durable, and corrosion-proof; an rear pannier rack made from modern aluminum alloys is light and strong; disc brakes provide powerful, predictable performance in all types of weather; clipless pedals provide a better connection to the road while their dual-sided design allows their use with regular shoes; and a modern Abus lock protects this beautiful and high-performance bike from theft.

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So, what’s gravel touring? It’s biking, but more – more fun, more versatile, more go-anywhere. The sky – or the horizon is the limit.