Kona Bikes is a bicycle company in Ferndale, Washington and Vancouver, British Columbia. It specializes in high-performance mountain bikes, racing and touring bicycles. The company name comes from the owners' love of Kailua-Kona in Hawaii.
Names of the bicycles started out with Hawaiian and volcanic names like the Cinder Cone, Explosif, Hei Hei (Hawaiian for "race"), Hahannah (Hawaiian for "hot"), Fire Mountain, Hot, Lava Dome and Kilauea (released in 1993 and named after the Hawaiian volcano). Kona started to use tongue-in-cheek humor in the names. Names like the Stinky and Coiler started to appear. Some of the earliest full suspension bikes were named the Sex One and Sex Two. Those were dropped after complaints[who?]. When nobody complained about bikes called Stab and Shred, Kona joked that violence was more acceptable than sex[citation needed].
The company was founded in 1988 by Jacob Heilbron, Dan Gerhard and early MTB champion Joe Murray, who has since moved to Voodoo Bikes. Heilbron and Gerhard still own and run the company.
Kona's Jake the Snake model won the US cyclo-crosschampionship under riders such as Anne Knapp and Ryan Trebon, and the Canadian championship under Wendy Simms. The team model has Shimano Dura Ace groupset while the retail has Shimano 105.
Kona full-suspension bicycles have used the "Faux-bar" linkage system since 1999 (not to be confused with true 4-bar Horst Link systems), identified by swingarms attached to the seat tube to activate the rear suspension, inverting forces generated by the swing of the chain stay.
Kona has been developing partnerships with bike parks, primarily with Whistler Blackcomb Bike Park, in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, where riders can rent versions of the Stinky. Other partner bike parks are in Austria and Italy.
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Kona Factory Team
The Kona Factory Team races on the World Cup, NORBA & Maxxis International Circuit, in downhill, cross-country, cyclo-cross, free ride, dirt jumping and four-X:
- Ryan Trebon (USA)
- Barry Wicks (USA)
- Wendy Simms (CAN)
- Kris Sneddon (CAN)
- Erik Tonkin (USA)
- Max Drake (USA)
- Spencer Zerba (USA)
- John Cowan (USA)
- Lluis Lacondeguy (ESP)
- Andreu Lacondeguy (ESP)
- Paul Basagoitia (USA)
- Grant 'Chopper' Fielder (GBR)
- Graham Agassiz (CAN)
Advocacy
Kona is involved in cycling advocacy.
International Mountain Biking Association Kona has been a IMBA corporate supporter since 1994, and has developed fundraising projects including the Kona Buck-A-Bike program, the Kona Bro Deal program , the Interbike bowling tourney and Kona/IMBA Freeriding grants.
The Kona/IMBA bowling party, held at Interbike from 1998 until 2007, raised money for NEMBA, a New England IMBA-related advocacy group; to help purchase a large area for mountain biking; to funding the KONA/IMBA freeride grants. The Kona/IMBA Freeride grants helped clubs throughout the US and Canada, in Rapid City, South Dakota, Grand Junction, Colorado, Hood River, Oregon, Coquitlam, British Columbia, St. Charles, Missouri, Surrey, British Columbia, Anderson, Indiana, and East Burke, Vermont. The grants helped build freeride features on trails, as well as building dirt jump parks in parks.
For 2008, Kona sponsored the IMBA Epic Rides program, helping fund four new rides throughout the United States and Canada. The trails set aside as Epic rides for 2008 were the Mid Mountain Epic in Park City, Utah, Comfortably Numb in Whistler, British Columbia, the trails sponsored by PAMBA outside of Peoria, Illinois, and the Loon Lake Epic in Tamarack, Idaho.
Kona Africabike
In 2006, Kona began its largest advocacy effort to date - BikeTown Africa. The Kona Africabike was a bike built in partnership with Bristol-Myers Squibb and Bicycling Magazine. The Kona Africabike was designed specifically to assist health care workers treating HIV and AIDS patients with the delivery of home health aids and other services in African Cities, starting with Bobonong, Botswana and Gaborone, Botswana. More recent projects have included Delft and Stellenbosch.
For 2008, Kona pledged to donate 1,000 Africabikes for the project and due to the overwhelming customer support of this project, Kona set up a non-profit/humanitarian organization from their European HQ in Geneva, Switzerland called Kona Basic Needs http://www.konabasicneeds.org. This organisations aim is to continue to raise more funds and awareness of the Kona Africabike program and to continue the donation of these bikes.[citation needed].
Ford Focus Kona Edition
In May 2000, Kona and Ford Motor Company marketed a special edition of the Ford Focus (North America) featuring an "Out Of Bounds" Kona bike, bolt-on roof bike rack, nylon washable seat covers, unique colors Dirt Metallic and Rainforest Green, unique side moldings with molded-in Kona Moto logo and bike tire treads; 16” six-spoke machined aluminum wheels and heavy-duty black rubber floor mats with Kona Moto logo and bike tire treads.
External links
- Konaworld Official Website
- Konabiketown site about the Kona Africabike project
- Kona Basic Needs site about the Kona Africabike project & donations
- Factory Team site
- About Jacob Heilbron Founder
- Kona Retro, a collection of old Kona catalogs and bikes
- IMBA/Kona Epic Ride program press release
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